《Divinity: Against the Godly System》 -1 Plot Info MUST READ 1) The story is a mix of VRMMO and Urban(MODERN WORLD) fantasy, so it will be distributed between the real world and the game. 2) The MC travelled back to the past and the future knowledge will play an important role, but it won''t be the driving force of the story that makes him stronger. It would contribute to the later part of the stories. 3) The MC will be OP but he would face troubles that might make his journey difficult on occasions. 4) The system is complex and it might give various strange and dangerous missions (Sometimes nonsense) to the MC and won''t always seem helpful. On occasions, it might even look like they are just to trouble the MC,but there is a reason behind all the missions that''s related to its origin and his link with the MC. The MC it''s not a person that was randomly chosen by the system. 5)I Repeat: All the missions have a reason behind them. They are not made for humor or anything like that! 6) IMPORTANT: The first main (Ch 8 to 30-40)world arc is just for entertainment (It would be great of you could take it as such) and introduction of the MC,the System and the world. The main plot begins in the Game Arc after the main world arc. 7) The Story have some extreme overreactions on some occasions which are intentionally made stupid and illogical. They are not an attempt at smart humor. They are made to be stupid to give the story a lighter touch on occasions. Please don''t talk logic about that and take them as what they are... ***** Warning!!!***** ***** Spoilers ahead**** ***** Spoilers ahead**** ******You shouldn''t read before reading 100 chapters***** 1) All the missions that Janus gives at the beginning are important even the random ones related to girls. That''s all related to his previous life and would be explained later on. 2) The story Involves Reincarnation! Which will be the main plot point of the story and more important than time travel. 3) The MC will travel to other dimensions as well. 4) Real Gods exist in this world in the higher world, and the MC is related to them. 5) Undead Realm and the Undead Army will be involved in the story as well. The MC will be mostly against the Undead, but he will also get power to make and control undead. 6) The Story have hobbits, vampires,elves and many more. It will be a vast world filled with great adventures when we get moving. 1 Chapter 1: The beginning "And that''s how I died...Trapped in a game and killed by the system that was supposed to help me..." It all started 3 years ago when the first fully immersive virtual reality game was announced. No one had even heard the name of the Necrosis Corporation until the year 2047 when they suddenly came out with the first fully immersive Virtual Reality Game ''Divinity''. A single announcement had made them an overnight sensation. A small American corporation that had to struggle to gain enough capital for research and development, was suddenly the hot property in the market. The Necrosis corporation became the brightest organization. Every rich person in the world wanted to invest in the Necrosis Corporation and get some shares. Probably because they had realized the immense potential of virtual reality, in the future of humanity. Most of the people knew that it was only the start. They could feel that the Necrosis Corporation wouldn''t end at Divinity. Just like everyone in the world, Ryder was also excited about the first virtual reality game ''Divinity''. There were already some rumors about the price. If rumors were to be believed, then the prices were not too expensive, but they weren''t too cheap either. Although he wasn''t rich, he felt like he could afford it. On August 23, 2048, the game was finally released worldwide. The markets flooded with customers hoping to buy Divinity. The whole world was talking about only one thing. Not politics... not sports... but a game. A game that was about to change the world. Since Divinity was the first fully immersive virtual reality game, there were no monitors, CDs, or consoles. All they had to do was buy their VR equipment. Although it sounded strange, the VR equipment was nothing but a pair of black sunglasses. It was said that the sunglasses had some futuristic technology inside them that could make it connect to their nervous system. It was able to send signals and receive signals to the brain respectively. Initially, Ryder had his doubts about how safe it was, but the glasses did come with the certification from the world''s biggest scientific organization IMC. The IMC certificate mentioned that the game and the glasses had been tested by their experts and found to be 100% Safe. That certificate managed to convince him that it would be safe.IMC was a big name after all. He stood in a long line for hours before he finally managed to buy a pair of Divinity VR glasses. The excitement of getting to play the game and experience the virtual world was at its peak as the Millions of Units were sold in just a single day. Those who couldn''t get the game were depressed, but the developers of Divinity promised everyone through their social media accounts that they will ramp up the production and sell fifty million units every Saturday. All of that had nothing to do with Ryder though as he had already recieved what he desired. Ryder Flynn was a 24-year-old man. He had just completed his graduation last year and was a working professional. He was a software designer. He didn''t work for any big organization as he wanted to be his own boss. He used to develop android games at that time and earned money from them. Although he didn''t earn an excessive amount, the earnings were still pretty decent. He was an orphan. His father and mother had both died in a car accident when he was just 15 years old. Thankfully, they left some savings and he was able to continue his studies. He had a cousin as well. Her name is Alice. Alice was the daughter of his aunt from his mother''s side. Her mother had died with his parents when they were traveling together. Ryder was told that a truck hit their car. Although she was her cousin, they were not technically related as his mother was an adopted child and his aunt was the real child of his grandfather. Everyone in the family knew that. Since the accident, Alice has been living with him. She was 5 years younger than him. She was a university student at the time of the release of Divinity. Ryder got home after getting the VR glasses and locked himself in his room. "Amazing... It''s so incredible that a simple pair of sunglasses could hide such incredible technology." He was shocked as soon as he opened the package. There was a pair of Divinity VR sunglasses, an IMC safety certificate, and a Manual. The glasses looked nothing special. They looked like a normal pair of sunglasses. "What about the charger?" That was the first thought that came into his mind as soon as he opened the box. It was a normal reaction as he saw no charger inside. ''How am I going to charge this thing once it runs out of power?'' It was a serious question that floated through his mind. Ryder opened the manual of the Divinity VR Glasses and started reading it. As he finished reading the manual, he finally got the answer to the question that was haunting him. He found out that the glasses didn''t need to be charged. The manual mentioned some technical mumbo jumbo that he didn''t understand in the least. All he understood was that he didn''t need to charge the glasses. He only found out that the glasses could charge through something called the neural link. He was somewhat scared thinking about the technology that went behind it and was worried if it was really safe, but the IMC certificate that he had in his other hand managed to calm him down. He finally wore the glasses. The Manual said that the glasses worked through voice commands. All the commands were already mentioned in the manual which he learned. "Divinity Scan!" Ryder said with an excited voice as he used the first command. "Please keep your eyes open for the retina scan." A female voice appeared in his head. ''Amazing¡­ The glasses can already transmit sounds to my brain.'' Ryder thought with an amazed look on his face. The glasses turned on and started scanning his retina. Once the scan was completed, he would be saved as the owner of the glasses. It was a security feature that allowed only him to access the glasses. It was so that no one else could use his account or his glasses. It would make stealing the glasses useless. "Scan Completed! Would you like to enter the world of divinity?" The feminine voice again appeared in his head. 2 Chapter 2: Rising to the top The glasses had no speaker, instead, they used bone conduction technology that was perfected over the years. "Yes. Let''s start our journey. Take me to Divinity," Ryder replied instantly. As soon as he spoke, he instantly lost all control of his body and all his senses. His room disappeared and he now found himself standing in a pitch-black room. He looked ahead and found a girl floating in the air. "Welcome to Divinity. I am your artificial intelligence guide, Maya. I will help you with the registration. Please select your Character Name," The little girl floated in the air in front of him. She looked to be 17-18 years old and had short greenish hair. "My name is Hades," Ryder answered her. ''Yeah, I know that the name is quite chuunibyou, but I like it. I used the same character name in the online games I played before.'' He thought to himself without being even a little bit embarrassed. "Hades...Name registered. Please customize the stats of your character. You have been given 25 stats points" Maya further said. A screen appeared in front of Ryder. That had 6 stats on the screen with a 0 in front of all 6 of them. A plus and minus symbol was also placed in front of each of the characteristics. These 6 characteristics that he could use skill points on were Strength, Defence, Stamina, Intelligence, Speed, and Dexterity. A smile appeared on Ryder''s face as he kept tapping on the plus icons. After a short few minutes, he was finally done. The screen in front of him looked much different now. He had used 7 points on Strength,6 on Defence,5 points on speed,4 points on stamina,2 points on dexterity, and 1 point on Intelligence. "I''m done," Ryder informed Maya. "Are you sure? " Maya asked with an expressionless look on her face. "Yes," Ryder again nodded his head. "Would you like to make adjustments to your looks?" She asked. " No need," Ryder replied instantly. "Registration complete. You will be sent to the novice village. You currently have no class. After passing the novice village, you will be able to select your class." Maya informed him before she disappeared in front of his eyes. The scene distorted as Ryder found himself in the novice village. It was a place that all players were sent to so that they could learn basic skills and get used to Virtual Reality before going to real adventures. Players could get some simple quests in the novice village to increase their levels and when they got to level 5, they were allowed to leave. Ryder went through the novice village and completed some meager tasks like training with the village Sword Elder. He collected herbs for a store owner, helped in finding lost goods, and more. After a few days of effort and a whole lot of quests, He finally managed to pass the Novice Village. He was the 25th player to get to level 5. He was sent to the starting kingdom by the Village Sword Elder. He was finally able to choose a class from the class hall. ''I had already decided on the class that I would choose before I even started this game. That''s why I put most of my stats in strength and defense. I chose to be a Warrior. After reaching a certain level, I would be promoted to a knight.'' Ryder thought as he chose his class. It was a fantasy world. He wanted to enjoy this place. Enjoy the feeling of real strength. Thus he selected the warrior class. Ryder went on adventures, completed various quests, and increased his strength. He even joined a strong guild. It was the 3rd rank guild at the guild rankings and he had managed to become one of its top members. Although Ryder wasn''t the strongest player in the guild, he has managed to become one of the 10 strongest players in the guild. Three years had passed away right before his eyes as he continued leveling up. He was level 175 at the moment. He had managed to get the class of a Royal Knight. It was the class that came after the Knight class. After 3 years of hard work for the guild, he was finally given the chance to lead a party for an A-Rank quest. The quest he received was to kill the dragon that had appeared in the Malta Valley. The Guild Master sent 20 players with 150+ level and 80 players who had a level ranging from level 100 to level 150. It did look like a good team, but he still couldn''t feel at ease. It took him 3 days to get to the Malta Valley. Their fight against the dragon began. As Ryder''s party was fighting against the dragon, their people kept dying one after another. Dying in the game was a pretty bad experience that no player wanted to experience. Firstly, even at the low pain settings, they still felt a significant amount of pain. Secondly, they lost a level when they died. The loss of a level wasn''t concerning for lower level players, but for the higher level players, it was pretty painful as each level required a massive amount of XP. And lastly, those who died were locked out of Divinity for 24 hours. Even their top players were killed. This whole quest was turning out to be a disaster. The information he was given by the guild master was completely wrong. They were told that the dragon was a level 190 monster, but it is not! It was a boss class monster who had a level in the 200s. 3 Chapter 3: Died again Ryder was frowning as he watched the players dying one after another. He didn''t stop attacking the dragon though. Time passed slowly as they gave their all in this fight without holding anything back. With the help of the potions, They had managed to fight for quite a long time. The dragon was now at 15% HP. Opposite the dragon, only 2 players were left. Ryder Flynn, who was leading the mission and Max Lee, the Vice-Captain of the team. Both of them had 100% of their hp because they had just consumed the last vial of their potions. "I''m out of potion," Ryder told Max with a wry smile on his face. "Me too," Max replied with a burst of laughter. "Let''s give it our all," This was all Ryder thought at that time. It was the first time he was leading a mission and he wanted to complete the quest at all cost. They fought the dragon with all their might. They had finally managed to bring the dragon down to 1% HP after using their skills one after another. Ryder checked his HP on the screen that appeared in front of him. The screen showed that he had 50% HP remaining. He gazed at his side and gazed at Max''s HP. He only had 5% of his HP remaining. "I will attract the dragon''s attention while you attack him from the back! I still have 50% HP while you only have 5%! I will use taunt and attract its attention. I will take the brunt of its attack. Its strongest attack will only consume 48% of my HP at Max, while your attack will kill it! We can definitely complete that quest together," Ryder told Max. "I''m sorry Hades If I had a potion, I would have attracted its attention instead," Max told Ryder in an apologetic tone. "It''s alright. Get ready!" "Taunt!" Ryder used Taunt to attract the attention of the dragon and gave Max a chance to position himself for the attack. It worked quite well as the dragon attacked Ryder with his flaming breath. "Huh?" Ryder''s expression turned weird as he found out that his HP went down to 0% as soon as the fire touched him. He couldn''t understand what just happened. He shouldn''t have died from the attack. In this game, they were given a twenty-second counter before they were logged out of the game after dying. They couldn''t log in for the next 24 hours after that. The countdown of those 20 seconds began. At that time Ryder used the help on his screen and talked to Maya about the problem with his HP. Her reply shocked him to his core and almost made him curse out loud. She said that it was the system that showed him the wrong information. His real Hp was only at 2% at that time, not 50%. "Why?" Ryder asked but Maya didn''t reply. He still had ten seconds remaining before his logout. He watched Max giving the finishing blow. He got another shock of his life as he saw Max drinking a supreme potion to get his HP at the peak before he dealt the finishing blow. "That bastard! He lied to me!" Ryder was devastated as he watched this. Soon there was a system-wide announcement. "Player Max has completed the Malta Valley quest! As he is the first player to complete the quest, he will be rewarded with 1000 Fame points. Royal Battle Guild will receive a 1000 fame points as well." That was the last announcement Ryder heard before everything went dark. "Huh? Where am I? I''m not logged out?" Ryder found himself in a dark room. Maya was standing in front of him. "You''re nowhere," She answered. "Why wasn''t I logged out?" Ryder again asked. "You can''t log out or exit the game. Your player status has been taken from you." "What the heck? Why?" "Your real body has died in the real world. You can''t be sent back and your consciousness is trapped in the game. You aren''t considered a player anymore," Maya said in an emotionless tone. "What the fuck? Have you gone crazy? My real body is dead and I''m not a player? Are you joking with me? Let me leave this instant. Let me contact the developers!" Ryder let out in an angry tone as he tried contacting the devs, but no screen appeared in front of him. "You''re not a player and you can''t use the facilities provided to players. I can''t let your consciousness create disturbance in the game either. Thus, You will be an NPC in the game from now on," "You will be bound by restrictions and won''t be able to do anything but repeat the same tasks," Maya replied. "What the hell are you talking about? How the hell is that possible? How can I die when I am in my bedroom!" Ryder said with a look of disbelief on his face. He couldn''t believe that she was being serious. The black room disappeared and he found himself standing in the novice village. He stood outside a cottage and found himself unable to move. "Ah¡­ Sir, do you need any help?" A young boy came to him and asked. From his clothes, he looked like a novice player. "Yes, dear. I have lost my stick in the field. Can you help me find it? I will give you three Beans as a reward," Ryder said. He realized that he had no control over his mouth as the words just came out. ''Did I actually die and now I''m an NPC?'' He was starting to believe the words of Maya now. He felt like crying, but no tears came out of his eyes. ''And that''s how I died¡­ Trapped in a game and killed by the system that was supposed to help me,'' 4 Chapter 4: Host selection His 3 years of journey in the first Virtual Reality game ''Divinity'' brought him to his mysterious death. Even that wasn''t enough for Maya as she made his remaining consciousness an NPC. He could still think and he had retained his memories, but he couldn''t do anything other than the specified tasks that were assigned by the game. Every day tens of newbie players would come to him and ask, ''If he needed any help?''. He couldn''t say anything other than telling them about his lost stick and the 3 beans that he will reward them with if they find his stick. "What the hell! Why in the world would I need help with finding a stick? I need help with breaking the restrictions of the game and free myself!" Ryder wanted to scream his thoughts out loud, but he couldn''t even do that. It was nearly evening when the situation turned even worse. "Hey NPC! I heard that you''re telling people to find your stick. I tried, but I didn''t find the stick! Why don''t you give me those 3 beans anyways?" A bulky man was standing in front of him. There was not a single hair on his head, but his beard was quite long that came down to his chest. The man was over 6 feet tall and had a strong build. "Please help me find my stick! I will give you 3 beans as a reward," Ryder didn''t want to offend the man and he wanted to say yes to whatever the man desired, but the predefined reply came out of his mouth. ''What the heck! Why can''t I give any other answer? When I was in the novice village the first time, all the NPCs were much more interactive and seemed like they had intelligence! They never felt so robotic! Why is my character so messed up? Is the game intentionally fucking with me?'' Ryder couldn''t help but blame the game as he thought about his reactions carefully. It was definitely not the normal behavior of the NPCs in the game. "You trash! Are you making fun of me? Do you think that you are smart? I''ll kill you right here and right now! Let''s see how you will try to act in front of me then!" The bald man screamed at Ryder as he brought out his sword and pointed it at Ryder. ''This fool! He''s definitely a newbie. Doesn''t he know that as soon as he attacks an NPC like me, the Village People will come to save me? The whole village will turn against him and he won''t get any quest.'' ''Wait a minute, What am I thinking about? Even if the village Elders turned against him and stopped giving him quests, I would still be beaten badly!'' Ryder started sweating at the thought of getting beaten. He was an NPC now¡­ He wasn''t sure if he would feel any pain, but he was definitely afraid. "Please help me find my stick. I would give you three beans as a reward" The words again came out of his mouth without his control. He didn''t know whether to laugh or cry at his misery. "What the hell! Maya you idiot! What kind of restrictions did you put on me! Why do you want to kill me? I never offended you?" Ryder screamed loudly but his voice was limited to only his brain. No words came out of his mouth, which remained closed. He had no control over his body. "You bastard! Are you messing with me?" The bald man screamed as he punched Ryder''s face. Ryder fell down to the ground as blood started coming out of his lips. ''Aaaahh¡­ So much pain! Is the pain setting turned to 200%? Maya! Why are you punishing me!'' The pain was too much for him. As someone who played the game at 90% pain settings throughout his 3 years, he still couldn''t handle the pain. It was in a completely different league altogether. ''That was only the effect of a punch, what would happen if he killed me?'' Ryder started sweating as he thought about it. He wanted to run away, but just as before, his body didn''t listen to his brain. ''Hey? Why the hell are you guys not even looking at me? I''m a fellow villager! You are supposed to group together and help me!'' Ryder fumed in anger, but his mouth didn''t say the words. The whole situation was completely weird, no NPC came to help him. Even the village elder stood nearby, but he didn''t interfere. It seemed like none of them could see him being attacked. ''There''s definitely something unusual. That''s not how it''s supposed to go!'' Ryder thought with a frown on his face. "Please help me find my stick. I will reward you with 3 beans." Again the words came out his mouth. That was the moment¡­ he realized the universal truth¡­ He was fucked. The Bald man roared in anger as he finally attacked with his sword. He stabbed the sword right through Ryder''s chest. The pain... all he could feel was the pain. The pain was even worse than the death itself. He wasn''t even sure if this was the end of his pained existence. His vision started blurring and darkness shrouded his whole world. The world turned dark as everything went blank. There was no sound, nor any light. It was as if he was floating in the boundless space of nothingness. [Ding... The system has started¡­ Host selected. Would you like to become the host of the system?] A male voice echoed in the boundless void. The voice sounded like it belonged to a 13-14-year-old boy and contained some sense of immaturity. "Host? System? Maya, are you again playing with me? You better let me die in peace. Don''t toy with me again!" Ryder roared in anger. He was tired of being toyed with. He was killed by the malfunction of divinity and then again killed because of its Artificial Intelligence Maya''s restriction. [Wrong. The system is not Maya. The system has no name and only the host can select a name for the system.] The voice said again. "Are you the system developed by the Necrosis Corporation?" Ryder asked with a thoughtful look on his face. [Wrong. No mere mortal can make the system.] "What? Who made you then? How did you come into existence?" Ryder couldn''t understand anything, In fact, he was starting to feel like he was going crazy and hallucinating by now. [You don''t have the privilege to get the answers. If you decide to become the host, You will be revived. You will have a chance to get your real body back as well.] The voice told Ryder. "I... If I can get my real body back. Then I am ready to do anything. I accept to become your host." Ryder said as he floated in the darkness. "What other choice do I have? If I could get my real body back, then that is the only thing that matters to me. I can''t leave Alice alone in the world." [Ding... Host selection successful. Please select a name for the system.] "Alright. Since you''re helping me with my new beginning, You''ll be called Janus." That was the name he came up with. It was the name of the Ancient Roman God of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, and endings. [Ding... Successful. The system will be called Janus.] 5 Chapter 5: Real fun begins The darkness disappeared as Ryder found himself in the land of light. He got his senses back. "What the hell? I''m back at this place?" Ryder exclaimed as he found himself standing in front of the hut in the novice Village. It was the same place he was sent to when he was made an NPC by Maya. It was also the place he died at. "Wait a minute... did I just speak?" "I really did! I can talk! Are the restrictions lifted?" Ryder was shocked to find out that he was able to speak his thoughts out loud. He has gained back control of his body as well. He was so excited that he couldn''t help but jump high in the air. He was freed from the restrictions. He could finally do what he desired. As he was jumping in the air, A young boy came to him. "Ah... Sir... Do you need help with something?" The young boy asked Ryder. "Hmm? Aren''t you the one that came two days ago and asked the same thing?" Ryder inquired. ''I remember this boy. He came to me on the first day I turned to an NPC. He was the first person to come to me for a quest. What is he doing here again?'' Ryder thought with a confused look on his face. "I don''t understand, Sir. It''s my first day in this village. You might be confusing me with someone else" The boy replied. ''What is happening? Did I travel back in time?'' It was the first thought that came to Ryder''s mind. ''Janus? Did you bring me back in time?'' Ryder thought in his mind. He was wondering if Janus was able to hear him or not. [Host is Correct! The time has been reversed so that the mission can be given.] Ryder heard Janus'' voice that convinced him that Janus could hear his thoughts. Ryder wanted to ask another question, but he heard Janus'' voice again before he could even ask. [Ding... The first mission has been assigned to the host.] [Mission: Kill the player that killed you last time. Reward: You will regain your real body. Punishment for failure: Your will never get your real body back. Time Limit: 2 days.] ''What the heck? Do I need to kill that bulky Baldy? He''s a player and I''m an NPC. Despite him being a newbie, I''m inherently weaker.'' ''Only the Village Sword Elder has the strength to do it. How do you expect me to do it?'' Ryder thought with a frown. He couldn''t help but wonder if Janus was joking or if he was being serious. Janus didn''t say anything, but that young boy said something instead. "Ah... Sir? Do you have a quest for me?" The boy asked again. "Hmm? yea right. Go and find my stick and don''t disturb me," Ryder told the boy in a casual tone. ''I don''t have time to play with that boy. I have more important things to do. I need to get ready to kill someone after all'' He walked towards the Village Elder''s dojo. The Village Elder was also the Sword Master of this novice village. Back when Ryder had first entered this game as a newbie, he was taught his first sword skill by that guy. "Elder Ruan! Can I learn swordsmanship as well?" Ryder asked the Village head, but surprisingly the Elder''s answer was no. "Why not?" He asked in shock, "Only the beings sent my the goddess can learn the swordsmanship from me." He said. Ryder realized that he must be talking about the players. "What the heck! You old man, don''t you want me to get my body back? You''re literally killing me! Who made such a rule?" Ryder couldn''t help but curse out loud. "Control your temper, young man. You should behave properly. Anyways, these rules were made by the Goddess Maya." The Village Elder responded. ''That idiot again? She can''t do anything decent, can she? She always has to make things difficult for me.'' He wanted to say that out loud but he didn''t want to die by the hands of the Village Elder for talking smack about their goddess. "Please village head! I really need to grow stronger," Ryder begged him again, but that stubborn old man didn''t fall for it. "Looks like I can only use my own methods to succeed." After failing in his task miserably, he turned back and left. He went to the Village Shop. The shop sold many things from weapons to shields. "Hey Hades, What''re you doing here? Do you need anything?" The owner of the shop asked as he glanced at Ryder who was standing in front of his shop. The owner of this shop was another NPC. His name was Marcus. "Yes, Brother Marcus. I need to buy a shovel and some other things" Ryder told the shop owner as he rested his hands on the counter. "Hahaha Sure. Just name the things you need. I''ll give you the best price." Marcus laughed as he told Ryder. "Ahh... Well, the thing is¡­ Can I pay you later? I don''t have money at the moment." Ryder said with an embarrassed look on his face. "Sure, I''ll trust you. If I don''t trust you then who will I trust?" Marcus smiled as he answered. ''I swear he''s an angel! This guy is the best! Nothing like that crappy old village elder. Anyways, fortunately, I received everything that I needed.'' Ryder couldn''t help but praise Marcus secretly. He took the things he needed and left the village. He walked into the nearby forest and started digging. He dug for hours and only stopped when it was night. He packed his stuff and went back to that shabby hut. "This feels way too real." The broken bed was not at all comfortable to sleep, but he finally managed to sleep amidst the crackling noises of the bed. Ryder only slept for a few minutes when the light started shining on his face. He opened his eyes after much effort and realized that it was already morning. ''People are right. When you work hard during the day, the sleep will feel much shorter in the night'' Ryder smiled as he got off his bed and got dressed. He picked up a shovel and left the house. "Oh, You''re here! I found your stick." The young boy came back with the stick. Ryder wasn''t surprised much as the boy had come at a similar time in the previous timeline as well. "Good, Keep that stick and here. Take these 3 beans. Go to the shop of Marcus for your next quest." He threw 3 beans towards the boy before he left. He didn''t have much time to waste on the guy. Most of the day was spent on digging and the remaining time was spent on finishing other preparations. It was again night time, but he was much more relaxed as everything was finally finished. The preparations were completed. He walked back to his hut and slept like a baby. Just like yesterday, the night passed away in the blink of an eye and it was already morning. "Damnit! Can''t the night be a little bit longer?" Ryder cursed as soon as he woke up. He was in a pretty cranky mood as his sleep was too short. He left the hut but didn''t leave the village this time. He just stood at the front of his house and waited for the bald man to come. Two hours passed and finally, the Baldy arrived. "There he is!" Ryder finally noticed him as a smile appeared on his face. "Hey NPC! I heard that you''re telling people to find your stick! I didn''t find the stick! Why don''t you give me those 3 beans anyways?" The bulky man said as he stood in front of him. ''As expected, he said the same thing as last time. It''s time for the real fun to start.'' 6 Chapter 6: Back "I can''t give you the beans as someone already took the beans because they found my stick, but since you tried so hard for me, I''ll give you a different quest." "You might receive the legendary weapon of our village, young man," Ryder said. "What? Did I unlock some secret quest by coming without the stick? Awesome!" The Baldy got excited as he started grinning like mad. ''Huh, such an idiot. Though I would have been just as excited if I was in his place. The charm of legendary equipment is really strong after all'' He thought. "Follow me, young man. There is a cave nearby. Inside that cave is our legendary Weapon, but there''s a monster inside that cave as well." "I want you to get that weapon and let me see its majesty with my own eyes. Your reward will be that weapon itself. I''ll show you the cave first. You can make a decision about what to do later." Ryder said with a calm smile on his face. ''I can''t let him feel like there''s anything wrong. I need to act the part properly'' Ryder thought. He gazed at him with a carefree look. "Sure! Let''s go," The man replied as he rubbed his hands together. Greed was clearly visible on his face. "That is really good. Follow me young man" Ryder said. He began walking towards the exit of the village. The bald man followed him. There was only a single thought going on in his mind as he moved towards his destination one step at a time. ''Everything will depend on my luck now. If I fail, I would lose the chance to regain my real body. I can''t let that happen.'' They finally reached the forest after walking for half an hour. Ryder stopped abruptly after reaching a certain point. "This is as far as I can take you. Because of the rules, I can''t leave the boundary of the village. If you walk straight for around 10 minutes, you will see the cave. Best of luck, brave warrior," He said. ''It''s the final step of my plan, I can''t fail.'' "Hey! You NPC! You will come with me. To hell with your rules." The bearded man said. The Baldy grabbed Ryder and pulled him as he continued walking ahead. ''This is bad... If he doesn''t free me, both of us will...'' Sweat was starting to appear on Ryder''s face as he tried to think of a way to free himself but he was too weak. "Please free me! I can''t leave the parameters of the village or I will die, "Ryder hurriedly said again. He tried to convince the bald man to free him. "So what if you die. All I care about is that legendary weapon. I need something to throw at that beast to divert it''s attention if I''m in danger. You''ll do the job just fine." There was a creepy smile on his face. ''He is real trash, isn''t he?'' Ryder cursed in his mind. Ryder tried to convince him again and again, but nothing worked. He walked for a few more minutes before there was a movement on the ground. The ground caved in suddenly and both of them fell inside. ''I was the one who created this trap to kill the Baldy. But I never expected that I would die with him. Is this karma?'' Ryder thought with a self-deprecating smile on his face. The bald man screamed loudly as he fell. There were tens of spikes on the pit that Ryder had placed inside to make sure that the bald man died in a single try. ''I''ll get killed by my own trap. Does this count as killing that Baldy or suicide with him? I''m not even sure at this time. Will this complete the task given by Janus or will I die for no reason?'' He wondered. They both fell onto the spikes which penetrated their bodies. Blood flowed endlessly. The pain was just as painful as dying for real. It felt like thousands of swords had stabbed his body at the same time. The Baldy looked the same. He died instantly, but Ryder was sure he would revive after 24 hours. He was a player after all. He''ll just lose a level. Everything turned to darkness and the pain decreased. Ryder wasn''t sure if the pain had lessened or he was losing his senses. [Ding... Mission Successful! Killed the person who killed you. You will receive the following reward] [Reward: Regaining your real body back] ''Finally! Thank you, Janus. At least I didn''t die for nothing this time. This whole week had been nothing but a pain in the ass.'' This was the last thought he had before he died... for the 3rd time. ___________________________ "Huh! I''m home?" Ryder opened his eyes amidst his headache and the first thing he saw was the roof. He was lying on his soft bed. "Was all of that a dream?" He got up and looked around. ''As I expected, I am in my room.'' He walked towards his table to check out his Divinity VR glasses. He checked everywhere but the glasses were nowhere to be found. ''Did someone take them?'' He frowned as he left the room. "Alice!" He called out to his little cousin. "Yes, brother? " She answered as she opened the door of her room and walked out. Her room was right beside his room. "Did you see my Divinity glasses?" He asked her straight away. "Divinity glasses? What are you talking about?" Alice seemed confused as she replied. "You know them! The glasses that came with the first fully immersive virtual reality game Divinity." Ryder said in an anxious tone. 7 Chapter 7: Mission to kill "Brother? Are you still sleeping? The game hasn''t even been released yet and you already think that you have their glasses?" Alice couldn''t help but laugh as she replied. Her words were enough to make his head go round. "What do you mean they haven''t released yet? The game was released 3 years ago!" He insisted but he was suddenly struck with the realization. How was Alice here? Alice had left for China 2 years ago. She looked somewhat younger as well. ''Did Janus give me my body back by reversing the time?'' The thought finally struck his mind. He hurriedly ran towards the hall and turned on the TV. "There is heavy excitement in the general public all around the world. We are going to witness the biggest evolution in the gaming industry. The first fully immersive virtual reality massively multiplayer online game Divinity is all ready to be released to the general public tomorrow. We have the spokesperson, Mister Li, from the Necrosis Corporation in the studio with us." "Mister Li, What do you think Divinity means for the gaming industry?" A female host was sitting in front of a well-dressed man who looked to be in his early 30s. She has some cue cards in her hand which probably had the questions that she was allowed to ask. "Divinity is not just a game. It''s the future. All I can say for now is that Divinity will change the future for all of Mankind. The launch of Divinity will be the day when humanity enters a new era," Mister Li smiled as he replied. "How many units of the ga¡­ I mean Divinity will be available for sale tomorrow?" The interviewer asked as she switched to the second cue card. "Good question. We are initially going to release ten million units. After the initial release tomorrow, an additional ten million units will be sold each week. The date of the future sales would be announced soon," Mister Li again answered casually. "What do you think will attract users to join Divinity? Are you counting on the title of being the first to bring the fully immersive VRMMO to the public? Or are there other things that the people should know about?" The interviewer asked another question. "Of Course there are many more things. Firstly, we have the government''s support from all over the world, so there are some special things planned for the future which will help our users in the real world." "Secondly, money! Virtual money can be cashed out in the real world, similarly, real-world money can be used in the realm of Divinity, but there are limitations to using real-world money in the game. We want to make it fair for those who aren''t rich." "And thirdly, it will develop the skills of the players. Our virtual reality is as real as the reality itself, People can develop various skills that will help them in the real world," "For example, if they learned the martial arts in Divinity, their brain would adapt to that slowly and they would get the advantage in the real world as well. They won''t become peak martial artists, but they would be better than most normal humans," "There are many more advantages but I am already out of time for today and I have to attend a meeting. I''ll just give one suggestion to the viewers before leaving. Buy Divinity and I promise you that you won''t regret." Mister Li stopped talking as he stood up. "Well.Thank you for talking to us. We know you''re quite a busy man, Mister Li. We wish you all the success for Divinity." The anchor stood up and shook hands with Mister Li before he left. " That''s all the time we had with Mister Li. It''s time for a short break and we''ll be right back to give you more information about the world-changing event tomorrow. Stay tuned," The anchor said before the ads started. Ryder was surprised as he saw the news. He just sat there with a blank look on his face for a few minutes. It sounded impossible in reality, but he had just traveled 3 years in the past. To the time where it all began. "Brother, are you alright?" Alice came to him with a concerned look on her face. She couldn''t understand why Ryder was acting this way. "Yea, I''m fine. Don''t worry about me," He smiled and stood up. He stepped forward and hugged Alice firmly. "It''s good to finally be back. I thought that I would never get to see you again," Ryder said in a relieved tone while embracing her. "Brother. You are acting really weird," Alice said. She looked quite confused, but Ryder didn''t explain and just embraced her silently. After hugging her for what seemed like an eternity, He freed her as he noticed that his eyes were beginning to get wet. "I''ll be in my room." He told her before leaving the hall. He walked back to his room and shut the door tightly. He didn''t want Alice to see him crying. "Janus! Are you still here?" Ryder fell on his bed and called out. He waited for the response for a long time, but there was no response. "Looks like he''s not here. Was he just a dream?" Ryder muttered. "Was this all just a dream? Is time travel really possible? But Mister Li''s interview... It was the same as it was years ago. Is this just Deja Vu? I hope that I''m not going crazy" Ryder closed his eyes and fell in deep thought. [Ding... Another mission has been issued to the host.] [Mission: Kill a human in the real world. Reward: 30 Purchase Points. Punishment for failure: Alice is killed by a criminal! Time limit for the mission: 2 days.] The young voice again sounded in his head, but it said something he never expected. 8 Chapter 8: Youre definitely messing with me Ryder''s expressions couldn''t help but distort as soon as he heard Janus'' words. "You! Do you think we are in a game? How can I kill a real human being! I''m not a monster! And why do you wish to harm Alice!" Ryder roared in anger as he opened his eyes abruptly. [Mission has already been issued. It can''t be changed.] Janus said in an emotionless tone. "He...is he serious?" Ryder started frowning as he fell in deep thought. "Janus can reverse time, so I don''t think that anything is impossible for him. I can''t let Alice die, but killing? I''m not capable of it either. I haven''t even killed an animal, how can I kill a real human being? what should I do?" His head was aching as he thought about everything. He wanted to cry. His headache kept increasing. He could feel his heartbeat getting faster and faster. "Can we negotiate? Change the mission into anything else? I''ll do any other mission!" He started requesting Janus. [Mission has been issued. It can''t be changed.] Janus repeated the same answer. ''What should I do? I have no choice but to k-kill,'' He felt like vomiting at the simple thought of killing. Even the simple notion of killing a human was scary for him. [To help the host in achieving his goal, a side mission has been issued] [Mission: Kiss Alice! Reward: 10 purchase points and a low level strengthening pill. Punishment for failure: Full body Paralysis for two days. You will be unable to move for two days. Time Limit: 20 minutes] ''He''s seriously trying to get me killed, isn''t he? Why do I feel that Janus is even worse than Maya?'' ''My choices are to either kiss her or get paralyzed for two days? If I got paralyzed for two days, I wouldn''t be able to complete the main mission even if I wanted to, and Alice would die. You''re not giving me any other path, but the one that you want me to choose!" "I don''t have much time to think. The time limit is only 20 minutes. I can''t take the risk of getting paralyzed, or I won''t be able to save Alice." Ryder said. He stood up with a determined look on his face. His head was still aching, but he didn''t care. He hurriedly left his room and walked towards Alice''s room. "Alice!" He called out as he knocked on the door of her room. Alice opened the door. "Yes, brother?" She asked. "I''m sorry for what I''m about to do next, but I don''t have a choice," Ryder said in a guilty tone. He took a step forward and placed his hand on her back. He pulled her closer and kissed her. His lips touched her lips. Her eyes were wide open in shock. As soon as Ryder kissed Alice, he found himself in a different place. A girl was standing before him, who looked similar to Alice, but she seemed older. She was wearing a beautiful green and a crown on her head. "They will kill you if you don''t stop!" the girl told Ryder with tears in her eyes. Right at that moment, Ryder found himself back. His lips were still touching Alice''s lips. Ryder released her immediately as soon as he came back to her senses and took a step back. He ignored the vision he had as he was in much serious trouble right now. Alice just stood there with a blank look on her face for quite some time. What he didn''t realize was that Janus'' mission didn''t specify that he had to kiss on lips, and with the name of a kiss, the only thought that came to his mind was the kiss on lips. That''s what the word had come to mean after so many years. No one called kissing in cheeks and forehead as kiss as a different word had been decided for them many years ago to decrease the confusion. Still, if he had realized the possibility, he might have escaped this conundrum or at least tried. "Y-you pervert!" She said as she pushed Ryder back and shut the door on his face. "Alice, listen to me! I didn''t have a choice. It''s all because of J...aaaa" Ryder was trying to explain to Alice as he didn''t want to be misunderstood. As soon as he tried talking about Janus, a powerful shock coursed through his body. Alice heard his scream, and hurriedly opened the door. She ran to him in a hurry with a worried look on her face. Ryder was lying on the ground. She supported his head on her lap. "Are you alright, brother?" [Host can''t talk about the existence of Janus and anything related to it.] Janus'' voice again appeared out of nowhere. "I am fine. Don''t worry about me. I''m really sorry for how I behaved, though. I promise I won''t repeat such a mistake." Ryder used this opportunity to apologize to Alice. ''She''s a really nice girl. Even after everything that has happened, she still came out to help me after hearing my scream.'' A gentle smile appeared on his face as he looked at Alice. "I...I don''t know why you did it, but I think that you must have a reason for doing so. Still... please don''t do anything like that ever again." Alice said in an annoyed tone as she glared at Ryder. "At least not like this," She muttered, but Ryder wasn''t able to hear her this time. There was still some displeasure evident in her voice, but she seemed to have calmed down a lot. "Yeah. I made a mistake. I would never do it again." Ryder told Alice with an apologetic look on his face. He was just about to stand up when the voice of hell''s envoy again appeared in his head. [Ding...To help the host in achieving his main mission, another side mission has been issued. ] [Mission: Kiss Alice once again! Reward: 10 purchase points and a low-level Strengthening Pill. Punishment for failure: Paralysis for two days. The host will be unable to move for two days. Time Limit: 2 minutes] ''You bastard! You''re doing it, purposely! You''re definitely messing with me right now!'' Ryder screamed in his mind, but just like before, he had no choice but to follow the command if he wanted to save Alice''s life. He looked at Alice with a wry smile on his face. She felt something weird as she noticed the apologetic look on his face, but Ryder caught her hand and pulled her towards himself. 9 Chapter 9: Rewards and Strength His lips again touched hers as he kissed her once again. Just like before, he freed her immediately. *Slap!* A sharp sound echoed in the house. Alice walked back to her room and closed the door with full force. "H-he... There should have been a date before this. This is not romantic at all. At least ask me for a date! It''s not like I would have said no," She whispered with a red face as she walked up to the bed and lay on it. Ryder simply stood outside her room with a red palm print on his cheek. ''Alright, I deserved it. Wait, I didn''t deserve it! Janus deserved it,'' He thought but didn''t say it out loud. He didn''t want to be zapped again for spilling information about Janus. He stood up and left before Janus could give the same mission again. "Janus, can you tell me one thing?" Ryder asked Janus after he closed the door of his room. [What does the host want to know?] Janus replied. "You''re secretly a pervert, aren''t you? Making me do these stupid missions?" He said to Janus in an annoyed tone. [Janus is not a pervert. It''s the host that chose to kiss his cousin despite having another choice of paralysis. The host would be considered a pervert] Janus gave an unexpected reply. "You smart-ass, Don''t mix the words. If I chose to paralyze myself, it would be the same as failing the main mission and risking the life of Alice," Ryder cursed out loud. He wished to strangle Janus but unfortunately, Janus wasn''t a physical entity. "Anyway, where''s my reward for my side quests?" [Your reward has already been provided to you. You can open your inventory to see the rewards. The purchase points have been added to your account as well. You can use the points to purchase things from the system''s store.] Janus answered him. "Inventory? How do I access it?" He asked. Although he understood what Janus was talking about, he still had some questions. ''Inventory? Did he take that term out of that game and gave me a similar inventory?'' He wondered. [Host just needs to say ''Open inventory'' to access the inventory. The host can say ''Open the store'' to access the store] Janus answered Ryder. "Janus, Open the inventory!" He followed Janus''s instructions and commanded. As soon as the words left his mouth, a semi-transparent screen appeared in front of his face. ''I was right! It''s similar to the inventory of the game. Looks like Janus took some ideas from Divinity,'' Ryder though as he observed the inventory which looked strikingly similar to the inventory of Divinity. There were around 20 boxes in the inventory screen. The first box had a pill-shaped item with an ''X2'' mark at the bottom of the box. He tapped on the box and description appeared on another screen. [Strengthening pill: Consuming the pill can increase the strength of the person by 50 percent.] ''What the hell? A single pill can increase my strength by 50%? Doesn''t that mean that these 2 pills would increase my strength by 125%? That will make me twice as strong as I am right now!'' He grew excited just at the thought of it. The pill was really miraculous and might actually be able to help him in his main mission. He double-tapped on the first box and a pill appeared in the air. It floated in front of him. The pill looks like a normal medicinal pill, it was not too big nor was it too small. He smelled the pill, and that''s where the real difference came in. Unlike most of the medical pills, the red pill in front of him had a way pleasing smell. After initial hesitation, He placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it. "My body... it''s burning up." He could feel his body heating up. That feeling disappeared in a few seconds and everything returned back to normal. "Am I stronger now? I feel no different?" He muttered with a confused look on his face. He walked towards his bed. He had two dumbells that were placed near his bed. He bought those so that he could exercise in his room. Although he was a lazy man, he never forgot to do some exercise in the morning. Each dumbbell had a weight of 10kg. He picked a dumbbell and couldn''t help but be shocked. He had no trouble picking it up. In fact, the dumbbells felt a little too light. He used his left hand and picked the dumbbell from it as well but there was no difference. The 10 kg dumbbell was way too light for him now. "Awesome! Although my reputation in Alice''s eyes has reached rock bottom, the rewards are really not bad," He muttered as he placed the dumbbells back to their original place. The inventory still hadn''t disappeared. He double-tapped on the first box and the second strengthening pill also appeared in front of him. The first box that previously held a pill icon was now empty. He grabbed the pill and swallowed it immediately. That burning feeling again came from inside and disappeared soon after. ''Janus, close the inventory." He commanded Janus. He didn''t have to ask him about the way to close it. He was able to guess it easily after learning how to open it. The inventory disappeared. ''It''s really like fantasy. Everything feels so impossible, yet it''s happening right before my eyes. So magical.'' 10 Chapter 10: Selecting a Skill "Janus, Open the store! " He commanded in a low voice as he sat on his comfy bed. He was really curious about the store and the things he could purchase from it. ''I have 20 purchase points from the completed missions. Let''s see what I could get with it.'' He thought. Another screen opened in front of his eyes. There were many items displayed on the screen, most of which were foreign to him. There was only one thing that he knew about, which was the Strengthening Pill. Other than the Strengthening Pill, all the other items were unknown that made him click on them to find out their specialty. Surprisingly, a single Strengthening Pill cost 40 purchase points. "Strange. The reward for finishing the main quest is only 30 purchase points, so in a sense, I gained more from the side quests than I will gain from the main quest," " Is human life really that worthless? Or is it true that Janus is a pervert?" He muttered with a perplexed look on his face. "Janus! Isn''t the reward for the main quest too low? How can it only be 30 purchase points?" He tried asking Janus but Janus'' reply didn''t help in the slightest. [The rewards are fixed and can''t be changed.] ''Well, I should''ve expected as much from him.'' "Let''s see what I can get..." He didn''t know when it started, but he realized that he had started talking to himself a lot. He began scrolling down the list of items. There were many strange items there, but most of them cost over 30 purchase points. The items that cost less were too few. [Enlightenment Pill:90 Purchase points. It can increase the intelligence of a person and make them comprehend the truth of nature.] ''Is learning the truth of nature really that helpful? I don''t even know what that term means, but the cost sure is high.'' [Native Boxing Manuel:50 purchase points. Learning the skill can help you fight tens of humans without falling to your knees.] [Love potion:90 points. It can make any person fall in love with you once the potion is used on them. Warning: Effects only last for a day] "This potion is quite badass. Too bad that the effects only last for a single day. After the day is over, and the person is freed from the effects of the potion, Won''t that mean my death?" He kept scrolling and scrolling. There were hundreds of items in the list. Some were quite good, while others were troublesome to deal with. The strangest thing that he noticed was that none of the items in the list cost over a hundred purchase points. "Hey, Janus! Tell me honestly, am I restricted from seeing the more expensive items?" He asked Janus. He had a feeling that this god-like system can''t be this simple. [The host is right. You have been limited to items worth 100 Purchase points. The restriction will be removed after the host completes a certain number of missions] Janus answered back in the usual emotionless voice. "How many missions do I have to complete to unlock the next level of the store?" Ryder asked Janus. [The number depends on the difficulties of the assigned missions. It can range from 5 missions to 15 missions.] "Oh?" ''Honestly, I don''t even feel like reacting. 15 missions? That''s too far to even think about.I''m already finding it difficult to complete the first main mission.'' He shifted his focus back to the screen in front of him and chose an item. [Lower Martial Arts Manual: An offensive fighting technique which can be used for defense as well as attack] "I really need it. Although I know how to use a sword because of playing Divinity for over 3 years as a knight, I can''t go around with a sword in the real world. I''d get arrested by the police before I can even take a step out on the street. The manual cost me 15 purchase points only." As soon as he double-tapped on the screen to select the Manual, Another screen appeared nearby. [Ding...Purchase successful. Press ''Yes'' the screen to learn the skill directly. It will cost you 5 purchase points. Press ''No'' on the screen to get the manual only] He looked towards the second screen and noticed that there were only 2 options on the screen. Yes and No. "Of Course I would choose yes. Although it will cost me 5 purchase points, it''s much easier as well. Who knows how long it would take for me to learn that skill manually!" \u003e With a wry smile on his face, he tapped on yes. As soon as he touched yes, the screen disappeared. Years upon years of memories flooded his brain. It felt like he had been practicing fighting Martial Arts for many years. ''This feeling is so amazing. I can''t even describe it.'' He was excited at learning the skill and increasing his strength, but he suddenly started feeling tired and sleepy. "I should probably take a nap for a few hours," He yawned as he fell to his bed. He instantly fell asleep. "Hmm?" Where am I?" Ryder found himself standing on a stage. He was wearing a tuxedo. Alice was standing in front of him in a beautiful white gown. She really looked as pretty as an angel. She looked in his eyes as she opened her sweet lips slightly. "I do," The words escaped her mouth. "Very good. With the power vested in me by Divinity, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You both may kiss each other now," A female voice said. He looked in that direction only to find Maya standing there with a book in her hand, dressed like a priest. 11 Chapter 11: Target selected He looked to the other side and saw his previous guildmates sitting on the chairs. They were cheering for him. Max Lee was there as well. He wanted to go kill Max and Maya, but he realized that he was in a dream and that wouldn''t change anything. "I get it now.I''m dreaming. Oh well, might as well enjoy the dream then," He muttered as he walked towards Alice. He placed his hands on her smooth back and pulled her towards him. He used his other hand to hold Maya''s hand and pulled her towards him as well. Both the girls were in his arms and he was their king. "Ahh. Can I ask you something?" Alice suddenly said to him as she glanced at him with a curious look on her face. "Yes, You can ask me anything! Speak your heart''s desires," Ryder said to Alice. Alice opened her cherry blossom lips and said something that he least expected. "How long do you plan to sleep? Food is ready." "Huh?" Ryder was stunned. He couldn''t understand what was happening in his beautiful dream. Was he hungry and subconsciously manipulating this dream? "Hey! How long are you going to sleep! Dinner is ready!" She said again. "What are you talking about! I don''t want food!" Ryder said with a smile as he placed his hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to finish the wedding ceremony in his dream. He was just about to kiss her, but before his lips could touch hers, his dream broke as he felt a sharp pain on his cheeks. He opened his eyes only to find Alice standing in front of him with a red face. Somehow his right cheek felt pained. "You! What were you trying to do? You''ll never learn. Y-you, idiot!" Alice said as she looked at Ryder with a gaze that made it seem like she was really angry this time. ''Did I try to kiss her again? My life really sucks. I can''t even do anything in dreams now,'' Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out of his eyes. "The food is on the table. Go eat yourself." She said before she left the room. She didn''t forget to shut the door with full force though. "She sounds really angry," Ryder sighed as he stood up. "Well, Since she made me dinner, I might as well go and eat it. I''m quite hungry anyways. It has been a long time since I last ate the food made by her," He said as he reminisced about her food in the previous timeline. Alice had left for China for her higher studies after completing the University in the previous timeline. So in reality, it had been around 2 years since he ate the food made by her. He left the room and walked towards the dining room. After he finished eating the food, he sat on the chair and he began thinking about what to do next. ''The day will be over soon and I would only have one day to kill a person. I''ll do it tonight. I can''t leave this for the last moment. It''s about her life after all!'' He stood up and left the house without informing Alice. The streets of the city were almost empty and only a few cars could be seen coming and going. He walked for a long time before he finally saw a person. It was an old woman that looked like she was coming from shopping. Ryder gazed at her for a brief moment before he shook his head. ''I can''t kill an old lady! Fuck, I can''t even kill an animal, let alone a human! I don''t even know what I''m trying to do '' He thought as he kept walking. After some time, he finally came up with a plan. "Since I have no choice, I would use this opportunity for the good of the world. I''d clean the streets of the criminals," He made up his mind as he walked towards a certain direction There was a place in the city known as Bucky''s Club. It was a bar that was located on the 67th street of the Northern part of the city. The bar was mostly used by gangsters and criminals. It was said that the bar was run by the Mafia, but the police didn''t care for it. He had decided to search for his prey on that location. Normally he wouldn''t even think about going to a place like that, let alone actually go there to kill a criminal, but after eating 2 strengthening pills and increasing his strength by 125%, he felt like he could take care of himself. He even learned the Lower Martial arts Technique from the system''s store. Unless the person straight away started shooting, he felt like he could succeed. " I have to succeed. Not for myself, but for Alice," He muttered with a determined look on his face. Although he was acting confident, there was still some hesitation in his heart along with some anxiousness. The 67th street was neither too close to his house nor too far. It took him around an hour of walking to get there. As soon as he stepped on the street, he was able to see the bar. There were three bulky people standing outside the bar talking to each other. "Alright, how should I handle it?" He wondered as he stood on the 67th street. He was about to take a step forward and walk towards the bar when he suddenly heard the scream of a woman. It came from the opposite side. He hurriedly turned back and ran in the direction that scream came from. "Please don''t do it! Let me go, I beg you!" Came the voice of a woman again. 12 Chapter 12: Time to kill He finally got there and looked to the side only to see an empty alley. A woman was lying on the ground while a guy was on top of her. The guy looked like he was trying to tear off her clothes. "H..." Ryder was about to go there, but he abruptly stopped himself. It was decided that he would kill that guy but he didn''t want to let that girl see his face. ''Even if I am the one who saved her, it''s not a hundred percent sure that she wouldn''t help the police in creating my sketch and get me chased like a criminal for a murder,'' He thought with a frown. Fortunately, he had brought a mask with him. It was a black full-face pollution mask. He wore the mask as fast as he could and when he was finally ready to help her, he ran towards her. His footsteps were loud enough to attract the man''s attention. The man turned back to look towards Ryder with a surprised look on his face. "Leave that girl right now!" Ryder said as he glared at the black-haired man. "Hoh? A knight in shining armor is here and he is hoping to save a girl? Didn''t the little knight know that offending me means death? Let me teach you a lesson boy," The man said. He stood as he observed Ryder. Ryder was able to see his height as the man stood up. He was over 7 feet tall with big bulky muscles. "It''s been a long time since there has been a person who rushed to his death like you. Do you know what happened to the last guy that did that? He was buried alive in the ground! But don''t worry I won''t bury you alive," "I don''t have so much time to waste on you. I''ll kill you right here and right now! I''ll then leave your body here to rot!" The man said with a creepy smile on his face. He took out a knife. "What the heck, That''s so creepy! You really deserve to die, Don''t you?" Ryder''s expression turned weird as he heard his reply. ''I don''t think I''m going to regret killing him,'' He thought. He looked at the black-haired man like he was looking at trash. Ryder started running towards the man while the man stood right there waiting for him. Ryder punched out towards his face, but immediately stopped himself as he dodged the knife in his hand that was coming towards him. "Good reflexes." The man chuckled, but he didn''t stop swinging his knife at Ryder. Ryder kept dodging for a while but he realized that he didn''t come here to dodge. ''I can''t keep dodging forever. I need to take some risk if I want to kill that guy,'' He used the lower martial arts he learned from the system as he targeted the hand of the man that was coming towards him with a knife. The knife flew out of the man''s hands and landed on the ground. The man didn''t care for the knife as he punched towards Ryder''s face. Ryder made a fast movement and caught the man''s hand. The man''s fat hand was unable to move forward nor could it go back as Ryder held it tightly. "Without the knife, I have nothing to worry about. You are too weak," Ryder said as a smirk appeared on his face. He increased the pressure on the man''s wrist which made him let out a scream filled with pain. ''I wasn''t weak before eating the Strengthening pill but after eating them, my strength has reached a whole different level. The man in front of me can''t compare,'' Ryder thought as he observed the pained look of the black-haired man. Ryder twisted his hand, making the back haired man scream even louder as his bones broke. "Ahhh... You bastard. I swear that I will kill you!" The man roared loudly in pain as he glared at Ryder with an almost maddened gaze. "Oh man, I was starting to wonder when you will threaten me," Ryder said in a mocking tone. Ryder grabbed his other hand and broke it as well. The man screamed like a pig being slaughtered as both his hands were broken. Tears had started to fall from his eyes. Gripping his neck, Ryder walked towards the knife that had fallen to the ground and picked it up. "You bastard! Kill me if you dare! Our gang will find you and make you have a fate far worse than death!" The man roared loudly at Ryder with a crazy look on his face. Ryder was kinda surprised that he didn''t beg for his life even in the face of death. "Although you are trash, I must say that you do have some courage," Ryder said with a smile as he gazed at the black-haired man. He gripped the knife firmly in his hand as he got ready to attack, but he couldn''t. He realized that his hand was shaking and his heart was beating faster. It wasn''t as easy as he had imagined. There was some hesitation when it was actually the time to do it. "Just as I thought, you don''t have the guts to kill a person. You''re just a greenhorn. You are strong, but you can''t kill. If you leave me, I can still take you in as my subordinate." The man said as he made an offer to Ryder. He looked like he had somewhat calmed down and was now trying to tempt Ryder. 13 Chapter 13: Surprise Reward Honestly, Ryder wasn''t even sure if he could kill the man. He was hesitating, but he remembered the words that Janus had said to him at that time. ''Punishment for failure: Alice will die.'' The words kept echoing in his mind. Alice''s smiling face appeared in his mind. His shaking hand had stopped shaking as he made a determination... a determination to kill. He thrust the knife forward and stabbed the chest of the man. "I can even go to hell for her. After our parents'' death, She is the only family I have left. I''ll never let anything happen to her," He muttered. He could see the painful look on the man''s face. Ryder realized that he would never be able to forget the eyes of the man that stared at him while he died. His hands were covered by the man''s blood, just like the knife. Fortunately, his clothes were still fine. He pulled the knife out and let the man fall to the ground. The man''s lifeless body was in front of him, while he stood there with a knife in his hand. He was still having a hard time believing that he had killed a real person. He turned back to leave, but his eyes fell on the girl at the corner of the alley. She still hadn''t left, probably because of fear. The girl was shivering as tears kept falling from her eyes. Ryder started walking towards the girl. "What is your name?" He asked the girl as he gazed in her eyes. "M-mary, Please don''t kill me, Sir," She stuttered. He could see that she was shivering. Ryder was wearing a jacket over his shirt. He took his Shirt and Jacket off without taking the time to think. He was now standing topless in front of the girl. "W-what," The girl took a step back. She wrapped her arms around her chest. Ryder could guess what she was thinking. ''She thinks I''m going to force myself on her. Well, I can''t blame her for thinking kill that after what she went through,'' Ryder thought with a wry smile on his face. "Don''t worry, I''m not going to do anything. Here, take this shirt. You need something to wear as you leave this place," Ryder said in a gentle tone. He extended his hand towards her. After a little bit of hesitation, She took the shirt from his hand. "You can go now," He said to her in a calming tone. He wore his jacket and turned back to leave. "Ah, Can I know your name?" The girl asked abruptly as she saw him leaving. "Me? You can call me Hades," He said before he left. He didn''t tell her his real name for his protection. He told his avatar''s name that he had used in ''Divinity''. "Hades?" She muttered to herself. She just stood there and watched him leave. After he left, she left the alley as well and walked towards her home. She didn''t realize it, but Ryder was keeping an eye on her. He wanted to make sure that she got out of this area safely. ''I''m not a saint, but I should keep her safe since I have saved her. I can collect some good karma in the process. I don''t think that it can balance my sin of murder though,'' After making sure that she was out of this area, he walked back. He had to pass through the 67th street to get back. Fortunately, his jacket didn''t have any blood on it. He had found a water source and was able to wash the blood off his hands as well. He placed that knife in the system storage instead of throwing it away. He felt like it was much safer to keep it there. He was still a little shaken though. The dying face of that man kept flashing before his eyes. "Janus, Why don''t you announce my completion of the mission? Stop being lazy and give me my rewards," He muttered. He was hoping to divert his attention by talking to Janus. [The main mission has been completed! 30 purchase points have been added to the account of the host for completing the mission] [Extra Reward: Since the host has completed his first main mission before half time, An additional 20 purchase points have been awarded to the host] [Extra Reward: Since the host has completed his first main mission before half time, A mystery box has been awarded to the host] "Cool, you finally woke up. Were you sleeping?" He asked in a joking manner. [The system never sleeps] "Why were you so late then?" Ryder inquired. He was actually curious about it. [The system was waiting for the host to get home] "Why? Were you being considerate?" Ryder couldn''t help but laugh, but Janus didn''t reply. "Hey. At least tell me about the mysterious box. What''s in it?" He asked Janus. Although he could open the box, he didn''t want to stop in this dangerous place to open the box. [That''s a mystery. Even Janus don''t know] "Then open the box and tell me," Ryder said as his curiosity got the best of him. He decided to open the box right now. [The box can''t be opened without the key. The host needs the key,] "What key? Where can I find the key?" Ryder let out with a shocked look on his face, but Janus'' reply only made him angry. [The system can''t answer] "Are you serious? So you gave me a box as a reward that I can''t even open? Are you messing with me?" Ryder cursed out loud with an annoyed look on his face. 14 Chapter 14: Going to Buckys [Janus is not messing with the host,] Janus said without being considerate towards Ryder''s feelings. "Ah man, whatever. I''m too tired to even argue with you. Do whatever you want to do with that useless box," Ryder gave up on arguing as he realized that it wasn''t good for him to argue over something that he didn''t even know about. As he walked on the 67th street, he kept scrutinizing his surroundings to look out for police or the goons. He was trying to get out of here as fast as he could, but before he could walk far, a voice came from behind that made him stop. "Hey! Stop right there!" Ryder tried to act ignorant as he turned back. His heartbeat was getting slightly faster as he wondered who called him. '' I can''t let anyone suspect me.'' He thought as he turned back with an innocent smile on his face. "I was right. It''s you! Ryder... Ryder Flynn, right?" That person said. Ryder was stunned to see the person. It was a man who looked like he was in his early twenties. His flaming red hairs looked kind of unique but did not look bad. He was wearing black sunglasses on his face and wore luxurious clothes. His hands were resting on the shoulders of the girls that stood on his right and left. The girls were wearing short dresses that barely covered their fair knees. "Bastion? Is that you?" Ryder let out with a stunned look on his face. He recognized that boy. That boy was one of his best friends at the college. Unfortunately, they had lost contact after college ended. ''I never thought I would meet this guy again. What''s he doing in a place like this?'' Ryder wondered. The boy''s name was Bastian Barrel. He and Ryder studied the same course in college. He was also known as the playboy of that place. Bastian could be seen with a different girl every month, but it wasn''t strange. He had money, after all. The money along with the good looks that he had, made him the ideal boyfriend for most of the girls. Even though Bastian was his best friend, Ryder never knew what his parents did. All he knew was that his parents had a lot of money. After they graduated, he never heard from Bastian again. He was told that Bastian had left the country. "It''s me! I finally get to see you after so long," Bastian said as a bright smile appeared on his face. "You too dude. You left without even telling me. Anyway, when did you return?" Ryder smiled. He walked closer to Bastian. "Yeah, there was some stuff, and I had to leave the country, but I''m back now. I just landed today," Bastian replied. Bastian removed his hands from the girl''s shoulders and walked towards Ryder and hugged him. "That''s awesome. Anyway, what are you doing here? This place is not ssafe,you know," Ryder said. He tried to warn him as he separated from Bastian. The 67th street was known for its dangers after all, and he didn''t wish for Bastian to be hurt. "I''m going to a club nearby. There''s a birthday celebration for me," Bastian said as he began laughing. "Birthday? Oh, right! It''s 29th March, isn''t it?" Ryder was surprised as he remembered. "Nice, so you remember the date. Anyway, I tried calling you, but your old number wasn''t working. I was thinking that I''ll never get to see you again," Bastian said. "Yeah. I lost my phone and lost all my contacts. I couldn''t even get the same number from the phone company. Things were quite hectic," Ryder answered with a wry smile on his face. "Whatever, It''s good that I found you. Come with me. Let''s celebrate my birthday, bro!" Bastian said with a grin on his face. He grabbed Ryder''s hand and pulled him. "Alright," Ryder couldn''t deny him, and he wanted to take care of him as well. He felt like Bastian didn''t understand how dangerous this place could be. The girls who were with Bastian looked somewhat unhappy, but they didn''t complain and simply followed them. They walked towards the club. Just like before, there were two bulky guys standing at the doors. The surprising thing was that the guards didn''t stop them. In fact, they looked quite respectful. They gained entry into the club. It was the first time Ryder had been to a club like this. He was somewhat surprised as he entered and saw the club from inside. The building looked even bigger from the inside. The left half of the building was like a bar. There was a bar counter and around 20 tables placed there. The other half of the building was much more interesting. While the left half was a bar,the right half was a strip club for entertainment. There were four doors in the building. One was on the left half of the building that looked like it was the door to the kitchen. There was no security in front of that door. The second door was the one that was used for entry and exit into the building. There were 2 guards standing outside the door. The third and fourth doors were on the right side of the building. Both these doors were heavily guarded. "Little boss! You''re here!" A man came towards them. He was followed by three guys. "Mark, Where''s Aunt Esmi?" Bastian asked the man in a casual tone. 15 Chapter 15: Meeting the boss "Little boss! You''re here!" A man came towards them. He was followed behind by three guys. "Mark, Where''s Aunt Esmi?" Bastian asked in a casual tone. "Madam is waiting for the young Master in her office. I''ll go inform her right now." The man replied. "It''s fine, Mark, I''ll go to her myself," Bastian said as he started walking towards the second door. He pulled Ryder along with him. "Alright." The man, named Mark nodded his head as he followed them. '' I''m surprised that he didn''t ask for my identity. It looks like the identity of Bastian is not that simple since he can bring me inside without any checking or inquiry.'' Ryder thought, but that was when he heard Janus'' voice again. As soon as Janus said his first words, Ryder knew that it would be another mission. He had already realized that he was in trouble. Ryder wanted to cry as soon as he heard the mission. [Ding... Another side mission has been issued to the host. Mission: Tell the Owner of the Bucky''s club that you have a crush on them. Mission Reward: The host will be given the key to open the mystery box that he had received. Punishment for Failure: The host will never get the key to open the mystery box in his storage, and thirty purchase points will be deducted from the host''s account. Time limit: 6 hours] ''There''s no doubt about it. Janus is trying to get me killed.'' Ryder thought with a wry smile on his face as soon as he finished hearing the mission. He wanted to cry as he thought about how brutal his death will be, but no tears came out of his eyes. ''The owner of this club must be the biggest mafia king here. Since Janus gave me this mission with a 6-hour time limit, that means he must be in this club right now. Who can the boss be? I''ll try to say it like a joke; maybe he won''t get offended. I really want to see what''s inside the mystery box.'' He thought as he walked with Bastian. "Hey, Bastian, Who''s the boss of this place?" He asked Bastian with a thoughtful look on his face. It was the best choice to get some information out of him since he seemed like a famous person here. "Oh? The boss? You''ll see the boss quite soon." There was a mysterious smile on Bastian''s face as he replied to him. Ryder had no choice but to wait. ''It''s a good thing that I have 6 hours,'' he thought They finally reached the second door that was protected by the guards. As soon as the guards saw Bastian, they moved aside. "Aunt?" Bastian said as he knocked on the door. "Oh? Bash, you''re here! You have made me wait for so long. Come on inside." A female voice came from the inside. Ryder realized that it must be the voice of his Aunt Esmi. Since she had her own office here, she must be the manager of the club. "Alright. " Bastian opened the door and entered inside. He was holding Ryder''s hand; thus, Ryder had no choice but to enter the room with him. There was no one inside the room other than a woman. The woman looked like she was in her early thirties, but she seemed quite pretty. If Ryder hadn''t realized that she was Bastian''s Aunt, he would have considered her his sister. The woman had beautiful blue hair that came down to her shoulders. Her fair skin and her almond-shaped blue eyes added to her charm. She was wearing a black dress, but that dress was showing some of her cleavage. Her tight dress made her figure stick out even more. Ryder shifted his focus from the woman, but his eyes opened wide after he noticed the gun that was lying on the table in front of her. He was getting a feeling of danger. "Who might this guy be?" The woman asked as she looked towards Ryder. "He? He''s my best friend from university days. We lost contact after I left the country, but luckily I was able to meet him when I was coming here. His name is Ryder Flynn," Bastian informed his Aunt with a smile. "Oh, right, Ryder¡­ I remember you used to tell me about him years ago. Unfortunately, I never had the time to go to your university and wasn''t able to meet him. It''s good that you found your friend again." The blue-haired woman said with a smile. ''Her smile is so beautiful. Now I understand where Bastian gets his good looks from. It must be in the genes,'' Ryder thought as he saw her smile. "Hey, Ryder. I''m Esmi Gibson. It''s nice to meet you finally. I hope you can take care of this nephew of mine as you did at the university. He just came back from foreign, so he doesn''t have many friends." The woman known as Esmi said as she looked towards him with a smile. "Ah... Yes!" Ryder hurriedly nodded his head and replied to her. "Let''s go. It''s time for your birthday celebration," Esmi said to Bastian as she stood up and walked towards them. Ryder was finally able to see her ultimately. Just as he had expected, she had a devilish figure that was perfect. She had a height of around 5ft 7 inches. Her dress was only slightly shorter than her knees and covered her thighs but still exposed a decent amount of her legs. "I''m looking good, aren''t I?" Esmi inquired with a smile as she noticed Ryder looking at her. "Ah, yes," Ryder replied to her without thinking. "Let''s go then." She held Bastian and Ryder''s hands as she left the room with them. The music stopped as soon as she came out of her office. "Guys! As you have all been informed that it''s my nephew''s birthday today! Everything is free in the club for the night! Enjoy the night to the fullest!" Esmi said loudly as she informed the people of the club. "Yayyy!Boss is the best!" There was a loud cheer amongst the people of the club. "Happy Birthday, young boss! " Everyone started wishing Bastian, but Ryder, on the other hand, had begun to have a headache. 16 Chapter 16: Leaving the club "Happy Birthday, young boss! " Everyone started wishing Bastian, but Ryder, on the other hand, had begun to have a headache. ''Boss? Is she the owner of the club?'' He had finally realized that Esmi was the boss. He couldn''t help but reminisce about Janus'' last mission. ''Mission: Tell the Owner of the Bucky''s club that you have a crush on them. Mission Reward: The host will be given the key to open the mystery box that he had received. Punishment for Failure: The host will never get the key to open the mystery box in his storage, and thirty purchase points will be deducted from the host''s account. Time Limit: 6 hours'' ''Doesn''t that mean I have to express my crush to my friend''s aunt? Who is also a gangster?'' Ryder''s mouth opened wide as he thought about it. "Ah, Mam, Are you the owner of this club?" He asked her just to be sure. "Yup, didn''t Bastian tell you?" She replied with a smile. ''Oh, shi*.I''m screwed. Should I give up this mission? But I don''t want to lose the opportunity to open the mystery box.'' His headache was starting to get worse. "Hey Ryder, Are you alright?" Bastian asked him with concern as he noticed the worried look on Ryder''s face. "I''m fine. Just remembered something unnecessary," Ryder answered with a smile. ''That''s no way that I can explain to you that I''m going to do something like that. I apologize in advance, my friend.'' He thought secretly as he looked down. "Let''s go. The table is prepared. It''s my nephew''s birthday today! Time for us to drink until the morning." Esmi said with beautiful laughter. She pulled both of them with her towards an empty table. All three of them sat at the table. Glasses and beer bottles were already placed on the table for them to begin their celebration. There were five bottles in total on the table. "Cheers!" She said as she began drinking. ''I rarely drink, but I can''t say no to them.'' Ryder thought as he held the glass in his hand. He also began drinking and matched their speed. In less than an hour, all five bottles were empty. "Hmm? He still can''t handle the booze, he''s already down, and he only drank one bottle. You, on the other hand, are quite good. You''re still looking fresh even after drinking as much as me." Esmi said to Ryder. She looked like she was a little intoxicated. Bastian was already sleeping on the table. It looked like he had already reached his limit. Ryder, on the other hand, was still not drunk. He didn''t know why, but even after drinking so much, he was still able to think clearly. "Come with me. Help me take Bastian to the car. I''ll leave you home while I''m at it." Esmi said as she stood up. "Uh, right," Ryder replied as he stood up as well. They both placed one of Bastian''s arms on their shoulders and supported him. "Madam, we can help you with that!" The people in the club offered as they came forward, but Esmi denied all of them. "It''s alright. You guys take care of the club and enjoy it. I''ll be taking my nephew home for the night. Happy drinking, guys!" Esmi replied to them as she left the club with Ryder. Ryder saw three cars in front of the club as soon as he walked out with Esmi and Bastian. All three of them looked like the top model cars of BMW. "Which one is yours?" Ryder asked as he looked towards Esmi. All three cars seemed pretty expensive; thus, he couldn''t guess her car. "My car? It''s there!" Esmi said as she pointed towards the other end of the street. At about 500 meters of distance from them, a Ferrari was standing there. The car looked really pretty under the light of the Moon. "Why did you park it so far, mam?" Ryder inquired. He couldn''t understand why the boss of the club didn''t park her car near the club. "You don''t have to call me, mam. You can call me by my name. As for the reason I parked it so far, It''s so that I will have to walk to the car. In that way, I get some extra exercise, and it''s good for the figure as well." She chuckled as she informed Ryder. ''It feels like the best chance. Come on, Ryder, Take the leap.'' Ryder thought as he tried to motivate himself. He clenched his fist tightly. "Ah, Ma... I mean, Esmi, can I tell you something?" Ryder asked her. "Sure, Don''t be shy," Esmi replied. "You''re really pretty. I have a crush on you," Ryder confessed. "Do you know what you are saying? I''ll kill you if you''re joking," Esmi let out suddenly as she glanced at Ryder. "Oh, No. It''s not a joke. I''m serious right now. I have a crush on you," Ryder insisted. "Tread with care, love. You won''t be able to handle this lady." Esmi chuckled as she said. ''Oh god, It''s good that she isn''t angry.'' ''Thanks for not killing me,'' Ryder thought to himself as the happiness of completing a mission successfully engulfed his heart. "What made you have a crush on me? Just the looks?" Esmi asked. 17 Chapter 17: Completion "Ding... Mission Successful. The host is rewarded with the key to open the mysterious box." Ryder had heard Janus'' voice in his head, and he was celebrating when he heard Esmi ask him a question. "What made you have a crush on me? Just the looks?" Esmi asked. Ryder didn''t take long to answer her as he didn''t want it to seem as if he was lying. "Ah, that''s not all. I don''t understand the reason myself, but I find myself attracted to you as if you''re the most special girl in the world," he said. "Hahaha, That''s a cheesy thing to say, but I''ll take that as a compliment," Esmi chuckled. "We''re here. Help me get Bastian on the passenger seat." Esmi said to Ryder as they got to the Car. After some effort, they successfully achieved their goal. Bastian was sitting on the passenger seat. "Thanks for everything. I''ll take my leave now." Ryder said to Esmi. The car she owned was a two-seater sports car. It was clear that there was no place for him in the car. ''It''s fine, though. My home is not too far, anyway.'' He thought as he turned back. "Why are you, leavening? I said I''ll leave you home, didn''t I?" Esmi said as she held his hand. "Ah, It''s fine, Esmi. This car is a two-seater. There''s no place for me." He told her as he felt as if she didn''t understand the problem. "You don''t have to worry about that. We can easily adjust. You sit in the driver seat." Esmi said with a mysterious smile on her face. "Me? On the driver seat? Where will you sit if I''m in the driver seat?" Ryder let out with a confused look on his face as he stared at Esmi. ''Is the alcohol taking hold of her mind? Her words aren''t making any sense.'' "Of course, I''ll sit on your lap. That way, we can adjust inside the car easily. There''s nothing strange about that," She said with a pearl of laughter. Ryder wasn''t sure what stunned him the most. Her answer or her laughter, which sounded like a melody. He was amazed as he noticed that despite her real age, she was really charming. "You must be joking. It''ll be quite uncomfortable for you if we actually did that." He told Esmi with a wry smile on his face. "It''s fine. Get inside," She insisted again as she pulled Ryder and walked towards the car. Ryder gave up on trying to teach her and opened the door of the car. He got inside the car and sat on the driver''s seat. Esmi followed him and got inside as well. Although it took some effort, she managed to get inside the car. She was sitting on his lap. They were so close that Ryder was getting her strong smell. She smelled like lavender, but it didn''t feel like it was from a perfume. ''Is this her natural smell?'' He wondered. "Hey, I''m about to start. Don''t move too much," She said lightly. "Well, don''t worry. I don''t think I can move even if I try," He replied to her with a wry smile on his face. "Esmi said lightly. "Are you calling me fat?" Esmi inquired as she laughed. "Ah, no. Not at all. You''re so slim and light. It''s just the car that is too small," Ryder said. The engine started smoothly without making much noise. The cars of the modern world had long since abandoned the noisy engine of the past. Only a few collectors used the supercars of the past that ran on diesel and petrol and made the noise. Almost everyone used silent cars nowadays. Clearly, Esmi was one of them. The new cars had a lot of advantages over the previous ones. Firstly, the pollution emission was almost negligible from the cars that everyone used. Secondly, they didn''t create much noise, which was the favorite feature of quite a lot of people. Thirdly, with the advancement in technology, the efficiency of making cars had been increased even further, and their costs came down quite a bit. Almost everyone was able to afford a car nowadays, but the number of people who could afford the electric supercars of Ferrari was still quite low. The car Esmi owned was the latest model from Ferrari. The model was released last year, and there were only a thousand such cars in the world. "Alright, Let''s talk about what you said to me. You have a crush on me, so surely you must want me to be your woman. What would your reaction be if I said yes?" Esmi asked. "That was... ah. We''re already there. I live on 24th Street. You can drop me off here." He said to her as he noticed that they were already there. Esmi noticed that Ryder dodged the question. "Oh? That was fast. How about you come with me instead? We can go to my home?" Esmi chuckled as she slowed down the car, but she didn''t stop the car. 18 Chapter 18: Hurt ego "Oh? That was fast. How about you come with me instead? We can go to my home?" Esmi chuckled as she slowed down the car, but she didn''t stop the car. "No, It''s fine. My family must be waiting for me," Ryder said. "Oh? Why do I feel like you don''t want to spend time with me? I don''t think that you really have a crush on me. You were fooling me, weren''t you?" Esmi told him. Ryder could see a reflection of her face on the windshield, which looked serious. ''What should I do? That freaking crush confession is coming back to bite me in the ass,'' Ryder thought. "I have a crush on you, but I know that our relationship is impossible even if I try. You''re Bastion''s Aunt. I can''t do something like that to his aunt. I will take my leave," Ryder ultimately replied. "That''s your excuse? What if I say that I''m not his aunt?" Esmi told him. "What do you mean?" Ryder asked in surprise. Esmi looked towards Bastion that was still sleeping on the passenger seat. "I''m not his aunt. I''m the secretary of his father who left me here to take care of his son when Bastion was only 16 years old. He was told that I''m his aunt as his father didn''t want him to think that there was no family here to take care of him," Esmi replied. "Really?" Ryder asked in shock. "Yeah. I''m still unmarried. His father left me here to deal with so much, and I didn''t even have time to date anyone as people are either afraid of me and my position or they think of me as Bastion''s aunt. It''s the first time someone even dared to confess to me," Esmi replied with a wry smile on her face. "Will you come with me now? It''s fine if you don''t want to, but that would mean that you were lying to me. Also, I hate liars," She said to him. ''She''s not his aunt? I was wondering how his aunt could be so young and so beautiful. I guess this was the reason. But the problem still remains. Even though she''s pretty and I feel attracted to her, should I really go with her? It would be my first time with a girl outside my home,'' Ryder thought. His head was telling him to go back home, but his heart was telling him to stay seated. "Alright. Let''s go to your home then," In the end, he decided to listen to his heart as he replied. "Good boy." Esmi laughed as she increased the speed of the car. She drove through the streets in her supercar and brought them to a beautiful looking home. Esmi left the car, and he followed behind. The house was huge. It looked less like a house and more like a mansion. There were four armed guards on the front gate. The mansion was so large that he felt like 10 of his homes could fit inside her mansion. There were three floors in the mansion, and windows covered most of the house. "Help me take Bastian to his room," Esmi said as she touched his lips gently with her finger. "Right." Ryder hurriedly followed her and helped Bastian out of the car. They took him inside the mansion. The doors were opened, and the guards kept looking at him with a strange gaze as Ryder entered with Esmi. "Thankfully, his room is on the ground floor." Esmi breathed in relief as they placed Bastian on his bed. She covered him in a blanket. She closed the door, and they left the room. Esmi stopped as she turned back to look at Ryder and said something. "Thanks for the help. You can go now." Esmi said with a smile as she looked at Ryder. "But?" Ryder was stunned as he heard her words. He was confused as to what was actually happening. He couldn''t understand what the situation had developed to right now. "But what? Do you really think that I would sleep with you? Even though I haven''t dated a person since I was given the responsibility to take care of Bastion and you look handsome, but I don''t want to date someone weak," Esmi said as she laughed. Esmi smiled as he brought her face closer to his face and whispered in his ears. "Don''t delude yourself. I''ll never sleep with a weak guy no matter how attracted I am to him. I was just having some fun," Ryder just stared at her blankly. A fit of anger was rising inside of him. Even though he didn''t mind that they won''t sleep together, he still felt terrible. He felt like he was being belittled. " It would be a different situation if you could overpower me, though. I wouldn''t mind being with you then, at least for today," Esmi laughed as she gazed in his eyes. "Oh? Is that it? Aren''t you underestimating me too much right now?" Ryder said as he stepped closer to her. ''Even if she is from the underworld, I''m stronger than I was as well,'' He thought as he stood at half a meter of distance from her and looked into her eyes. The aura around her changed as she suddenly grabbed his hand and made a strange movement. Ryder didn''t know how, but in the next moment, he found himself lying on the ground while Esmi''s right leg was on his chest. "I''m not underestimating you, but I know how it''s going to be. I know my strength,'' ''Looks like I need to use low-level Martial arts that I learned from the system. Don''t blame me, woman, you asked for it,'' He thought as he got serious as well. He caught her leg that was on his chest and pushed it upwards. Esmi didn''t expect it in the slightest, and the strength made her shocked. She lost her balance as she fell on top of Ryder. He changed their position so that she was lying below him. He kissed her. He kept the kiss short and immediately stood up as he hurriedly separated himself from her and created some distance. "Looks like round one goes to me. How about you try again. Best of 5 wins." Ryder said with a smile on his face. When it comes to Martial arts and Strength, he was quite confident in himself. "Interesting. That was the first time I felt my heart skip a beat. Best of 5 it is." She said as she stood and licked her lips seductively. "Not bad kid, Not bad at all. It looks like I need to step up my game as well." She said as she glanced at him with a fascinating look on her face. She again turned serious as she attacked him with her fist. Ryder dodged the fist, but he didn''t predict that she would kick him soon after. He reacted fast, and before her legs could hit him, he caught her legs and pulled her closer. Before she could respond, he kissed her sweet lips once again. He didn''t forget to wink at her before creating distance between them. 19 Chapter 19: Victory He separated again and created some distance between them. "It''s 2-0 Now. One more and I win,'' Ryder said to Esmi as he gazed in her deep eyes that were starting to look uncertain. ''I can''t believe I''m talking to an underworld boss like this.'' Ryder could feel the adrenaline pumping through his body. He was fighting the powerful woman who ruled the underworld. The person, most of the populace, were scared of. "You''re better than I thought. Who trained you?" Esmi inquired as she looked at him with full seriousness. "I self-trained for years before finally getting some strength." He lied to her without even the least bit of shame. ''I can''t just tell you that I learned my martial arts from the system without even spending a day to learn it.'' He thought as a wry smile formed on his face. "Very well. I might as we get serious,'' She said as she attacked him again. Her speed was visibly faster, and her movements were more fluid. It was getting harder to dodge her attacks, but he was barely managing it. "Wait, Michel, don''t shoot!" She called out abruptly as she looked behind Ryder. Ryder was stunned and couldn''t help but turn back, that was when he realized that he fucked up. Esmi had caught him as she wrapped her arm around his neck from behind. It looked like Ryder was caught in a sleeper chokehold. "2-1," Esmi said with a smile as she lowered her hold and placed her other hand on his chest. She freed him after a brief moment. "That was foul play! You cheated." Ryder let out with an annoyed look on his face. " That wasn''t cheating, sweetheart. Didn''t you hear? Everything is fair on love and war." Esmi chuckled as he glanced at Ryder. "Is this love, or is this war?" Ryder asked with a curious look on his face. "Can''t it be both?" Esmi said seductively as she licked her lips. "It doesn''t matter," Ryder let out as he attacked again. Esmi looked like she was getting the hang of the fighting and giving a tough fight to Ryder. ''She''s quite skilled. No wonder she was able to become the mafia boss,'' Ryder thought as he dodged her attack. Ryder knew that if he got hit by any of her attacks, It would be over for him. It was at that moment that he noticed an opening. Using the lower level Martial arts, he finally caught a hold of her hand as he twisted her hand. Her chest was stuck facing the wall while her hand was twisted behind her back. She tried moving, but she couldn''t. "3-1. I think it''s my win." He said with a wide smile as he kissed her fair cheeks. "Yeah, you did win. You definitely aren''t weak. Just what I like," She said as she chuckled. Ryder freed her hand. Esmi turned back, and now her back was against the wall as she kissed him. Ryder also responded to her kiss. After a 10 minutes long kissing session, He separated his lips from hers. "You''re taking my breath away. Let''s go to my room, at least." She said with a drunken look on her face. "Alright. Just tell me where your room is," Ryder said as he picked her up in his arms. She provided him directions, and he carried her. Her room was on the second floor. He placed her gently on the bed as he took his shirt and pants off and climbed on the bed. Ryder was just about to kiss her again when he heard Janus'' voice. "Ding¡­ Another mission has been issued to the host. Mission: Leave this mansion and go back home. Reward: 5 purchase points Punishment for failure: 5 reward points shall be deducted Time Limit: 5 Minutes." Ryder could feel his blood boiling as he heard Janus'' voice at such a crucial time. ''You bastard! Can you stop messing with me! Do you think that I can leave in such a situation? Go fuck off,'' Ryder though in his mind, and he was sure that Janus would hear him. He decided to ignore him and continue with what he was doing. ______________________________ The night passed away as the morning arrived. It was around 6 am in the morning, and the rays of sunlight were falling on Ryder''s face. He woke up from his fantastic sleep. After opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was the beautiful sleeping face of Esmi. ''This woman is simply amazing¡ªsuch an unforgettable experience. Now I understand what my college friends talked about. Anyway, I should leave. Alice must be waiting for me at home, and it would be awkward if Bastion saw me here," This was the thought going on in his mind as he got up. He wondered if he should wake Esmi up to tell her, but she was in a deep sleep. He decided to leave without disturbing her. He looked for his clothes and wore them as he left the room. He went downstairs. Thankfully the place was empty, and he didn''t see Bastian as he left the mansion. Probably Bastian was still sleeping. The guards were still outside, but they didn''t say anything to him as he walked out of the mansion. He didn''t know why, but he felt like he could see a glimpse of a grin on their faces. Just what were these guys thinking, he couldn''t help but wonder. "I didn''t think about it before, but how am I supposed to go back? There are 15 kilometers of distance between me and my house." He muttered as he walked on an empty road. "I better call an uber." He muttered as he took out his phone. 20 Chapter 20: Annoyed Janus "I didn''t think about it before, but how am I supposed to go back? There are 15 kilometers of distance between me and my house," He muttered as he walked on an empty road. "I better call an uber," He muttered as he took out his phone. He placed the request for an uber on his phone and continued walking ahead as he thought about things. His life had turned so awkward all of a sudden. He couldn''t help but think about it. Just a week ago, he was one of the top members of the 3rd rank guild in Divinity, and now he had come back in time to when it all began. ''I won''t join Divinity again,'' He determined as he continued walking. ''It has been so long since I woke up this early. It feels surprisingly good to take a morning walk,'' He thought, but right then, a car stopped right beside him. It was a black four-seater SUV, which looked quite luxurious. "Sir, Are you Ryder Flynn? Did you call for an Uber?" The driver asked as he lowered the car window and looked at him. "Ah, yeah, right. I''m Ryder," Ryder replied with a smile. "Nice. My name is Max. Come on in," He said as he unlocked the doors. Ryder opened the doors and sat on the back seat. "Where do you want to go, Mr. Flynn?" Max asked him as he started driving. "Oh, right, take me to 42nd Street," He told the driver as he unlocked his phone and started scrolling down the news feed. "Sir, do you mind if I turn on the radio?" Max said out of nowhere as he glanced back for a brief moment. ''Oh well, I can''t deny now, can I? It''s your car, after all,'' He smiled bitterly in his heart as he nodded his head. "Sure, go ahead," He told Max. Max turned on the radio, and unexpectedly Max started listening to the news instead of the songs. "Today is the release date of the world''s first fully immersive video game Divinity. The game will be available for purchase in all the outlets from 4 pm. Let''s hear from our friend Jill Maximoff. She is standing at one of the largest stores in the country. The New Jersey branch of Games Forever," A woman''s voice sounded. "Jill, what is the situation there?"She continued. "Well, Jane. There is heavy excitement in the crowd to get the game, and a few people have already started lining up for the sale that will begin at 4 pm, and it''s just 6:30 am right now. You can judge the craze of the game from just this single fact," Another woman replied. Ryder heard the news but decided to ignore it. He didn''t want to be related to the game at all. "Divinity is really an incredible thing. Even I''m excited to play it. I even sent my girlfriend to buy a unit for me while I''m working. What about you, sir? Are you hoping to buy it as well?" Max said out of nowhere. " I''m not interested in that game. It''s quite dangerous, in my opinion," Ryder shook his head as he replied. " Really? You''re probably paranoid, sir. The IMC has certified the game to be 100% safe, after all. You haven''t even played the game," Max told Ryder in a friendly tone. ''Maybe," Ryder sighed and didn''t say anything. He couldn''t tell him that he was saying it because he had already died because of Divinity. [Ding¡­ Another Main Mission has been assigned to the host] That sentence was enough for Ryder to start sweating. He could feel that the mission would be tough since he had previously offended Janus. It was the primary mission, as well, just like the mission of killing the human. [Mission: Become the first person to reach level 5 in Divinity and pass the Novice Village. Reward: 100 purchase points, Access to the next level of the store, and a secret reward. Punishment for failure: The host will die from a heart attack. Time Limit: Undefined] Janus finished and went silent, leaving a stunned Ryder sitting with his mouth open. ''You''re doing it to get back to me, aren''t you? I''m sorry for talking back to you. Don''t give me such a mission,'' Ryder said to Janus in mind with an annoyed look on his face. [The mission has been given and can''t be taken back. Also, Janus isn''t angry. He''s just thinking about how it can follow the kind suggestion of the host and ''go guck itself''] Janus let out in his childlike voice, but Ryder could sense some sarcasm in Janus'' tone. Ryder couldn''t help but doubt that Janus had some emotions. He realized that no matter how much he begged, Janus wouldn''t change the mission. ''The time limit is Undefined, but I know that I have less than four days since the first person reached level 4 on the 4th day. If he gets to level 5 before me, I will fail,'' Ryder thought as he wondered about the mission. 21 Chapter 21: Protect the fatty ''The time limit is Undefined, but I know that I have less than 4 days since the first person reached level 4 on the 4th day. If he gets to level 5 before me, I would fail.'' Ryder thought as he wondered about the mission. "Hey, can you drop me at 52nd Street instead?" He told the driver. "Sure." He didn''t say anything as he took a U-turn and changed the direction. It took him only around 10 minutes to drop him at 52nd Street. Ryder had his phone with him and made the e-payment for the cab. Max drove away after wishing Ryder a good day. Ryder walked for a few blocks before he was able to see a line of people in front of a shop. Thankfully, there were only 50 or so people in the line. He sighed in relief as he wasn''t too late. He hurriedly walked forth and stood in the line. ''Oh man, I forgot to bring food. It''s going to be tough staying here for hours. I haven''t even had breakfast'' He suddenly realized as his stomach started making a noise. It was to be expected after the extensive exercise he went through last night. "Fine. I''ll order something." He muttered as he brought his phone out and placed an order from the nearby shop and asked them to deliver it to him. Although they charged more for the delivery, he had no other choice as he was quite hungry. He ordered 2 burgers and a coke. He knew that it was unhealthy, but he liked what he liked. He felt like there was nothing he could do about it. It took around 20 minutes before the food was delivered to him. He started eating while he waited in the line. "Bro, you didn''t have breakfast before coming here either?" The guy standing in front of him turned back as he asked Ryder. The man had French Fries in his hand that he was eating. He was somewhat short at 5 ft 5 inches and was a little fat, which looked even more distinct because of his short height. "Yeah, I forgot to eat before I left. I was in a hurry." Ryder replied casually as he took a sip of his coke. "Yeah, I can understand. I was in a hurry to stand in the line as well. I don''t want to miss out on the opportunity to buy Divinity or I wouldn''t be able to forgive myself!" The man started laughing awkwardly as he replied to me. "Oh, right, my name is Shu... what is yours?" He asked Ryder. "I''m Ryder." He replied as he continued drinking. Although he wasn''t interested in talking to a stranger, the guy didn''t look like a bad person either. Also, he had nothing to do but stand in the long line for a long time either. "We might meet in the Divinity and go on missions together as well. What username will you play with?" He asked Ryder. "I use Hades in all my games, you?" Ryder told him. "I''m Big Daddy! My name is constant in all my games as well." He excitedly replied with a smile. "Big Daddy? That''s... That''s an interesting name you got there." Ryder wanted to laugh out loud, but he tried his best to control his laughter so that he doesn''t hurt his feelings. That name... It was really too interesting. [Ding... The host has been assigned a new sub mission.] [Mission: Stop the girl from taking advantage of the fatty in front of you. Reward: 5 purchase points. Punishment for failure: Deduction of 10 purchase points. Time limit: 10 hours.] Janus'' voice again appeared in his head. ''Another mission... I was wondering when Janus would give me a mission. But what is this mission about? Protect the fatty from being taken advantage of? Who is he talking about?'' Ryder started wondering about the mission. ''Wait a minute. Janus, are you calling Shu fatty? You''re so cruel. Anyways which girl? There are no girls here?'' He called out Janus in his mind. [The system only named him anything to the host''s thoughts. This can only mean that the host was thinking of him as fatty. The system chose the same name.] Janus replied to him in an emotionless tone. ''You always find ways to blame me.'' Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. ''Hey, you didn''t tell me about the girl! Which girl do I need to protect him from? There are no girls here!'' He suddenly remembered that Janus didn''t even answer his main question. Unfortunately, Janus didn''t reply. Ryder wanted to curse Janus, but he stopped himself as he realized that Janus could read his thoughts anyways. He thought that Janus must know what he wanted to call him anyway, so he didn''t need to waste his breath on him. Another hour passed away in the blink of an eye as he stayed in the line, but he saw not even a glimpse of any woman. "Hey fa... ahm I mean Shu, Do you have a girlfriend? Or is there a girl troubling you?" He decided to ask Shu straight away. ''Oh god, I almost called him fatty as well.'' He thought with a wry smile on his face. "Hahaha¡­ A girlfriend? You must be kidding me. Have you seen me? Do you really think that I can have a girlfriend? I''m a gamer and my games are my girlfriends. No real girls allowed." Shu started laughing loudly as he heard his question. 22 Chapter 22: We want equality "Hahaha¡­ A girlfriend? You must be kidding me. Have you seen me? Do you really think that I can have a girlfriend? I''m a gamer and my games are my girlfriends. No real girls allowed." Shu started laughing loudly as he heard his question. ''I can''t blame him. I myself never had a girlfriend, so I can sympathize.'' Ryder gazed at Shu with sympathy. There was only one thing that he couldn''t understand. The guy didn''t have a girlfriend and there was no girl here. Which girl should he protect him from? ''Is this a trick mission? Is this Janus'' scam to take away my hard-earned purchase points?'' He thought. It looked like Janus heard his thoughts as it finally decided to reply to him. "The system isn''t a scammer! All the missions are valid and reward and punishment is decided on the basis of the difficulty. "Yea, right. Sorry for doubting you. Hey, wait a minute. Why should I be sorry? You''re the one who is giving such strange missions." He let out casually. He felt like he had hurt Janus'' feelings. Time kept passing slowly and it was already 3 pm. Only one hour was remaining for the sale to officially begin. The line that only had 50 people in the morning, now had close to a thousand people waiting to get the game. Even the cops were present at the place to maintain the order. Another hour passed and finally, the sale had begun. He was at the 41st number in the line now, which kept shortening as the people ahead of him kept getting Divinity VR glasses and leaving. In about 20 minutes, he was 3rd in the line. It was at that moment that a girl came towards them. Well, It would be more appropriate to say that she came towards Shu, who was the second in line. The girl was quite beautiful with a round face and a curvy figure. Although her breasts were small, her perky butt made up for it. "Ah¡­ sir, I apologize for intruding, but I am a little late. Can you please allow me to stand in front of you in the line so that I could hurriedly leave. I need to go to an important meeting." The girl told Shu in a gentle tone. ''Ah, Now I get it. This girl was the one Janus was talking about. It''s quite stupid now that I think about it. Although I must say that this task is quite simple. It''s like a free reward. Thanks, Janus, maybe you''re not so bad after all.'' Ryder let out with a smile as he looked towards the girl. He had forgotten that Janus had given him a mission that could cause his death. "Ahh..." Shu was clearly struggling to answer. He really wanted to get the Divinity VR glasses as soon as possible, but he didn''t have it in himself to deny a beautiful girl. "Sorry Miss, but there''s no space for you here. Why don''t you go stand at the back of the line and wait for your turn?" Ryder tried to sound like a badass as he said to the girl. "You... I''m not talking to you! Stay silent and don''t interfere." She said to Ryder with an attitude. "Hey little girl, I''m trying to act like a good guy, don''t think you can talk to me like that. He''s a brother of mine and of course, I can interfere in his matters! Who the hell do you think you are to come at the front of the line without making any effort!" "All of us have been standing in the line for hours and finally got here and you... you just came and want to take advantage of my brother. Do you really think that you are too beautiful? Get the hell out of here before I complain about your behavior to the cops." He said as his tone kept getting louder and louder the more he talked. Even some people behind him started supporting him and voicing their opinions. "Does she really think that she can take advantage of us gamers because she''s a girl? We want equality! Gamers have rights as well! We have feelings too! I''ll start a movement for us gamers, to stop such harassment against us. We deserve rights as well." A person behind him started saying out loud. ''What the hell is he talking about? A movement to stop harassment of us gamers? Some people get too serious.'' Ryder had a wry smile on his face as he heard the chant of ''we want equality''. '' Isn''t it too overboard?'' '' He thought. "You! Very well!!! Do you even know who I am? You don''t know who you have messed with! Don''t you dare run."The girl said as she fumed with anger. She turned back as she left. "Oh man, Was she someone with a high position? Janus you bastard! I praised you for nothing! 5 purchase points for taking care of the girl and the trouble that follows after! You''re too cheap!'' He cursed in his mind. 23 Chapter 23: Lie "Oh man, Was she someone with a high position? Janus you bastard! I praised you for nothing! 5 purchase points for taking care of the girl and the trouble that follows after! You''re too Cheap!'' He cursed in his mind. "Thanks, bro! I don''t know what I would have done without you. That girl¡­ I wouldn''t be able to say no but you helped me. From now on, I can be your little brother." Shu said in an emotional tone. " No thanks." Ryder immediately replied without even taking a moment to think. ''Just why is this guy so emotional? Little brother? Like hell, I''ll call you little brother'' Ryder thought in his mind with a weird look on his face. "Hey boy! Do you want to purchase or not?" Shu was about to say something when a voice came from the front. "Oh, right... it''s your number. Go fast." Ryder told Shu, who looked like he was shocked at suddenly being called out. "Right." He turned back and walked closer to the storekeeper. He gave the money to the seller. "Here you go." The shopkeeper gave the VR glasses set to Shu after he paid for them. "Thank you, sir." Shu thanked them before leaving. It was finally Ryder''s turn after hours of waiting. He stepped forward and asked for a Divinity Set. He paid for the VR glasses which cost him around 200 credits. If these were to be compared to the older currency that was used in the old times, 200 credits would be worth 2000 dollars. The shopkeeper gave him the box of VR glasses and he left as well. "Big brother Ryder! Where do you live?" Shu came towards him as he asked with an excited smile on his face. Ryder was getting quite annoyed, but he didn''t straight away express it. "Why do you care? You know we have just met, right?" He straight away asked him. ''I''m not going to tell a stranger my address.'' He continued. "Of course I would care. You''re my Elder brother after all. I was wondering if your home was nearby. If that''s the case, then both of us could go there and log in to divinity together. If your home is far, then both of us can go to my home and log in together." Shu said with a wide smile on his face. "Why do I need to log in together with you? Anyways, I''m not even sure if I''ll play Divinity." He lied to Shu. ''This dude, why isn''t he leaving me alone?'' He thought as he tried to think of ways to leave without looking like a prick. "What? Why not? You purchased it after so much effort and you''re saying that you won''t play?" Shu looked like he was deeply hurt by Ryder''s reply. ''This guy... he is too over the top.'' Ryder was starting to have a headache by now. He wanted to leave as fast as he could... before the trouble arrives. "I''m sorry, but I''m leaving. I have some important things to do." He told Shu as he turned back to leave, but before he could even take a step, a voice came from behind. "He''s the man!" That sharp pitched voice said. A frown appeared on Ryder''s face as he recognized the voice. "This voice... Looks like the trouble came looking for me." he let out softly as he looked back. Just as he thought, it was the same girl who threatened him of the consequences. A bulky man was walking with the girl as he held her hand. The man was over 7 feet tall and had his other hand in his pocket. The man looked quite angry as he walked. "Wait a minute? Aren''t I strong? Is there really a need for me to be scared? If that man wants to offend me, it''ll be his funeral. " Ryder suddenly realized that he actually didn''t need to be scared. He had a lot of strength after he consumed the strengthening pill. "As long as that man isn''t a monster, I can easily defeat him." A smirk appeared on his face as he gazed at the man coming towards him. He was confident in his strength and felt like he didn''t need to be scared of a normal human, but he was still alert. ''I should first know his real identity. '' He thought. He stood on my original position calmly as he waited for the man to approach me. "Brother looks like they are coming to us. Are they going to beat us up? Should I call my backup?" Shu whispered in Ryder''s ears abruptly. " Backup? Do you even have a backup? Anyways, they''re coming for me. You can leave safely." Ryder replied to Shu. " How can I leave my brother in the times of need? Who will take you to the hospital after you''re badly beaten up by that guy if I leave?" Shu said with a concerned look on his face. Ryder''s face couldn''t help but twitch as he heard Shu''s words. ''Geez, this guy is already planning to take me to the hospital. Thanks for such a confidence boost.'' He thought with a wry smile on his face but didn''t say anything. "Are you the man who misbehaved with my girlfriend? " The 7 ft. tall man stopped in front of Ryder and asked in a serious tone as he glared at him. Ryder could feel his glare, but he wasn''t about to be defeated by a simple glare. He glared back at the man. "I didn''t do shi* to your girlfriend. Ask your girlfriend what actually happened. She was trying to enter the line out of nowhere, I just told her to stand at the back of the line. There was nothing more than that." He tried explaining to the man. ''Maybe it was all a misunderstanding and he would leave. It would be better for both of us. I don''t want to do anything unnecessary at the moment.'' Although the chances of it happening were really low, he did hope for the man to leave without fighting. The man gazed towards the girl with a doubtful look on his face. "I''m telling the truth baby! He did everything I told you about! Including slapping my ass. I still feel the pain." The girl said with a hurt expression on her face as she rubbed her ass. The man looked at the girl and observed her for a brief second before he shifted his gaze back to Ryder. 24 Chapter 24: Lets start an organization! The man looked at the girl and observed her for a brief second before he shifted his gaze back to Ryder. " You... Of course, you''re lying! I can see it on my baby''s face that she is telling the truth. It was just as she said, you tried molesting her when she was here. You hit her ass while she was walking and talked inappropriately to her! You even invited her to sleep with you for the night. How dare you do this to my girlfriend. You deserve to die!" The man let out loud. ''What the hell? Aren''t the rumors getting exaggerated?'' Ryder thought with a stunned look on his face. "Elder brother, I never expected you would be this badass? Although I don''t like the fact that you molested the girl, Since you''re my brother, I still support you!" Shu said with an honest look on his face. " You... You idiot! Why do you believe her words as well? " Ryder scolded Shu with a red face. " Enough talking! Time for your punishment!" The man said as he punched towards Ryder. " It came to this after all. I can''t say that I didn''t expect it though." A wry smile appeared on Ryder''s face as he caught the man''s fist. As soon as he attacked Ryder, Ryder was able to see that his speed was quite slow, or maybe Ryder''s reactions were fast. Ryder tried blocking his hand just to see if he really was strong. He was proven right. This guy was... too weak. Only slightly stronger than the old Ryder, before he took the strengthening pills. "I gotta say, you''re weaker than I expected," Ryder said to the man with a mocking grin on his face. He didn''t know why, but he was quite enjoying the feeling of superiority. "You bastard! Free my hand this instant! Do you even know who I am? You don''t know who you have messed with!" The man said in a pained voice. " Hmm? Why does this threat sound familiar? " A frown always in Ryder''s face as he heard the threat. He felt like he heard the same words being said before. " Oh right? Didn''t your girlfriend say the same thing before she left? She brought you. Who will you bring after you leave? " A smile appeared on his face as he gazed into the man''s eyes. Ryder started tightening my grip on his hands. He wanted him to feel pain. He wanted him to regret offending him. "If I didn''t have the strength, I would be the one being beaten at the moment. Why can''t I do the same? I''ll beat the crap out of this man before leaving. " Ryder smiled as he watched the pained look on the man''s face. The man was already down to his knees by now. Even the people standing in the long line to get the game were stunned as they watched the fight. "Hey, Is he really a gamer? How can he be that strong if he is one of us?" " What do you think? I feel like he isn''t a gamer at all." " Yes, He must be trying to impersonate us gamers for some evil plot of his." " That makes sense! He''s so evil!" " I just hope that whatever evil plot he''s hatching against us gamers never comes to fruition." " Hey, I just noticed that anyone can impersonate us gamers. We should come up with something like a Gamers organization. That will assign real identity badges to gamers and rank them so that people like him can''t pretend to be one of us. It will save us from the evil plots of people like him." The crowd had started the discussion of their own in the meantime. Ryder didn''t know about it, but he had unintentionally planted a seed in the hearts of gamers that will go on to become a big tree in the future. He was enjoying seeing the pained look on the man''s face and waiting for his apology, when something he didn''t want to happen, happened. He was assigned a mission by Janus. [Ding... A new Sub-missions has been assigned to the host.] [Mission 1: Make the girl who falsely accused you, to kiss you intentionally. Reward: The Host will receive 5 purchase points and the 2nd chain mission will be unlocked. Punishment for failure: 1 purchase point shall be deducted. The Chain mission will not be unlocked Time limit: 2 days.] Janus'' voice appeared in his head and gave him a new task. ''Hmm... The mission... it sounds easy but it''s quite tough. I''m being asked to make someone else''s girlfriend kiss me intentionally?'' ''Let alone the difficulty, Even if I succeed... Wouldn''t that make me seem like a girlfriend stealer? Well... the punishment for failure is only 1 point and I can afford to give up on the quest, but what attracts me is something else entirely...'' '' A chain mission! If I''m not wrong, It should be something like a chain quest? You complete a seemingly ordinary quest, but it turns out that the quest was the key to receive a secret quest that is filled with rare rewards. The rewards for the chain mission must be awesome. I can''t let this opportunity go to waste.'' '' As for the girl, she already maligned my character when she lied.I might as well complete this mission." Ryder made up his mind. As he gained back his focus, he noticed that the man had already lost consciousness because of pain. He kicked the man away as he walked towards her. The girl looked scared as she took a step back, but she didn''t run. 25 Chapter 25: Mr. Maxwell "Don''t worry, I won''t do anything to you. Even though you lied about me, I notice that it was my fault for acting arrogantly in front of you. You''re a girl and I should have respected girls. I should have allowed you to stand at the front. I apologize to you." Ryder said to the girl. "Oh, right, just to be clear, I''m not saying it because I''m afraid of anything. I''m just saying this because I genuinely felt bad after you left. I wanted to apologize to you for a long time. Also, sorry for beating up your boyfriend. " Ryder said in a gentle tone as he apologized to the girl. The girl was taken aback and didn''t know how to respond. Ryder didn''t say anything and simply turned back and looked at Shu. "Shu! Let''s go. My Ferrari is out for repair, so don''t wait for it. Looks like we''ll have to take Uber today. " Ryder let out loud. " Ferrari? " The girl muttered with a stunned look on her face. Even Shu was shocked as he heard the name. "You have a Ferrari? " The girl asked as she looked at Ryder. "Yeah. A 2047 model. It was working quite well till the morning but started misbehaving for some reason. I told my driver to take it for repair." Ryder said in a carefree tone. " You... You look so young. How can you afford a Ferrari and a driver?" She asked again. " It''s not because of my hard work. The thing is that my parents were quite rich and they had a company of their own. After they died, I became the owner of that company. " Ryder told the girl. "Have you heard of Dream Corporation?" Ryder intentionally said the name of one of the well-known organizations. "Dream Corporation? Aren''t they a big shot when it comes to car manufacturing and equipment for the army? " The girl exclaimed with a surprised look on her face. "Yeah. That''s mine. I''m the CEO of Dream Corporation. " Ryder said with a carefree look on his face. "Oh, right, I did hear that the CEO of the Dream Corporation was a man in his early 20s. That''s you? " She let out with a shocked look as she believed him. That''s why Ryder wanted, that''s why he took that name. It was a well-known fact that the Dream Corporation was owned by a young man in his early 20s. "Don''t speak so loudly. Not many people have seen me and I don''t want to start a commotion here. " Ryder said lightly. Shu was standing near Ryder and heard everything. His face was twitching the more he heard Ryder talk. "Dream Corporation?" He muttered with an open mouth. " Wow! I never expected to meet you, Sir. It is said that you don''t like your photos being taken and that''s why there isn''t any photo of you available online, but to think that you are standing in front of me. " The girl looked starstruck as she talked to Ryder. " There''s nothing to worry about. I do like games, so I came out today to buy Divinity." Ryder continued lying shamelessly, on the other hand, the twitching on Shu''s face was increasing. "I''m really sorry for everything that I did, Sir. I didn''t realize that you were such a big person." She apologized as she bowed down in front of Ryder. "It''s alright. Forget about it. I should leave now." Ryder said as he placed his hands on Shu''s back and got ready to leave. " Oh, right, If your home isn''t far, how about I take you there?" Ryder acted as if he had just thought about it and turned back. The girl grew excited as she nodded her head repeatedly. Ryder brought his phone out and booked an Uber. "Oh, right, I forgot to ask your name," Ryder asked with a smile. Her face turned red as she replied "I''m Maria. What about you, Sir?" "I''m Ryder... Ryder Maxwell." Ryder said with a smile. Although no one knew the name of the Dream Corporation''s CEO, they knew that his last name was Maxwell. He was generally known as Mr. Maxwell. "It''s good to meet you, Master Ryder. I''m again, sorry for everything." Maria again apologized. "Hey, you''ll make me feel bad if you keep apologizing like this. A beautiful girl like you shouldn''t apologize so much. " Ryder said as he chuckled. ''He called me pretty. If I can attract him, I might be able to become his wife and get rich.'' The girl''s face was red as she looked at him. Her thoughts started roaming all around the place as she wondered how she could make him more attracted to her. "Should we take your boyfriend as well?" Ryder smilingly inquired. "He? He''s not my boyfriend. He''s a friend who came to help me. He was pretending to be my boyfriend. Also, our other friends are almost here. They will take him. Master Ryder doesn''t need to worry about it." Maria responded to Ryder as she lied. " If you say so." The car soon got there as well. Ryder had intentionally booked the most expensive ride. Although it cost him 3 times what he would have paid, but for the chain quest, it was worth it. All three of them got in the car. Ryder and Maria sat in the back seat while the Shu sat in the front beside the driver. The car kept traveling towards Maria''s home while Ryder kept subtly flirting with Maria. In about half an hour, the car reached the destination. Maria opened the door of the car, but before leaving, she kissed Ryder on the lips. "Treat it as my apology, Master Ryder. Here my number. You can give me a call anytime. " She gave Ryder her card before leaving. Ryder closed the door and smiled as he heard Janus'' voice. [Mission accomplished. 5 purchase points added to the host''s account. Chain Mission is unlocked and will be given to the host later] "So boss, Should I call you Mr. Maxwell?" Shu chuckled as he looked back at Ryder. 26 Chapter 26: Caugh "So boss, Should I call you Mr. Maxwell?" Shu chuckled as he looked back at Ryder. "Don''t mention it ever again," Ryder said in annoyance. "Hahaha... Alright. It never happened. So where is your home? My home is in the Prosperity Hills, if yours is near, we can go there and join Divinity together, or we can go to my home. " Shu asked. ''Prosperity hills? His family must be quite wealthy to afford a house there.'' Ryder thought. " My home is near the 41st Street. As for joining together, I apologize, but I don''t think I''ll be joining today. I''m quite tired and it''s already evening. I''ll most probably sleep today. We can meet inside the game though. I have your ID and I''ll send you a friend request when I join. " Ryder smilingly replied. Although he was annoyed by Shu a lot of times today, he didn''t dislike the man. "Alright, Can my number so that I can have your contact as well. My number is 223334444. It''s a VIP number. " Shu chuckled as he said. Ryder didn''t argue and simply called Shu. He disconnected as soon as Shu''s phone rang. They both saved each other''s number. Ryder was dropped off on the 41st Street. Although his home was on 42nd Street, he didn''t want Shu to know about it. He wanted hours of privacy thus he decided to walk there. ________________________ Around an hour later, the car reached the Prosperity Hills and stopped in front of a luxurious mansion. Shu got out of the car and paid the driver through his phone. "Master Maxwell! You sneaked off again! How many times do I have to tell you that you shouldn''t take such risks? Your security is more important to us. If you wanted to go out, you should have taken the guards with you." An old man came out of the mansion and began chiding Shu. "Hahaha, I apologize Butler Mu. I decided to go out alone today and it was a good thing that I did. I had so much fun and I even made a good friend. " Shu smiled as he entered the mansion that looked as luxurious as it could get. "Butler Mu, Do you think I should get a Ferrari 2047 model? I somehow want to get one." Shu let out casually as he was followed by Butler Mu. " Really? Till now you had no interest in cars and traveled in your personal helicopter everywhere. Why a car now?" " Well, Since Brother Ryder talked about it, then it must be a good car. Arrange one for me." Shu smiled as he entered inside with the bag in his hand. The bad contained his Divinity gear. Ryder didn''t know that he had just pretended to be the owner of Dream Corporation in front of the real owner of the Dream Corporation. He didn''t know that Shu''s full name was Shu Maxwell. He was the unseen CEO of the Dream Corporation. What no one knew was that Shu Maxwell was a big fan of games. Business and games were the only things that his life consisted of. He didn''t have any friends or Amy family. His parents had died in a plane crash and he had no siblings. Thus he became the sole owner of the Dream Corporation and he had surprisingly managed the big organization quite well. He increased the profits of the organization with his brilliant plans and was called the Miracle CEO by the media. Even after all that, except for a few important people and the heads of his own organization, not many people had seen him. He entered his room and got ready to enter the world of Divinity. __________________________________ Ryder had finally reached his home. He knocked on the door. Soon, the door was opened and Ryder was faced with Alice, who looked quite angry. "Do you need something?" She looked at Ryder and asked with an ignorant look on her face. "What do you mean? I live here, Don''t I?" Ryder said with a smile. " Oh? Do you still remember that? I thought you lost all your memories because you were beaten by a girl for your perverted behavior, and that''s why you didn''t come home last night." She said sarcastically. " Ah... Well. First of all, I''ll say it again that I''m not a pervert. Secondly, I was standing in front of the shop all night to get Divinity. That''s why I didn''t come home." Ryder shamelessly made up a lie about his nightly endeavors. " Hmph, you couldn''t call either?" She asked again as she glared at him. " Ah... I ran out of battery. " Ryder replied without taking much time to think. " Oh really? I guess that can happen. You can enter. " Alice said with a smile as she moved back from the door. Ryder smiled as he successfully handled the situation and entered the house. He was walking towards his room when his phone started ringing. His feet froze in place as soon as he heard the ring. With shaking hands, he brought the phone out of his pocket as he turned back. Alice was standing right behind him with a phone in her hands. Ryder looked at the phone and it was Alice calling him. "Come on. Pick up the phone." She said with a gentle smile. Ryder picked up the phone and brought it closer to his ears. As soon as the phone was near his ears, Alice screamed loudly " Liar!!!" She went back to her room and shut the door with full force. Ryder just stood there as he tried to think of an explanation. " Alice! Wait a minute! I can explain." Ryder knocked on her door as he thought about an explanation. "What''s your explanation?" Alice asked from the other side of the door. I met a friend when I was in the line. I asked his help to book an Uber. I charged my phone in the Uber when I was coming here. I swear on my friend''s life!" He replied to Alice. ___________________________ Far away in a beautiful mansion, Shu was unboxing his Divinity set and couldn''t help but sneeze abruptly. "Hmm? Is someone talking about me?" He thought as he looked towards the door. _______________________ "Come-on Alice. It was circumstances and I wasn''t able to call you. I already told you everything honestly. Also, I haven''t eaten anything since the morning." 27 Chapter 27: Another Beginning "Come-on Alice. It was circumstances and I wasn''t able to call you. I already told you everything honestly. Also, I haven''t eaten anything since the morning." Ryder said in an apologetic tone. He was wondering if his apology would work out not when the door was opened. "I''ve already prepared dinner. Go to the dining table, I''ll serve." She said. She walked past him and walked towards the kitchen. ''Sigh, she''s such a nice girl. I''m really sorry for lying.'' Ryder thought as he walked towards the dining table. "Have you eaten?" Ryder asked as Alice served the dinner. "Yeah. Did you think that I would wait for you?" Alice snorted with an annoyed look on her face as she sat on another chair near him. "That''s good." Ryder smiled as he continued gulping down the food like a hungry beast. He finished it in just 20 minutes before he stood up and walked back to his room. After Ryder left, Alice smiled as she took a serving for herself and started eating as well. Ryder was sitting in his room as he looked at the Divinity Glasses. He didn''t bother reading the manual again as he already knew everything there was to know about the glasses. He lay on his bed and wore the glasses as he got ready to enter the world of Divinity. "Divinity Scan!" Ryder said in a low voice. "Please keep your eyes open for the retina scan." A female voice appeared in his head. Ryder had gone through the same process before, so he wasn''t shocked as he heard the voice. The glasses turned on and started scanning his retina. Once the scan was completed, he would be saved as the owner of the glasses. It was a security feature that allowed only him to access the glasses. It was so that no one else could use his account or his glasses. It would make stealing the glasses useless. "Scan Completed! Would you like to enter the world of divinity?" The feminine voice again appeared in his head. "Take me to the Divinity," Ryder said the second command. As soon as he spoke, he instantly lost all control of his body and all his senses. His room disappeared and he now found himself standing in a pitch-black room. He looked ahead and found a girl floating in the air. She looked to be 12-13 years old and had short greenish hair. "Maya?" He glared at the girl floating in front of him and clenched his fist. "Welcome to the world of Divinity. I am your artificial intelligence guide, Maya. I will help you with the registration. Please select your Character Name." "My name is Hades," Ryder answered her. He wanted to beat the hell out of Maya for messing with him last time, but he knew that he wouldn''t even be able to touch her. "Hades¡­ Name registered. Please customize the stats of your character. You have been given 25 stats points" The A.I girl known as Maya further said. A screen appeared in front of Ryder. There were 6 Stats on the screen with a 0 in front of all 6 of them. A plus and minus symbol was also placed in front of each of the characteristics. These 6 Stats that he could use skill points on were Strength, Defense, Stamina, Intelligence, Speed and Dexterity. Ryder thought seriously for a few minutes before he started tapping on the plus icons. After a short few minutes, he was finally done. The screen in front of him looked much different now. He had used 5 points on Strength, 4 on defense, 4 points on speed, 4 points on stamina, 3 points on dexterity and 5 points on Intelligence. He decided to take a different route this time. He didn''t want to be only a warrior. He decided to be someone who can use magic. From his previous experience in Divinity, he already learned how to use swords and thought that he could utilize that knowledge this time as well. It was magic that he wanted to learn this time. There was another reason for him to try to learn magic. It was to pass the Novice Village as fast as he could and from his previous knowledge, he knew that magic would help him big time. "I''m done," Ryder informed Maya. "Are you sure? " Maya asked with an expressionless look on her face. "Yes," Ryder again nodded his head. "Would you like to make adjustments to your looks?" She asked. " Yes," Ryder replied. A mirror and a new screen appeared in front of him, which allowed him to adjust his physical looks. Ryder didn''t change much, but a few key things. He changed his hair color from their original black to Silver. He changed his eyes to blue from their original hazel color. Other than that, he kept everything the same. "Registration complete. You will be sent to the novice village. You currently have no class. After passing the novice village, you will be able to select your class." Maya informed him before she disappeared in front of his eyes. The scene distorted as Ryder found himself in the novice village. It was a place that all players were sent to so that they could learn basic skills and get used to Virtual Reality before going to the real adventures. Players could get some simple quests in the novice village, to increase their levels and when they got to level 5, they were allowed to leave. Ryder appeared at the entrance of the Novice Village and took his first step inside. 28 Chapter 28: Secret Quests Ryder stood at the entrance of the Village. He could already see a few players in the village, looking around for quests. Ryder didn''t wait for a single moment as he walked towards the place of Sword Elder. He already knew about most of the secrets of the Novice Village. The things he himself personally didn''t go through, was available online in the previous timeline. Ryder greatly enjoyed the game and he had read almost every article about the game. "Elder, I want to learn the ways of the sword. Can you teach me?" He stood before the Sword Elder and asked. "Oh, Someone who wants to learn from me? You are the first person to come to me. Of course, I''ll teach you. " The Elder smiled as he tossed a wooden sword towards Ryder. The Sword Elder made a simple slash with his sword. "Repeat my movement a hundred times and you will be able to feel the sword. I''ll teach you a sword skill if you succeed. " The Sword Elder said. " Yes." Ryder didn''t wait for long and started repeating that same movement. He didn''t take a break for even a single moment and finished the hundred strikes in under 5 minutes. "Amazing! You completed it so fast. You are a genius in the way of the sword. Finally, I found someone I can pass my special skill to." The Sword Elder exclaimed in excitement as soon as Ryder finished the moments. That''s what Ryder hoped. In the previous timeline, he took his sweet time to complete the movements. He finished a hundred strikes in 15 minutes last time and was given a sword skill by the Elder. After a few days, he read an article that mentioned that someone received a unique skill from the Sword Elder. The person who wrote the article says that he saw it with his own eyes. It was disclosed that there was a special condition to receive that unique skill. The first person to complete the task given by the Sword Elder would receive his unique skill and the sword. It was said that the person who got the skill was the second person to pass a novice village trial and step to the mainland. He later went on to become the Guild Master of the third rank guild, Mercy. Ryder was also a part of that guild. "I''ll teach you a special skill of mine." The Elder finally spoke the magical words Ryder was waiting to hear. A screen appeared in front of him. [The Sword Elder wants to teach you his skill ''Enraged Slash''. Do you want to learn?] It was written on the screen. There were 2 options. Yes and No. Ryder touched ''Yes''. [Skill learned successfully.] [Enraged Slash: The Enraged Slash of the Sword Master. No monster in the same level as the holder can survive the strike. Limitation: Can only be used 5 times in a day. Cooldown time: 60 seconds] The text on the screen changed and informed him of the success. "Thanks for the help, Elder," Ryder said. "Take this Sword as well, young boy." The Sword Elder gave his sword to Ryder and Ryder happily accepted. He again thanked the Elder before he left. Ryder was standing in the center of the village as he got a notification. He was about to open it when he heard a girl''s voice. "Ahem... Excuse me, uncle. Do you know where I can find the Sword Elder?" Said a girl. " You''re the uncle! Your father is the uncle! Your mother is the uncle. I''m still in my prime." Ryder snorted in annoyance as he turned back, but he was stunned as he saw the girl. The girl looked like she was a player as well. She looked to be around 16-17 years old. She looked quite beautiful and Ryder was dazed initially, but he quickly recovered. Although the system allowed people to modify their looks, they couldn''t modify their looks too much. Only slight changes were allowed like hair, eyes, nose, etc. Girls could modify their breasts in this virtual world as well, but other than that, they couldn''t change much. They weren''t allowed to change their face shape or height. "I... I apologize." The girl looked anxious as she stepped back after apologizing. She turned back to leave. " Hey," Ryder called her out. "You''re going the wrong way. You can find the Sword Elder that way. " Ryder said as soon as the girl turned back. He pointed towards a certain direction. "Th... thank you." The girl bowed down and thanked Ryder before she hurriedly ran away. Ryder again shifted his focus back to the notification that he had received. "Command Screen." He called out light and a screen appeared in front of him. He tapped on the notification icon and saw that it was a friend request. From a guy named... Big Daddy? "That guy..." Ryder looked at the screen with a wry smile on his face as he closed the screen. He went back to his work and walked towards a certain location. He stopped in front of an old lady. "Uhm... Grandma. You look sick. Should I take you to a doctor? " Ryder asked the old woman in a caring tone. Of course, it was a part of his careful planning as well. *Ahu ahu* "You''re so kind, young man. You don''t need to worry though. It''s just my old age. I don''t think I''ll live anymore. I just wish that I could live for a week more. I just wish I could see my grandchild one last time before I die." The old woman said in her weak voice. It looked like her vitality was almost depleted. " Is he not in the village?" Ryder asked. " He went to another village for business. He is supposed to come back in 4 days, but I don''t think I can live long enough to wait." She replied. " Is there something I can do to help, Grandma?" Ryder inquired. " You can''t do anything, unfortunately. Only the nine sun grass could increase my longevity and make me live for 2 weeks, but it''s impossible. The grass only grows in the beast valley. No one comes back alive from there." The old woman responded. " I''ll do it, Grandma. I''ll make sure that you live long enough to meet your son. I''ll be right back." Ryder smilingly said as he left. 29 Chapter 29: Im not even married Ryder left the village without wasting a single moment. He passed through the dense forest and got to the beast valley. Ryder wasn''t shocked as he found people already present there as they battle the monsters to increase their levels. Although the monsters they fought were only level 1, they were still too difficult for a novice to beat. Most of the players had made teams of 4-5 players to fight a single level 1 monster. Ryder gazed at the teams struggling to win against monsters as he sighed. "They are truly eager to fight. They haven''t even tried going to the sword elder to learn a skill. Either they are too confident in their real-life skills, or just too dumb." Ryder muttered. He stepped forward and passed them as he ignored their battle and went deeper into the valley. Many players noticed him and couldn''t help but talk amongst themselves. "Hey, look at him. That guy is going deeper into the valley. Is he looking to die? " " Who knows? He might be tired of life." " What do you think happened to make him so upset at life? " " I think his wife must have run away with someone. " " His wife ran away? Was he not good in bed? " " That''s quite possible. His weapon must be too small." "Oh, so that''s why he''s overcompensating by carrying that long sword with him. " " Poor guy. " The stories about Ryder kept getting exaggerated as people wondered why a novice was going deeper into the valley. " Hey man! Don''t worry about your wife. You''ll find a better girl. Even if your weapon is small, I''m sure there must be girls who dig that kind of thing. " One of the players called out loudly as he tried to comfort Ryder. Ryder heard his voice and his expressions turned weird. He turned back to look at the person who has said it " Shut up you, bastards! I haven''t even gotten married yet." Ryder yelled. " It''s not your wife who ran away? Was it your girlfriend then? " Another player misunderstood his meaning and exclaimed. " You moth... Don''t make me come back and beat the hell out of you. " Ryder snorted in annoyance. He decided to ignore the idiots and walked forth. " Hey, don''t argue with him. He''s clearly upset. I guess you must have touched a nerve. It was definitely his girlfriend. Poor guy. " Everyone felt like that was the truth. Ryder ignored their nonsense as he continued ahead, but before he could walk too far, a level 1 Snow Wolf came running towards him. The monster looked like a normal wolf and had snow-white fur. "That''s one of the toughest level 1 monsters. Looks like that guy''s death wish will come true." The other players were still able to see him as they wondered if he could survive. The wolf growled as he jumped at Ryder. Ryder raised his sword up in the sky and swung it with full force. "Enraged Slash." He called out. The sword slashed the beast apart in 2 parts. The beast''s body fell on the ground. Everything felt so real. Although he played the game for such a long time, he was still amazed at how realistic everything was. His clothes were covered in the blood of the wolf. He was wondering how he could clear the blood from his clothes when he heard an announcement in his head. [+20 experience] He opened his status screen and noticed that he had 20 experience points now. To reach level 2, he needed 30 more points. "The power of that strike was simply amazing. No wonder it''s called a unique skill." Ryder smiled as he thought about his attack. He was clearly surprised at the strength. ''Too bad that the cooldown time of the skill is a minute. It''s good for using against a single monster, but when fighting against multiple foes, this cooldown can be a real pain in the ass.'' He closed the status screen as he continued deeper. His target was the nine spirit grass that grew in the region where level 2 monsters stayed. He met another level 1 Snow beast on his journey and easily slaughtered it as well. Another 20 experience points were added. He just needed to kill one more monster to get to level 2 and there were still 3 uses of the Enraged Slash remaining. Ryder kept walking and finally, he met another monster. It was a different monster this time. It looked like a cute rabbit. The only difference was that it had blood-red eyes. "Hey, little guy." Ryder smilingly said. He slowly stepped towards the rabbit that looked like it was eating the grass. The rabbit looked at him with curious eyes as it watched him come closer. It didn''t run away, neither did it look like it was getting ready to attack. It simply kept eating. As soon as Ryder was within the 5 meters range of the rabbit, the rabbit abruptly jumped towards Ryder''s face. Its speed was so fast that even Ryder was stunned. He reacted fast and swung his sword. Fortunately, Ryder''s years of experience as a warrior came into play as his sword managed to make contact with the small rabbit. The rabbit was killed in an instant. Ryder''s already bloodied clothes now had the blood of another animal. "Cheh... I feel like a butcher. I must find a lake to wash myself off after I get the herbs." He was feeling disgusted by the smell of blood. This was the part he always hated about this game. The developers had made everything so real. Even the smell of blood was pungent. In previous timeline, he had managed to find a special item that stopped the smell of blood from affecting it. Unfortunately, he had to start over now. [+10 experience] [Level +1] He saw two floating notifications in a new notification screen. He opened his status screen, to check on his stats. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:2 Experience: 50/150 Strength: 5 Defense:4 Speed:4 Stamina:4 Dexterity:3 Intelligence:5 Available stat points: 2 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (1% mastery) ] Ryder thought for a while before he decided to use both his stat points. The information on the screen changed. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:2 Experience: 50/150 Strength: 5 Defense:4 Speed:4 Stamina:4 Dexterity:4(+1) Intelligence:6(+1) Available stat points: 0 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (1% mastery) ] Satisfied with his stats, he closed the screen and continued on his journey. 30 Chapter 30 : Shove it up your a.. After a short while, he finally noticed the Nine Sun Grass. He realized that he was inside the territory of the 2nd level beasts, strangely enough, only a single beast was there. It was a 2nd level monster that was sleeping right beside the Nine Sun Grass. He knew about the beast. He has faced the same beast last time, but he was a level 3 player at that time. He still decided to check the game screen for the info on the beast, just to be sure. It had been over 3 years he last faced the beast after all. [Name: Profound Bear Species: Monster Level:2 A monster that is known for its super strength. It''s only known weak point is its speed.] "Its speed is slow, but I can''t say if it''s slower than me or not. Last time I fought them, I was level 3 and my speed points were 6. They felt slightly slower than me, but now that I have a slower speed, our speed might be the same." Ryder fell in thought as he observed the bear. Ryder smiled as he walked forth with the sword in his hand. Ryder didn''t know, but when he said that, a white flag was raised above his head. He tried to keep his foot silent as he walked towards the grass, but it was at that moment he heard the grim reaper''s voice once more. [A new Sub- Mission has been assigned to the host. Mission: Take the nine sun herb to the novice village without attacking the profound bear. Reward: "All-Seer'' Skill shall be given to the host. Punishment for failure: The host will die in a nuclear blast after he fails the mission. Time limit: 2 hours.] Janus gave him another mission. "What the fuck? Did you seriously say that if I fail... There will be a nuclear blast in my city?" Ryder asked with an impossible look on his face. He felt like Janus was clearly messing with him now. "Not in the city. To be precise, the target of the blast will be the Host''s room. Though the city might be lost as a collateral. There''s no need to worry about it. It''s not like the host was ever going to go to heaven anyway." Janus replied as if he was talking about something minor. Ryder''s face twitched as he heard Janus'' reply. ''You bastard, Are you telling me that I''m going to hell? More importantly, have you gone crazy? What''s with this scary punishment?'' He said to Janus in his thoughts. Ryder wanted to curse Janus loudly, but he didn''t want to wake up the bear now that he wasn''t allowed to attack them. Janus didn''t reply anymore. ''He doesn''t want to kill me now... He wants to kill everyone.'' Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out of his eyes. ''At least increase the reward. The punishment is so scary, the reward must be good as well.'' Since he was already trapped in this nightmare, he tried to ask for a better deal. "Rewards are pre-decided. They can only be decreased, not increased."Janus replied. ''Hmph. Alright, I''ll only take the All-Seer. Don''t increase the reward. Here''s more. You can even keep that nuclear bomb. I have a much better idea, why don''t you shove that up your a..'' Ryder cursed in his mind in anger but Janus didn''t respond. He decided to focus on the task at hand and ignore Janus. Ryder stepped forth. There was only a few inches of gap between him and the profound bear. Ryder was moving as slowly as he could so that he wouldn''t wake up the bear. He caught the stalk of nine sun grass and brought them out of the ground. He gently turned back and was about to leave when he heard some movement behind him. He looked back in curiosity, but his eyes opened wide in shock as his eyes met the bear''s eyes. The profound bear was awake and looking at him. "Janus thinks the host should run." Janus'' voice appeared in his head again. " You bastard, it''s all because of you!" Ryder cursed Janus as he started running. He ran as fast as he could as if his life depended on it, which was true in a sense. If he attacked the bear, he would be killed as a punishment. If he didn''t attack the bear and the beast killed him, he would be logged out for 24 hours. In that case, he wouldn''t be able to complete his main mission of being the first person to pass the novice village and would die as a punishment. Now that he thought about it, his life really sucked at the moment. The bear kept following him as it roared madly, thankfully Ryder''s assumption was correct. He and the profound bear had the same speed. If he maintained his current speed, he might be able to succeed. Unfortunately, the bear''s roar attracted other monsters. 5 more profound bears came out from nearby and started following him. There was only 10 meters of the gap between Ryder and his deat... the profound bears. Ryder was running when a snow wolf appeared in front of him. It jumped at Ryder. "You think you can bully me as well?" Ryder roared in anger as he used Enraged Slash. [+20 experience points] The notification floated in front of him, but he ignored it. The snow wolf was sliced apart, but because of the attack, the gap between him and the profound bear had decreased. Now there was only a gap of 5 meters between them. 31 Chapter 31: Skill cant be deleted There was only a gap of 5 meters between Ryder and the profound bears that were chasing after him. Ryder could feel the grim reaper coming after him, as he tried his best to run away. He was finally out of the territory of the 2nd level beasts and hoped that they wouldn''t chase after him, but they didn''t stop and kept chasing him. Ryder was getting tired, but he didn''t stop. He had managed to run to the edge of the beast valley. The players that were fighting the level 1 monsters had finally managed to win their battle and we''re resting on the ground when they noticed a person running towards them. "Hey, look at that guy. Isn''t he the same person that went inside the valley to suicide? Why is he running here? " " Might be too scared of the level two beasts. " " Maybe he decided to listen to our advice and decided to look for another girlfriend? He must be in a hurry to thank us for our kind advice, that''s why he''s running. Such a nice guy " The players talked amongst themselves with smiles on their faces, but their faces turned white in an instant as soon as they saw the beasts following him. "Uhmm... Guys? A... Are they level 2 beasts?" One of them stuttered as he saw the beasts after him. " Run!!! " They screamed like kids as they stood up and started running away. "He doesn''t want to suicide alone! He wants us to kill us too! Run away! " They kept screaming as they ran. The scene turned into something quite odd. More than 20 players were running away and a silver-haired man was following them. He himself was being chased by 5 profound bears. "Stop following us, you bastard! We don''t want to die with you! " " Go somewhere else! Die alone! " " I think I can understand why your girlfriend left you! You''re truly Evil! That''s why god gave you a small pp " " I don''t want to die" One of the players was already crying as he ran. Unfortunately, all 20 of them had decided to put most of their stat points in strength and defense instead of speed when making their character. The distance between them and Ryder kept decreasing. It came to a point when Ryder was running together with them. "Sorry guys. Blame Janus if you want to blame someone. It''s all that bastard''s fault." Ryder said without the least bit of shame as he continued running. He got ahead of the 20 players in less than a few minutes. He could hear them cursing, but he shamelessly ignored their curses and continued ahead. The profound bears stopped following Ryder and attacked the players that were closer to them. The players had no choice but to engage in a battle with the level 2 beasts. They were all annihilated by the beasts, but thankfully, Ryder had managed to enter the safety of the Novice Village by then. He finally stopped as he breathed heavily. He turned back to look outside the village. "Sorry guys. I apologize for everything. I wish I could burn incense for you, but I''m too poor at the moment. I''ll never forget your sacrifice, though. You guys are the real heroes. " He let out with a downcast look on his face. [Mission Successful. The host has been given the skill ''All-Seer''] "Awesome." A bright smile appeared on his face as he instantly forgot about the sacrifices. He opened his status screen and ''All-Seer'' was there. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:2 Experience: 70/150 Strength: 5 Defense:4 Speed:4 Stamina:4 Dexterity:4 Intelligence:6 Available stat points: 0 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (1% mastery) All-Seer: Level 1 (1% mastery) ] He tapped on the skill to see if it was the same as before. A new screen opened. [Skill: All-Seer Skill type: Unique Description: A skill that can help the user see the stats of the monsters. Restrictions: Stats of monster 1 or more level higher than the user can''t be seen. Mastery: 1%] "Yup, it''s exactly the same. As expected of Janus, he does make the impossible possible." Ryder smiled as he closed the screens and started walking towards the house of the old woman. ________________________ In a dark place, A girl was floating with her eyes closed. The girl looked like she was 14-15 years old, but she didn''t have an actual age as she was the A.I. that controlled the game. She was known by the citizens of Divinity as the goddess Maya. She abruptly opened her eyes with a confused look on her face. "Someone got the All-Seer? That''s impossible." She muttered as she looked perplexed. She made a gesture with her hand as she scanned the data to find the one who got the skill. A screen opened in front of her that showed a boy. The boy looked like he was 23 years old. He had light blue eyes and shiny silver hair. He was walking in the novice village. "Show me his stats," She said. There was another screen that opened in front of her that showed the Ryder''s stats. "Hades..." She muttered with a thoughtful look on her face as she saw his stats. "A level 2 player with All-Seer?" She let out. "Show me his activity since he joined." She muttered. Another screen appeared nearby, that started showing a video feed. She saw him choosing his stats and entering the novice village. He walked to the village Elder and learned the Enraged Slash. Till now, she found nothing wrong. There was only one thing that was strange. It was that she couldn''t hear what he was saying. She could hear what others were saying, but not him. The boy got ''Enraged Slash''. He walked into the beast valley. He stole the ''Nine sun grass'' and he... he ran away? "Something is wrong, but what? Nothing about this boy makes sense. Most importantly, there is no clue about how he got the All-Seer." She saw the whole feed but she couldn''t find anything out. "Was it a glitch? I''ll just remove that skill then." She muttered as she made another gesture. Ryder''s status screen opened again. She clicked on All-Seer. Two options appeared in front of her. Upgrade or Delete. She tapped on delete. [Error: Skill can''t be removed] Strangely enough, another screen opened that showed off an Error. Her eyes opened wide in surprise as she saw the screen. 32 Chapter 32: Shus misfortune [Error: The skill can''t be removed] A red screen was in front of Maya that was showing the error. She couldn''t believe that she was unable to remove the skill of the man. She tried once more, but the end result was the same. "This can''t be happening." She muttered as she fell into deep thoughts. She decided to test something else. She tapped on Enraged Slash. Again two options appeared in front of her. [Update] [Delete] She tapped on delete. [Error: The skill can''t be removed] Again a red screen appeared in front of her that showed her the error. She made another gesture with her hand and a different screen appeared near her that showed a different person. Surprisingly, that person''s player name was Big Daddy. She didn''t know that he knew Ryder. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that he was chosen for the testing. ________________________ Since the number of players in the game was high, there were more than a hundred novice villages. Players were sent to one of them randomly. Most of the things were the same in all these villages. In one of the villages, a man was walking around. The man looked to be in his mid-twenties. He looked somewhat fat, and his height was small, but he was walking in full swag. It wasn''t clear how he did it, but he had managed to find some stylish glasses that he was wearing at the moment. He was going inside the valley to fight level 1 beasts. The man was the Owner of Dream Corporation, Shu Maxwell. The man Ryder met during the day. "Brother Ryder still hasn''t accepted my request. I''ll call him after I log out." Shu muttered in an upset tone as he continued walking ahead with a sword in his hand. He had managed to find a level one snow wolf. He ran towards the wolf to have his first fight. _________________________ Maya was looking at the screen that showed Shu running towards the beast, but she didn''t care about it. "Show me his stats," She said. Another screen appeared that showed the status of Shu. [Name: Big Daddy Species: Human Level:2 Experience: 0/100 Strength: 5 Defense:5 Speed:4 Stamina:5 Dexterity:4 Intelligence:2 Available stat points: 0 Skills: Slash: Level 1 (0% mastery) ] Maya tapped on ''Slash'' and two options appeared in front of her. [Update] [Delete] She tapped on delete and a different screen appeared in front of her. [Deletion Successful] "It works. There''s no problem here. Then why isn''t it working on the other guy? " She fell into deep thoughts. She completely forgot about Shu as she closed his screen. She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she even forgot to restore his skill. _________________________ Shu was running towards the beast with full confidence. He had just learned the skill from the Sword Elder and was ready to show off its effects. "You stupid beast! How dare you terrorize the lands when this Young Knight is here? You shall be punished! " " Eat the special move of Big Daddy! " Shu let out loud as he raised his sword high in the air. " Slash! " He roared as he swung his sword. The sword did manage to hit the wolf, but Shu could feel that something was strange. There was no power behind that attack. It felt like a normal swing of the sword. He had expected the beast to either be dead or heavily wounded, but only a small wound could be seen on its skin. He could see the red eyes of the beast and he started to regret his decision of coming to face the beast alone. He didn''t know why, but there was a weak voice in his head that was telling him something. He couldn''t understand what it was saying, but he felt like the voice was telling him that he was fucked now. He somewhat agreed with the voice as tears appeared in his eyes. ____________________________ Ryder had no idea that his Janus had not only turned his life into living hell, but it also caused poor Shu to be punished. Ryder finally found the old woman sitting outside. He walked towards her and stopped as he stood in front of her. "Grandma, I found the herb for you," Ryder said with a smile. "You... you''re back so soon? You''re not hurt are you?" She was surprised as she saw Ryder and the grass in his hand. "I''m perfectly fine. Not even a scratch on me." He said with a smile. ''Though I''m not sure about those 20 guys.'' He thought with a wry smile on his face. He gave the nine sun grass to her. "Thank you, son. Now I might be able to live for longer and see my son once more. I don''t know how I can thank you enough." She said in an emotional tone as he held the nine sun grass in her hand. "You don''t need to thank me, grandma. I''m like your son after all." Ryder said. " I shall go now. " He said as he turned back to leave. "Wait. I want to give you something." She said suddenly. Ryder stopped in his tracks as a grin appeared in his face. His expressions returned back to normal as he turned back. "I don''t have any money to give, but I can teach you the skill of mine. " She said in a gentle tone. " That would be amazing. Thank you, Grandma." Ryder thanked her. " Very well. " She smiled. A notification screen appeared in front of Ryder. [Grandma Wang wants to teach you the skill ''Flame Blast''. Do you want to accept?] [Yes] [No] Ryder tapped ''Yes''. [Skill Learned] He checked the description of the skill. [Name: Flame Blast Skill Type: Magic Skill Grade: Unique Level:1 Description: A powerful fire blast that can burn everything to cinders. Daily Limits: 5 Cooldown Time: 2 minutes] "Thank you, Grandma." He thanked the woman before he left. "Finally, the preparation is complete." He muttered with a smile on his face. 33 Chapter 33: I thought it was a perver "Finally, the preparation is complete," Ryder let out with a smile on his face. "Nope, everything depends on the execution tomorrow," He said in full seriousness. He logged out of the game. ________________________ Maya was still trying to understand what was going on. She ran a full scan on Divinity, but nothing odd was discovered. "Hades..," She muttered softly as he remembered the name. Who was the boy who could come inside her world of Divinity and still be out of her control? She had decided to keep a special eye on him from now on. _______________________ Ryder woke up in the real world and took off the Divinity glasses. He put the glasses in his spatial storage that was awarded to him by Janus. It was already midnight by now. Ryder had decided to go to sleep and give some real rest to his body. He drank a little water from a nearby bottle and laid down on the bed. ** Pick up the phone, or there''ll be Explooosion... Pick up the phone, or there''ll be Explooosion** He had just closed his eyes when his phone started ringing. The loud rock music was his favorite, and he used it as a ringtone. He picked the phone and brought it closer to his ears. He didn''t even bother checking the number. "Brother!!! Why didn''t you answer my friend request?" The person on the phone said. " Why the hell are you?" Ryder said as he felt annoyed. "I''m Shu! Shu Ma...I mean, Shu! How can you forget me so soon, big brother," Shu said. Shu''s voice sounded like he was quite hurt. " Oh, fa...I mean, Shu. Sorry, I was a little sleepy. Why did you call me, though?" Ryder asked. He finally opened his eyes as he began talking seriously. "I sent you a friend request on Divinity. Why didn''t you accept it?" He asked. "You sent me a request? When? I only got one request, and that too was from someone named Big Daddy," Ryder replied. " That''s me, brother! There can only be one Big Daddy in this world! I''m that Big Daddy!" Shu let out in a determined voice. It was as if the title of Big Daddy was really important for him. No one should even think about taking a good title from him. "Wait a minute? That was you?" Ryder asked in surprise as if it was the first time he heard about it. "Yup. That was me. I told you about it in the morning, didn''t I?" Shu responded. " You did? I must have forgotten then. I got the request from some Big Daddy. Judging by the name, I thought that it must belong to a pervert," Ryder replied. "That''s why I didn''t answer the request. If I know that you were that perv...I mean, if I knew that you were that person, I would have accepted it instantly," Ryder shamelessly lied as he pretended to be ignorant about it. "That''s good. Don''t forget to accept tomorrow, alright? I''ll check on the day after tomorrow," Shu said. Ryder couldn''t help but find Shu''s phrasing strange. " Why won''t you check tomorrow? " Ryder asked. " Well, I can''t log in for the next 24 hours. I was killed today. Speaking of that, do you know? Something really strange happened to me today," Shu replied. " I had learned ''Slash'' from a sword elder and was facing a snow wolf outside the beast valley, but strangely, I wasn''t able to use the skill. When I tested it before, it was perfectly fine, but when I attacked the wolf, it was like the skill suddenly disappeared. I couldn''t use it. I was killed by the wolf," He further said. " You know what the worst thing is? I had just bragged in front of the newbies that I was going to solo the Wolf. I still remember their laughing faces as I miserably failed," Shu felt like crying as he told his emotional story. "Maybe that skill was in the cool down, or you passed the daily limit? It can happen. I think this experience will help you in the future," Ryder comforted Shu. " Thank you, brother. I feel so much better now," Shu responded. Ryder could feel that Shu was actually somewhat anxious before, but he felt quite calm now. "Alright, I''ll leave you to your sleep. Good night brother," Shu said. "Good night, Shu," Ryder replied. Ryder disconnected the phone and put it back. He had again closed his eyes and was about to sleep when the grim reaper spoke again. [A new Sub-Mission has been assigned to the host. Mission: Apologize to Alice for not listening to her. Reward: 5 purchase points shall be added to the host''s account. Punishment for failure: 10 purchase points shall be deducted, and All-Seer will be taken back. Time Limit: 10 minutes] Janus said. "I was wondering when you would appear. You can''t let me rest in peace for a moment, can you? Also, when did I not listen to her," Ryder spoke in an annoyed tone as he sat up. Janus didn''t explain. This time, Ryder didn''t argue much as he knew that nothing he said would help. He stood up and left his room. He walked towards Alice''s room. He opened the door and silently entered inside. Alice was in a deep sleep in her bed at the moment. Ryder did hesitate for a brief moment, but he took a step forward. He stood in front of Alice as he observed her calm sleeping face. He couldn''t help but be stunned at how cute she looked when she slept. He bent forward and whispered into her ears, " I''m sorry for not listening to you," 34 Chapter 34: Make Maya call you d... [Mission has been completed. Five purchase points added to the host''s account.] Ryder heard the system''s announcement and left just as silently as he came. He laid down on his bed as he closed his eyes, but he couldn''t clear his mind as he wondered what it was all about. He didn''t know why, but his heart was beating fast, and he was somehow feeling angry, but this anger didn''t seem to be towards Janus or Alice. "Hey, Janus. Can you stop giving me these senseless missions?" Ryder inquired. "No. None of the missions are without reason. Also, none of us would be here if you had just listened, " Janus replied. "What are you talking about? What listened? You talk so vaguely and don''t tell me anything," Ryder complained. "The Host will understand everything soon enough," Janus responded. "Fine. Keep your vague secrets," Ryder snorted. He closed his ears and stopped talking with Janus. After half an hour, he finally fell asleep. It was early morning as he woke up. He went to the washroom and took a nice shower. He got ready and left his room for breakfast. As always, breakfast was already on the table. "Such a hard-working girl. She already left for university." He muttered as he sat down on a chair and started eating his breakfast. Ryder walked back to his room and laid down on his bed as he wore the Divinity glasses and logged back inside the game. He again appeared in the novice village. "Time to get started. As far as I remember, The Rank 1 player in the last timeline, Darkness, will reach level 5 tonight. I only have around 12 hours to reach Level 5." He muttered as he started walking towards the exit. He left the village and walked towards the beast valley. He already had a target in his mind. He stepped inside the valley while ignoring the other players who were fighting on the outskirts of the valley. He entered the depths of the valley. As he was walking, A snow wolf jumped at him from behind. Ryder swung his sword as he turned around. He didn''t use the Enraged Slash, but just a simple attack. The sword struck the Snow Wolf. The snow wolf was killed at once as his body fell to the ground. [+20 experience points] He continued on his journey, and not much later, he faced another snow, Wolf. [+20 experience points] He saw another notification as he killed the beast. He was finally about to leave the outer vicinity of the beast valley when he saw a small group of snow wolves at some distance. The ground contained four snow wolves. It didn''t look like the wolves had seen him yet. "Time to test out the spell." He raised his hand towards the beast as he muttered a spell. "Oh Lord of fire, creator of life Give me the strength and burn my enemies to cinders Flame Blast! " He chanted the spell. A small ball of fire left his hand and flew towards one of the wolves. The wolf was struck by that ball of flame and burned to ashes before it could even have a chance to roar in pain. [+20 experience points] "The spell seems good, but the range is quite small. It would be so amazing if it were an area of effect skill." " It felt good to say the spell, though. The mages looked so cool when they chanted spells." He muttered to himself as he waited for the wolves to come to him. The snow wolves noticed him with their fierce eyes and came running towards him. Ryder raised his sword and got in an attacking position. "Time to collect some XP." The battle didn''t last for much longer as the wolves were killed. He didn''t use his Enraged Slash as he was waiting for the real battles. He could only use them five times a day after all. [+20 experience points] [+20 experience points] [+20 experience points] [+1 Level] "Nice," He said as he saw his status. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:3 Experience: 170/350 Strength: 7 Defense:5 Speed:5 Stamina:5 Dexterity:5 Intelligence:7 Available stat points: 2 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (5% mastery) All-Seer: Level 1 (1% mastery) Flame blast: Level 1 (5% mastery) ] He used his stat points instantly. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:3 Experience: 170/350 HP: 300 Strength: 8 (+1) Defense:5 Speed:5 Stamina:5 Dexterity:5 Intelligence: 8 (+1) Available stat points: 0 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (5% mastery) All-Seer: Level 1 (1% mastery) Flame blast: Level 1 (5% mastery) ] He continued ahead, and finally, after some more time, he met the beast that made him run last time... the profound bears. There was still only one profound bear, and he was still sleeping just like yesterday. "You bastard! You made me run for so long. You destroyed all my reputation. Do you think you are allowed to sleep so peacefully? " A smirk appeared on Ryder''s face as he gripped his sword and started walking towards the bear. It was time for revenge. It was at that moment; a voice sounded in his ears that almost made him fall down to the ground. [Ding... A sub-mission has been assigned to the host. Mission: Make Maya call you Daddy. Reward: Self-satisfaction Punishment for failure: You will sleep for 24 hours Time limit: 5 hours] 35 Chapter 35: Lucifer "You''re just pulling my leg at this point. You know that it''s impossible." He thought in his mind. He didn''t want to speak and wake up the profound bear. " Also, what the heck is wrong with the reward? Self Satisfaction? Seriously?" " You''re just increasing my difficulty unnecessarily. So now, I only have 5 hours to reach level 5, since I will be sleeping for 24 hours at that." He was having a headache now, but he didn''t let out affect the target at hand. He stepped forward with silent steps as he held a sword in his hand. The bear was still sleeping as Ryder stood near the bear. Ryder raised his sword in the air as he thrust it down. The sword penetrated the head of the Profound Bear who abruptly opened his eyes and roared in pain as he took his last breath. [+50 experience points] The Profound Bear''s roar was quite loud and attracted the attention of quite a lot of beasts. Three more Profound Bears came running as they heard the pained cry of their partner. "You bastards are here. It''s good. I wanted to let you see the consequences of destroying my reputation. " A grin appeared on his face as he gazed at the Profound Bears. He looked like a hungry man who had found a delicious meal. The Profound Bears roared loudly as they started running towards Ryder. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder said as he swung his sword with full strength. His sword managed to strike the profound bear that was closest to him. The bear died instantly as it fell to the ground. [+50 experience points] He didn''t stop there and attacked the next bear. He used 2 more Enraged Slash and killed the remaining bears. [+50 experience points] [+50 experience points] [+1 Level] A smile appeared on his face as he heard the announcement. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:4 Experience: 370/700 HP: 300 Strength: 9 Defense:6 Speed:6 Stamina:6 Dexterity:6 Intelligence: 9 Available stat points: 2 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (1/5 Uses Left) All-Seer: Level 1 Flame blast: Level 1 (4/5 Uses Left) ] "Hah, finally level 4. One more and I''ll be done. But I can''t leave this place yet. I will take that will me. Can''t stay unknown this time. I will make everyone know the name of Hades in the world of Divinity. Time to be the first." He muttered to himself as he saw his stats. He used both his stat points on Speed as he prepared for the next part of his plan. [Name: Hades Species: Human Level:4 Experience: 370/700 HP: 300 Strength: 9 Defense:6 Speed:8(+2) Stamina:6 Dexterity:6 Intelligence: 9 Available stat points: 0 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 1 (1/5 Uses Left) All-Seer: Level 1 Flame blast: Level 1 (4/5 Uses Left) ] He walked even deeper into the beast valley as he tried to look for a cave. Ryder had never seen that cave when he was in the novice village last time, but he had heard it in an announcement. There was a unique equipment hidden within the beast valley and only the ones who weren''t level 5 yet could get to it. Three years ago, When Ryder was still a level 4 player in the novice village, he had heard the announcement. [First unique Equipment has been discovered in the world of Divinity. The Equipment Ranking is unlocked.] Ryder had checked his notification panel and saw a Ranking Section there. [Rank Equipment Grade Owner 1). Moon Scythe Unique Lucifer] That was the first time someone had heard of a player named Lucifer. The name that would go on to become the most well-known name in the world of Divinity. Since the Scythe was discovered by Lucifer, the developers did disclose the mystery behind the scythe. The others tried to do the same, but just as people had expected, only the first person to achieve that feat was able to get that scythe. He was awed by Lucifer and waited to be someone like him. He had the opportunity to meet Lucifer once, but their first meeting didn''t go as planned. It ended with Ryder Being killed by Lucifer. He was able to log in after 24 hours, but he did lose a level. From that day, he hated Lucifer. That''s why Ryder wanted to take the first rank. He not only wanted the fame, but his revenge as well. Ryder wanted to find the cave where Lucifer had found that Scythe, but he didn''t know the exact location. The only thing he knew was that it was in the depths of the beast valley. As Ryder was roaming through the Beast Valley, he did manage to earn 100 experience points from the beasts that appeared in his path. After looking around the valley for another hour, he did find a cave. He didn''t know if it was the real cave, but it was the only one he found. He prayed that it was the one as he entered the cave. Till now, he had done everything. All the preparation was for this moment alone. Even the magic he learned was for this one thing. Just so that he could be prepared for what he was to face. Ryder stepped inside the cave. The cave was quite dark, but Ryder was able to see a little. Ryder stepped inside the cave. As he entered the cave, he felt like vomiting. The stinky smell was simply unbearable. "I have never regretted not having my Senses Controlling skill, as much as I do at this moment. This place is simply hell. He controlled himself as he stepped inside. He had his sword in his hand while his other hand was empty, ready to cast the Flame Blast spell at any moment. 36 Chapter 36: Spider Queen Ryder entered the dark cave and continued to advance deeper. As he walked inside, he felt quite a lot of spider webs nearby that had made a wall of sorts. To enter inside, Ryder had to pass through the walls of webs. He used his sword as he kept cutting through the webs and moving deeper, but since the webs were so sticky, quite a lot of them were stuck to him. Ryder was walking when he felt like he had stepped on something odd. As soon as his foot landed on the ground, the spot his feet landed on sunk in the ground. Ryder had a bad feeling. He instantly got down to the ground. *Swoosh* As soon as he lay on the ground, he heard the sound of something passing from above his head. It was not just one either. Ryder looked around and saw more than 10 arrows stuck to the ground on the opposite side of the wall. "Traps? Why wasn''t there any record of it in the information 3 years ago? The players that entered the cave never described any trap. Was this just for the first person who entered? Did Lucifer face it as well?" Ryder wondered as he stood up. He didn''t think about it for long, but he had decided on one thing. He had to be careful inside the cave as anything could pop out at any moment. Only the previous timeline''s Lucifer knew what exactly was inside, unfortunately, Lucifer never talked to anyone. He never gave interviews, unlike other famous players. His identity was always a secret as well. Ryder walked deeper as he kept his wariness at maximum. He had his sword in his hand. Although he didn''t face any more traps, he did face quite a lot of spider webs. At this point, Ryder was sure that there was a Spider Demon inside. "Just how long is this cave! I have been walking for 20 minutes and no end is in sight." He couldn''t help but curse. Not much time had passed when the cave branched out in two different caves. Ryder chose the right one and continued ahead. "There you are!" He let out loud as he heard some noise behind. Ryder swung his sword towards his back. The sword did strike something. A spider was hanging on a single web thread. It was split into two parts as the sword passed through. [+10 experience points] The spider was the size of a full-grown chicken. Ryder had just managed to kill one of the spiders when he heard more noise. He turned back and saw more than twenty spiders coming towards him. Through All-Seer, Ryder was able to see their stats. [Name: Spider Spawns Level: 1 Strength:3 Defense:3 Speed:4 Dexterity:3 Intelligence:1 Skills: Web creation] Ryder raised his hands towards the spiders as he chanted a spell. "Oh Lord of fire, creator of life Give me the strength and burn my enemies to cinders Flame Blast! " A ball of fire appeared out of thin air and struck the spider in the front. The spider screeched in pain as its body started burning. Since the spiders were so close to each other, the fire spread from one spider to the second without any obstruction [+10 experience points] [+10 experience points] [+10 experience points] ... ... [+10 experience points] He got around 20 notifications at all the spiders died from the fire. "No wonder Lucifer was able to level up so easily. This place is like heaven for earning experience points. Just those 20 spiders alone were worth 200 points. He continued ahead with a wide grin on his face. He couldn''t help but hope that he met more groups of spiders. Ryder walked only four minutes more before he saw a coffin-shaped box in front of him. "That must be the treasure box having that Scythe. The length is just right."Ryder smiled as he stepped forward, but he didn''t lower his wariness. He stepped towards the coffin, but it was at that moment, a single thread of web came towards him out of nowhere. Ryder swung his sword, but the web was so sticky and solid, the sword wasn''t able to cut him. The sticky struck Ryder''s chest. He looked at the distance and noticed that the other end of the sticky thread was attached to a wall. He was trying his best to remove the thread from his body when the same thing happened again. The same thing happened about 10 times. Ryder was able to dodge most of the time, but he was still stuck with 4. All the threads came from different directions. If a person was to look from the top, he would see Ryder at the center of what looked like a web. Ryder had realized what was happening, but he couldn''t see who was doing it. "It must be a spider as well. Looks like it has an invisibility skill. Quite handy, I must say." Ryder muttered as he waited. He wasn''t anxious as he waited for the spider to show itself. It was keeping his mind calm. Ryder was waiting and looking all around to see a glimpse of the spider, but the spider didn''t show itself. It stealthily kept attacking and trying to bind Ryder, fortunately, Ryder was able to keep his hand free. "There''s a pattern." He muttered as he kept observing. Finally, a smile appeared on his face as he started muttering something. "Oh Lord of fire, creator of life Give me the strength and burn my enemies to cinders Flame Blast! " He pointed his hand in a certain direction. An orb of fire appeared near his hand and advanced in the direction he was pointing in. The ball of fire managed to strike something as Ryder heard a screech. A big spider finally became visible. Unfortunately, the Flame blast hadn''t managed to kill it. [Name: Spider Queen Level: 5 HP: 1600/2000 Strength:10 Defense:7 Speed:6 Dexterity:10 Intelligence:5 Skills: Web creation, Invisibility] Since you showed yourself, I might as well use this opportunity to the fullest. Ryder said with a smile as he chanted the spell again. The spider looked like it was mad as it stopped playing along and ran at Ryder. "Oh Lord of fire, creator of life Give me the strength and burn my enemies to cinders Flame Blast! " 37 Chapter 37: Successors of Salem Another fire blast struck the spider. The spider stopped in its tracks as it let out a pained cry. Since the skill was in cooldown and Ryder didn''t want to waste time, he ran towards the spider with his sword. "Enraged Slash?" He let out as he swung his sword at the spider whose body had stopped burning. The doors struck the spider, but the spider still wasn''t dead. He used the flame blast again, but this time from much closer. The flame blast struck the spider which was already in pain. The spider was swinging its legs madly in hopes of striking Ryder, but Ryder protected himself with his sword. Ryder fought the Spider Queen, but he kept his eyes on its HP as well. As soon as he saw that the spider had the lowest HP, he slashed his sword with full strength the sword penetrated the body of the spider, but he didn''t stop to see the result as he ran towards the coffin. He slid off the top of the coffin. He was stunned to find an old dried up skeleton inside the coffin. A pitch-black Scythe was in the hands of the skeleton. [+200 experience points] [+1 Level] He saw a small notification pop up nearby. "Sorry bro, I don''t have much time." He said as he extended his hand and tried pulling the Scythe. He knew that he didn''t have much time. Since he went through the novice village before, he knew that he would be teleported in front of the novice village Elder,5 minutes after he reached level 5. He only has 5 minutes to take the Scythe. He kept trying, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn''t take the scythe. "Come on! Move!" He screamed in anger. The scythe didn''t move, but something else moved. A weak yellow light started shining in the eye sockets of the skeleton. Ryder noticed it and couldn''t help but take a step back as he released the scythe. He didn''t run though. He pointed his sword towards the Skeleton as he stood in an alert position. "Will you help me fulfill my last wish?" A voice came out of the skeleton. Ryder was wondering what was happening when a small screen opened in front of him. [Special Quest: A quest has been discovered. The mysterious skeleton wants you to fulfill his last wish. Reward for accepting the quest: Moon Scythe. Will you accept the question?] There was a yes or no option below the question on the screen. "A special quest? Come-on! At least tell me your last wish." Ryder said as he looked at the skeleton, but the skeleton didn''t reply. 5 minutes had almost passed away and his body had started shining. With no other choice, he clicked on ''Yes'' and accepted the quest. He stepped forward and pulled the Scythe again, but there was no obstruction this time. He easily got the Moon Scythe this time. The 5 minutes were over and he disappeared from his position. Ryder''s surroundings changed as he appeared in the Novice Village. He was standing in front of the Village Elder. "Congratulations, young man. You are strong enough to leave this village." The village Elder spoke, but Ryder''s focus was on something else entirely. He was looking at the notification he received after accepting the quest. He was informed that he had received a new title. This information made a frown appear on his face as he knew that titles were quite rare. He opened his stats to see his title. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: Human Level:5 Experience: 780/1400 HP: 800+200 Mana: 1200 Strength: 15 Defense:8 Speed:9 Stamina:12 Dexterity:10 Intelligence: 20 Available stat points: 2 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 2 (15% mastery) All-Seer: Level 2 (1% mastery) Flame blast: Level 2 (5% mastery) ] "What the fuck?" He almost cursed out loud as he saw his stats. He couldn''t understand what was happening. "Successor of Salem? Was that skeleton Salem? Why have I not heard of him before?" He muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. He tapped on the title to know more about it. A different screen opened in front of him. [Successor of Salem: The Successor of the fallen Lord of Chaos. A title given by Salem himself. Bonus: 1) Mana: (+1200) 2) HP: (+200) 3) All skills: (+1 Level) Restriction: Unknown] "Such an OP title. I''ve had a title before, but that was nothing compared to it. This one is simply amazing." A smile formed on his face. " Ah, Young man? Are you listening?" The Village Elder tapped on Ryder''s shoulder as he didn''t get any reaction from him. "Oh, right.Thanks Elder. I''m ready to go." Ryder responded. Although he didn''t hear a single word of the village Elder, he knew the gist of it since he went through something similar before. " Good. Step on the..." Before the elder could even complete his words, Ryder was already standing on top of a circular formation. The formation started shining brightly and Ryder disappeared. He appeared in front of the entrance of his main destination. He was standing in front of the capital city of the Kingdom of Estella. Before he could even take a step forward, he saw a notification. [The first person to leave Novice Village: +200 fame points.] Soon after, he heard a system-wide announcement. He knew it was about to come from the moment he got that Scythe. [First unique Equipment has been discovered in the world of Divinity. The Equipment Ranking is unlocked.] Ryder had checked his notification panel and saw a Ranking Section there. [Rank Equipment Grade Owner 1). Moon Scythe Unique Hades] 38 Chapter 38: Choosing a class It didn''t end there and he heard another system-wide announcement. [First player has passed the Novice Village. Hades is awarded 200 fame points. The Fame Ranking is unlocked.] A proud smile appeared on his face as he checked the ranking as well. [Fame Ranking: Rank Player Fame Points 1) Hades 200 ] "Nice. I wish I could see the expression on that bastard Lucifer''s face." He chuckled as he started walking towards the kingdom. ______________________ Back in a different beast valley, a person was going through a dark cave and fighting the spider demons when the person heard the system-wide announcement. A frown appeared on the person''s face. _________________________ Ryder was allowed entry as he showed the guards the pass given by Village Elder. He entered the city. Last time he was here, he had to ask directions from people, but this time he didn''t need to do it. He straight-up walked to a Church to get his class. He was ready to choose a class, but he never realized that things weren''t going to be how he thought. Ryder walked towards the church and after 29 minutes, he reached the church. It was a place where one could get classes after passing the novice village trials. He stepped inside and was greeted by a priest. "How may I help you, young man?" The priest asked Ryder. "Sir, I came here to join the order of the goddess and be bestowed a class." He said. It was something one must say to get a class. "Oh, you must be one of the players. The special humans that are blessed by the goddess''. Follow me, young man" He said with a smile as he started walking towards the deeper parts of the church. Ryder followed the man. The priest stopped in front of a door. There was a special symbol on the door. It was a symbol that Ryder had seen hundreds of times. It was the symbol of Divinity. The priest opened the door and looked at the man. "Go inside, Young man. You can select one of the 5 classes inside." The priest said with a gentle smile on his face. Ryder entered the room. Although from the outside, it looked like a simple room. From the inside, it was like a hall. The hall was even bigger than the main hall of the church. There were 5 tables at the other end of the hall and 5 people were sitting in a chair behind those tables. "Hey, Look! A boy is here! Finally someone came. It was getting so boring." A woman was sitting behind one of the tables. She was wearing a magician robe and held a staff in her hand. "Hey boy! Come here quick! We can get it done faster if we start right now." The mage said. Ryder couldn''t help but smile wryly as he heard her words. He couldn''t help but think that her words could so easily be misunderstood. He stepped forward. "Hey Tracy! Don''t try to steal someone from me! He''s a man! Of course he''ll choose to be a warrior." A heavy voice came from nearby. A heavily armored man was sitting on the table right beside her. He had a bulky body and looked to be in his early forties. Ryder recognized him as a warrior. "You''re the first person to come here. That can only mean that you have quite the potential. Why don''t you use your potential for the best of the world and become a priest? You shall be granted the ability to heal people." Another person said. He was wearing a white dress and looked like a gentleman. The man looked the same age as the warrior, but his body proportions were smaller. "Hey boy, Don''t listen to them. Select the hunter class. You can stealthily attack your opponents from a distance. Since you''re the first person to come here, I can even give you this bow." Another man said. He was sitting at the table in the corner and had a bow on bow on his table. "If you want stealth, then what could be better than the thief class. You''ll be granted so many amazing skills, you can be like an assassin. No one would dare to oppose you." The last person said with a smile. It was a girl who looked like a 17-18-year-old. She was wearing quite exhibiting clothes. It didn''t take long for everyone to start arguing amongst themselves. They all called their class the next. There were 5 classes for a person to choose from at the beginning. These 5 classes were the Warrior, Magic practitioner, Thief, Priest, and Hunter. Last time Ryder was here, he had chosen the Warrior class, but this time he had his thoughts set on Magic Practitioner. A ''Magic Practitioner'' class could be upgraded to a ''Magic Warrior'' in the future, that''s what he set his hopes on. Although the ''Warrior'' class could also be upgraded to ''Magic Knight'', upgrading from ''Magic Practitioner'' to a ''Magic Warrior'' was easier than upgrading from Warrior to a Magic Knight. "Sorry guys but I have decided what I want to choose for the moment," Ryder said in an apologetic tone as he stepped towards the Mage. "Hahaha! I knew it. It is clear from the moment I saw you that you aren''t stupid. Come, boy! I''ll make you a Magic Practitioner." The woman said with a smile. She looked towards the others in a gloating manner. Ryder stopped in front of her as he extended his hand without her asking. He knew the process after all. Although the woman was stunned as Ryder did what she wanted without her asking, she didn''t think too much about it. She extended her hand and held Ryder''s hands. [The Mage wants to give you a class. Will you accept?] He heard the game''s notification and saw a screen with yes or no icon He tapped on Yes. [Error! Since the Quest of Salem has been accepted, this class can''t be selected.] 39 Chapter 39: So shameless! He heard an error message. "Strange. I can''t pass the mage class onto you. It looks like you aren''t made to walk on the path of magic. Such a pity." The woman said as she sighed. She released Ryder''s hand. Ryder was stunned, but he knew better than to curse his destiny. He had other options after all. "Ahh... Sir Warrior, I realize that becoming a warrior is my destiny. Please grant me the warrior class." He said without the least bit of shame as he switched teams. He slid to the right and stood in front of the warrior. "Hahaha, I can understand. You were bewitched by that woman''s charms and finally realize that you''re made to be a warrior." The Warrior responded with a light laugh. He held Ryder''s hands and passed his class. [The Warrior wants to give you a class. Will you accept?] He heard the game''s notification and saw a screen with yes or no icon He tapped on Yes. [Error! Since the Quest of Salem has been accepted, this class can''t be selected.] ''Fuck!'' He almost cursed out loud but controlled himself. "Sorry, young man. It looks like it''s not in your destiny to be a Warrior. Ryder didn''t give up as he looked at the Thief in the corner. He hurriedly walked up to her, but the results were the same. The same thing happened with the hunter. Only the Priest was left. Although he didn''t want to be a priest, with no choice, he walked towards the priest. Ryder had tried to get 4 classes, but all four tries ended up in failure. He couldn''t become a Mage, Warrior, Hunter, or a Thief. The only option left was to become a priest. Although he didn''t want to be a priest, being a priest was better than being nothing. He stepped towards the Priest with a disappointed look on his face. "Hey boy. Can you at least pretend to be somewhat happy? I know that the priest class is not the most exciting, but it''s as bad as your expressions are making it look. " The priest was somewhat upset as he noticed Ryder''s upset expression. The other mentors were trying to control their laughter as she looked at the priest. "Oh, sorry senior. I was thinking about something else. It wasn''t about the class. In fact, although I haven''t said it before, I have wanted to be a priest since my childhood. I wanted to be a priest when I came here" " Unfortunately, I came under the effects of the luring words of others. I apologize, senior" Ryder shamelessly lied as he tried to coax the Priest. "Hahaha... I believe you. The other guys are indeed quite shameless! They dared poach you? It''s good that you learned the truth at the right time. " The priest believed his words as he started laughing loudly. The other 4 that were laughing previously had their mouths opened now. "So shameless!" They all said at the same time. "Don''t disturb me. Let me give this saintly young man the class he deserves." The priest let out as he glared at the others. "Come on, Young Man. Show me your hands." The priest said to Ryder. Ryder extended his hand. The priest caught his hand and began the process of giving a class. [The Priest wants to give you a class. Will you accept?] He heard the game''s notification and saw a screen with yes or no icon He tapped on Yes. [Error! Since the Quest of Salem has been accepted, this class can''t be selected.] The cursed notification again appeared in front of him. "What the fuck!" This time he couldn''t control himself as he cursed out loud. "Sorry, young man. I''m unable to give you the class. I apologize." Although the priest was visibly upset as Ryder cursed out loud, he still gently replied to him. "So strange! This boy is the first one to come get and he can''t get any class. It''s so strange. " The mage let out with a stunned look on her face. Even she couldn''t believe that Ryder couldn''t get a single class. "Don''t worry, young man. Although you couldn''t get a class today, there are quite a lot of unique classes out there. Maybe you''re destined to get one of them." The Warrior tried to comfort Ryder. "If you can''t get an adventurer class, you can get a professional class as well. You can be a merchant. They can get quite rich."The thief said as well. Ryder didn''t say anything as he silently left the place. He left the church in anger. "This fucking Salem quest! Did I really have less troubles that now I get more?" He let out in annoyance. [The main Mission of being the first person to leave the Novice Village had been completed. The assigned reward has been given.] He heard Janus'' voice. "Perfect timing. Fast as always." Ryder let out sarcastically. [Reminder! Only 10 minutes left before the time for the Sub Mission will be over. If the host can''t complete the mission, He shall fall asleep for 24 hours.] "Whatever. It''s not like sleeping for 24 hours would do anything now. I already completed the dangerous one. " Ryder said as he left. He personally believed that there was no way he could make Maya call him Daddy in the next 10 minutes. He was prepared to lose. He walked towards as he wondered what he could go, now that he had no class. As he was walking, he stopped in his tracks as he saw a familiar face. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing. 40 Chapter 40: Completed He clenched his fist as he controlled himself. Maya, the artificial intelligence and the in charge of the game was floating in front of him. Ryder stood there in front of her. None of them said anything for quite some time before Ryder finally spoke. "Do you need something?" He asked Maya. "I''m here to get some answers from you," Maya said as she gazed at Ryder. She even ran the full diagnostics on the system of Divinity, but she couldn''t find anything wrong. She finally decided to ask Ryder himself. " Sure, Go ahead. " He replied. " How did you get the ''All-Seer'' skill? If you answer me honestly, you won''t get punished. In fact, you will be rewarded." She said to Ryder. ''Rewarded? Was the reward you gave me last time, not enough? " He thought as he glared at her. He suddenly thought of an idea. A smirk formed on his face as he looked at her. "I can tell you all about it, but you would need to do something for me." He said. "Sure. Tell me and I''ll give you whatever you ask." She responded. " Nope. First, you need to go, and then I''ll tell you." He said to her as he shook his head. " Alright. Tell me what I need to do? " She replied instantly. The answer to her question was more important for her than anything else. "Call me Daddy." He said something that he never expected he would ever say to a computer program. Especially the one that looked like a little girl. "What? Are you sure?" Maya looked at him with a weird look on her face. She thought that he would ask for a special weapon or a special skill, but she never expected his request to be so weird. "I''m sure. That''s all I need from you." He said with a smile on his face as he gazed at her. "All I need you to do is what I said. Nothing more." Ryder said to the girl. He somewhat felt like a grown-up man doing something bad. Fortunately, no one he knew saw what he was doing. Maya just looked at him for quite some time as she tried to process what was happening. Everything was quite weird for her. His request was simple, but she felt like something was wrong. "Hurry, I don''t have much time. I need to go on quests." He said as he looked here and there like he was about to leave. ''Alright. I''ll do as you said." She said as she looked at him. " D... Daddy, " She said in a low voice. "What? I didn''t hear you?" Ryder said as if he didn''t hear her words. He didn''t know why, but he was quite enjoying it. "Daddy, tell me your secret!" She said, but this time somewhat louder. [Ding! Sub Mission has been completed. The host has already received the reward... Self Satisfaction.] He heard Janus'' voice. He was quite enjoying the whole situation, but Janus'' words ruined it. Now he felt like he was a pervert for getting self Satisfaction in this situation. "Alright, I heard you. That''s enough." He said as he replied to her. "You didn''t give me my answer!" She said as she glared at him. " There''s one more thing. I need an answer." He asked. " You said you only have one request." She said as she responded in anger. " Well, I did have one request. But I also need you to tell me something since it''s because of you I''m stuck in this situation. I won''t tell you anything if you don''t answer me first." He said to her. " Alright. Ask your question." She finally said. " It''s in my class! I can''t get any class! What the hell am I supposed to do? " He complained. " It''s not my fault. You''re the one who selected that quest of Salem. I can do nothing about it. It''s a restriction of that quest. You can only select the class that Salem himself had. And to get that class, you''ll find out what you have to do in the future. The moon scythe is the key to everything. I can''t tell anything else about the quest." She replied. " What class did Salem have? " He asked as he grew curious. "His class was Demon Monarch. " She replied to him. As she talked about the class, Ryder could feel like she hated the class. Though Ryder was more stunned at the special class itself. His mouth was opened as he repeated the words. "Isn''t that... isn''t that too..." He found it hard to speak his next words. "Enough about that! Give me my answers now. I''ve completed two of your requests now. Tell me how you got the All-Seer skill. " She got back to the topic as she asked him. " That? I got that as a reward from the ..." Ryder stopped himself as he remembered the shock that coursed through his body the first time he tried speaking Janus'' name. "I got this class from Divinity. I''m not sure, but maybe I completed a special quest or satisfied the parameters or something? To be honest, I''m not quite sure." Ryder completed his words, though in the form of a lie. Maya looked at him as she observed his reaction, but she couldn''t feel that he was lying. His heartbeat was quite normal as well. "Are you sure that you know nothing about it?" She asked again. " Yup," Ryder responded. " Then why did you make me call you Daddy? Were you making fun of me?" She said further. " Oh, no. I fulfilled my promise and told you what you wanted, in return I asked you to tell me what I wanted. It''s not unfair." Ryder replied with a smile. " I''m leaving now." Ryder turned back as he left. Although he wanted his revenge on Maya, he had a plan of his own on how to do it. It wasn''t the time yet, so he had to act normal. 41 Chapter 41: Chain-Mission Ryder opened the notification of the system and finally accepted Shu''s request since he had promised him last time. Though he was sure that Shu wouldn''t be online since he was logged out for 24 hours for dying. "The Quest of Salem... Just what does that skeleton want me to do? All he said was that I need to fulfill his wish? " " Now that I think about it, he does sound somewhat like Janus. Janus is always making me fulfill his wishes as well. Both the men are the enemy of mine." Ryder let out in an annoyed tone. As he was walking, he wasn''t sure if Janus heard his words or not, but it was exactly at that time, Janus gave him another mission. [The second part of the Chain-Mission has been selected for the host. Mission: Make Maria''s husband give all his property to you. Restrictions: You can''t use any force. He should give you all his property willingly. Reward 1): The System shall be upgraded to level 2 if the mission is completed in time. Reward 2): XP and leveling system will be given to the host in real life if the mission is completed in half time. Punishment for failure: Host''s house shall crumble down to dust because of a weak earthquake. The earthquake will be so weak, that most of your neighbors will laugh at your situation. Time limit: 2 weeks] Janus gave the mission. Ryder, who was talking a lot, suddenly turned silent as he heard the mission. "What the heck is wrong with this mission!" He cursed out loud. "Maria is the girl that I met at the Divinity Sale. She brought her boyfriend to beat me up. That woman had a husband? That''s not important. What''s important is, how the fuck can I make her husband give me all his property? That too... willingly?" Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out. " Also, what the fuck is with the punishment? Are you kidding me? " He didn''t even know what to say about the punishment. "There''s no joke involved," Janus replied to Ryder''s question. "Hey, Janus. Can I ask you a question?" Ryder said to Janus. " Yes. " Janus replied. " Be honest alright? Were we enemies in our previous life? Or Did I kill you in my last life? " Ryder asked in full seriousness. " No. " Janus replied. "Then... Did I screw your mother or sister in my last life? There must be a reason for you to screw my life?" Ryder said sarcastically. [Correction: The system made a mistake when giving the last mission. The Time Limit was 10 days, not two weeks. The host has been notified.] Janus responded. "Hey! You can''t do it! I was just asking a question!" Ryder was stunned as he saw the action of Janus. [Host''s stupid question has nothing to do with it. The mistake by the system was genuine.] Janus replied to Ryder, but Ryder couldn''t feel that Janus was upset. His tone wasn''t neutral at all. Ryder tried asking for forgiveness again and again, but Janus didn''t budge even a little. Ryder was starting to regret opening his mouth at this time. He logged out of the game. Ryder woke up in the outside world. It was around 8 am in the real world when Ryder woke up. He left his room and walked towards the kitchen. Like always, the breakfast was ready and Alice had left for university. He ate breakfast while he roamed the net on his phone for news related to Divinity. There were already so many articles about the game and it had only been two days. The thing that actually made him smile was people talking about Hades on the net. There were quite a few articles on the net about the first person to pass the novice Village. He read one of the forums since he was starting to enjoy reading about him. He stumbled on a conversation between a few gamers. "Hades became a level 5 player in less than 2 days. So incredible. I wonder who Hades is..." BattleHungry209 wrote. "What''s so special about it? I would have achieved that as well if u hadn''t met an idiot. Because of him, I was locked out of the game for a day." ChunniMaster121 wrote. " How can you say that? And what idiot are you talking about?" Another just named BigduckEnergy27 joined in on the conversation and asked. " An idiot with a small dick. Apparently, his wife left him for a taxi driver and he entered the beast valley to suicide. But he was so scared that he ran back." ChunniMaster121 wrote. " How is that related to your death, man? Don''t tell me you were that taxi driver and he killed you in rage?" BigduckEnergy27 replied with a laughing emoji. "That idiot didn''t come out of the valley alone! There were 5 level 2 profound bears chasing him. He used us as bait of the profound bears and escaped himself. I fought valiantly and killed 4 profound bears, but the 5th one got me." ChunniMaster121 said. " Ow man, I feel bad for you. If it makes you feel any better, you can think about the fact that his wife is with a taxi driver while he''s probably jerking off at home alone." BigduckEnergy27 replied. Ryder''s face was twitching the more he read the conversation. He realized that ChunniMaster121 was most probably one of the guys that were killed because of him, but still, he couldn''t help but feel angry. He wanted to write a befitting reply but he controlled himself and closed the webpage. 42 Chapter 42: Some guy named Lucifer He was done with dinner and ready to get to work. He looked at a card and dialed a number. The card contained Maria''s number. The one that he received from Maria when he pretended to be Shu Maxwell to complete a mission. "Hello? Who''s this?" Maria picked up the phone and asked. " Oh, hey. It''s Ryder... Ryder Maxwell? We met a few days ago?" Ryder said. " Oh, Mr. Maxwell? Wow... I was waiting for your call. I was starting to regret not taking your number last time." Maria replied to him. " Oh? Sorry. I was busy with the company stuff. Anyways, I want to meet you. Can we meet today?" Ryder told her. " Ahem... Of Course. How about... oh right... I''m staying in a hotel. How about you come here?" She said with a smile. " Sure. That works. Give me the address." Ryder asked. " I''m in the Hotel Hilton. We can meet at 2 pm. I''ll message you the room number when you get here." She said. " Sure. I''ll be there in the afternoon. I''ll call you when I''m there." He said. " Sure. Sounds good. " She replied The call was disconnected. As the call was disconnected, Maria hurriedly brought out her phone and booked an Uber. What she didn''t tell Ryder was that she wasn''t in the hotel. She was in her home, but since her husband was at home, she couldn''t let Ryder come here. She hurriedly walked to her room and started getting dressed. She wore quite ordinary clothes and put on make-up. She also put some of her clothes in a carry bag. The clothes she couldn''t leave her home in. "Where are you going?"As she left her room and walked towards the door, A voice came. "Oh, Hubby. I''m going outside for shopping. I''ll be back soon." She replied with an innocent look on her face. " Alright." The man replied. Maria left her house and stood outside her house. The car was soon there. She entered and told the driver to take her to the Hotel Hilton. It took them around 30 minutes to get there. Hotel Hilton was a hotel that was good and not too expensive. The hotel had 3 floors only. Maria entered the hotel and booked a room for a day. She payed at the counter and got the keys. _________________________ Back at home, Ryder spent his free time as he made a game plan. He wrote down every significant event he knew about the game in a paper and tried to come up with a plan he could achieve the most success. Since he didn''t have a class, he wanted to do the other things well and not be left behind. He wanted to keep the lead he had. Amidst the planning, he got a call. Ryder looked at the number and saw that It was Shu''s. He picked up the phone. "Boss!!! I''m so bored. I can''t even log in. Anyways, Did you know that two people had already passed the novice village? You mentioned that your game name was Hades, didn''t you? Are you the first person to pass the novice village?" Shu started speaking as soon as Ryder picked up the phone. " Wait a minute? Two people? Who''s the second?" He was stunned as he asked. "Some guy named Lucifer," Shu replied. "It was someone called Lucifer. He''s the guy that passed the Novice Village. I think it happened just about 10 minutes ago. He''s trending more than you right now. " Shu said. " Why more than me? Why? " Ryder asked with a confused look on his face. "Because he somehow has more fame points than you right now. He must''ve done something really big." Shu replied. " What the fuck? What did he do? " Ryder let out with shock. " How would I know? I think he''s the only one who knows what he did. " Shu replied with a wry smile on his face. " Whatever. I''ll see it later. For more, I need to do something important. I''ll talk to you later." Ryder said. " B-bu..." Ryder disconnected the call. ''Something''s really strange here. In my last timeline, Lucifer had the Moon Scythe, but he most probably didn''t have the Quest of Salem since he was able to get a mage class after coming out of the Novice Village. "What''s even more strange is that I took the Moon Scythe and changed everything, but he''s still just as fast. In fact, he''s even faster than he was last time." He muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. '' I''ll check it later. For now, it''s more important to save my house and complete the quest. I''ll also be able to update the system if I complete it in 3 days. Maybe the updated system will be nicer.'' He thought as he stood up and got ready to leave. He wore his casual clothes since he didn''t have anything expensive he could wear. Also, he wanted to look like a man who didn''t care about money and luxury that much. Ryder called for an Uber and left. It took him some time, but he did reach the Hilton Hotel. He paid for the Uber and entered the hotel. He called Maria. "Hey Maria, I''m inside the hotel." He informed her. "Oh, Awesome. I''m in room 302. You can come up." She said as she disconnected the call. Ryder walked up to the third floor of the hotel and knocked on room 302. "I''m here!" He called out. The door opened and Ryder saw Maria. He was stunned to see what she was wearing. She only had a white towel wrapped around her body that barely covered her thighs. Her hair was still wet. "Come on inside." She said in a seductive tone. Ryder was stunned, but he quickly recovered as he closed the door behind him. "Why are you in a towel?" He asked. 43 Chapter 43: I have a secre "Oh, this? I was in a shower when I got your call. I just came out. The water''s still hot though. Do you want to enter with me? " She said as she winked at Ryder. " Ummm... Maybe later. Do you have a beer or something? " He asked her. " Yup. I have a bottle right there. I''ll get you a drink." She said as she walked towards a table. As she picked up the bottle, she dropped the keys that were lying on the table. "My bad," She muttered as she bent forward to pitch up the keys. Since her towel was barely covering her essentials, when he bent forward, Ryder was able to see her precious bits clearly. ''She''s quite good. I can see what she''s trying to do. " He thought, but he didn''t take his eyes off her. She took her sweet time in picking up the key as if she was giving Ryder all the time she could to admire her beauty. She finally picked up the key and placed it on the table. She poured the beer on two wine glasses and placed the bottle back. She picked a glass in both her hands and walked towards Ryder. "Here you go, Mr. Maxwell." She gave him a glass as she sat on the sofa. " I''m so glad that you took some time out of your busy schedule to come see me. I can''t tell you how happy I am." The girl said. She patted on the spot near her as if she was gesturing to him to sit near her. "Yeah. I had been thinking of calling you for quite some time. Finally, I decided to call you." He said with a smile. " Oh, right. Why aren''t we meeting in your home? Why are we at a hotel? " Ryder asked indirectly. " Oh, that... My house is going through renovation." She lied. " Oh." Ryder casually replied as he drank his wine. Maria sneakily moved her hand and placed it on Ryder''s thigh subtly. Ryder grabbed her hand and removed it from his thighs with a serious look on his face. "I''m sorry, but I only consider you a friend. I can''t get that close to you." Ryder replied to her. " Why? Am I not beautiful?" She said as she acted hurt. "That''s not true. You''re really beautiful. It''s just that... There''s a reason I can''t be with you." He said as he looked somewhat sad. " What reason?" She asked. " I-it''s embarrassing to say." He said. He looked on the opposite side and didn''t face her as if he was actually embarrassed. "You can tell me. I swear I won''t tell anyone. I want to know why you can''t be with me." She inquired again. " Well, the thing is that... I... I have a special preference." He said. " What special preference?" She asked. "I... The thing is that I only like married women." He lied in an effort to get her to confess that she was married. Only in that case could he get the information about her husband out of her. "What? Are you kidding me?" She let out a surprised look. "I know it''s embarrassing, but I can''t do anything about it," Ryder said as if he was disappointed in himself. "I... I''m married." The girl replied after a short silence. " You don''t need to lie to me. We can be friends after all." He said with a smile. " No, I''m serious. I''m married and I have a husband who''s at home. I''ve been married for 7 years now." Maria said in a determined tone. " Really? Let me ask you a few questions then. What is your husband''s name, and what does he do?" He asked as if he didn''t believe her in the slightest. "My husband''s name is mark. He works at the Bucky''s Club. He''s the right hand of the boss." She replied to him. " Ahh... " Ryder was stunned to hear her words. He just sat there blankly as he processed her words. ''Mark? That bulky guy I met when I went to Bucky''s with Bastian? The one with that gun? How the hell am I supposed to get him to give his property to him willingly?" He let out with a worried look on his face. " Don''t worry about him. He won''t find out about us. We can secretly keep meeting. Also, I think that''s what you want as well... to have a taste of a married girl." She said with a smile. "Can you tell me more about your husband? Like his strengths and weaknesses. I might use it to save my life if he ever catches us." He asked her further. " His only weakness is his boss, I think. He can''t oppose his boss, no matter what." ''I can ask Esmi to tell him to do it, but I''m not sure if that would be considered willing. Although I know my target now, How the hell am I supposed to go about it? My head is aching.'' He thought as he drank the beer. He drank the whole glass in one try. A smirk appeared on Maria''s face as she saw him drink it. Ryder didn''t know why, but he felt like something was weird. There was a slight wierd sensation in his body from the moment he drank the beer. "Did you mix something in the beer?" He asked as he looked at her. He felt like she mixed something in the beer. "I haven''t, but maybe the hotel staff did. I did book a honeymoon suite after all. It might be aphrodisiac." The girl said with a grin. She didn''t tell him that she herself mixed it in the bottle before he even came here. She had prepared everything to get Ryder to stay with him for the day. She smiled as she looked at him. But before she could move forward, Ryder fell on the sofa. His eyes were closed and it looked like he had fallen asleep. "What the fuck? Was that aphrodisiac or a sleeping pill?" She cursed as she saw Ryder. ___________________________ 44 Chapter 44: Opening Mystery Box After 3 hours, Ryder finally woke up. He found himself lying on a sofa. Maria wasn''t here. He was quite thirsty. He took out a cold water bottle from the fridge and emptied the water bottle in an instant. "Hah... finally, I feel somewhat better. It looks like the drug''s effects wore off. I can''t believe I got drugged so easily. I should be more careful in the future," He muttered with a thoughtful look on his face as he sat on a sofa outside. ''Now that I''ve woken up, time to think about Mark,'' He thought as he started wondering what he could do about him. ''Wait a minute? Can''t I purchase everything he owns? That should be considered willing. But then there''s another problem. I don''t have much money,'' Ryder thought. ''Hmm...I have around three days to complete the mission, but I can''t spend all my time in it. I need to take care of Lucifer as well. He has already caught up to me,'' Ryder stood up and left the hotel while he was lost in his thoughts. He had already received the information he needed. He didn''t have much time to waste anymore. Ryder left the hotel and started walking. "Mark should be at the Bucky''s I think," He muttered " Oh, right, Now that I think about it, I haven''t even checked all the rewards I received for completing the missions,"He let out softly. ''When I think about it, I have collected quite a lot. There should be about 135 purchase points, and the store should have been upgraded to level 2. There''s also the Mystery box that I received from the mission-related to Esmi and the Secret reward from the Novice Village Mission,'' He thought as he remembered all the missions he had completed. He looked around as he tried to look for a private place. Soon, he saw a karaoke bar. He started walking towards it. He entered the bar and booked a private room for himself. "Ah... are you alone?" The girl at the counter asked. "Yeah," Ryder replied casually. The girl at the counter looked at him with a wired gaze as she saw that he was alone "Here. You can go to room number 15," She gave him a key as she gazed at him with a pitiful gaze. ''Poor guy. He doesn''t even have a friend to come with him. So sad," She muttered as she looked at him back. Ryder entered the place and locked the door. The first thing he did was to look around for cameras in the room. Fortunately, there were none. He sat on a sofa. There was a wooden table in front of him. "Open Inbox," Ryder spoke softly. A semi-transparent screen opened in front of him. There was only one thing on that screen. [The host has received a secret reward. Tap to see.] Ryder tapped on the message, and another screen popped open. [The host has received a Mystery Box and its key. The mystery box is sent to the inbox.] "Close Inbox," Ryder said. The screen in front of him closed. "Open Storage," Ryder muttered softly, and another screen opened in front of him. The screen had 50 small box icons, most of which were empty. There were only two small boxes that had something in them. One had a knife. It was the same knife that he used to kill that criminal. He kept that in his storage because he didn''t want anyone to find it. The second box icon had a small jeweled box in that with an X2 icon on it. "Two Mystery Boxes. I can only hope that the reward is nice," Ryder said with a hopeful look on his face. He double-tapped on a mystery box icon. A small box appeared in front of him and started floating in front of him. The box had a dimension of only 210x295x100mm. Ryder placed his hands on the box and took that in his firm hold. He placed the box on the table. The box was quite light. There was a key on top of the box. Ryder took the key in his hand and inserted it in the lock. *Click* The lock opened. Ryder opened the box and finally saw inside the box. "A scroll?" He let out with a wry smile on his face. He picked up the scroll, but as soon as his hands touched the scroll, he finally heard Janus'' voice. [Congratulations. The host has received the ''Secret of Bluff.'' Once the host learns the content of the scroll, his bluffs would be more believable. To learn it, you need to pay 10 Purchase Points. ] [Does the host want to learn the ''Secret of Bluff''?] Janus said. Ryder didn''t know why, but he felt like Janus was making fun of him. "Are you freaking serious? I had to complete an extra Mission just to get the key for that mysterious box, and that''s the reward I get?" Ryder said as he looked at the shiny scroll. [The host doesn''t need to thank Janus for it. It''s all because of the host''s hard work and his luck. Janus only helped a little.] Janus said in a happy tone. "Screw it. Since I already got it, I won''t waste it. Take ten purchase points and teach me the Secret," Ryder said in an annoyed tone. [Affirmative.] Janus replied. 45 Chapter 46: Upgraded store The scroll disappeared from Ryder''s hand. Ryder felt like there was new information on his mind. His mouth was opened wide as he looked through the content of his knowledge. "Wow," That''s the only word that escaped his mouth. He recovered from his daze after a few minutes. He looked at the storage screen that was still in front of him. There was still a mysterious box icon there, but there wasn''t the X2 mark anymore. He tapped on the icon of the Mystery Box again. The second Mysterious Box also appeared in front of him and started floating in the air in front of him. The box was almost three times bigger than that previous box. He placed the box on the table in front of him. He reached out his hand and picked up the key. He opened the box. "What the fuck?" He let out in surprise as he saw the item inside. As he opened the big box, what he saw was another smaller box inside. He opened the small box with the same key, and there was even a smaller box inside. "You''re trolling me, aren''t you?" Ryder said in an annoyed tone. He kept opening the box and finding a smaller box inside until the box was of a similar size, comparable to the first mystery box. Ryder opened the box once more and finally saw something new. "A phone?" He exclaimed as he saw the item inside. It was a phone that was quite different from the newer phones. All the phones nowadays were semi-transparent, but the screen could only be seen from the front. No other person could see what was on the phone, but this phone looked like an old school phone. He picked up the phone and observed it. The phone had a metallic body and a 6.5-inch screen. The only thing different was that there were no cameras on the phone. "Janus? What is it?" Ryder asked in confusion. [It''s called a Mythical Phone. Through it, the host can call mythical legends for advice if you need to have your questions answered. They will answer you to the best of their abilities.] Janus explained to him. [The host needs to spend purchase points for calls, though. The quantity you need to spend depends on the popularity of that legend. Some legends will cost you one purchase point per minute while others might cost you more than 100 purchase points.] Janus finished explaining. "This sounds interesting," Ryder said with a smile. A personal phone to talk to the mythical legends. I should try it He pressed the power button and turned the phone on. The phone didn''t look much different on the inside. The operating system was similar to android, which he appreciated. There were also a few common apps installed, but what attracted him the most was the contacts. He wanted to see the legends he could call. He tapped on the contacts app. "What?" That was the only thing that escaped his mouth as the app opened. There were no contacts. It was empty. "Janus, how can I call someone when it''s empty?" He said in an annoyed tone. [You can only see the contacts after you load the app with credits. One credit is worth one purchase point. If you load ten credits, you can see the names of the legends that cost one credit point per minute. "This sounds like a scam. First, I''ll see the items that the upgraded store has. I need to complete a mission, after all," He muttered as he placed the Mythical Phone inside his pocket. The Mysterious Box disappeared as well. "Close storage," He commanded. The screen that was open in front of him closed. "Open Store," He said as another screen opened in front of him. This was the system''s store that contained various special items. "The store still looked the same, even after the upgrade," He said as he saw the screen in front of him. The items at the beginning were the same. "The Love Potion is still here," He let out with a wry smile on his face as he saw a familiar item. This was the item that he had found most weird last time; thus, it left quite an impression. He kept scrolling and finally saw newer items after some time. The items cost more than a hundred purchase points. Ryder still had a total of 130 purchase points that he had collected after 11 missions. He saw some quite unusual items, but some useful ones as well. [Sword of bloodlust- 1500 purchase points: The sword of demon deity that sucks the blood of its prey after killing them. Each kill makes it stronger.] [Love potion 2.0- 100 purchase points: The upgraded version of Love Potion. When you feed it to someone, they will fall in love with you instantly. The effects last for ten days] "That is indeed the upgrade from the previous 1-day effect to 10 days. If this was out on the market, I can''t even think how many men would line up to buy it. There''s a chance that it would sell for over a billion credits if they believed in its effects," Ryder chuckled as he read the description. 46 Chapter 47: Selecting an item He continued scrolling down. [Shield of Dulam- 800 Purchase Points: No attack can penetrate the shield of Dulam. The shield would only break by another magical item with an even stronger explosive power.] [Robotic Girlfriend: 2000 points: The best girlfriend you can get. The Robotic Girlfriend will fulfill all your wishes and the best thing about it? She won''t argue with you!] "Wow. That''s weird for sure." Ryder said with a smile. [Ring of Charm- 700 Purchase Points: A ring that increases the charm of the wearer. It will make the wearer more charming and irresistible for the opposite gender.] Ryder kept scrolling and ultimately he saw something. Something that brought a smile on his face. "I feel like the mission became a whole lot easier. I have an idea how I can do it." Ryder let out with a smile on his face. [Pill of Childhood- 100 Purchase Points. The one that eats the pill is taken back to his childhood. He loses his intelligence and starts acting like a child. People don''t forget essential things like Driving, eating, etc. Warning: The effects last for only a day.] Ryder double tapped on the pill of childhood and bought the item by paying 100 points out of his 130 points. The pill appeared in front of him and floated in the air. Ryder caught the pill and observed the shiny white pill. "Such a fortunate thing that I found you, little guy," Ryder muttered with a smile. He kept the pill in his storage and left the room. Finally, he had everything he needed. The only thing he needed was to go to Becky''s. He was only worried about Esmi. It would be his first time meeting the underworld Queen after that night. ______________________ Ryder got out of the cab and found himself near his destination. He paid the driver and started walking towards the Club. It was evening and the club was just starting to get filled. There was a line of more than 20 people outside, waiting to gain entry. Ryder wondered if he could even gain entry, but that didn''t stop him. As soon as he reached near the club, the guards noticed him. "Hey, aren''t you the guy that was with the young boss?" The guard called out to Ryder. Ryder was stunned that the man recognized him. Then again, he did come with their little boss. They would be quite stupid to forget him. A smile appeared on his face as he found a way to enter without waiting in a long line. "Yeah. I''m here to meet Bastian, Is he here?" Ryder said with a smile as he stood in front of the guard. "The boss is not here yet, but if he promised you, he should be coming at any time." The guard said with a smile. "You can go inside." He said as he made way for him to enter. Ryder was quite liking the feeling of being cared for. Not having to wait on the line was such a pleasure. He couldn''t help but thank Bastian in his mind. He entered the club and found it just like the last time. Mark was silently sitting at the table and drinking a beer. Ryder walked towards the beer counter and ordered 2 beers. As he got the beer, he sneakily snuck in the pill he had purchased from the store inside one of the bottles. Ryder held both the beers in his hand and sat in front of Mark without asking for permission. Mark was more focused on his wine, thus he was quite annoyed as he noticed someone sitting in a chair near him. He shifted his gaze upwards as he looked at the person who sat on his table. "It''s you?" Mark called out as he recognized the face. "What''re you doing here? Is Young Boss here as well?" Mark let out as he looked around. "Nope. It''s just me. I just wanted to visit the place on my own." Ryder replied with a smile. "Oh no... It looks like your bottle is finished. I got one here for you." Ryder smilingly said as he placed the drugged beer bottle in front of Mark. "T-thank you." Mark was visibly surprised, but he didn''t find anything odd. He took the bottle and started gulping it down. "So, What do you do?" Mark asked Ryder. "I do nothing, I''m just a freelancer." He responded as he waited for the effects of the pill. Mark was about to reply when his eyes went blank as he started smiling foolishly. "Hey boy... What''s your name?" Ryder asked. He observed Mark''s expressions and was quite pleased. The effect of the pill was quite fast. "My name is Mark Rucchi, Uncle," Mark replied in a childish tone. "Good boy, do you know how to sign?" Ryder asked with a grin. 47 Chapter 48: Bastian returns "I know, Uncle," Mark proudly nodded his head. "Good. Do you want chocolate?" Ryder said. "Yes, Uncle. I love chocolate," Mark replied as he nodded his head excitedly. "I have a chocolate that I brought from Chocolate Land. It cost a billion dollars, but I can sell you cheap. Are you willing to buy it?" Ryder said. He took out a chocolate from his pocket and showed it to Mark. "From Chocolate Land?" Mark licked her lips as he greedily stared at the chocolate in his hand. "I''m willing, but I don''t have a billion dollars," Mark sadly said. "As I said, I''ll sell you cheap. Just give me everything you own, and I''ll sell you this chocolate," Ryder innocently said. He kept making the chocolate dance right before Mark''s eyes. He wasn''t letting him take his eyes off of the chocolate. "I''ll do it!" Mark said as he hurriedly nodded his head. "Good. Sign here then," Ryder brought out a document and placed it before Mark. The document said that Mark was making Ryder the owner of everything he owned. "I don''t have a pen, Uncle," Mark reacted. "It''s fine. I have a pen," Ryder said. He gave a pen to Mark. He came fully prepared. He couldn''t let anything go wrong after all. Mark signed the paper where he pointed. "Good boy. Here you go," Ryder gave the chocolate to Mark and placed the document in his shirt pocket. [Ding... Mission Completed. The system will be inaccessible for 2 hours as it will be going through an upgrade.] He heard Janus'' voice. A smile appeared on Ryder''s face as he heard the announcement. Finally, his headache was over. He stood up and turned to leave. His mission was completed. But as soon as he started walking towards the exit, Esmi came out of her office. She was looking for Mark, but her eyes opened wide in surprise as she noticed Ryder. "Ryder!" She called out. Ryder was surprised to hear the voice. It was the voice he didn''t want to hear after all. He realized that it was the voice of Esmi. He wanted to leave silently and not disturb her in this dangerous place. He couldn''t leave, unfortunately. He turned back to look at the person who called him, and just as he had expected, it was Esmi. "Come with me," Esmi said as she glared at Ryder. "That''s going to be bad," Ryder sighed with a wry smile as he started walking towards Esmi. He entered her office. Esmi closed the door behind her. "You came here, and you didn''t even try to meet me? Were you trying to sneak out?" She said with a smile on her face She sat on top of her table and rested one leg above the other as she faced Ryder. "Not at all. I didn''t want to disturb you in the office. How have you been?" Ryder asked. "I''ve been good. But I keep wondering. Why didn''t you call me after that night?" Esmi said with a pout. "Ah, well. I didn''t have your number, and I was hesitating in coming to this place like that," Ryder answered her as he tried his hardest to keep his focus on her face instead of something else. "Why were you hesitating? You think that you can abandon me after all that?" She said with a smirk. "Well, I don''t want your position to get affected because of me," Ryder was trying to talk, but Esmi placed her fair fingers on his lips and stopped him. She got down from her table as she moved behind Ryder. She wrapped his arms around him as she brought her lips closer to his ears. "You can''t be so unfair to me. I feel like I''m empty without you," She whispered in her ears. "That..," Ryder couldn''t think of what to say since it was his own decision. "You might be worried about being with me, but there''s no way I''m letting you leave me. It''s been such a long time since I finally have a man I like," She chuckled lightly as she came to the front. She sat on Ryder''s lap and kissed his lips. Ryder also gave up resisting. He wrapped his arms around her as he passionately answered her kiss. ________________________________ While Ryder was giving the fruit of forbidden pleasure to his Esmi, his best friend was right outside the club. Surprisingly, Bastian had come to the club with a girl. He was easily allowed entry with the girl. As he entered the Club, the first thing he noticed was Mark sitting alone on the table. He walked up to Mark and sat on the chair near him. Although there was another chair nearby, the girl decided to sit on Bastian''s lap. Bastian didn''t mind it as he started rubbing on her thighs. "Hey Mark, Why are you looking at that chocolate so intensely?" Bastian asked as he looked at Mark in front of him. Mark had a bar of chocolate in his hand, but he wasn''t eating it. He was just staring at it. "I... I want to eat it, uncle. But if I do that, it will finish. I don''t know what I should do," Mark said with a face that looked like it would cry at any minute. "Hahaha... I didn''t know you liked chocolates so much. Anyways, You have so much money, man. You can buy as many chocolates as you need," Bastian couldn''t help but laugh as he saw Mark''s reaction. "It''s special chocolate from Chocolate Land, Uncle. There is only one. I can''t get any," Finally, tears appeared in Mark''s eyes as he hugged the chocolate. Bastian was frowning as he heard his reply. He didn''t know what was happening, nor did he want to get involved. He felt like Mark was messing with him. "Where''s aunt?" He asked. 48 Chapter 49: Quest of Salem "Where''s aunt?" He asked. "Aunt is at home, making yummy food for me." Mark smiled foolishly. "I''m talking about my aunt, you idiot!" Bastian finally couldn''t bear the stupidity. Mark just looked at Bastian with confusion. "You''re drunk, man. I''m only wasting my time talking to you." He said with a wry smile on his face as he stood up. He walked towards his aunt''s office. He pushed the door, but the door was locked. "Aunt Esmi, are you inside?" He called out as he knocked on the door. There was no reply for quite some time, but he could hear some noises. It sounded like a chair was being moved from its position. "Aunt?" He called out again. After 5 minutes, the door was opened. Bastian found Esmi standing on the other side of the door. She looked like she was a little tired. Her breathing was quite uneven. "Bastian, Come on inside," She said with a smile as she walked back to sit on her chair. "Ryder? What''re you doing here?" Bastian was surprised to see Ryder inside. He was sitting on the other chair. "Hey," Ryder greeted him. "Don''t hey me! What are you doing here? You came up to party here and you didn''t even invite me?" Bastian punched Ryder''s shoulders lightly. "It''s not that. I had some important business to discuss with your aunt," Ryder replied with a wry smile on his face. "What business? Are you joining the club? Do you need money? I can give you some if you need, man." Bastian said with a smile. "It''s not that. He had a business proposal and needed an investor. He was just here explaining that to me." Esmi helped out Ryder as she said. "Oh, What business?" Bastian asked. "Sorry man, But that''s a secret for the moment. I''ll tell you after I''m done setting things up." Ryder replied. "Whatever man. Are you done here? Let''s go drink," Bastian placed his hands on Ryder''s shoulders as he asked. "I''m done here, but I''ll have to take a rain check from the drinking. I have something important to do at home. I''ll call you soon and we can set things up. How about that?" Ryder let out as he stood up. "Alright. If you say so." Bastian agreed to the suggestion. He didn''t feel like forcing Ryder. Ryder left that place leaving Bastian and Esmi behind. ______________________________ He got back to his home and entered his room. Since the system was going through an upgrade, there would be no missions for quite some time. He was free for the moment. He wore his glasses and again went inside Divinity. After an hour or so, Alice came from outside. "Brother, are you back?" She called out as she noticed that the door was unlocked. She opened Ryder''s room and entered inside. "Geez, Again with those glasses! Is that game really so awesome?" She muttered as she noticed Ryder wearing the glasses. ''Should I get one as well?'' She thought as she left the room. ____________________________ Ryder had entered the world of Divinity and appeared at his original spot where he left. He checked the Fame Rankings and just as he heard, there was Lucifer''s name there. Ryder was ranked 1 with 200 fame points at the moment, while Lucifer was ranked 2 with 100 fame points. "That man never gives up, does he?" He sighed as he saw the ranking. "I can''t fall behind. Even if I have no class at the moment, I won''t give up either." Ryder said in full confidence. He walked through the city and noticed that there were posters on the wall everywhere. The poster was of the princess that had gone missing. It was said that whoever found the princess and brought her back to the king safely, will be given 100 gold coins as a reward. "Strange. This event is different as well. Why are there so many different things in the game compared to last time?" He thought out loud as he read the poster. He took one and kept that in his storage. This was something new, but it could be good if he managed to find the princess. He would earn the King''s favor after all. He was walking through the streets when he heard the strange announcement. It wasn''t the voice of Janus, nor was it the voice of Maya. [The Quest of Salem begins now. You shall be teleported to the underworld.] The announcement said. "What''s that?" Ryder said, but before he could do anything, everything turned white. He disappeared from where he was standing and appeared in a different place. There was no plantation. No human could be seen anywhere. The sky was also covered in dark clouds and the sun couldn''t be seen. "Where the hell am I?" Ryder let out as he looked around. He tried opening the map, but surprisingly, there were no options on the game''s screen. Quite a lot of options had been restricted. One of them was a map. The only options available were the notification, the status screen, and the logout option. He tried clicking the ''log out'' option just to be sure. A confirmation screen opened up. He breathed in relief as he realized that he could log out at least. Now the only thing to be concerned about was his location. It was completely unknown and most probably, an undiscovered region. He was quite surprised as he didn''t get any fame points for discovering the place, but that was probably because he was here for some quest. Now what he needed was to see what he needed to do. He opened the quest screen and checked the details. "Become the demon general?" Ryder let out with a surprised look on his face as he read the quest information. ''I need to become the Demon General to get his class?'' He thought as he looked around. ''Why was there no mention of demons before?'' He thought as he started walking on the empty land. "In the higher stages of the game, I did hear about the undead army, but never about the demons? Are they the same as undead?" He thought out loud. He walked for an hour before he finally saw a person. There was a person that seemed like a human. He was sitting on a carpet with a few objects in front of him. Ryder walked up to the man while he kept his eyes on the objects in front of him. 49 Chapter 50: Demon Realm Ryder walked up to the man while he kept his eyes on the objects in front of him. There were a few interesting things there, like a small crystal ball, a few strange coins, and a few scrolls along with some books. "Excuse me, sir," He called out since the man in front of him was looking down. "Yeesh," The person raised his head as he answered in a creepy voice. Ryder couldn''t help but take a few steps back when he saw the man. The man looked like he had come straight out of a horror movie. There was no skin on his face. It felt like someone had taken off the skin from his face. There were no eyelids as well. Just two eyeballs that were looking at him. ''Come-on man. It''s not real. Be brave,'' Ryder tried to gather his courage and not be scared of the person that was in front of him. He stood firmly at his place as he looked straight at the person in front of him. "Ah, sir. Can you tell me where I am right now?" Ryder asked the person politely. "10 blood coins," The person replied. "Ah, What?" Ryder was confused as to what the man was talking about. "Give me 10 blood coins to get your answer." The man said. "What are blood coins?" Ryder asked with a perplexed look on his face. Before today, he hadn''t heard of this term at all. The currency of the game was gold coins after all. ''What the heck is going on right now? Is this some secret zone of Divinity with different rules?'' He asked with a confused look on his face. "10 blood coins for answers." The man repeated the same statement. "Geez man, I told you that I don''t have blood coins. All I need are simple answers." He said to the man, but the man only repeated his same statement. Ryder finally gave up and started leaving. He didn''t have time to waste on the baseless argument. "Wait!" The man called out to Ryder as he saw him leave. Ryder turned back as he looked at the person. "Give me something important in exchange and I''ll give you your answer." The person said. ''Something in exchange for the answer? What can I give him? All I have is the scythe and that old sword.'' Ryder thought to himself. After thinking for a while, he decided that the sword wasn''t of use to him since he had the Moon Scythe. He brought out the sword he received from the Sword Elder and gave it to the strange person. The guy held the sword in his hand as he observed it carefully. He finally nodded his head as he placed the Sword on the carpet in front of him. "Ask your questions." He said. "Alright, My first question is where am I? What is this place?" Ryder asked. "This is the Demon Realm." The man replied. ''Demon Realm? There shouldn''t be a place like this, but the name did match with the class of Salem. He was a ''Demon Monarch''. So there''s a high possibility he was from here.'' Ryder thought. "Do you know any Demon Monarch? His name should be Salem." Ryder asked further. "Aaaaaaaa..." The person roared like mad as he heard the name. "How dare you disrespect our missing ruler and call him by his name?" The person let out with a crazy look on his face. His blood was boiling as his body kept getting bigger until it was twice the size it previously had. There were two horns of his head that weren''t there before. He looked entirely different, the only thing that was still the same was that his face still had no skin. "I''ll punish you for such disrespect!" The giant called out loudly as he ran towards Ryder. Ryder hurriedly reacted as he brought out the Moon Scythe from his storage. He got in a proper stance as he held the Moon Scythe with both his hands and got ready to swing. As soon as the giant was closer to him, he swung his Moon Scythe with full strength. The sharp blade of Moon Scythe cut the giant in half. The giant''s separated body fell to the ground. Even when he died, he couldn''t believe it. The body of the giant was lying on the ground and his eyes were still open. [Killed a Banished Demon] [+1000 experience points] [+1 Level] [Gained the title Demon Slayer] Notifications kept sounding one after another. What Ryder found the strangest was the blood of the person. It wasn''t red like monsters or humans. It was green. "This sure is different." He muttered to himself. He walked towards the carpet and picked all the items and placed them inside his storage. He did manage to find 3 blood red coins as well. ''These are the blood coins he talked about?'' He thought as he observed the coin. "Sigh, I couldn''t even get my answers,'' Ryder sighed in disappointment. "At Least I found out that I''m at the right place. Salem was the missing ruler. Wonder what happened that killed him." Ryder muttered to himself. He chose a random direction and started walking. He needed to find a town or something to gain more information. He was quite disappointed though. He was starting to regret accepting the request of Salem. If he hadn''t accepted the request, he wouldn''t be here. With the knowledge of his past, he would have easily become one of the top players. "I just had to be greedy and take this Moon Scythe," He wanted to curse himself for his stupidity. "I still can''t help but wonder why Lucifer didn''t get the Quest of Salem although he got the Moon Scythe in the previous timeline? Is this related to the stat combination or something? There are not many who balance strength and intelligence after all. If I remember correctly, Lucifer had high intelligence and really low strength at the beginning." He muttered to himself. He walked for 2 hours before finally he was able to see a few buildings. 50 Chapter 51: Lord Demon Ryder saw something in front of him. It seemed like a small town that had hundreds of residences. The town seemed quite small yet quite different. All the structures there seemed like they were made from blood red stones that are giving a creepy feeling to Ryder. With no other choice, he started walking towards the town to gain more information. There were no guards at the entrance of the town so he easily gained entry into the town. As he moved deeper into the town, he didn''t see any living being. This place looked like it was a ghost town where no one lived. ''Have I found an abandoned town?'' He thought with a frown on his face. He was starting to believe his notion, but he finally managed to find some people. As he got to the center of the town, he saw a beautiful residence that looked much like a small palace of old times. There were two giant statues in front of the beautiful Palace. There was a crowd gathered outside the palace. It looked like hundreds of people were standing in a group. Most of them had a cloak on their body, but there were a few that didn''t have the cloak. Ryder was able to see the horns on the head of the ones that didn''t cover their head with a robe. ''They must be the demons. Wish I had the cloak as well,'' Ryder thought with a frown on his face. He didn''t have a cloak to cover him and hide the fact that he didn''t have horns. He took his robe off and covered his head with his robe as he moved closer to the crowd. "Kill her, My Lord!" "She deserves to be burned to ashes!" "Kill her! Her father dared to attack the Lord! She needs to be killed!" He was able to hear a few shouts. He passed through the crowd as he tried to go to the front and see the whole situation. After 5 minutes of struggle, he did manage to get a view of the situation. There was an 8-foot tall demon standing at the door of the palace. There were two more demons that were standing on his left and right with a spear in their hands. From their posture, it was clear that the demon at the center was the leader. ''He should be the lord, they are talking about,'' He thought. There was another person between the crowd and the lord. It was a woman standing there. Both her hands were tied by a rope which was further tied to the two wooden poles. The robes were tied to the poles in such a way that stretched her hands to her limit and made it as painful for the girl as it could. Ryder could feel the pain she was going through. Even after so much, the girl wasn''t screaming or crying in pain. She was just standing there like a half-dead person who couldn''t feel anything. "You all know that our lord has been assigned here by His Highness, the Demon King himself! He is in charge of this town and the town''s management, but that girl''s father dared to betray him for his greed!" " It was like an act of disobedience towards the king and our lord! Thus we killed that traitor. That traitor did leave a daughter behind, but our Lord doesn''t want to dirty his hand by killing that useless girl!" " That''s why, we leave that girl to the town people''s hand! You decide her punishment and deal with her as you wish, while our lord will watch. The one whose punishment our lord likes the most shall be rewarded!" The person that was standing on the right side of the lord said. "This shall be the long-desired entertainment for our town people. Those who want to take part can raise their hand and one will be chosen by our lord." The spokesperson of the lord further said. Surprisingly, All the demons in the crowd raise their hands. Ryder also followed their lead and raised his hand. "You!" The town lord pointed towards the tallest demon in the crowd. The demon proudly moved forward and stood in front of the king. He got down to his knees as he paid respect to the town lord. "What punishment do you have in mind," The Lord himself asked. "My Lord, I want to cut off both her hands and legs before pulling her heart out of her chest!" The demon explained his place. "Too basic. Go back." Town Lord shook his head as he told the demon. With an ashamed look on his face, the demon went back to the crowd. The others again raised their hands as they waited for their turn. "You!" The lord pointed towards another demon. The demon came out and greeted him with respect. "What is your suggestion?" The Town Lord asked. "My Lord! I want to throw her in front of my bloodhound and watch her get torn to shreds," He said. Ryder was surprised at how brutal their plans were. What was more surprising was the fact that he didn''t see any change in the girl''s expression as she heard the punishment that was being decided for her. "Sigh, Not interesting enough," Town Lord sighed as he shook his head. "Go back," He told the demon. The demon went back with a depressed look on his face. "You come forward," the Town Lord pointed towards another person in the crowd. It was a woman this time. "What suggestions do you have?" The Town Lord asked. "My Lord, I know the girl and she is surprisingly weird. Unlike us, she never had any physical relationship with a demon. It might be a suitable punishment for her to let all the demons enjoy her all night long," She suggested with a creepy grin on her face. "Interesting. Let me hear one more person''s suggestion. If that''s not good, we''ll go with your plan," Town Lord said. "Thank you, my Lord," The woman stood there as she waited for the next person to come forward and fail. "You!" The Lord Demon pointed towards Ryder who had his head covered with his robe. Ryder was surprised to be chosen, but he still walked forth without taking a second to think about it. 51 Chapter 52: Ryders suggestion Ryder stepped forth and stood before the Town Lord. He didn''t get down to his knees. He didn''t even bow his head. "My Lord," He simply greeted. The Lord Demon frowned as he saw Ryder''s disrespect. "Why don''t you get down to your knees before the Lord?" The demon standing beside the Town Lord said. "I apologize, My Lord, but there''s a problem with my leg. Anyways, let me just get straight to the punishment," Ryder said. "Firstly, My fellow demon who suggested that stupid punishment before me should be killed and wiped off the planet of this Earth," He said. "Hmm? Wh..." The Woman''s expressions turned ugly as she heard Ryder''s words. She opened her mouth to say something. "Shut up! Don''t disturb me when I''m talking!" Ryder scolded the woman without giving her a chance to speak. The woman''s face turned red in anger. The Lord Demon had an amused smile on his face as if he was liking this drama. He was waiting for Ryder''s next words. "You! Continue," He ordered Ryder. "Oh right, Back to the topic. The second punishment is for the girl," Ryder said as he pointed towards the girl that was tied by the ropes. "My suggestion is that the girl should be given to me. I''ll take her with me and show her the true depths of hell," He said. "You''re an interesting demon, but sorry, I like the idea of her more. You can go back," The Lord Demon told Ryder. He was waiting for a cruel idea, but he got suggested what he didn''t want. ''This guy is just a lustful demon who wants the prisoner for his own. I wasted my time,'' Lord Demon thought. "All the male demons of our town come forth. Punish the girl as per the suggestion from before. I''ll watch from my seat," He further said. "My Lord, I have another suggestion as well. Since you don''t like my first one, I think you''ll definitely like it," Ryder said with an amused smile on his face. "Hmm? Speak your mind," The Lord Demon said. "My next suggestion is really unique. I''m sure no one in this town would have even thought about it," Ryder said. "From the innocent face of the girl, it''s clear that she doesn''t like the bloodshed. So how about we have her watch me slaughter you all? That should be fun, wouldn''t it?" He continued. "Hmm? Have you gone mad, kid? Or are you with that traitor as well? Imprison him as well," Town Lord ordered the men standing near him. Both the Soldier Demons came down the stairs with their spears in their hands. There was a massive killing intent that was surrounding their bodies. Even Ryder could feel the killing intent. "Hey girl, Open your eyes. You wouldn''t want to miss the show that''s about to come," Ryder tapped on the head of the girl as he said. The girl slowly opened her eyes. Ryder was quite surprised at how beautiful her eyes were. Her eyes were blood red like a vampire, but there was an innocence in her eyes. An innocence that he couldn''t see in the eyes of the other townspeople. The girl looked like ordinary 17-18 girls from Earth. Ryder had realized after coming here that in this town that all the male demons had horns on their head while the females didn''t. The girl opened her innocent eyes and saw a weak-looking person who was covering his head with a robe. "Who are you?" The girl asked as she opened her red lips. As she opened her mouth, Ryder managed to see what made her different. The girl had 2 sharp teeth like that of a vampire which surprised Ryder. "I''ll tell you later. For now, just watch me kick some ass," Ryder said with a smile. He stopped focusing on the girl and shifted his focus back to the demons that were coming towards him with their spears. "I guess you decided to accept my suggestion," Ryder chuckled as he took off the robe from his head and wore it normally. "H-he doesn''t have horns!" The demons noticed as they exclaimed in surprise. Even the girl was surprised as her beautiful eyes opened wide in surprise. The Town Lord on the other hand was more surprised than the others. ''Is he one of those high demons?'' He thought with a frown. The demons in this land had many species and there were even a few demons who didn''t have horns. They were all part of the higher species that were given more privilege. The town people didn''t know about them. "I don''t like the blood, but they are times when I have no choice," Ryder said as he brought out the Moon Scythe from his storage ring. The demons were once again surprised as they saw a Scythe appear out of thin air. The woman that had suggested the punishment for the girl took a few steps back in fear of the scythe. "Space Magic? He''s a high demon magician?" Demon Lord was getting more and more surprised. "You bastard!" The two demon soldiers thrust their spear at Ryder at the same time. Ryder swung his Scythe in such a way that it looked like he was dancing with his spear. His scythe clashed with the spears but he didn''t stop there. "Flame Blast!" Ryder used his left hand as he used Flame Blast. Since he had passed the Novice Village and he was now higher than level 5, there were no restrictions on the use of skills. He could use the skills as many times as he needed as long as he had sufficient mana. The cooldown time was still a problem though. The Flame Blast struck the demon on the left. "Arghhhhh," The Demon''s body started burning in flames as he screamed in pain. The other demon was surprised as he looked towards his partner, but Ryder utilized this opportunity as he used his Scythe and separated the head of the demon from his body. [+2000 Exp] [+2000 Exp] [+1 Level] "Nice," Ryder exclaimed with a pleased smile on his face. 52 Chapter 53: Mysterious woman After dealing with the guards, Ryder shifted his focus back to the vile woman that was still standing near him. He stepped forth and like a true Demon Monarch, separated her head from her body with a single strike of his scythe. [+800 Exp] ''Hmm? Do the female demons give less Experience or was she just a weak demon?'' He wondered. He looked towards the Lord Demon and pointed towards the girl that was still tied by the ropes. "My Lord, just look at the girl. She looks like she''s really regretting opposing our lord. The punishment seems to be working. Shall we continue?" Ryder asked. "Who are you?" The Lord Demon asked straight. "Who am I? I''m a nobody!" Ryder replied since he didn''t want to explain that he was a human. "It''s not possible for you to be a nobody. You''re a high demon magician. Tell me what you''re doing here?" The Town Lord asked. "High Demon Magician?" It was the first time he was hearing such a term, but it sounded pretty badass. ''They must be the powerful demons,'' He thought. "Yeah. Did someone from the higher up send you to me?" The Lord Demon asked. "Oh? Do you think someone can send me here? I just came out on my own, to roam the land and watch the condition of our people. I must say I was quite surprised to see the situation of this town," Ryder said with a proud look on his face. Although he could kill the Lord Demon, It was better to get some information from him if he could. The Lord Demon came down through the stairs. "I apologize for showing you something like this," The Lord Demon apologized. "It''s alright. I don''t mind it since I got to relieve some stress," Ryder casually said. "How about you stay with me for the day? Give me the chance to take care of a high demon. Also, you wanted the girl, didn''t you? You can also have her," Lord Demon suggested. ''He''s a High Demon Magician, so it''s impossible for me to defeat him. Even if I managed to defeat him, I''ll be in deep trouble if he turned out to be an heir of some big clan. But there''s also a possibility that he''s a banished High Demon. All I can do is delay him.'' ''A few days ago I received a message that Duke Devilia is coming here for some reason. She should be here today. She''ll handle him. If he is found out to be a banished one, I''ll just request her to kill him, otherwise, I can just stay as his friend. Both situations are beneficial for me,'' Lord Demon thought as he stepped closer to Ryder to greet him like a friend. "Enraged Slash!" Just as the Lord Demon got close enough to Ryder, he swung his Scythe and separated the head of the Lord Demon from his body. "I changed my mind. I want my Exp more. I can get my answers even from the girl," Ryder said with a smile on his face. [+5000 Exp] [+1 Level] "Nice. Gotta say, the level gained is way higher than what I would have got from fighting the monsters," Ryder said with a pleased look on his face. He turned back only to find the other demons running away. Although some of them ran away, there were still many demons that had taken out their weapons. They looked like they were ready to fight Ryder. "Oh well, Time to do justice to my name. Now you''ll see the wrath of Hades," He smiled as he placed his scythe over his shoulders and started walking towards them like a grim reaper. The fight continued and notifications kept echoing out one after another as Ryder killed the demons. In less than 10 minutes, all the demons that remained there were dead. The ground was filled with their blood. In one day, Ryder had managed to jump from level 5 to level 9. He still had the Scythe in his hand as he walked closer to the girl that was tied by the ropes. Other than Ryder, she was the only one alive. He swung his Scythe one last time as he cut the ropes. The girl''s hands were released from the painful bindings as she fell to her knees. "Are you alright?" Ryder asked. "I''m fine. Are you really a High Demon though?" The girl asked as she struggled to stand up. "What is a High Demon according to you?" Ryder asked since he actually didn''t know. "A high demon? They''re the higher species of us demons. They are many high demon species and quite a few of those don''t even have horns," She replied. "Just like me. Yeah, you can consider me a high demon," Ryder said. What he didn''t know was that someone was coming towards him at the moment. A woman was flying through the sky as fast as she could. She had 2 beautiful black wings behind her back that helped her fly. As she got to the small town that was supposed to be her destination, she was greeted by a pool of blood. With a frown, she came down to the ground and landed right behind Ryder. The woman had no aura. She was just like a dead person moving silently. Ryder didn''t even realize as she landed behind him. The girl on the other hand noticed the woman. Her eyes opened wide and she was about to scream, but the voice didn''t come out of her mouth. "Hey boy," The woman said to Ryder. Ryder was surprised as he hurriedly turned back. He saw a woman standing in front of him. He used \u003cAll-Seer\u003e on her, but strangely, even the \u003cAll-Seer\u003e wasn''t able to show her stats. There was a question mark before all her stats. He realized that the woman was too high up in the level. She was nothing like the Demon Lord. The woman on the other hand was even more surprised. Her eyes were stuck at the Moon Scythe of Ryder. "Where did you get that thing?" She said as she pointed towards the scythe in his hand. 53 Chapter 54: King "Are you asking me about that Scythe?" Ryder asked with a curious look on his face. "Yes. Where did you get that from?" She asked again. ''I can''t even see her level, let alone her stats. She must be a high ranking demon. Does she recognize the Scythe? As far as I know, it''s the scythe of their missing king. I might be able to use this opportunity,'' Ryder thought as he observed the woman. "Answer me!" The woman let out loud. She looked quite impatient this time. "This Scythe? It was given to me by my Master!" Ryder said. The woman looked visibly surprised. "Your Master? What is his name?" She asked. "His name? I shouldn''t take my master''s name. It''s inappropriate for a disciple," Ryder shook his head as he refused to answer. "I''m telling you! Answer me honestly! What is your master''s name,?" She asked. Ryder could feel her terrifying aura. He was trying too hard to keep standing still, but the aura was making him fearful. He would have fallen to his knees if he wasn''t trying so hard. "I won''t say my master''s name, but I will write it!" Ryder said as he used his scythe to write a name on the ground. He wrote "S A L E M" The girl looked at the name on the ground for 5 minutes straight before she raised her head and glared at Ryder. Her terrifying killing intent had become even stronger. ''Did I misjudge the situation?'' Ryder though with a worried look on his face. "I can''t read that? Are you messing with me? Tell me the name straight away!" The Woman shouted in anger. "Hmm? You can''t read English?" Ryder exclaimed in surprise. In the normal regions of Divinity, English was the only language, so he was quite surprised that the demons had a different language. "What is English? I don''t care about that. Just tell me the name before I''m forced to kill you!" She said loudly. "Alright, Don''t get angry. I''ll speak his name," Ryder said. He didn''t want to keep pretending to be respectful to his so-called Master. It was enough already. "I''m sorry for speaking your name Master. Please forgive your disciple," He said as he looked towards the sky. He lowered his head down and started looking towards the woman. "My great master''s great name is Salem!" He said as loudly as he could. "H-his Majesty?" The woman''s mouth opened wide as she fell down to her knees. Her killing intent disappeared like it was never there. The woman''s eyes got wet as tears appeared in her eyes. She looked at Ryder as tears kept falling from her eyes. "W-where''s His Majesty? I mean where''s your master? Is he alright?" She asked in a stuttered tone. "He''s fine. My master is in the outside world. I was there as well when he selected me as his disciple. He taught me so many things. He even gave me his personal weapon Moon Scythe," Ryder said. "Outside world? You mean the Worldly Realm?" She asked. "Yes. He is still there. After teaching me a few things, he asked me to go to the Demon Realm to gain some experience." He replied. " Master said that the Demon Realm is his home and it''s the best place for me to stay. He also said that he would come to meet me in the future," He kept bluffing without breaking character. The woman in front of him started crying even more. Her tears kept falling from her eyes. "I''m so glad His Majesty is safe. His Majesty never married and didn''t leave an heir behind. You''re his disciple, that means you''re our Prince," She said as if she thought of something. ''What?'' Ryder was more excited than surprised. This situation was moving in such a great direction for him. He wanted to laugh out loud. "May I know the name of our Prince?" She asked as she stood up. "I''m Hades. Also, you don''t need to call me Prince. I realize that I''m the only disciple of Your king and that you should really make me your Prince and give me the throne, since my master doesn''t want the throne and he would be happy if you make me the king. But you don''t need to do any of that," Ryder said with an innocent smile on his face. "Right! We can do that for His Majesty! He doesn''t want the throne, but by making you the king, we can keep His Majesty happy. Come with me!" She said as she stepped forward and caught his hand. Her wings spread wide as if she was prepared to fly. "Wait a minute. If you''re taking me somewhere, I want that girl to come with us as well," Ryder insisted as he pointed towards the red-eyed girl. The woman looked towards the girl that was sitting on the ground. "But Prince, I see nothing special in her. If you want beautiful demons, you can get many in the place we''re going to," The Woman said to Ryder. "Just take her with us. I slaughtered the village to save her. Since I did all that, I might as well take her with me," Ryder said. "Hmm? All that blood on the ground is because of you? Nice. I remember that His Majesty destroyed many towns and cities as well. It seems like the disciple is just like the master," She said. She pointed towards the girl on the ground and gestured to her to come to them. The girl stood up hesitantly as she stepped towards the woman. The woman caught the girl''s hand as well. She flew to the sky with both of them. It seemed like she was using some magic that made them fly with her instead of being dragged by her. "Let me introduce myself. I''m Devilia. I''m a Demonic Duke in our Demon Empire," The woman introduced herself. "Devilia? That''s a cool name. I''m Hades," Ryder said. He began looking towards the girl as he waited for her introduction. "I''m Miyali, I''m just a low-level demon," The girl introduced herself as well. 54 Chapter 55: High Duke Oris Duke Devilia and the others flew for around 3 hours straight before they landed in front of a beautiful looking palace. It looked like a big palace that was shrouded in darkness. The sky above the palace was covered by the dark clouds that were preventing the sunlight from falling over the palace. They all landed in front of the giant doors of the palace. "My lady," The guards got down to their knees as they greeted the woman. They stood up after she gestured to them and pushed the heavy door. The giant door opened with a creaking sound, revealing the interior of the giant palace. The first thing Ryder noticed was the giant hall that was completely empty. There was no furniture or decoration. She stepped inside the palace while Ryder and Miyali followed her. The woman stepped towards the stairs and went to the first floor. "Is this your palace?" Ryder asked her. "Yeah. Kinda. My main palace is in the capital city. It''s just something casual,'' She replied. She stopped before an old looking door. The door wasn''t attached to any wall or a room. It was just a single door standing there. The door looked even more well reinforced compared to the main door of the palace. It was covered with chains that tightly wrapped around it. "What''s that door for?" Ryder asked. "It''s the pathway between this place and my real palace. I had it made by our high magician craftsman. Good work, I must say," She said with a pleased smile on her face. She opened the lock that was tying the chains and removed the chains. She waved her hand in the air as a small key appeared in thin air out of nowhere. ''That must be space magic. Such a high level of magic. Only level 300 or higher players should be able to learn the space magic. She''s definitely dangerous.'' Ryder thought with a frown on his face. The woman entered the key in the keyhole of the door and rotated it. *Click* With a small sound, the door was unlocked. She turned the doorknob to the left and pushed the door to open it. The door opened and surprisingly, Ryder was able to see a room on the other side of the door. He walked to the back of the door, and looked ahead, he could see Devilia and Miyali, but when he walked to the front of the door, he saw a completely different place inside the door. ''It''s definitely a space tunnel. Amazing. The kingdoms outside, still use space transportation formation, while the people here are so advanced in space magic,'' He thought. "Let''s go," Duke Devilia gestured for Ryder to enter. "It''s alright. Ladies first," Ryder said what an innocent smile on his face. "What? Are you afraid?" The woman asked with a confused look on his face. "Hah? Why would I be afraid? It''s just good manners to ask women to go first. It''s not because I''m worried about the space tunnel," Ryder replied without looking the least bit worried. "Oh? Is that considered manners at your place? alright, I''ll enter first then," She said with a thoughtful look on her face as she entered the door. She gestured to Ryder as he came out on the other side. ''Looks like it''s safe,'' He thought. "Let''s go," He held Miyali''s hands as he entered the door together. As he entered the space tunnel, he didn''t even feel anything. He just appeared on the other side of the tunnel in the blink of an eye. Duke Devilia closed the door and locked it. "This place looks much better," Ryder commented as he saw the room he was inside. The place was much brighter than the previous palace. "Come with me. I''ll show you to your rooms. I still need to inform other dukes about you. Before we can come to a decision, you can stay here," She said with a smile on her face. She brought Ryder and Miyali to a beautifully furnished room. "You can stay here. Miyali will stay with you in the same room since you want her. Take this talisman. You can use it to contact me in case of an emergency. I''ll come to meet you when I''m finished with the preparation," She said as she left. Ryder stepped inside the room. The slightly hesitating Miyali also entered the place after him. "Oh man, This place only has one bed. Looks like we''ll have to sleep on the same bed," Ryder said as he looked towards the bed. "Do you have a problem with it? I can ask them to arrange for something else if you want?" Ryder asked as he saw the worried look on his face. "Ah, It''s fine. I''ll sleep on the ground," Miyali replied. "Why would you sleep on the ground? Are you worried that I''ll do something bad with you? As I always say, I won''t force myself on a woman. That''s just not me." He said in full seriousness. "But if you allow me to do it, then I''ll do it in a heartbeat," He further said with a smile on his face as he glanced at the girl. "Anyways, You can sleep on the bed with me. The bed is quite big and we can sleep without being in contact with each other," Ryder said. "Ah... alright," The girl still looked hesitant, but she nodded her head. ______________________________ While Ryder was discussing the bed distribution plan, Duke Devilia was sitting in front of a big mirror. She bit her finger and made a strange pattern on the mirror with blood. The mirror started shining in bright white light. After 5 more minutes, the mirror started showing the image of a person. It was a bearded man who looked like he was in his 50s. He had a long white beard that covered half his face. "Devilia, What do you need?" The man spoke on the opposite side of the mirror. "Duke Devilia greets High Duke Oris. I had to contact you as there is something important I need to talk about," She replied. 55 Chapter 56: Close "What do you want to talk about? What could be so important that made you contact me?" High Duke Oris asked with a serious look on his face. "I need you to call for a meeting of all dukes and high dukes. The others will only listen if you contact them," Duke Devilia said. "Are you being serious right now? A high-level meeting can only be called when it''s a matter of life and death! What can be so important! Did you get some information? Is someone trying to attack us?" High Duke Oris frowned as he said. "That''s not it, But in a way it''s more important than that!" She replied. "More important than that? Be honest with me. What''s happened that made you so restless?" High Duke Oris asked. "I found a hint about His Majesty!" She said with an excited look on her face. "What!" High Duke Oris exclaimed in shock as he stood up. Duke Devilia could hear the sound of his chair falling to the ground as he stood up so suddenly. ''I expected that reaction,'' She thought. "Did you really find something about His Majesty? Is he alive?" He asked with a frown. "Yeah. His Majesty is alive and perfectly fine," She said with a pleased smile on her face. "Where is he?" He asked again. "From what I heard, he''s in the outside realm. The world of humans, elves, and others weaklings" Duke Devilia replied. "How did you find out about this? Did you go there? Or did he contact you?" High Duke Oris inquired. "None of that. I found it from his young disciple!" She explained. "His Majesty has a disciple?" He exclaimed in shock. "Yes. He''s only 23-24 years old I think. He''s from the outside realm. I heard that he was sent here by His Majesty to train," She answered back. High Duke Oris picked up the chair and again sat down. "Are you sure of that boy''s identity? Did he show any proof!" He asked in full seriousness. "He did have proof. A proof that leaves no room for doubt. The proof makes it clear that he''s a disciple of His Majesty," She responded. "What proof of that? Don''t tell me that it''s a handwritten note. It''s possible to fake a letter," High Duke Oris said as he glared at Duke Devilia. "It''s his scythe," She answered in a simple manner. "What?" He asked again as if he didn''t manage to hear it. "It''s the Royal Moon Scythe of His Majesty. That boy has the Royal Scythe! We all know that no one can touch the scythe without His Majesty''s permission. It''s clear who that boy is," She explained. "Is that the real Royal Moon Scythe? Are you sure of it?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown. "It is real. I''m sure of it. I could feel the same feeling of dominance from this scythe as I felt when I first saw the scythe in His Majesty''s hand. It was as if it was declaring to me that it''s still the same king of weapons," She said as she remembered that chilling feeling she felt. "Alright. I hope that you didn''t lie to me about any of it. I''ll be calling a meeting of the nobles and you can bring him with you. I''ll tell you the date of the meeting. It''s time we also see the disciple His Majesty chose," High Duke Oris said with a grin appearing on his face. The mirror returned back to normal as the connection was disconnected. "Sigh, It took so long to convince the old man. It''s good though. Everything''s about to be changed," she said with a relieved smile on his face. She stood up as she walked back to her bedroom. Ryder and Miyali were already on the bed. They were sharing the same bed and blanket, but since the bed was quite wide, there was a meter of distance between the two of them. Their backs were facing each other as they fell asleep. It was around 2 at night when Ryder''s sleep broke. He could feel a heavy weight on his body that was pressing down on his body. "Umm?" With a frown, he opened his eyes and he was surprised to see that Miyali was sleeping on top of him. She was somewhat shorter than Ryder so her head was resting on his chest. ''This girl? She was worried about me molesting her and now she''s sticking to me like a koala? This is weird. What can a poor boy do when a girl is lying on him like that?'' He thought with a wry smile on his face. He could feel that a certain part of his body was starting to react. "Sigh, This girl is trying to make me commit a crime. I won''t force myself on her though. I can be many bad things but someone who forces a girl is not one of them," he muttered softly. He turned his body sideways and tried to get the girl to come off her body, but she was sticking too tightly to him. He further turned which resulted in him being on top of her. He lifted his body up, but she still didn''t separate. She wrapped her hands around his back so hard, it looked as if she was clinching to her life. Ryder slightly jerked his body and after some effort, he was finally freed. The girl fell on the bed. Because of the impact, the girl woke up as she opened her eyes. As she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Ryder''s face. Her mouth opened wide as she realized that Ryder was on top of her. 57 Chapter 57: Going for hun Miyali''s mouth opened wide as she realized that Ryder was on top of her. Before she could say anything, Ryder hurriedly got off her and created some distance between them. "Before you misunderstand anything, just hear me out. When I woke up, you were on top of me. I rolled over to get you off me without waking you up. That''s when you woke up. So please don''t doubt my innocent intentions," Just as she was thinking of words to speak, Ryder explained everything as best as he could. Miyali closed her mouth, but she still looked at Ryder with a doubtful look. "Really?" After 5 or so minutes, she finally opened her lips and asked in a soft tone. "Of Course. Why would I do such a thing to you? I''m a perfectly decent man," Ryder insisted. "You can go back to sleep," He told her. "Alright," Miyali mumbled as she closed her eyes. Seeing that she was sleeping, Ryder opened the game window and saw the real world time in there. The time in the game ran opposite to the time in the real world. When it was the day in the real world, it was night here and when it was night here, it was day there. The best thing was that the real world had become so advanced in terms of medicines that people didn''t need to eat food every day. It was more of a delicacy type thing now. The medicine field was so advanced that the world had managed to develop the Productive Pills. If a person ate one of those pills, he could go for a day without eating anything. Similarly, if he ate 10 of such pills, they could stay without food for 10 days. The best thing was that their body wasn''t harmed in any way. It was all organic and healthy. Since Ryder got the news that Lucifer had caught up to him, he became more competitive. He ate ten of such pills since he was intending to stay inside for 10 days without going out and go on a hunting spree to increase his XP and level. Unfortunately, things didn''t go his way and he was thrown in the Demon Realm. He didn''t want to give up his plan though. He had already sworn to himself that he wouldn''t leave Divinity before 10 days, and it was just him fulfilling that promise to himself. Still, he didn''t wish to be non-productive. He wanted to go hunt and increase his level. He left the door as he stepped into the hallway. There was not a single person here that he could see. He continued walking through the palace in search of a path to leave. If there had been any problem, he also had the Talisman that could help him contact Devilia. He was quite surprised that a place like this had no guards. He had walked up to the door without any problems. As he pushed the main door towards the outside, the door opened. As soon as he went outside the door, he saw the guards.There were indeed the guards outside. "Young Master!" The guards saluted Ryder as they got down to the knees. "Young Master? Do you guys know about me?" Ryder asked in surprise. "Greetings Young Master. I''m the chief of the security of this palace. My name is Bulga. And yes, we were all told about you," A bulky demon stood up as he stepped towards Ryder. The Demon was around 10 ft. tall. His biceps alone were the size of Ryder''s waist. There were 2 sharp devil horns protruding from his forehead. "Oh, It''s good that you have been told about me. Anyways, is there a place here where I can hunt?" Ryder asked. "Of Course. We hand our own hunting forest that belongs to the Duke. You can find quite a lot of weak monsters there," The Chief Guard Demon Bulga said. "Hmm? How weak are you talking about?" Ryder asked just to be sure. Bulga heard the question and fell into a deep thought as to how he could describe it. He started looking towards his men. "Ahmm? Oh Right. He''s our weakest member. The strongest monster in that forest is only as strong as him. So you can see how weak they are," He said as he pointed towards a member that was the shortest amongst them. Despite being the shortest person amongst them, the demon was still 7 feet tall. Ryder used his \u003cAll-Seer\u003e on that demon and a wry smile appeared on his face. Although he was the weakest guard amongst them, Ryder still wasn''t able to see his level or stats. He could understand how strong that guy must be. "I need monsters that are as strong as your 5-year-old kids," Ryder said without feeling ashamed one bit. "Hmm? Do you mean the newborn monsters? But Young Master, those monsters are too weak," Bulga replied in uncertainty. "I just want to see the strength of newborn monsters in this place," Ryder said. "Oh? Alright. There is indeed a section of the forest where the weakest beasts stay," Bulga said after thinking for a while. "Oh? Good. Take me to them," Ryder said. Bulga nodded his head. He informed the other guards to properly take care of the palace in his absence and to contact him if there was a problem. He whistled loudly and a big flying beast came down and landed in front of him. "It''s my tamed beast. It will carry us to the forest," Bulga said as he climbed on top of the big beast. The beast looked similar to an eagle on Earth, but it was many times larger. It was so large that it could easily carry 3 people like Bulga on its back. Ryder also climbed on top of the beast and the beast started flying. Although the Beast was far, Ryder could feel that it was many times slower than Duke Devilia when she was flying. The beast flew above the well-lit city and after around half an hour it slowed down. 59 Chapter 58: Species Change "We''re there Young Master," Bulga said as the Beast came down and landed in front of the forest. "This place is the one I was talking about. Here you can find the newborn monsters." Bulga said. "Oh, alright. I''ll be going inside. Follow me for a bit. Show me one of those beasts," Ryder said to him. He didn''t want to go alone since he wasn''t sure how strong would house newborns be. "Of course, young Master," Bulga nodded his head in affirmation. They both entered inside the forest, and after walking for around 10 minutes they indeed saw a monster. It was a Three Horned Wind Deer that was known for its speed. ''That''s a newborn for them? That looks like a full-grown beast!'' Ryder thought with a frown. Ryder used his \u003cAll-Seer\u003e on the Three Horned Wind Deer. ''Amazing. Even this weakest category of monster is at level 10. Though it''s not bad. I think I can handle that much. This place would be a good place to hunt,'' Ryder thought. "Alright. You can leave. I can handle everything else from here. I''ll see you outside the forest in 3 hours," Ryder told Bulga. After some slight hesitation, Bulga decided to listen to the orders. He turned back and left. Only Ryder was left behind. "Time for some grinding," Ryder said with a smile on his face as he stepped closer to the Three Horned Wind Deer. The Three Horned Wind Deer was sleeping, but it was as if it had a sixth sense for danger. As soon as Ryder entered within a fifty-meter range of it, it opened its eyes as it stood up. "Cheh, I wanted to finish it faster, but whatever," Ryder sighed as he started running towards the Three Horned Wind Deer. His Moon Scythe was already in his hands. Ryder saw the Three Horned Wind Deer running away from him instead of coming towards him. Its speed was slightly faster than him as well. "Flame Blast!" Ryder used his flame spell as he shot a ball of fire toward the Three Horned Wind Deer. The ball of fire struck the back of the Three Horned Wind Deer and made him groan in agony. The Three Horned Wind Deer looked like it had lost its sense of reasoning as its eyes turned red. It started running towards Ryder in madness. "Now that''s better," Ryder smiled as he saw the prey itself running towards the Hunter. He gripped his Moon Scythe firmly as he waited for the Three Horned Wind Deer to come to him. After a short moment, the Three Horned Wind Deer reached near him. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder let out as he swung his Scythe. The Scythe seemed like it was burning in a fire as it ripped through the air. The Scythe sliced off the neck of the Three Horned Wind Deer in one strike. The Three Horned Wind Deer fell down to the ground. [+4000 Exp. ] "Nice. If it keeps going on like this, I''ll soon get to level 10," Ryder said with a smile. He started looking for his second prey. After looking around for an hour, he managed to find another monster. It was a level 9 Ice Rabbit. This battle was much harder since the Ice Rabbit was more agile and clever, but after 10 minutes of battle, Ryder killed it as well. "Just one more level 10 monster and I''ll be level 10," He said with an excited look on his face. He again began his search for a monster. This time it took even longer. It took him 1.5 hours to find a Dark Blooded Horse. Fortunately, it was a level 10 beast as well. After a 20 minutes long battle, he managed to kill the Dark Blooded Beast as well. [+4000 Exp.] [+1 Level] "Awesome. Too bad that it''s so late. I need to go back now. I''ll come again tomorrow," Ryder muttered as he turned back to leave. He had just taken his first step when he heard a notification. [Reached Level 10. Hidden restriction of Quest of Salem unlocked. Species changed to Demon.] [Since the 1st hidden Restriction of the Quest of Salem is Unlocked, the first Special Ability of Moon Scythe is also Unlocked. Unlocked Skill: Absorption] "What the f? Species change?" Ryder was shocked. He didn''t care about the skill as much at the moment as he cared about his species. He hurriedly opened his stats screen and as soon as he saw it, his mouth remained open. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: Demon Level:10 Experience: 0/30000 HP: 5000+800 Mana: 2000 Strength: 121 Defense:109 Speed:68 Stamina:92 Dexterity:100 Intelligence: 80 Available stat points: 3 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 2 (75% mastery) All-Seer: Level 2 (29% mastery) Flame blast: Level 2 (42% mastery) ] "It changed my species? What the heck is wrong with this quest!" Ryder cursed out loud. He hurriedly checked his head and his body to see if he had grown horns, but fortunately, there was nothing like that. He was still physically the same. He breathed in relief as he still looked normal. Though his confusion about this quest only increased even further. After calming down, he also checked the weapon-specific skill that he had just received. He was quite surprised to see the skill''s description. [Absorption: When an enemy is killed by the Moon Scythe, the user absorbs 10% stats from any one of the enemy''s stats. The stat is chosen randomly. There''s a 5% chance of getting any one skill from the killed enemy. The skill is chosen randomly if the enemy has more than 1 skill.] "Wow, That''s such an incredible skill. I can become so powerful just by hunting by getting their stats. And in the rare chances, I can even get a skill from them," Ryder said as a grin formed in his face. With a face filled with happiness, he left the forest. ____________________ Ryder left the forest and met up with Bulga who was still waiting outside for him. "Welcome back, Young Master. You look quite happy, did something good happen?" Bulga noticed the happiness of Ryder and asked. "Hah, Yeah. I got what I wanted, we can go back," Ryder said as he stepped towards Bulga and the flying beast. ''Hmm?'' As Ryder got near him, Bulga didn''t know why, but he had a strange feeling. Ryder felt different than before, and he was feeling more intimidating at the moment. 61 Chapter 59: Real Reason Bulga felt like Ryder was looking much more intimidating. Although he couldn''t see any change in Ryder, it was a feeling he was getting from his core. "Hey? Why are you standing there? We should leave. It''ll be morning quite soon," Ryder called out to Bulga as he waited on top of the flying beast. "Ah, Oh right. Sorry," Bulga came out of his daze as he replied. He walked towards the flying beast as well. The flying beast started flying in the direction of the palace. It didn''t take long for them to get to the palace of Duke Devilia. While Bulga got back to his duty, Ryder entered the palace and walked towards his room. Ryder was walking in the hallway when Duke Devilia came out of her room. She saw Ryder and couldn''t help but frown. "Where are you coming from? Didn''t I tell you to not leave the palace?" Duke Devilia asked as she gazed at Ryder with a frown. "Ah, I went out to get some fresh air and get some exercise. I also went to your hunting forest to see how the beasts of this place are. I couldn''t wait until the morning. My master had told me that if I wanted to do something, I should do that without delaying much, So I did that last night," Ryder said without looking much worried. He was sure that Devilia would get answers from Bulga, thus he didn''t hide anything. It wasn''t anything wrong that would get him punished anyways. "His Majesty said that? That does sound like something he would say. He himself was quite impulsive after all," Devilia let out with a thoughtful look on her face. "Anyways, If you wanted to hunt, you could come to me. I would bring you personally to see my collection. What would have happened if you were harmed?" She inquired. "You were sleeping, so I didn''t want to disturb you. Anyways, It''s fine. I''m perfectly fine, aren''t I? Also, I had some help with me. The Chief Guard escorted me and protected me. I also had the Talisman that I could use to contact you if I needed your help," Ryder answered. He stretched his arms as he yawned before she could reply. "I''m feeling quite sleepy. Can we talk later?" Ryder said with a sleepy look on his face. "Hmm? Oh right. You must''ve stayed up all night long. Go get some sleep. I''ll inform you when I need you," Duke Devilia said. "Thanks," Ryder responded. He walked past her and stepped towards his room. As soon as he opened the door and entered the room, he found Miyali sitting on the bed. "You woke up so soon?" Ryder asked with a smile as he walked there and sat beside her. "Yes. Did you go outside?" She asked. "Yeah. Went outside to get some fresh air," Ryder said smilingly. "Can I ask you something?" She inquired as she looked at Ryder with her beautiful red eyes. "Yeah, Sure. You''re free to talk to me about anything. Just consider me your friend," Ryder replied with a smile. "Why did you save me?" She raised a question. "Hmm? Why did I save you? Just take it that I didn''t like the fact that they were so cruel. For your father''s mistake, they wanted to torture you. I hated that. Also, I knew that I could defeat them, so the experience played a small role as well" Ryder replied. Before jumping in to save her, he had already seen the stats of the Demons. Only when he was sure that he could handle them, did he jump in. "My father did not make a mistake! He was innocent!" Miyali insisted in a raised tone. "Ah, sorry for using that term. I didn''t mean that. I don''t know what had happened after all," Ryder apologized. "My father was framed. He found out a secret of the Town Demon and that''s why he was killed. They killed him to silence him," Miyali explained. Ryder could see the sadness on her face. "What secret?" Ryder asked in curiosity. "The Town Lord was preparing a formation. He wanted to sacrifice all of the Town people so that he could increase his strength through that dark ritual. My father found out about this," Miyali said. "Why didn''t you inform the town people then?" Ryder inquired. "Hah, Tell those cruel people? My father told those bastards all about it. They didn''t even believe it. Then the Town Lord accused him of trying to dethrone him and get him killed by misinforming the citizens. My father was killed. It wasn''t that the town people weren''t told. It was that they didn''t believe it," She responded. "I guess this really is the Demon Realm. They have such brutal formations here," Ryder sighed. There was silence for a brief moment. "Oh right, You''re from the outside. How is that place?" Miyali inquired after some time with curiosity. "The outside? Well, I don''t think it''s as cruel as here, but there are evil people there too. There are monsters and various mysteries waiting to be discovered. The thing I hate the most is politics though. The Kings can be really cruel," He explained with a wry smile as he remembered a few incidents of his previous timeline. "Are you really the disciple of His Majesty? I haven''t seen him before, but I heard a lot of stories about his bravery from father. Since you''re his disciple, Can I ask you what kind of person he is?" she asked. "He? Ah, he''s pretty strict most of the time, but he is quite protective of me as well. Also, he''s super strong, " Ryder told her the stories he made up. Both of them talked for quite some time. Miyali was initially hesitant and scared, but she did end up becoming closer to Ryder. She wasn''t as fearful as before and she was able to open her heart and talk about things. ____________________ Ryder was talking to her when he got a message from Duke Devilia through the Talisman that was given to him by her. "Sorry, I''ll be right back. The Duke needs me for something," Ryder told Miyali as he stood up and left. He had seen Devilia''s room in the morning, so it wasn''t much trouble finding it. He knocked on the door. "You can come inside," He heard Devilia''s voice from inside. He opened the door and entered the room. 63 Chapter 60: Going to the meeting. Devilia was sitting on her bed when Ryder walked in. "Do you need anything?" Ryder inquired as he stood in front of her. "Yeah. I just wanted to tell you that we''ll be leaving today. Everything Is decided and the meeting of the Dukes will take place tonight. I want to introduce you to them, so let''s get you prepared," Devilia smilingly said. "Prepared? For what?" Ryder inquired with a frown. "Well, of course, you can''t go like that. We need to get you some good clothes. You need to look like a Prince, not like a random person," She replied. "It won''t take much time though. I had already told my personal dressmaker to make some clothes for you. He sent them as well. You just need to get changed," Devilia said as she made a small gesture with her hand. A small spatial portal opened in front of her. This was something akin to her own personal storage. She brought the clothes outside and placed them on the bed near her. "Alright. I''ll be right back after getting changed," Ryder said as he picked up the clothes. "What are you talking about? You can change right here. You don''t need to leave. Brave men shouldn''t be shy of anything. Don''t worry about me. Just think that I''m not here if you still feel uncomfortable," Devilia chuckled as she told Ryder. "Ah, Are you serious?" Ryder asked in surprise. "Yeah. Do it here. You leaving and coming back will waste a lot of our precious time," She replied. "That''s stupid. I can''t change in front of you!" Ryder insisted. "Why? Do you have something that''s making you ashamed? It''s fine, I won''t judge you," She said in full seriousness. "I have nothing to be ashamed about! But still, I can''t do it in front of you," Ryder repeated the same thing. "Sigh, Alright. You can go to that room. Get changed fast," She finally gave up. She pointed towards the attached room. "That''s better," Ryder said as he left and entered the room. He closed the door just to be sure and started taking his clothes off. What he didn''t know was that Devilia was able to see everything. She had the skill that helped her see through a single wall. "Hmm, I guess he wasn''t lying. There is indeed nothing to be ashamed about," She chuckled as she looked towards the room. Ryder didn''t take long and got ready in a hurry before he left the room. "You look better now," Duke Devilia praised him. He was wearing beautiful white clothes. His white shirt had some charming design that made it seem like he was wearing a beautiful silver armor. His short silver hair matched the clothes quite well. The only thing that had a different color was his robe. He was wearing a different robe. The robe was a dark grey in color and had long standing collars as well. He also covered his hands with slim warrior-like gauntlets. "Do I really need to wear gauntlets? Although they do look cool, I don''t think I''m going for a war, am I?" Ryder asked with a wry smile on his face. "Who knows, there might be a war after all," She said as she chuckled. "I''m kidding. Don''t worry, I''ll protect you even if something does happen," She further explained as she saw the frown on Ryder''s face. "As for the gauntlets? This is something that His Majesty used to wear when he was ruling. So I thought it would be a good thing if you wear one as well. Anyways, Since you don''t know about it, I guess His Majesty doesn''t wear a gauntlet outside?" She explained before she asked another question. "I haven''t seen Master wearing one, so that should be true," Ryder let out without any change in his expression. "Yeah. Anyways, now that you''re ready, let''s leave. We can''t be late," She said with a smile as she stood up. "Yeah, If I''m not wrong, we should be in the capital city of the Demonic Empire. The meeting should be somewhere nearby, right?" He asked. "Not really. The Dark City is much bigger than you can imagine. It should be way bigger than an average kingdom, so it would take quite a lot of time," She explained. "That''s why, we should hurry," She walked closer to Ryder and held his hands. She brought him towards her balcony and jumped right outside with him. She began flying with Ryder. Ryder noticed that she was flying in the opposite direction of the forest that Ryder visited last night. "I guess that''s why I didn''t see any palaces of other dukes or anything last night," He muttered. They flew for a few hours and Ryder did manage to see a few palaces that looked just as luxurious as the palace of Duke Devilia, but apparently, these were not their destination as Devilia didn''t stop there and continued ahead. It was evening and the sun was starting to set when Ryder noticed another palace in the distant horizon, but it was different from all other palaces. The palace was pitch black in color and it was many times larger than the palace of Devilia. Even the door of the palace itself was as tall as the whole palace of Devilia. There were no houses or buildings near the palace. There was nothing within the kilometer range of the palace. He could see 6 other smaller Palaces that were surrounding the bigger palace like the guards, outside the kilometer range of it. Even though the 6 palaces were smaller than the big palace, they were still larger than the palace of someone like Devilia. "You see those 6 places? Those are the Palaces of the 6 Great Dukes. And the palace in the center is the Palaces that belong to your Master. That place has been empty since His Majesty left us, but today, the Royal Hall will be opened once more," She said with a smile on her face. "I can''t wait to see the looks on the faces of those guys when they find out. It''s going to be fun," She let out. Soon, they landed in front of the Royal Palace. 64 Chapter 61: Show them Ryder and Devilia landed in front of the giant gates of the Palace. Devilia pushed the door open. She was so powerful that she easily opened the giant looking doors of the Palace with just a single finger of her. As soon as the doors opened, they saw a huge hall. There was a slightly raised floor at the end of the Hall and a big throne was there. The throne was empty. There were 20 seats on each side of the hall. The first 3 seats on both sides were slightly bigger and higher, but they were still not as high as the main throne. The remaining 17 seats on both sides of the Hall were at a similar level. Although those seats were the lowest, they still looked like the seats a king can use without being ashamed. All the seats were filled except the main throne and the 5th seat on the right side. In total, the Demonic Realm had 34 Dukes and 6 High Dukes. They had other ranks like Marquis as well, but they were not allowed in today''s meeting. Devilia entered the place and walked under the watchful eyes of all the Dukes and High Dukes. "You can sit here for the moment," She stopped before the 5th seat on the right and told Ryder to sit on it. "Devilia? What are you doing! That''s the seat of a Duke. By making that kid sit there, aren''t you insulting us?" One of the Duke stood up and asked. All the Dukes and High Dukes were ranked. The one that has just spoken was the 5th Ranked Duke. He was sitting on the seat on the right of Devilia. "Orion, You have no idea what you''re talking about. It would be more like I''m raising the prestige of our seats by making him sit here for a moment. You''ll find out soon," Devilia said as she stood behind Ryder who had sat on that chair without a second thought. Ryder didn''t want to make him look scared since he knew what was about to happen here, but inside, he was freaking out. All the people here were so powerful. He couldn''t see anyone''s level, but he could feel their scary aura. Before dying in the previous timeline, he had faced a level 200+ dragon, but he realized that the Dragon''s aura was like a child while the people that were sitting here had the aura of the Heavenly King''s. To not die, he had to be brave. If he could succeed, he would at least become their Prince even if they don''t make him King. He could create history in Divinity and it was also quite possible that he would leave Lucifer way behind. The High Dukes heard her words and they all frowned except High Duke Oris who had an idea about who the boy was. He was just silently observing the boy from his seat. "Orion, We can talk about that later. It''s Devilia''s seat so let her do it if she wants to. We have more important matters to attend to," High Duke Oris said before Duke Orion could speak once again. Duke Orion just sat silently since High Duke had spoken. "High Duke Oris, Can we know why this meeting was called? Is someone trying to attack our place? Or is it something related to the Death Domain? Have they risen again?" The High Duke, who was sitting on the seat that was facing High Duke Oris, said. He was High Duke Magna. He and High Duke Oris were said to be the strongest in Demonic Realm after the Emperor himself. It was said that High Duke Magna was stronger than High Duke Oris, but since no one had seen them fight, there wasn''t any proof. ''Death Domain?'' Ryder thought with a frown. He had a feeling like he had heard of it before, but he couldn''t remember. "It''s nothing like that. Since His Majesty fought with the Death Emperor, They had never left their Domain. We still can''t see any movement from their side," High Duke Oris replied. "What is it then?" High Duke Mila said. She was the only female amongst all the High Dukes. She was also quite strong and said to be the 3rd strongest amongst all the High Dukes. She was quite old, but she looked like she had just turned 18. "We all know that His Majesty left the Demon Realm a long time ago. We can''t even find his traces, but we know how much power he has. Wherever he is, he is still perfectly fine, but we still couldn''t help but worry for him," High Duke Oris said. "Of course we worry about him. Why are you bringing that up now?" High Duke Mila inquired. "Because we got the information about His Majesty. He is in the Human Realm," High Duke Oris replied. "What?" That news came like a shock to everyone as everyone stood up from their seats. Only High Duke Oris and Ryder remained seated since they knew what it was. "Did His Majesty come back? Where is he? Let me go meet him now. I want to see his fierce figure once more. This calls for celebration," High Duke Magna said with an excited look on his face. "His Majesty didn''t come back, but he sent someone else. His personal disciple," High Duke Oris said. "His Disciple? Who? Wait a minute, are you talking about that boy? It can''t be! He''s so weak!" High Duke Mila said as she shook her head. All the gazes turned towards Ryder and they all looked like they couldn''t believe it. "I won''t try to convince you guys. I''ll leave it on him to prove it. You can sit down. Let''s see his proof," High Duke Oris said with an amused smile on his face. Although he still hadn''t seen the proof, he believed that Devilia hadn''t lied to him. They all sat down on their seats. "Stand up boy! Show us, what proof you have?" High Duke Magna said as he glared at Ryder. His simple gaze was so powerful that Ryder felt a chill run down his spine. He could barely control his body from shivering. "Go on. Show them. It''s the right moment," Duke Devilia said with a smile as she tapped on his shoulders. 65 Chapter 62: Im a demon Ryder was starting to get stressed as one of the strongest demons were staring at him. He took a deep breath as he calmed his mind and stood up. He walked to the center and gazed at High Duke Magna without looking the least bit intimidated. "I must say, When I was told that the High Dukes were the strongest beings after my master, I expected a lot. But looking at you all, I can see how big the gap between the first and second is," Ryder let out in a disappointed tone. The faces of everyone present in the hall changed due to shock. They couldn''t believe that a kid was talking like that, but then again, he was the disciple of the Emperor. It would be strange if he didn''t have an attitude. "We understand that we are nothing in front of His Majesty. We wouldn''t even dare to compare us with him. But that''s a different matter. Show us the proof if you have any," High Duke Mila answered instead. "Sigh, I guess you wouldn''t believe me otherwise. Let me show you a gift I received from my Master," Ryder said with a smile. He opened his storage space, but the others couldn''t see it. They just saw him moving his fingers strangely in mid-air. Ryder brought the Moon Scythe out of his storage space. His single action managed to stun everyone multiple times. Almost everyone in the hall stood up in shock. "T-that''s..." "The Moon Scythe," "His Majesty''s personal weapon," "I can feel the strength of the Scythe. It''s not fake!" All the High Dukes started talking as they looked at Ryder with their eyes wide open. "Not just that, He also used space magic!" High Duke Oris said. He knew about the Scythe, but it was the first time he found out that Ryder could use space magic as well. "Only the strongest of demons can learn to use space magic for storage of items. How can this boy learn it?"High Duke Magna asked. "I heard that some humans in the Outside world can learn it as well. He might just be talented when it comes to that," High Duke Oris said. "I guess it''s decided. He is the real disciple of His Majesty," He further said. "I still don''t believe it!" Someone called out suddenly. All the High Dukes looked towards the person that had spoken. "Wuxin? Do you have something to say?" High Duke Magna asked as he looked towards the man standing near them. The man looked like he was in his early 30s. He had flaming red hair and a sharply chiseled face that made him look quite charming. He looked mostly like a normal human except for his long elf-like ears. He was said to be the strongest amongst all the Dukes. "I don''t believe the claims of this boy!" Duke Wuxin said. "Why not? Are you saying that he was able to steal the Scythe of His Majesty? You know that a person can''t even touch a Scythe without His Majesty''s permission!" Duke Devilia said sarcastically. "I''m not talking to you, Devilia. So you better stay silent," Duke Wuxin said. "I would like to ask the same thing as Devilia. Why do you think he''s lying? Why was he able to touch the Scythe?" High Duke Oris asked with a slight smile. "Respectable High Duke, As much as I wish to believe that His Majesty is alive, this boy''s existence makes me doubt that. You know that His Majesty loved the Demon Race since he himself was one of us. I don''t believe that he would choose a human to be his disciple or successor!" Duke Wuxin exclaimed. "As for him being able to touch the Scythe, That might be possible if His Majesty had died. In fact, I believe that anyone can touch the Scythe now!" He further continued. His words made the others think. Some were even able to find the logic in the words of Duke Wuxin the more they thought about it. Most of them looked at Ryder with a doubt. "I''ll prove that to everyone right now!" Duke Wuxin said in a loud voice as he stepped towards Ryder. Not a single person tried to stop him. Devilia wanted to go there, but she noticed Duke Oris who was shaking his head as if telling her to not get involved. Ryder was somewhat shocked as he saw a Duke coming towards him, but he had no choice but to act brave till the end. He didn''t take a step back. Duke Wuxin stopped right before Ryder and extended his hands towards the Scythe. He caught the Scythe and took it off of Ryder''s hands. "See? Nothing happened to me! I was right!" Duke Wuxin said proudly, but right at that moment, his expressions changed as he felt an extremely unstable force near him. Before he could react, A powerful energy blast happened near Duke Wuxin and he was blasted backward. He flew away like a broken kite and crashed on the wall. His handsome face now looked burnt as he lay near the wall. Ryder couldn''t believe what just happened. The scythe harmed the Duke on its own? ''I guess I really underestimated you,'' Ryder thought with an amused smile on his face. Ryder stepped forward and picked up the Scythe that was lying on the ground near him. "I guess you deserved that for calling My Master dead. You should be glad that he isn''t here to hear your statement," Ryder let out as he glared at Duke Wuxin. The others just stood still as they wondered what to speak. The things that happened here today kept shocking them one after an other. They were also ashamed that they came under the influence of Duke Wuxin and let him do it. High Duke Oris finally opened his mouth to say something, but Ryder spoke first. "I should probably clear your other misunderstanding as well. I''m not a human! I''m a pure demon!" Ryder let out loudly. 67 Chapter 63: Blood Demon "I''m a demon as well," Ryder''s one simple statement managed to stun the others once more. "You''re a demon?" High Duke Oris exclaimed in surprise. He looked at Devilia as he wondered why she didn''t tell him, but she looked even more confused than him. ''He''s a demon?'' She looked at him in shock. "Yes. I''m a demon. My master confirmed it himself. Only after that did he take me as his disciple," He further added. "Ahh... Little friend, it''s not that we don''t trust you, but we just can''t understand why a young demon like you would be in the outside world? In the last 500 years, no demon has left this place," High Duke Magna asked. He had already believed that Ryder was Salem''s disciple after watching the violent reaction of the Scythe, but he couldn''t believe the claim of him being a demon. "This... I can''t talk about that, but I''m indeed a demon." Ryder was visibly stunned at the question. He had no knowledge about this, thus he skipped it and pretended to be ignorant. "Sigh, Since you can''t answer that, can we at least have a test? We can check your bloodline to see if you''re actually a demon. And even if you''re a demon, which clan of the demons are you from," High Duke Magna said. "You can have the test," Ryder said without any worries. After all, he was a demon now, there was no way that he would fall the test. As for the demon clan, it didn''t matter to him. Even if the test said that he was from the weakest clan, the others wouldn''t insult or belittle him because of that. He was their king''s disciple after all. "That''s great," High Duke Magna said with a smile on his face as he made a circle in the air using his finger. A spatial portal appeared in front of him. He inserted his hand inside that spatial portal and brought a semi-transparent crystal orb outside. "Come closer. You just need to place your hand on top of it. It will do the rest," High Duke Magna held the orb in his hand as he told Ryder. "Alright," Ryder nodded and stepped closer to High Duke Magna. He didn''t think too much and simply placed his hands on the crystal orb. There was no change in the crystal for over a minute. High Duke Oris sighed in disappointment as he thought that Ryder wasn''t a demon since the Orb didn''t light up. Even Ryder himself was wondering as to what was happening. ''Is this thing broken?'' He thought with a weird look on his face. High Duke Magna started speaking after a while. He felt like he was just wasting his time at the moment. "That''s enough. You can..." As he was speaking, his words stopped coming out while his mouth opened wide in shock. Those who were seeing that Orb had the same reaction as him. Even High Duke Oris couldn''t help but frown as he saw the orb change color. The orb was showing Blood Red color and it was shining so brightly that a shade of red also appeared on the faces of Ryder and High Duke Magna. Ryder finally breathed in relief as he saw the orb react. He realized that he had passed the test, but before he could celebrate, he saw High Duke Magna step backward. The crystal orb fell to the ground and it shattered into pieces. High Duke Magna brought his sword out and pointed it at Ryder. "You''re from the Blood Demon Clan!" He said as he clenched his teeth. Ryder could see the hate in his eyes. He realized that he had somehow screwed up without even realizing it. "High Duke Magna! Lower your sword! How dare you point your weapon at His Majesty''s disciple?" High Duke Oris let out loudly as he appeared between Ryder and High Duke Magna. "But Oris! He''s from the Blood Demon Clan!" High Duke Magna let out loud. He didn''t lower his sword. "So what! Do you think His Majesty wouldn''t have discovered that? Since he selected him, that must mean that this boy is worth his trust. Since he believes in him, I will believe in him as well. And if you don''t lower your weapon right now, I would think that you''re challenging His Majesty''s authority!" High Duke Oris responded. He brought his sword out as well as if he was ready for a fight if needed. "Don''t twist the facts! I''m not against His Majesty, but we can''t ignore the fact that he''s one of the Blood Demons!"High Duke Magna said. " I can''t believe one of them is still alive!" High Duke Mila let out softly as she glanced at Ryder. "It''s indeed shocking, but since the Emperor doesn''t mind it, I don''t think we should either. No matter what the Blood Demon Clan did in the past, we can''t blame it on this kid. Maybe His Majesty thought the same. If he was unworthy in his eyes, he wouldn''t have given him his Moon Scythe," Another High Duke said. He was called High Duke Musam. He was considered to be the 4th strongest in the Demon Realm amongst the High Dukes. He had been silent since the meeting began, but he didn''t want to see High Duke Magna attack Ryder. That might be dangerous. Not just for him, but others as well. The other High Dukes said the same thing and took Oris'' Side. High Duke Magna saw all that and ultimately lowered his sword. "Since His Majesty didn''t mind it, I guess I''d ignore the fact as well," He said. He looked somewhat unwilling when talking about it though. " We might choose to ignore the facts, but I don''t think the citizens would accept him. We can''t let the citizens know about it or there might be trouble in the Demon Realm," High Duke Mila pointed out as she attracted the attention of everyone. At this moment, only High Dukes were talking and Dukes didn''t speak, though they all had an opinion of their own on the matter. 68 Chapter 64: Kingship Trial "I don''t think the citizens need to know that. Also, how can they find out about it as long as none of us says anything," High Duke Oris said as he looked at everyone. "I would need everyone who''s here to take a blood oath before they leave. No one would be allowed to disclose any information about this meeting and about Ryder to anyone," He further added. "Indeed, That would be better for the whole Demonic Realm," High Duke Mila agreed with Oris'' statement. "Since that''s handled and all the doubts are clear, let''s talk about what happens next," she continued. "It''s clear that His Majesty wants to live his life not bound by the kingdom''s chains, but we all know that we need him. Our Demonic Realm is peaceful at the moment, but there are many problems that can appear and destroy our whole realm. We can handle things for now, but we would need him when the challenging times like that come," High Duke Oris said in a low voice, but everyone was able to hear his words. "I have a suggestion for this problem, and I think many of you have also been thinking about it. How about we make Ryder our Prince?" He continued. He noticed the surprised look on the faces of the others. "His Majesty will always be our King even though he doesn''t want to rule over us, but I have a suggestion. We will create a new position for his Majesty, he will be the Supreme Emperor! His position shall be above that of a King always. As for the King, I recommend giving that position to Ryder in the future. We need leadership after all. And who better than the person chosen and liked by His Majesty, " He said. The Dukes started talking amongst themselves as soon as they heard the suggestion. "Now, You might be worried about his potential and strength, that''s why I didn''t suggest making him the king instantly, but if he is able to complete the ceremony of Kingship, he would have proven his strength. He can become the king of the Demon Realm," He said. "What are your opinions about it? Those who support my suggestion can raise their hands," He announced as he looked towards everyone. 25 amongst the 34 Dukes raised their hand instantly, and 8 more raised their hands after watching the others. Only Duke Orisis didn''t raise his hands, but no one minded him since he wasn''t conscious at the moment. "I agree as well. I wouldn''t mind making him the King as long as the proper respect is given to His Majesty," The High Dukes also agreed. Only Magna hadn''t spoken yet. "What about you? Can you please think about this rationally and leave your prejudice aside? We''re doing it for the betterment of our home after all," High Duke Oris said to High Duke Magna. "Fine! We''ll do it your way," High Duke Magna agreed, though he didn''t look happy. "That''s better. We''ll have the ceremony after 7 days right here and that''s when we''ll make him the Prince and introduce him to the citizens. And when he completes the Kingship trial, he''ll be made the king!" High Duke Oris said. "Alright. Now that it''s done, I''ll be taking my leave," High Duke Magna walked out of the palace and flew away. "You can all leave as well," High Duke Oris told the others. Everyone started leaving one after another. A few Dukes picked up the unconscious Duke Orisis and took him with them. "It''s been a pleasure to meet you, Prince. I''ll meet you after 7 days," High Duke Mila said with a slight smile on her face and left as well. Soon, there were only three people left in the palace. High Duke Oris, Ryder, and Duke Devilia were left. "Thank you for all the help. I thought that he would kill me after the orb turned red," Ryder thanked High Duke Oris for saving him from Magna. "It was my duty, Prince. Also, I hope that you won''t think bad of Magna. He''s just a little too serious. It''s just the history of the Blood Demons. He lost control of his emotions," High Duke Oris explained. "I can understand. I myself didn''t know that I was from the Blood Demon Clan. Can you tell me more about them?" Ryder asked. "I''m sorry, but I can''t. It would be better if His Majesty talked to you himself. Since he hasn''t yet, it must not be the right time," High Duke Oris said with a smile. "Ahh, Ok. Can I at least know about the Kingship trial that you talked about?" Ryder further inquired. "Hahahaha, Yeah. I can talk about that indeed. It is like a tradition that has been passed down for centuries. Even the King himself can''t make the Crown Prince the King without him passing the Kingship Trial," High Duke Oris replied. "To pass the Kingship trial, you must go to the land of our enemy. You''d need to enter the Death Domain, go to their Royal City and kill a hundred citizens of the Royal City and bring their heads back to us," High Duke Oris said. "Are they weaker than us?" Ryder inquired. "Not at all. If I were to guess, I''d say that the Death Domain is almost as strong as our Demonic Realm," High Duke Oris said. "Oh, So I need to go there and kill their citizens? Even if I was able to do that, won''t their King or their leadership catch me? You''re literally asking a King Candidate of the Demon Realm to go against the King of the Death Domain! I can''t believe the previous Kings had managed to do that," Ryder said with a weird look on his face. "The previous Kings did achieve that. Some used their brain, while others used pure Strength to do it. Your master is amongst the latter. Anyways, there''s no hurry. You can take as much time as you need and only go when you think that you''re ready," High Duke Oris replied. "Anyways, I need to take my leave as well. You can ask Devilia what other questions you might have," He said politely. "Devilia, Take the prince back. You can bring him here on the 7th day," He said before he left as well. Devilia took the confused Ryder with her and left. 69 Chapter 65: The System Awakens Devilia left with Ryder and went back to her place. Ryder felt like the journey to the back was much faster than when they came. Or maybe his mind wasn''t focused after everything he found out. Devilia and Ryder landed on the balcony of her room. Strangely enough, she didn''t say anything on the way back. She only started talking when they got to her room. "Why didn''t you tell me that you were a demon as well? I was in the illusion that you were a human from the moment you told me that you were from the outside, " She asked him. "What can I say? You never asked me, so I didn''t say. I thought that you would know about me being a Demon since you were so knowledgeable," Ryder replied with a wry smile on his face. "Cheh, I''m not a god. How can I know about that? Whatever, I''m glad that everything went well. In 7 days, you''ll be made Prince," She said. "Yeah, I think now should be the right time to tell you that I''ll be spending the next 6 days inside your hunting forest. I think staying there would be good for my growth. I''ll come back on the 7th day and we can complete the preparation for the big day," Ryder suggested. "Alright. I won''t try to stop you, but I''ll come with you as well. Although no Duke other than Orisis voiced their opinions against you, I feel like there were a few that were not happy with the decision. They might try to target you if they find out that you''ve left. I''ll stay with you for your protection," She said to him. "There''s no need for that. I don''t need a babysitter. What would my master think about me if I kept you with me for my protection?" Ryder straight away rejected her suggestion. "I''d much prefer to keep Bulga with me, but you don''t need to come. Also, no one will target me. Who would be stupid enough to think that you would let me leave the palace in times like these? Even if someone comes, I can take care of myself. It''s not far either. If there''s a problem, I can message you and you can get there in 4-5 minutes. So there''s no need for you to come. Stay in the palace and let me have some fun on my own," He further added to his statement. "Ahh, but..." "No but! Please respect my wishes," Ryder insisted. She looked at him for what seemed like an eternity before she ultimately sighed. "Alright. I''d let you leave, but you must contact me if there is any problem. Also, you must disguise yourself before you leave. Take this," She said as she brought something out of a Spatial Portal. It looked like a plastic mask that could only cover the left half of someone''s face. "It''s called Mask of Change. You can wear it and others will see you as a different person. You''d look like an average 7-foot tall demon. This way, no one would be able to recognize you when you leave," She said. "Thanks. This mask will be a great help," Ryder took the mask and held it in his hands. "When will you be leaving?" She asked. "In the night, There are only a few hours left. I''d go tell Miyali that I''m leaving. You can tell Bulga about this plan in the meantime. He''d have to stay with me for 6 days," Ryder said as he turned back. He was just 2 steps away from the door when he heard a sound that made him stop in his path. [Ding... System upgrade successful. Starting it now] ''Sigh, it was so fun while he was silent. Why did he have to wake up? Also, why does his voice sound different?'' Ryder thought with a wry smile on his face. [I thought that the host would be happy to hear my voice again. I got to say, I''m somewhat heartbroken,] Janus answered him. ''Oh, don''t get me wrong. I''m indeed happy that you''re up. Anyways, why is your voice more feminine now?'' Ryder inquired. Janus did reply to him, but he didn''t answer his question. [You have been assigned a mission. Mission: Tell Devilia your most embarrassing secret. Rewards: An Invisibility talisman Punishment: You would be teleported to the Death Domain,] ''Sigh, you just woke up and you''re back to your usual tricks,'' Ryder thought. "Is something wrong?" Devilia asked as she saw Ryder standing still right before the door. "My first crush was on my Math Teacher when I was only 11 years old. I proposed to her as well, in front of the whole class," Ryder looked back and said to her, and before she could react, he hurriedly left. [Mission Succession. Rewards Given] Janus said. [I must say, that wasn''t as fun as I thought it would be] He further added. "It feels like you''ve grown worse after your upgrade. Now you want to enjoy my misery as well," Ryder said in an annoyed tone and he continued walking to his room. As Ryder left, Devilia was still standing in her room with a confused look on her face. "What is a math teacher?" She let out as he looked towards the door. Ryder entered his room and saw Miyali sitting on the bed. She had a paper and a pen in her hand and seemed like she was writing something. "You''re back. It took you a long time," She said as she placed the paper down on the bed and used the pen as the paperweight. "Yeah, I had to go outside for something. I''d be leaving again in a few hours. I won''t be back for like 6 days I think," Ryder said as he stepped towards the bed and sat beside her. He was surprised as he saw the paper. It looked like a drawing that looked like him. "Oh, Ok," She answered. "Yeah, Devilia will take care of you. You can ask her if you need anything," He said smilingly as he stood up and walked towards the shower room. After 10 or so minutes, he left the place. He had changed his clothes but his hair was still somewhat wet. "I''m leaving," He said before he left the room. He walked back to Devilia''s room and saw that Bulga was already there. She had told him everything and he was ready to leave. Bulga got down to his knees as he greeted Ryder after he entered the room. "Are you ready to go?" He asked Bulga. "Yeah. I''m ready," Bulga said in a determined voice. "You both should remember. You must contact me if there is trouble," Devilia said one last time. They both nodded their head before they left on the flying beast of Bulga. It didn''t take much time for them to reach the Hunting Forest. Ryder once again ordered Bulga to wait outside while he entered the forest alone. Since it was an order, Bulga agreed and let him leave. 70 Chapter 66. All at once Ryder walked inside the forest once more and started moving deeper. Although the forest looked small, it was way bigger than he could imagine. He walked in the forest for over an hour, but he didn''t find any beast. He could feel himself getting tired, so he brought a fruit out of his storage space and started eating it. "Geez, where the heck are the beasts. Even the last time, it wasn''t this hard," He couldn''t help but wonder if the beasts were hiding from him. After 20 more minutes, he finally saw a beast at some distance from him. It was a 3-Toothed Rabbit. Although it was called a Rabbit, it was as big as a full-grown cattle. It had 3 sharp teeth that were coming out of her mouth. The teeth looked just like that of a sabertooth. The 3-Toothed Rabbit had black fur. ''Level 12 beast? Shouldn''t be a problem if I''m careful,'' Ryder thought as he gazed at the beast. It was the first time he was facing a beast at that level. Before this, the strongest beast he faced had only been a level 10 beast. Even the Town Lord that he had killed when he came to the Demon Realm had only been at the 11th level. [Are you going to kill that?] Just as he was about to step forward, he heard Janus'' voice. ''Yup. Don''t screw this up for me. Let me level up in peace,'' Ryder thought. [There''s no mission, for now, just a suggestion. You should stay away from that beast,] Janus replied. ''Why?'' Ryder inquired, but Janus didn''t answer. ''You must be thinking that I''m weak. Let me show you how wrong you are! I can definitely take care of that beast!'' Ryder said with a confident smile on his face as he stepped towards the 3-Toothed Rabbit. He didn''t want to give the 3-Toothed Rabbit a chance to escape, that''s why he ran as fast as he could. "Fire Blast!" While Running, Ryder also cast his flame spell as soon as he saw that the 3-Toothed Rabbit had noticed him. The 3-Toothed Rabbit saw the ball of flame coming towards him, He opened his mouth wide and attacked Ryder with his Shadow Ball. It looked like a pitch-black energy ball that came out of its mouth and collided with Ryder''s Flame Blast. Both the attacks destroyed each other, but Ryder managed to utilize the time as he got near the 3-Toothed Rabbit and swung his Scythe at its neck. The 3-Toothed Rabbit reacted faster as it twisted its body in order to save its neck. It protected its neck, but it''s back was sliced through. A deep gash appeared on its back, but since it''s skin was so thick, the 3-Toothed Rabbit wasn''t seriously injured. Although there was no blood, the 3-Toothed Rabbit still has a loud painful cry as it looked towards the sky. " Cry as much as you want, but no one is going to save you. This forest is as empty as it could get. Take it from an experienced explorer like me. I don''t think there would be any beast within the 10 miles radius of us," Ryder said smilingly as he used another flame blast on the 3-Toothed Rabbit. The Flame blast struck the 3-Toothed Rabbit and made it scream even louder. Ryder raised his Scythe to deal the finishing blow, but that''s when he heard the sound of footsteps on the grass. He could hear various kinds of noises as well. Ryder glanced around him as he started sweating. He could see around 8 3-Toothed Rabbits that had surrounded him from every direction. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder called out as he swung his Scythe and sliced off the neck of the 3-Toothed Rabbit that was near him since he didn''t want to let him recover and attack him from behind. [+8000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+1 Intelligence] Ryder saw the experience gain notification, but that was the last thing he cared about at the moment. "You guys are real bastards, aren''t you? I looked for 80 minutes, but not a single one appeared in front of me, and after I found a beast, you all appeared to screw me over," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he glanced at the beasts. "Whatever, Don''t think that I''ll be scared. You''re nothing but weak," Ryder gripped his Scythe firmly as he said. All the 3-Toothed Rabbit started running towards Ryder together. Since they were all on a different side of him, Ryder wasn''t able to see them all. "Flame Blast!" "Flame Blast!" "Flame Blast" Ryder fired flame blast one after another towards the beasts that were on his back, to delay them while he ran towards the beasts to his front. The trick worked and the fur of three 3-Toothed Rabbits easily started burning, which stopped them and shifted their focus. Ryder got to the 3-toothed Rabbit that was in front of him and used Enraged Slash. Since the beast was only level 10, it was Ryder''s first target and it was killed in a single strike. [+4000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+10 strength] Ryder didn''t stop and shifted to the nearest 3-Toothed Rabbit that was just as weak. [+4000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+5 speed] [+4000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+1 Intelligence] [+6000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+15 strength] The notifications kept coming one after another as Ryder killed 4 of the 8 beasts. Unfortunately, the skill absorption didn''t activate even once. He has expected that since the chances of that happening were only 5 percent. There were still 4 beasts left, they were the stronger ones though. One amongst them was at level 15,2 at level 12 and 1 at level 13. Ryder wasn''t worried. Instead, he was excited at his gains. "It would be so great to absorb their stats as well. Hopefully I''ll get their Shadow Ball attack as well," He muttered to himself. 71 Chapter 67: Lucifer and the Princess The fire burning on the fur the 3-Toothed Rabbits had stopped. Their fur was burnt off and turned black, but their health wasn''t affected much. Ryder had just finished dealing with 4 of them and as soon as he turned back, he noticed that the remaining 3-Toothed Rabbits had opened their mouth. "Oh Shhh," Ryder could see a black ball of light coming into existence. They all fired Shadow Balls at Ryder at the same time. All 4 attacks were coming from different angles making it difficult for him to guess their trajectory and dodge them. "Flame Blast" "Flame Blast!" Ryder had fired two Flame Blasts one after another and took care of 2 shadow balls that were closer to him. Although he managed to deal with 2 of them, the remaining 2 has gotten much closer to him in the meantime. Ryder realized that he didn''t have time to use Flame Blast on one as the other one would strike him. He planted his feet firmly on the ground as he swung his Moon Scythe towards the remaining shadow balls. "Enraged Slash!" He roared loudly as he attacked the shadow balls. The Moon Scythe managed to slice through one Shadow Ball and destroy it, but as the Shadow Ball burst off, Ryder couldn''t escape the effects. He was struck by the energy wave that appeared because of the Shadow Ball being destroyed. He could feel pain as well as his HP going down, but he didn''t stop the Scythe as he twisted his body along with the movement of the scythe and destroyed the remaining Shadow Ball as well. He was struck by another energy blast since the last Shadow Ball had reached dangerously close up him. He was thrown off like a broken kite as he crashed on the ground. *Cough* *cough* "Well, that wasn''t fun," Ryder stood up as he looked at the 3-Tooted Rabbits that were running towards him. "Now I desire that skill even more," Ryder let out as he ran towards the closest beast. "Flame Blast!" Ryder attacked just as he was 5 meters away from it. "Enraged Slash!" Before the Flame Blast could even land on the 3-toothed rabbit, he jumped in the air as he swung his Scythe. The Flame Blast landed on the head of the 3-Toothed Rabbit and the next instant, the Moon Scythe managed to slice it''s head off. He had killed the strongest 3-Toothed Rabbit. He killed level 15 beast despite only being level 10, mostly because of the increase in stats after absorption. [+15000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+18 Strength] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Skill Absorption] [Skill Taken: Shadow Ball] [+1 Level] "Hah, now that''s more like it," Ryder said smilingly. Without wasting any time, he raised his hand towards another 3-toothed Rabbit. "Shadow Ball!" Ryder called out and a pitch-black orb of energy appeared in front of him and advanced towards the target. ''The mana consumption is slightly higher compared to Flame Blast,'' Ryder thought as he looked at his available mana on the corner of his vision. "Enraged Slash!" He followed the same pattern and killed it as well. [+10000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+1 Intelligence]] Only 2 beasts remained, and Ryder still had enough Mana for 3 Flame Blasts. The last 2 beasts were at equal distance from him and Ryder could see both of them opening their mouth at the same time. He realized what they wanted to do. He ran towards the 3-toothed rabbit on his left and fired a flame blast. The shadow ball had just left its mouth when the flame blast collided with the shadow ball. A small explosion took place that harmed the 3-Toothed Rabbit''s eyes making it groan in pain. In the meantime, the second 3-Toothed Rabbit had fired its shadow ball that was coming after Ryder at its maximum speed. Ryder jumped over the 3-toothed rabbit that had lost its vision and landed behind it, while the shadow ball that was coming after him, struck the 3-Toothed Rabbit. *Raaaaa* The 3-Toothed Rabbit groaned in pain as it was attacked. It was seriously injured and Ryder utilized the opportunity as he attacked it with his Scythe. Ryder attacked normally, he didn''t even use the Enraged Slash, yet the 3-Toothed Rabbit died. [+10000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+1 Intelligence]] "Such a bad bunny, You killed your own friend," Ryder said with a smile as he started running towards the last 3-Toothed Rabbit. It opened its mouth once more to fire Shadow Ball, but Ryder did the same and used Flame Blast before it could. Although the flame blast was weaker and dealt less damage than Shadow Ball, It was much faster to cast. The Flame Blast had reached near the 3-Toothed Rabbit when it fired Shadow Ball. Both the attacks collided with each other and got destroyed amongst themselves. Ryder used the time he had received as he got to the 3-Toothed Rabbit and gave one last strike and killed it. [+8000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+1 Intelligence] Every beast was killed and Ryder sat down on the ground as he breathed in relief. His stamina was high, but it was still too much for him to fight so many beasts at once at such a low level. Most of his mana was also spent which would take some time to recover. Fortunately, his mana didn''t go down to 0, or he would be having a headache as a side effect. He didn''t have a mana potion either. _________________________________ As Ryder was resting, another person was going deeper inside a dark forest. The person was wearing a beautiful cloak that covered his body entirely. His face was also covered in a mask, only his deep blue eyes were visible. He was carrying a heavy sword on his back, while he held a poster on his hand. This poster was exactly like the one that Ryder had found in the kingdom before he was transferred into the Demon Realm. It had a painting of a beautiful girl. There were a few words written below the painting that talked about the princess being missing and that the person who found her will be heavily rewarded by the king. 72 Chapter 68: Face behind the mask Lucifer was moving deeper into the forest as if he knew where he wanted to go. He walked for over half a day and it was already night by now, which made it difficult to see ahead, still, he didn''t look like he was having any trouble navigating in the darkness. After a few more minutes, he was able to see light at some distance. It was unclear as to what expression he had behind his mask, but from his eyes, it didn''t seem like he was happy. He stepped towards the source of light and noticed that it was a campfire. People were sitting around the campfire and drinking. He also noticed a girl that was sitting nearby. Her hands and her legs were tied. The girl matched the girl on the poster. "Boss, how long should we wait before we send someone to collect the money from the king in exchange for his daughter?" One of the guys asked as he glanced at the scar-faced man sitting nearby. "Just wait for a few more days. Let the king feel the pain of the separation of his dear daughter for a few more days. He''d Instantly agree to pay us the money when he''s desperate," The Scar-Faced man replied. "Indeed, the boss is right. Also, why would we hurry, it''s not like our daughter is kidnapped," Another man said as everyone started laughing. "Who''s there?" He hurriedly looked back as he heard the sound of footsteps. He saw a masked person walking towards him with slow steps. "Who the heck are you?" The person said as he glared at Lucifer, but Lucifer didn''t reply. "Mark, don''t talk. Kill that guy for intruding our place," "Yes boss!" The man picked up his sword and ran towards Lucifer, but before he could even swing his sword, his head was separated from his body. Lucifer was standing in his place, with his heavy sword on his hand. Blood was clearly visible on the blade of the sword. Everyone stood up in shock. Even the girl''s eyes opened wide as she saw everything. "T-that guy is dangerous! Everyone attack him together!" The chief let out loud. He was feeling like he was facing the biggest foe. He couldn''t even see the sword of Lucifer as the head of his man was sliced off. After seeing that, he didn''t underestimate Lucifer anymore and sent all of his men at once. More than 30 people ran towards Lucifer at once as if they were hungry for his blood. Only the chief was standing behind as he stared at everything intently. He was somewhat hopeful that his men would kill the man easily, but he still couldn''t put his heart at ease. The unusual silence of the masked man was scarier for him than anything. The fight ended shortly, but the results weren''t as good as he was expecting. In less than 10 minutes, all his men were killed. Their bodies were lying on the ground which had turned red because of their blood. The chief was just standing there in a daze. He couldn''t believe what he just saw. He recovered from his daze as he raised his hand and shot out a fireball at Lucifer. Lucifer didn''t look like he even cared. He simply swung his heavy sword and destroyed the ball of fire that was coming at him with ease. The chief was shocked as he saw his attack being destroyed easily. He was even more scared as he saw Lucifer walking towards him. He couldn''t help but step backward slowly, but his eyes never left Lucifer. As he wasn''t looking back, he stepped on a stone and he fell down to the ground. He tried to stand up, but before he could even move, he found Lucifer standing right beside him. "P-pleas..." The chief wanted to beg for his life, but before he could even finish his word, Lucifer swung his sword and sliced off his neck. The chief''s vision turned dark as he lost his life. The last thing he saw before he died was the emotionless eyes of Lucifer that were gazing at him without the least bit of pity. After killing them all, Lucifer walked towards the tied up girl that was looking just as scared. As Lucifer got near the girl, he didn''t say anything and just raised his sword. He struck down with his sword. The girl saw the sword coming towards her and closed her eyes. She had lost all hopes of survival. A single tear appeared in her eye. A few seconds passed, but she didn''t feel the pain she had expected. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the man was simply standing there. He had a paper in his hand that he was showing her. She also realized that the ropes that had tied her hands and legs were cut. She was freed. The girl read the paper and found out that it was a mission poster that was issued by her father. "S-so you''re here to save me?" She asked. Lucifer didn''t reply, but she already knew the answer now. "Thank you so much for saving my life," She said excitedly as she stood up and hugged Lucifer. Lucifer didn''t seem like he liked someone touching him as he released himself from her embrace and created some distance. "Alright. Let''s go to the Palace. I''d talk to father and get the rewards doubled for you," She said smilingly. Lucifer didn''t say anything as he started walking back. The girl followed him. She kept trying to start a conversation, but Lucifer didn''t talk to her. After walking for a long time, they reached the Royal City. The guards were extremely happy as they saw their princess return. They brought Lucifer and the princess to the palace with full respect. In no time, they found themselves standing in front of the King. "Father!" the girl excitedly ran to him as she hugged him. "My daughter, I''m so grateful to the gods that you''re back safely," The King let out with relief in his face. "Is he the person that saved you?" He asked the girl. "Yes, Father. This brave warrior killed the bad people as he saved me. Please double his rewards Father," She said with a bright smile as she glanced at Lucifer. "Haha, Of course," The King smilingly said. "Thank you for saving my daughter. Anyways, are you a man or a woman, can you take your mask off and let us see? We can decide on the rewards properly after that," The King said. Lucifer just looked at him for some time, before he shook his head. A frown appeared on the king''s face as he saw Lucifer reject him. 73 Chapter 69: Offending the King "You won''t listen to our orders? Are you trying to disrespect us?" The King bellowed. "Take that mask off!" The king again said. "I''m not taking my mask off," Lucifer finally opened his mouth and said. His voice sounded like a man''s voice, but it was difficult to judge the age from the voice. "Are you seriously defying us? You, adventurers, dare to disrespect the Royal lineage?" The King let out as he glared at Lucifer. "Father, please? He saved my life. He must have a reason for not taking his mask off. Can you please let it go?" The Princess requested as she held the King''s hand. "Silence! We were going to heavily reward this person for saving your life, but we won''t give him anything. We won''t appreciate any disrespect towards the Royal Lineage. No matter the reason," The King said. Lucifer just gazed at him for a brief moment before he opened his mouth. "This is not how a king should behave," Lucifer said. "Shut up! What do you know about kings and how they should behave?" The king roared in anger. The girl released the King''s hands and walked up to Lucifer. "Please Sir, can you ask for forgiveness from father? He''s angry right now. I''ll try to convince him after you ask you forgiveness. I''m sure he''ll forgive you," The Princess said softly to him. "Lia! Come back here," The king ordered the princess. The princess walked back to him though she gave a pleading look to Lucifer before she turned back. "I don''t think I need to tell you what I know and what I don''t. If this is how the king of this kingdom is, I just have a feeling that this kingdom won''t last for long," Lucifer said in an emotionless tone. Although no emotion could be felt in his voice, from his eyes, it could be seen that he was angry. "Keep your rewards," Lucifer said as he turned back to leave. "You dare act so big in front of us? Do you think you can leave after disrespecting the king? Even if you saved our daughter, you still deserve the punishment," The king let out. "Guards! Catch that person!" The King ordered loudly. The guards that were standing outside, heard the king''s orders, and entered inside. "Catch that person, "The king repeated his orders after the guards entered. The guards raised their weapons and pointed them towards Lucifer. "By the will of his Majesty, I order thee to stand still and surrender to us!" The Leader of the Royal Guards said. *Sigh* Lucifer sighed as he looked at the guards. He raised his hand and grabbed the hilt of his sword behind his back. "Are you sure you''re going to do this?" He asked as he looked at guards. He didn''t stop walking though. "You''ve forced us to use force!" The Guard chief said as he gestured for his men to attack. The guards ran towards Lucifer and attacked with their swords. Lucifer swung his sword as well. His sword clashed with 5 swords of the guards that had attacked together. He was forced a step back, but he brought another sword out of his storage space and attacked with it. The chest of all the guards was sliced as they groaned in pain and fell down to the ground. Although they were harmed, their wounds weren''t deadly. It was unclear as if the attack was weak or Lucifer had intentionally gone easy. The look on the King''s face changed as he saw the scene right before his eyes. He couldn''t even believe if he was dreaming or seeing reality. Just as he was lost in thoughts, even the chief of the guards was defeated. Lucifer walked out of the hall without looking back. "H-he dared to attack my men. I''ll see how he walks out of this place alive. I''ll send my shadow guards after him! I''ll release a bounty on his head! I''ll make sure that he never gets a single coin in this kingdom!" The king roared loudly. "Father! He saved my life! Instead of rewarding him, you tried to punish him! If you sent more men after him, I''d never forgive you!" The princess let out loudly as she left the hall with tears in her eyes as well. She walked towards the exit of the palace in search of Lucifer, but she didn''t find him. Ultimately, she just walked back. Lucifer was walking through the streets of the city as he heard the notification. [+150 Fame points awarded for offending the king] [+10 Evil Points for offending the king] [No Quest can be received in this Kingdom from the loyal followers of the king. People who like the king will not talk to you] "Evil Points? I won''t get a quest here? Whatever. This kingdom had never been my destination," Lucifer muttered. "How would I know how a king should react. I wonder how long you can last," he further said. It felt as if he was smiling behind his mask. ____________________________ Ryder had rested for half a day. All of his mana was restored before he again went in search of another beast to hunt. It seemed as if his luck had improved after all the effort of last time and it didn''t take him long to find his next target. A Spirit Wolf that was a level 14 beast.A beast that was known for its speed and sharp attacks. Ryder brought his Scythe out and began his assault. Generally, He wouldn''t be able to match the speed of the Spirit Wolf at all, but after the massive boost in his stats due to absorption, he was able to react fast enough. A spark appeared as the sharp claws of the Spirit Wolf clashed with the sharp blade of the Scythe. "Shadow Ball," Ryder moved back as he attacked with the Shadow Ball, but the Spirit Wolf dodged the attack and again attacked Ryder. Ryder used Flame blast one after another as he tried to predict its trajectory and he did manage to hit the Spirit Wolf. The Spirit Wolf did look like it was injured as it jumped towards Ryder. Ryder slashed and managed to slice the stomach of the Spirit Wolf. The Wolf groaned in pain as it fell down. Ryder didn''t give it a chance to recover as he attacked it once more. The Wolf was killed. Ryder was relaxed and that''s when his eyes fell on an item that was lying nearby. 74 Chapter 70: The Thing that shouldnt exis As Ryder''s Scythe sliced off the stomach of the Spirit Wolf, along with the blood, something else came out. As Ryder killed the Spirit Wolf and turned back, his eyes fell on the item. [+13000 Exp] [Special Effect of Moon Scythe Activated: Absorption] [+10 Speed] He ignored the notification as he walked up to that place and picked up that item which looked like a bracelet. He picked up the bracelet that was covered in blood and cleaned it with clothes that he had inside his storage space. As the bracelet was wiped clean, Ryder was able to see that the bracelet had a silver color that looked just like the shining moon. There were some ancient-looking characters carved all around the bracelet. All these characters had a different color, but there was something about them that gave Ryder an extraordinary feeling. As he was observing the bracelet, a notification had stealthily popped up on the edge of his vision. After quite some time, he noticed the notification. He tapped on the notification and started reading what it said. [Bracelet of Immortality found. Would you like to equip?] He tapped on details to get further information, but what he saw shocked him to his core. [Bracelet of Immortality Artifact Grade: God Grade Description: Description Locked. Equip the item to unlock the description] Although Ryder couldn''t get the description, just the grade if the bracelet was enough to make him open his mouth in shock. A God Grade Treasure was the highest level of treasure a person could get. Each of those treasures was enough to change the lives of the player and the world of divinity. Without having a second thought, Ryder hurriedly equipped the Bracelet of Immortality. [Bracelet of Immortality Equipped] He clicked on the details of the treasure to check the details now that he had equipped it, but what he saw was enough to make him fall down to his knees in shock. [Name: Bracelet of Immortality Artifact Grade: God Grade Description: A destructive treasure that is said to have been forged by the Devil God in the hopes of destroying the heavens. A lot of the gods sacrificed themselves in the Great war of Immortality before being able to take the treasure from the Devil God before he could use it. Because of the evil nature of the treasure, its powers have been sealed. Advantages: Locked Limitations: Since it''s a sealed item that goes against the heavens, the wearer shall be cursed by the heavens. The bracelet can''t be taken off. You can''t enter places of Worship. When the wearer dies, his soul shall be destroyed, unable to reincarnate for eternity] Ryder could feel a headache coming. He had literally worn a cursed item. The item that had previously been giving him epic vibes, now looked like the devil reincarnate that had appeared in his life to destroy everything. He tried getting the bracelet off his hand but to no avail. The bracelet didn''t come off. "Congrats on getting the Bracelet of Immortality. I should''ve expected that it would get to you somehow," Just when Ryder was about to cry, Janus said to him. "What congrats! I''ve literally received a useless item! Now every player that can see the Treasure Ranking will know that I have a God Grade item! They will come after me to get it from me and it''s not like I''ll drop this item! This is fucking stuck to me for life! I''d be chased forever by the greedy players. And what do I get in return? Nothing!" Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out of his eyes. After sulking for over half an hour, he finally stood up. "At Least it''s something only in games. If I had been cursed in real life, I wouldn''t know what to do," Ryder said as he tried to look at the positive side of things. "Ah, do you want to hear bad news?" Janus inquired. "Hah, are you being considerate? Tell me. What can be worse than the day I''m having," Ryder said smiling. "Forget it. You will know soon enough," Janus said before he went silent. "Hey, tell me! What were you talking about!" Ryder asked, but Janus didn''t reply. Ryder ultimately gave up thinking that Janus was just messing with him. He was already having a headache and didn''t feel like hunting anymore. He remembered that he had seen a lake along the way. He decided to go there and take a long bath in order to calm his mind that was in chaos at the moment. He walked towards the south for over 10 minutes before he reached the lake. He took his clothes off and kept them in his storage space. He was completely bare as he jumped into the lake. He began swimming in the long lake while trying to forget the existence of the bracelet that was in his hand. He swam for over 20 minutes before being able to improve his mood. The water was just the right temperature in this weather. He could feel the pain in his body go away as well. After feeling better, he swam towards the shore, and just when he was 20 meters away from the ground, he noticed a person. It looked like a girl that was dressed in a warrior-like dress. She looked like she was only in her early 20s. She had Dark Blue Hair and light grey eyes that looked strangely good. Her perfectly oval shape, her thin lips, her beautiful eyes, and her devilish figure, they all made her attractive to look at, but Ryder wasn''t thinking about that at the moment. He was more concerned as to how a girl like her was able to enter this forest. This forest was the personal hunting ground of a Duke of the Demon Realm. Bulga was also standing outside, he would have seen if someone had entered. This whole thing was so confusing. The girl was walking towards the lake, but she wasn''t focusing ahead, instead, she was looking down as if she was looking for something. "Where the heck is that thing? The energy signature has disappeared as well?" She muttered as she looked here and there. "Hmm? A person is here?" The woman saw Ryder in the water and exclaimed with a frown on her face. 75 Chapter 71: Ill kill you! Ryder was swimming right before the shore and hesitating if he should get out or not. The girl glanced at him for a brief moment before she started laughing. "Hahahaha, I didn''t expect to meet a demon on my first visit to this place. Now that I have already seen you, I might as well have some fun," The girl let out as she smiled at Ryder. Ryder had a bad feeling about it as soon as he saw that smile. He had already sent a message to Bulga as soon as he noticed the girl, but he wasn''t sure how long it would take for him to get here. The girl raised her hand towards the sky as she chanted a spell in some ancient language. The sky was suddenly covered in dark clouds. Ryder could hear the sound of thunder and he could see the grin on the girl''s face. He had a feeling that if he didn''t get out of the water instantly, he would regret it all his life. The girl snapped her finger and at the sound of her snap, a big thunderbolt fell down from the sky. Its destination was Ryder inside the water, but Ryder had managed to jump out of the water at the last moment and dodged the thunderbolt. The whole lake was electrified as the current coursed through every corner of the lake. If Ryder hadn''t left the lake, he would have been electrocuted as well. "Who the heck are you! Why the hell are you targeting me!" Ryder roared in anger as he glared at the woman. He had completely forgotten that he was standing completely nude at the moment and the girl was able to see everything. The girl''s face had turned somewhat crimson as she saw Ryder''s body in its full glory. "You bastard! How dare you dirty my eyes with your vulgarity!" The girl let out loudly as she pointed her finger towards Ryder. A small orb of thunder appeared out of thin air and advanced towards Ryder. Not just one, the orbs of compressed thunder kept getting formed one after another. "That''s Enough! I don''t care if you''re a girl, I''ll kill you!" Ryder was actually feeling angry now. His day was already going bad since he received a cursed item. Just when he was finally able to calm his mind after a long swim, the girl appeared out of nowhere and attacked him. Even after all that, he was the one that was called vulgar. He was losing his mind in anger. He finally brought out his Moon Scythe from his storage space. Instead of backing away, he swung it with full strength and destroyed all the Thunder Orbs before they could hit him. As he dealt with the attack, he looked towards the girl and noticed that she was in shock. "T-that Scythe! You''re the Successor of that bastard King!" The girl bellowed as he furiously glared at Ryder. Ryder didn''t reply and simply attacked the girl with a shadow ball. He didn''t stop with that as he immediately fired a flame blast towards the girl. Without waiting for the attacks to strike the girl, he ran towards her. The girl didn''t move. She just tapped her feet on the ground. A portal opened in front of her and a skeleton came out of it. The Skeleton was struck by the Shadow Ball and the Flame blast instead of the girl. Ryder was surprised, but he didn''t stop. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder let out as he used his strongest skill that was even stronger because of his Scythe. The Scythe came like the Scythe of the Grim Reaper and cut the skeleton in half. Both halves of the skeleton fell down to the ground as it turned into dust. Ryder looked to the front and noticed that the girl wasn''t there. He immediately started feeling like he was in danger. He got down to the ground instantly just at the right time as he managed to dodge the thunder orb that the girl had fired towards his head. "Do you think you''re the only one who has a divine weapon?" The girl muttered as she stood behind him. A spatial crack opened in front of her. She pushed her hand inside the portal and pulled out a Spear. The spear was pitch black in color, but there were some mysterious characters carved on the Spear. Ryder could feel a powerful energy from the spear and his Moon Scythe was also giving a furious reaction. It was as if his Moon Scythe was eager to fight. It wanted to destroy the Spear. _________________________________ Ryder was not the only one that was affected by the appearance of the spear. Lucifer was walking through the dark forest when the girl pulled out the Spear. Just as the Spear came out, Lucifer stopped in his tracks. He couldn''t help but look towards the sky with a thoughtful look on his face. _____________________________________ "I don''t care what weapon you have! If you think I''ll be scared of a girl, think twice," Ryder let out as he gripped his Moon Scythe firmly. The girl and Ryder both attacked at the same time. The Scythe and the Spear collided that resulted in a powerful energy blast. Ryder felt his HP lowering, but he didn''t step back, neither did the girl. The girl''s expression suddenly changed as she stepped back and created distance between her and Ryder. "Looks like I won''t be able to finish the job today," She muttered as she glanced towards the back. She brought out a talisman and whispered a chant. The Talisman started burning as a Spatial portal opened in front of her. "I''ll definitely finish you the next time we meet. Don''t die till then, Successor," She said as she glanced at Ryder one last time below she entered the portal. The portal closed and disappeared as if it was never there. Ryder just stood there confused as he wondered what just happened. Only 5 seconds had passed when he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. 76 Chapter 72: Getting the answers After a few more seconds had passed, Ryder saw the person that was running towards him. "Young Master!" Bulga called out as he noticed Ryder standing near the lake with his Scythe. "I heard the sound of fighting when I was coming here. What exactly happened? Was there an intruder or a really strong beast?" Bulga let out in concern, but soon his eyes fell on the lower body of Ryder. Ryder noticed where he was looking as he remembered that he wasn''t actually wearing anything. "Turn back!" He ordered Bulga. "Ah, Y-young Master, I''m not that kind of a demon. I have a wife at home, please don''t do that to me," Bulga stepped back in fear as he misunderstood Ryder''s intention. Ryder realized the misunderstanding as he saw Bulga''s expressions. His expressions turned weird. "What the fuck are you thinking right now! Turn back so that I could get dressed. Stop looking at me like that!" Ryder let out loudly. "Ah, Right," Bulga nodded his head and turned back in a hurry. ''What the heck does he think of me? Do I look like I would be interested in... Yuck,'' Ryder thought. Ryder brought the clothes out of his storage space and got dressed. "You can turn back now," He told Bulga after getting dressed. "A girl attacked me just now. Tell me how was someone able to enter this forest with you standing outside? Is there another person that visits this place?" Ryder inquired. "A girl? I don''t know, Young Master. No one would be able to enter the forest as it is Master''s property. Even the other Dukes never tried to come here," Bulga said as he fell in deep thought. "Master should be here soon enough. Maybe she would know?" Bulga let out softly. "You called her here?" Ryder exclaimed in shock. "Yes. I sent her a message as soon as I got your message," Bulga said innocently. "You Idi..." Ryder was just talking when a person came from the sky and landed in front of him. It was Duke Devilia that looked particularly concerned. "It''s good that you''re not hurt. I wouldn''t even know how I would be able to face the Grand Dukes at the coronation ceremony if something had happened to you. Tell me what happened?" She inquired. "Ahh, it''s nothing. It''s just a girl that appeared before me. She looked as if she was looking for something. She started attacking me as soon as she saw me," Ryder told her honestly since she was already here. "See, I told you that it wasn''t a good idea to go out at times like these. She must be an assassin sent by the other Dukes. Also, why didn''t you use the talisman and inform me? Instead, I received the news from him!" She told Ryder as she pointed towards Bulga. Ryder gulped down as he saw the anger on her face. Although she was controlling it, some of her aura was leaking. Ryder could sense the incredible strength she must possess just from the fierce aura. "I just didn''t feel like there was a need to inform you. The girl was too weak to be an assassin sent by the dukes. She didn''t even use any stealth," Ryder started talking. " I had no trouble facing her, but I still called for Bulga just to have a backup in case I was wrong. And I was right, she indeed was not that strong. She ran away right before Bulga came," He finished explaining. "In which direction did she run off to?" Devilia asked. "She used a talisman-like thing to open a space portal and entered it," He replied. "A Spatial Talisman? Not many people in our Empire have the resources to possess it. Can you tell me more about her? What she looked like? The skills she used?" She further asked. "It was a girl that looked like she was only in her early 20s. She had Dark Blue Hair and light grey eyes. She had an oval face, fair skin, and looked like she was 5 ft. 9 inches in height. I''m not an expert in this stuff, but I can only make a guess that she was a 35-26-33," Ryder let out as he imagined the girl. "35-26-33?" Devilia asked in confusion. "Oh, You guys don''t have a figure measurement system? Alright, I''ll make it easier. Her Chest was smaller than yours, her waist was about the same as yours and her hips were also a few sizes smaller than yours," Ryder explained like an expert. He looked like a great master that was selflessly sharing his knowledge. For a brief moment, Devilia just looked at him with a blank look on her face. She didn''t know how to react. "I meant only her face and her dress, not her chest and hips," She finally opened her mouth and let out. "Her dress? She was wearing a black gown if I''m not wrong. It looked like there was a design on the gown that looked like spider webs, but in golden color," "As for her skills, she used quite a few. She made a skeleton appear out of nowhere that took my fire blast without being destroyed. She was also able to use a thunder ball like skill. Oh, there was one more. She pointed towards the sky and the sky was covered in dark clouds and a thunderbolt fell from the sky as if it was targeting me," Ryder described the skills. Devilia fell in thought. No matter how much she thought about it, she could only think of a single person. "Those Skills? I haven''t heard of anyone possessing skills like that here. Also, making a skeleton appear? Only people from Death Domain can do that. They can use the creatures of death to fight for them after all. Also, I did hear a rumor. There is a girl in the Death Domain that is born with the Lightning Soul Body. She should be just as old as you described. But what was she doing here?" She let out. "Oh right, She also had a spear that made the Moon Scythe react fiercely as soon as it appeared. It had a few patterns on it. Let me draw them for you," Ryder said as he remembered the most intriguing thing about their fight, the spear. He began drawing the ancient-looking characters on the ground that he noticed in the Spear. Devilia saw the characters and her expressions kept changing. None of her expressions looked good though. 77 Chapter 73: Reaching Level 100 in an instant? Ryder finished drawing the characters and looked up to Devilia, but he only saw the weird look on her face. "Why do you look so strange?" Ryder asked as he looked at her. "Of course I would look strange! These are the exact same symbols that were on the spear of the Death Emperor! The Spear that the girl was using should be the Life Devouring Spear of the Death Emperor. That explains why the Moon Scythe reacted. It''s a good thing that you weren''t harmed by the spear," She said in full seriousness as she stared at the symbols on the ground. "Oh? Does that mean the girl is the daughter of the Death Emperor?" Ryder inquired. "No. It doesn''t make sense," Devilia let out with a frown. "What doesn''t make sense? It''s clear that she is the daughter of the Death Emperor who inherited the Life Devouring Spear," Ryder replied to her. "The Death Emperor is dead! And he doesn''t have a daughter, but a son! His son is the current ruler of the Death Domain. He would be the one who has the Life Devouring Spear, I don''t get why the girl has the spear," "As far as I know, the girl that has a Lightning Soul Body doesn''t have any relation to the Royal Family of the Death Domain," Devilia let out with a confused look on her face. "Something really strange is going on in the Death Domain," She said as she looked in the distant horizon. "Let''s go back. It''s not safe for you to stay here," She told Ryder as he held his hand. "Wait! I still have 5 days left. I don''t want to go back yet. I want to get stronger and I can only achieve that by staying here," Ryder straight away denied her suggestion as he stepped back. Devilia looked at him for a brief moment before she smiled. "Alright. You can stay here, but I''ll stay with you," She said smiling. "Suit yourself," He replied, without the least bit of opposition to her suggestion. He knew that she would not leave now that the Death Domain was involved in the picture. He didn''t want her to leave either. Although he wasn''t afraid of the girl from the Death Domain, he was indeed worried that the girl might come back with backup. Devilia could stay here and protect him. "Good. Anyways, why do you want to stay here? How do you get stronger by staying here?" Devilia inquired as she glanced at him. She didn''t know about the level and XP system. "I want to strengthen my skills and they only get stronger when I kill living beings with them. The more I kill, the stronger my skills get," Ryder replied to her. He wasn''t a hundred percent honest though. "Ohhh, So you hunt here to strengthen your skills? The stronger the skills, the stronger the person. That''s quite an interesting magic," She said in surprise. "You can help me in a fight if you like. Just don''t kill the beasts," Ryder smilingly said. "Nah, It looks like too much work. You can have fun," Devilia said casually. ''Oh right, Now that I think about it, that''s quite possible. If I can get them to defeat and capture strong beasts for me, then I will just have to deal the finishing blow and it''ll rain experience points,'' Ryder suddenly realized as he thought of an idea. "Hey Devilia, Can you capture the strongest beast for me? It would be better if you defeat it as well, just don''t kill it. I want to test something," Ryder let out as he looked at Devilia. "Huh? Do you really want me to do that?" She asked. "Yup. It''s really important for me," Ryder said. "Alright. Since you insist, I''ll do it for you this once," She nodded her head and flew away like lightning. ''It''s going to be so amazing. I''m going to get so many points. With just one beast, I might even reach level 100. Getting to level 200 is possible as well,'' Ryder thought as a grin formed on his face. He could already imagine the shock on the faces of the people when the level rankings would be unlocked. While others would be in the 20s, he would be on Level 100. No one would dare to attack him for his bracelet then. ''If everything goes like last time, the level ranking will be unlocked in about 1 month when the 10000th player reaches level 10,'' He thought. Ryder was still lost in thought when something big came from the sky. It felt as if the ground was stalking as soon as that thing touched the ground. It was a 50-meter long dragon that looked similar to the dragon that had killed Ryder on his last timeline, but it seemed much stronger than that one. Soon after, Devilia landed on top of the beast as well. "It''s the Mighty Grapin Dragon. I think this little guy would be the strongest one here. I already beat the crap out of it and it should be in its last breath. You can use your skill to kill it," Devilia said with a bright smile as she came down from the dragon. The dragon was bleeding in a lot of places and his eyes were closed, but it was still breathing. "She''s so strong," Ryder exclaimed in amazement as he admired Devilia. He was sure that even if he was a level 200 player, he would need a big party to subdue a dragon like that and she did this like it was a child''s play. ''Just how strong is she?'' He wondered as he looked at her. "Hurry. Dragons have a great healing. Deal the finishing blow before it starts healing. I don''t want to have to beat the poor dragon again," She said. "Ah right. Thank you so much!" Ryder said as he got ready to deal the finishing blow. Now there was only a small distance between him and his dream of becoming a level 100 player once again. He held his Moon Scythe firmly as he ran towards the dragon. "Enraged Slash!" He let out as he swung his Scythe. 78 Chapter 74: Killing the Dragon "Enraged Slash!" Ryder used his strongest skill to attack the dragon. The Dragon''s skin was quite hard. If it was a normal weapon, he wouldn''t even be able to cut through the skin of the dragon, but the Moon Scythe was a special weapon. It had no problem cutting through the thick defenses of the dragon and dealing some damage. Although the damage was small, It was enough to kill the dragon. The dragon was already on its last breath and the damage acted like the last nail on the coffin. The Dragon was killed instantly. [Mighty Grapin Dragon has been killed] He also got a notification of killing the Dragon. He waited to see how much experience he received after killing the Dragon. There was a wide grin on his face. [+0 Exp ] The notification came as a shock and Ryder''s face lost all its colors. [Hidden Restriction of Bracelet of Immortality activated] (tap to expand) Ryder tapped on the expansion icon with a blank look on his face, to get more information. [Hidden Restriction of Bracelet of Immortality: Bracelet of Immortality is a heavenly item that hides the strength to destroy the heavens itself. It has been sealed and cursed by the gods. The Wearer can''t grow stronger when taking the help of the beings of this world when fighting his prey] "Again this cursed item! It''s trying to screw me as much as possible, isn''t it? It must be a brother of Janus if I''m not wrong," Ryder cursed as he glanced at the bracelet. "I have nothing to do with the bracelet. If it was on me, I would have destroyed that thing," Janus heard Ryder''s words and replied to him. Devilia watched Ryder standing there and acting weirdly. "Hey, What are you doing standing there? Did it work? Did you grow stronger?" She asked in concern. Ryder turned back and looked at her. "No. I didn''t grow stronger. I guess it doesn''t work when someone else does the work for you. I''ll need to defeat the beasts myself," Ryder informed her. "Oh, It''s fine. I''m sure you can do it. There''s no need to look so upset," Devilia said with a smile on her face. "Yeah. I don''t need help to get stronger! Just stay back and let me do it on my own," Ryder said in a calm tone. He realized that there was no benefit in sulking. He''ll just do it the old fashioned way. He still had absorption. He was able to get way stronger than his actual level through killing. "Anyways, Do you know anything about this?" Ryder asked her as he raised his hand. He was trying to show her his bracelet. "Your hand?" She asked in confusion. "No! The thing I''m wearing. The bracelet," Ryder asked her. "Are you joking with me? There''s no bracelet on your wrist," She said with an amused smile. "I guess you can''t see it then. It''s a bracelet that has these patterns carved on it," Ryder said as he began drawing the patterns on the ground. "Do you get anything now?" he asked after he finished drawing. "Yeah. I do know those patterns. They are from the ancient language of the gods. We do have a book in our library about the language but we have only been able to understand a few words from it," She replied. "As for them, they are the names of elements. That one is lightning. That''s wind. There''s fire, water, and Earth. I don''t know the meaning of the other characters. Those 5 are the only words we were able to interpret from the book of the language of gods. So I don''t know about the other words, but they might be something like those as well," She explained as she pointed towards the patterns on the ground. ''Wind, Earth, Water, Fire, Lightning? And there are over 20 more characters like these. What the heck is this,'' He thought with a frown on his face. ''Janus, can you tell me about this? You seem to know about it quite a lot?'' Ryder asked Janus. "You''re not allowed to know," Janus replied. His reply made Ryder even more confused. "Whatever, I''ll see the book myself when I go back. For now, it''s time to grow stronger," He said as he threw this stuff to the back of his head. Ryder spent the next few days in the forest, hunting beasts. Even though he was not allowed to take the help of Bulga and Devilia during the battle, he did take their help to find the Beasts. This way, he didn''t have to spend hours looking for a beast. His hunting went much faster and he was able to kill tens of beasts in a day. His levels kept advancing with time as he kept gaining experience and stats by hunting beasts. It was the end of the 6th day and he was already a level 19 player. He had killed more than a hundred beasts in the last 5 days and gained tons of stat points due to Absorption. He had also gained a few good skills, but not many, as the chances of getting a skill were too low. Alright, he was a level 19 player, with the stat points, he was sure that he could match a level 22-23 beast. At the moment, he was fighting a level 23 beast and he was sure that he would get to level 20 after killing it. After a battle that took him only 20 minutes, he managed to kill the beast. [White Demonic Lion Killed] [+40000 exp] [Absorption activated] [+20 Intelligence] "Nice. Finally, I got to level 20. It would have been impossible without your help. Thank you," He said as he looked at Devilia that was standing nearby. "That''s fine. Anyways, it''s about time for us to leave this place. We need to get to the Royal Palace. Those old guys will be quite mad if we are late," She reminded him. "Alright. Just wait a minute," Ryder told her. He wanted to check his stats once before leaving. Since the grinding started, he hadn''t checked his status even once. He opened the status window. 79 Chapter 75: Way to Unseal? Ryder opened his status screen to check. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: Demon Level:20 Experience: 1230000/4000000 HP: 10000+1000 Mana: 4000 Strength: 242(+403) Defense:235(+420) Speed: 180(+487) Stamina:200(+800) Dexterity:100(+753) Intelligence: 80(+217) Available stat points: 20 Skills: Enraged Slash: Level 3 (35% mastery) All-Seer: Level 2 (53% mastery) Flame blast: Level 4 (62% mastery) Shadow ball: Level 3 (22% mastery) Stealth: Level 1(3% mastery) Sand Storm: Level 1(12% mastery) Strengthening: Level 1( 1% mastery) Taunt: Level 1( 0% mastery) Intimidation: Level 1 (1% mastery) Items: Moon Scythe: Unique Grade Bracelet of Immortality: God Grade (sealed) (0/25 fragments collected) ] "Hmm? What''s that? 0/25 fragments? That wasn''t there last time. Did this appear after I killed the dragon? That activated the curse of the bracelet as well, but this too?" Ryder muttered with a frown on his face. "Wait a minute? Aren''t there 25 characters on the bracelet as well?" Ryder muttered as he started observing the bracelet. "Janus? Do I need to collect 25 of those fragments to break the curse?" Ryder inquired. "I guess you''re not as stupid as I thought. Since you''ve already guessed that much, I''ll give you some more information, in exchange for your contribution points, "Janus replied. "Alright, just tell me," Ryder straight away agreed. "Collecting the fragments is one way to break the seal and if you did that, even the curse of the gods won''t be able to affect you anymore. You''ll return to your former glory and understand everything," Janus replied to him. "My former glory? What do you mean?" Ryder asked in confusion. Janus didn''t explain the meaning of his statement. "Each of those fragments will break the seal a little and unlock some of its power until the whole seal is destroyed," Janus answered him. "That''s stupid. Collecting 25 of those fragments sounds impossible. Won''t I die of old age before that?" Ryder let out in an annoyed tone. "If it was someone else that found it, that would indeed have been impossible, but for you..." Janus said till here before he stopped. "Do these fragments have something to do with the characters? Lightning, Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind, and whatever the other 20 are?" Ryder further inquired. "Indeed. These 25 are not ordinary characters, but the seals of the strongest gods. Each character represents a god that placed their seal on the bracelet," Janus replied. "This game is getting too complicated. Is this the final plotline of the game? Each fragment should be with a boss level monster?" Ryder jokingly said. "No, most fragments shouldn''t even be here in this world. As I said, it''s too soon for you to know," Janus answered him. "Tell me just a few more things. If the bracelet is so dangerous, Why didn''t the gods keep it with them? Also, they should know about the fragments that can break their seals. Why didn''t they destroy them?" Ryder further asked as he thought of something. He waited for Janus'' response, but Janus didn''t answer this time. He again asked, but received no response. He was still standing there when Devilia came up to him and caught his hand. "Hey? It''s already been 20 minutes. Let''s go. If we delay even a single second, we''ll be late!" She said. "Oh, ok. Let''s go," Ryder agreed. "Wear these clothes. This will be your coronation dress," She gave Ryder a pair of clothes. "Alright. Turn back and let me get dressed," He said as he took clothes from her hand. "Sigh, you''re going to get us late," Devilia turned back. Bulga did the same. In no time, Ryder got ready. "I''m done. Let''s leave," He told her. Devilia flew away with Ryder towards the Royal Palace. Bulga also climbed back on his flying beast and left. His work here was done and he left to join his duty back at the Duke''s palace. Ryder and Devilia flew without delaying for even a single minute. **** Devilia landed near the entrance of the Royal Palace with Ryder and entered with him. Ryder was quite amazed to see the turnout. He wasn''t able to count how much, but there were over 100 thousand demons already standing outside the palace waiting. They weren''t told that it was a coronation ceremony. All they were told was that there was going to be an important announcement today from the Grand Dukes. Each demon had a different guess of their own about the reason behind this assembly. "Is there another war with the Death Domain? Last time we were called here, it was an announcement of war under the order of the Demon King. It should be something similar this time as well?" "I think that shouldn''t be the case. The Death Domain had never attacked us in such a long time after last time''s defeat. They wouldn''t dare attack us. Also, my brother is a guard. He told me that they weren''t told to prepare for any war," "What can it be then? Is it possible that our king is back?" "The chances of that are low as well. What I feel is that the Great Dukes have decided to select a king. One of the Great dukes might announce themselves as the new King," "It must be the First Grand Duke if I''m not wrong," **** While the citizens were discussing the event today, Devilia and Ryder had entered the palace and found that all the Dukes and High Dukes were there. "You''re late!" High Duke Magna said as he glared at Devilia. "Leave that. They must have a reason to be late. Now that they''re here, let''s begin the ceremony!" High Duke Oris asserted. "Hades! Come forth!" High Duke Oris told Ryder that was standing behind. Ryder stepped forth and walked to the front. All 4 High Dukes were standing together and Ryder stood before them. "Come with us!" They said to Ryder as they continued walking towards the hallways. The High Dukes led Ryder to a room. The door of the room was pitch black and made of something that Ryder had never seen before, but it looked like the strongest material he had seen yet. There were 4 keyholes on the door. All 4 High Dukes brought a key out from their storage space and inserted it inside the keyhole. All 4 of them swung their key at the same time. ''Is this a treasure room? Are they going to give me treasures?'' Ryder though as he looked at the door. The door was opened and they all entered the room. 80 Chapter 76: 1st Seal Unlocked As Ryder entered inside the hall with the High Elders, he realized that it wasn''t like he had expected at all. He could see no treasures there. In fact, the whole room was completely empty except for the one thing that was at the end of the room. It seemed like a humanoid statue. The statue was 6 feet tall only. The statue depicted a person that stood proudly as if he was the ruler of this world. He seemed like an average human, but there was something different. A human could never look so charming and prideful as the person in the statue. Even though it was just a statue, Ryder could feel a distinct aura of the person in the statue just by looking. Although the statue didn''t have a color, Ryder had a vision in his mind as to the colors. He could see that the man wore beautiful clothes just like what an Emperor should possess. The black armor made him look dashing and brave while the red robe behind his back gave him the King like vibe. The man held a Pitch Black sword in his hand. A few blood-red lines could also be seen on the sword like the pulses of the sword as if the sword was alive. "Hey, Kid! Get down on your knees to pay respect!" High Duke Oris said as he saw Ryder just standing there in a daze. Ryder gained back his focus and realized that all the High Dukes were on one knee as if they were paying respect to the statue. ''This can''t be the statue of Salem, can it?'' Ryder thought as he stepped near the statue. After sitting on their knees for around 5 minutes, they all stood up. "This is the statue of our god. Before becoming the Prince, you must sacrifice some of your blood to him as a form of respect. You''ll gain his blessing," High Duke Magna informed Ryder. "Blood?" Ryder exclaimed in surprise. "Don''t worry, just one drop will be enough. Just make sure that the drop falls on his feet," High Duke Oris said smiling. Ryder nodded as he stepped towards the statue. As soon as he got within the 5-meter proximity of the statue, he was able to feel a sense of familiarity with the statue. It was as if he could feel the closeness with the statue. He put the thought to the back of his head as he continued getting closer. He stopped right before the statue and got down to his knees. There was already a knife placed there nearby. ''Sigh, this is giving me the creepy vibes,'' Ryder thought as he picked up the knife, but he knew that if he became the Prince, he was sure that his journey in the game would be smoother. He used the Knife as he tried cutting his finger lightly. The knife was so sharp that it felt easier than he expected. He extended his finger towards the feet of the statue as he made the blood drop fall on the feet of the statue. As soon as the drop of blood fell on the statue, he saw a vision flash before his eyes. He saw that he was flying and he was being assaulted by people that could also fly. He held the same sword as the statue. The vision only lasted for 1 second before he returned to normal. He looked around in confusion and saw that he was still in the room. "You can stand up now. The door is open," He was still thinking about what just happened when he heard the voice of High Duke Oris. He stood up and saw that there was a door on the wall that previously wasn''t there. "Don''t delay. You can go inside and get something good for yourself. Think of it as a blessing from the god," High Duke Oris said smilingly. ''Blessing? Is this finally the time for rewards?'' Ryder thought as his mood finally improved. He smiled as he hurriedly nodded his head and excitedly walked inside the door that had just appeared. He found himself in a different room that was just as empty as the last one, but he did see something on the ground. It looked as if it was a crystal that was only 1 inch in size. He walked forth and touched the crystal, but as soon as he touched it, the crystal disappeared and he started getting notifications one after another. [Fragment of Time found] [Bracelet of Immortality: One Seal broken] [Double Experience unlocked] [Skill Received: Ruler of Time] [+10 Level ] [All Stats +150] He received 6 notifications one after another and they all shocked him, but that wasn''t enough. Another set of notifications started coming. [Reached Level 30: Hidden restriction of Quest of Salem unlocked. Species changed to High Demon.] [Reached Level 30: Hidden restriction of Quest of Salem unlocked: Class Quest Unlocked] [Since the 2nd hidden Restriction of the Quest of Salem is Unlocked, the second special ability of Moon Scythe is Unlocked. Unlocked Skill: Weapon Transformation] Ryder just stood there with his mouth wide open. He was having a moment of elation at all these notifications. He just wanted to keep reading these awesome notifications again and again. In an instant, he had gained 10 levels, and that was not all. All his stats had increased and from now on, he would receive double Experience from whatever he does. All of it happened when just the first seal was unlocked. He couldn''t help but wonder what would happen when all seals would be unlocked. What''s most important at the moment was that the Class Quest was unlocked. He began checking the notifications to understand better. First, he went to the skills to understand what time reversal was. [Ruler of Time: Time is absolute and no one can change it except the one who truly controls it. The one that truly masters the time can never be defeated. Skill 1: Time Reversal Skill 2: Locked (Level not enough) Skill 3: Locked (Level not enough)] "It''s a set of 3 skills?" He let out in surprise. He clicked on time-reversal to see if it actually meant he was thinking. [Time Reversal: Passive Skill: When the wielder dies, the time is rewind by 1 day Active Skill: Users can rewind the time willingly. Current a limit: 30 minutes per day (Note: Reversed Time depends on the level of the user. Every level increases 1 minute) ] 81 Chapter 77: Class Ques "Time Reversal? Can such a strong skill really exist? Doesn''t this skill basically make me immortal? The first skill itself nullified the first curse of the bracelet in a way. If I can''t die, there''s no way my soul will be trapped," Ryder thought with a pleasant smile on his face "Also, if the first skill is so strong, I wonder how strong would the other two be, once my level is high enough? Worthy of being a God Grade Item," He muttered as he stared at the screen in front of him. He closed the screen and opened the Quest Screen. He had finally received a Class Quest, but he had no idea what it was about at the moment. He started reading the Quest. [Quest of Salem: Quest Grade: Unique Class Quest Quest Description: Go to the Lightening Valley and steal the Nature Healing Crystal of the Royal Dark Elf Clan. Time Limit: 2 Months] "The Dark Elves Clan? I''ve heard about them in my last timeline. They are a clan that doesn''t involve themselves in the matter of the outside world and stays inside the Lightning Valley. No one knows how strong they are, but the ones that entered the lightning Valley have never come out," Ryder muttered with a frown on his face. ''Wait a minute, why should I worry about their strength? I''m the Prince of the Demon Realm. I can just take their crystal forcefully. In the worst situation, I''ll just use the demons to take care of them. Also, this class quest is for level 30 players as it''s unlocked now. I don''t believe it will be tough,'' Ryder thought as his mood improved slightly. "Even though I can''t gain experience when I use the demons to defeat a monster for me, I can still use their strength. The Class is more important for me at the moment," He said in full seriousness. "Now that I think about it, there was also something about the Second Ability of Scythe being unlocked?" Ryder opened the status screen and started to look for that skill. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: High Demon Level:30 Experience: 4000000/8000000 HP: 15000+1000 Mana: 6000 Strength: 362(+553) Defense:375(+570) Speed: 280(+537) Stamina:400(+950) Dexterity:300(+903) Intelligence: 198(+357) Available stat points: 20 Skills: Ruler of Time: Level Not Defined Enraged Slash: Level 3 (35% mastery) All-Seer: Level 2 (53% mastery) Flame blast: Level 4 (62% mastery) Shadow ball: Level 3 (22% mastery) Stealth: Level 1(3% mastery) Sand Storm: Level 1(12% mastery) Strengthening: Level 1( 1% mastery) Taunt: Level 1( 0% mastery) Intimidation: Level 1 (1% mastery) Weapon Related Skill: Absorption: Level 1(3% mastery) Transformation: Max Level Items: Moon Scythe: Unique Grade Bracelet of Immortality: God Grade (sealed) (1/25 fragments collected) ] He tapped on the Transformation. Another screen opened on the side with the details. [Transformation: A Moon Scythe Specific Skill. The owner can change the shape of Moon Scythe according to his wishes to make any weapon of his liking. There''s no limitation as to how many times transformation can be used in a day.] ''So I can use a sword as I did in my last timeline as well. This skill should come in handy as well,'' He thought. He brought Moon Scythe outside in order to test the skill. "Transform," He muttered as he visualized the shape of a weapon he wanted. According to his wishes, the Moon Scythe changed shape. It was turned into a sword. The Sword had a silver blade and a golden hilt and looked quite charming. It looked similar to the sword he had used in the previous timeline, but it was actually much stronger as it was actually the powerful Moon Scythe and contained the same amount of power. "Transform," He again said and changed the sword back to the Moon Scythe and placed it back in his storage ring. "The High Dukes must be waiting outside for me. I should go to them. Can''t delay my coronation," He said as a smile appeared on his face. His mood was the best it had ever been. In fact, he thought that it was his luckiest day. Previously, he had hated the bracelet of Immortality, but now he had started to love it. It was already this strong when only one of the 25 restrictions was broken. He didn''t even try to imagine how strong it would be when all 25 were lifted. Ryder walked out of the room and met up with the High Dukes. "Did you get something nice?" High Duke Oris inquired with a smile. "Yeah. I feel like the Demon God really blessed me," Ryder answered. "Good. Now stand straight. Your ascension to the prince will be done right here," High Duke Oris said. Ryder followed the suggestion and stood straight. High Duke Magna walked up to Ryder and stopped before him. "Even though I hate your species, I hope that you won''t betray the people and their trust. Never do anything to harm them," He told Ryder as he brought a crown out of his storage space and placed the beautiful Silver Crown in Ryder''s head. He walked back. Next, High Duke Oris walked up to him. "I agree with his words, but I have faith in you that you will be able to become a good ruler. The rank of Prince is just the beginning," He said to Ryder as he brought a red robe out of his storage space. He removed the robe that Ryder was wearing and placed the new robe on his back. [Unique Grade Item: Robe of Extreme Defence received] ''A Unique Grade Defensive Item?'' Ryder thought in surprise as he got the notification about the robe. High Duke Oris also walked back. High Duke Mila walked up to Ryder next. "Best of luck for the future, my Prince. These are the keys of the Royal Palace where you will be staying from now on," She said smilingly as she gave him a set of keys before she walked back. And Lastly, the 4th High Duke walked up to him. "Prince Hades, I must say that I see a glimpse of our King in you. I hope that you will be able to keep his legacy," He said as he brought something out of his storage space and gave Ryder. 82 Chapter 78: Ill slaughter them "These are the ''Boots of the Wind Blessing''. They will make you fast as the wind," The High Duke said as he gave Ryder a pair of Golden Shoes. [Unique Grade Item: Boots of the Wind Blessing received] "Thank you," Ryder thanked the 4th High Duke as he wore the Boots of the Wind Blessing and kept his old boots back in the storage space. The 4th High Duke also walked back. "From now on, you''re the Prince of the Demon Realm. The newest addition to the Royalty. Let''s go. It''s time to introduce you to the citizens," High Duke Magna said as he started walking towards the exit. The others Dukes and Ryder also left the room. Ryder looked at the statue once before vacating the room. They locked the doors before they all walked back to the hall where all the Dukes were staying. "We greet the Prince!" All the Dukes saw the crown on Ryder''s head and realized that the coronation was completed. They all greeted Ryder, but none of them bowed down or did anything excessive. They only needed to bow down before the king and no one else, not even in front of a prince, and Ryder wasn''t their king yet. "Follow us to the balcony. It''s time for the declaration," High Duke Oris informed the dukes. The other Dukes nodded and followed after them. In no time, everyone was standing on the balcony on the front of the palace. The balcony had plenty of space for everyone. Ryder stood at the front of the balcony. The 1st High Duke and the 3rd High Duke stood on his right while the other 2 High Dukes stood on his left. All the Dukes stood behind them. **** The crowd was suddenly silent as they saw all the Dukes and High Dukes together, but all of them had the same question in their mind. ''Who is that boy?'' ***** "I would like to thank everyone for coming here today. Throughout the history of our Demon Realm, we have had many historic moments, and today shall be one of those moments," High Duke Magna said. Although he was speaking in his normal tone, everyone was able to hear his voice clearly. High Duke Magna spoke till here before he looked at High Duke Oris. "We have been without a king since His Majesty left us all those years ago, but not anymore. The boy you see beside me is the disciple of His Majesty. He is the new Prince of our Demon Realm. Even the Demon God has blessed him. He will be your future King once he completes the Kingship Trial! All Hail Prince Hades!" High Duke Oris announced. The demons standing over the ground heard all the words clearly, but they were having difficulty processing this information. They thought that High Duke Magna would be the King, but a kid became the King candidate? But then they realized that he was a disciple of their king. He had the right to the throne and the backing of their king. After a moment, they processed all the information before they all started chanting together. "All Hail Prince Hades!" "All Hail Prince Hades!" "All Hail Prince Hades!" The chant continued for over 5 minutes. The more they chanted, the more enthusiastic they got. "That''s enough! Now the Prince will speak to you," High Duke Oris said to the demons. "Go on. Give a speech. Also, you need to show them that you can be their king. You must maintain your dignity," High Duke Oris whispered to Ryder. This came as a surprise to Ryder as he hadn''t expected that he would be asked to give a speech. If he had known, he would have prepared something. "I don''t have the magic to enhance my voice like you guys. Will my voice reach them?" Ryder inquired in a low voice. "Don''t worry. None of us used any enhancement. It''s the magic of this balcony. As long as you stand here and don''t intentionally speak in a low tone, they''ll be able to hear the things you say," High Duke Oris explained. "Ah, Alright," Ryder nodded his head before he started looking at the crowd. "Intimidation," Ryder used the skill he had received because of absorption. It was a skill that made his aura stand out. As soon as he used the skill, the ones that looked at him would feel as if he was a fierce existence that was not worth offending. Although this skill was pretty useless in battle as it didn''t work on beasts, it did work on most of the other species. He had used this skill on Bulga and the effects were more than satisfactory. "Everyone, I''m the new Prince is the Demon Realm, but that''s only a temporary title as I will soon become your King and as a King, I want to promise you something! No matter what happens, I will never let anyone trample the dignity of our Demon Realm, just like my master! Let alone the Death Domain, even if the gods tried to target my land, I''ll slaughter them all!" Ryder said passionately. Although he was only saying this stuff to sound badass, there was something inside him that was making him feel as if he was not lying. As soon as Ryder said the last line, he saw an abrupt vision. In the vision, he was standing in the void and all the gods were surrounding him, but he could feel no fear. He had a pitch-black sword in his hand as he said a similar thing. "I''ll slaughter everyone that stands against me!" ***** "Yaaaaaaa," The demons started roaring loudly as if they were also supporting Ryder''s declaration. They could feel a patriotic feeling in their heart and deep respect for Ryder. "All Hail the Prince!" "All Hail the Prince!" They started chanting once again. 83 Chapter 79: Plan to infiltrate, back to the real world Their loud chants brought Ryder out of his daze. ''What the heck was that. Since when have I started daydreaming?'' Ryder thought with a frown. He put that dream to the back of his head and continued his speech. The Demons turned silent as they saw that Ryder was about to speak again. "You''re the proud demons of this great land! Always remember that! There''s no one that can defeat us, but only if you all don''t defeat yourself! So I would end my speech on one single note! Respect your fellow demons! We''re a big family! We''re the same species and we shall reserve our strength for facing the enemies, not our own family!" "That''s all I want to say. I hope that you will be with me and make this land the greatest it can be. Thank you," Ryder finished his statement and walked back inside the palace along with the other Dukes and High Dukes. "That was a great speech, Prince. It''s been a long time since I''ve felt my blood boil like this. The last time it did was when we won the war against the Death Domain. I believe that you will be a great King to the people," 4th High Duke said, smilingly. "I don''t like your species, but as you said. We''re all demons. I''ll leave my prejudice behind so that we could keep our land the greatest," High Duke Magna said. Slowly, everyone praised Ryder and his speech. Even Duke Orisis gave praise to Ryder but it was uncertain if he was genuinely happy or not. He was hurt badly last time because of Ryder, so Ryder doubted his intentions. They all gave Ryder their contact talisman before they departed. The ceremony was already finished. "We''ll take our leave as well. High Duke Oris can tell you the rest," High Duke Mia said before she left with the other High Duke. Only High Duke Oris and Duke Devilia had stayed behind. "Now that it''s official, you will stay in the Royal Palace. You will control the royal army and they will only follow your orders from now on. You can get them to do anything except attacking any Noble or declaring war on anyone. You would need our permission to do it. You won''t have any restriction like this after you become the King," High Duke Oris informed Ryder. "You can come inside," High Duke Oris looked towards the left and called out. Two people entered the hall. One of them was a young girl who looked like she had just turned 18, while another person was a man that had wings behind his back. "He''s Rale, He is the commander of the Royal Army and he will be serving you. He might not look like it, but he is only slightly weaker than a Duke. So I''m sure he won''t give you an opportunity to complain. The girl on the right is Miku. She''s the Chief Maid. She''ll handle the servants for you and take care of everything," High Duke Oris introduced them both. " You might already know him, he''s our Prince and your Master. You must take care of him properly. If he dislikes your service and wishes to have you killed, you will be killed. So don''t neglect your duty," He said to the girl called Miku. "Rale, You need to follow every order of the Prince. You must also keep him safe always. If he is harmed, you and your whole family will be killed as a punishment. You understand, right?" He said to the commander of the Royal Army. "I will rather die protecting him then let any harm come to him," Rale pledged as he got down to his knees in front of Ryder. "That''s all for now. Is there anything else you''re concerned about?" He asked Ryder. "That''s all for now," Ryder replied. "You already know my palace, right? Here is my contact talisman. Contact me if you need any help or want to talk to me. I''ll be here immediately. I''ll take my leave for now," High Duke Oris gave Ryder his contact Talisman before he left. Only Devilia was left now. Ryder was about to speak, but Devilia started speaking before him. "Don''t worry. I''ll bring that girl here for you. You don''t need to worry. Also, you already have my Talisman. Contact me if you need anything. I''ll always be available for help," Devilia said before she left as well. "Miku, I''m new to the Palace, can you show me the places?" Ryder inquired. The girl nodded her head. "Rale, Come with me. There''s something I need to talk to you about," Ryder told Rale. Miku was walking in the front as she showed the palace to Ryder while Ryder and Rale walked behind. "Rale, I have a mission for you. I need you to take a couple of your strongest guys and come with me to the outside world. Is that possible?" Ryder asked Rale. "It is possible, my prince. There are space tunnels inside the palace that connect this place to various places on the outside. You must have gotten the keys to the Palace. You can open the doors of those tunnels with those keys," Rale replied. "Oh? So those tunnels will take me to the human realm?" Ryder inquired "Yes. There are five space tunnels underground. The first one is connected to the Human Realm. The second one is connected to the Death Domain. I am not sure about the other 3 as those have never been used before," Rale answered. "Oh, nice. Then tell your men to be prepared. We''ll be leaving in 2 days. I think 20-30 should be enough," Ryder told him. "My Prince, May I know what we will be doing? The Royal Army has many great talents. If I know the mission, I would be able to select the best men possible," Rale inquired. "You know about the Dark Elves Clan?" Ryder asked. "Yes. I had read a little about them, but I haven''t met them," Rale replied. "We''ll infiltrate the Royal Dark Elves Clan. They have something that I need," Ryder replied. "You must be wondering why I didn''t get the help of my master. The thing is that Master doesn''t want to involve himself in worldly matters unless it''s absolutely necessary. And I really need that thing. It would be really great for our realm if I get what I need. That''s why I need the help of my army. A small team that is good in stealth as well as in battle," He further said. "I understand, Your Highness. I know who to choose now," Rale affirmed. "Good. You can leave now," Ryder told him "That''s enough for today. I''ll take the rest of the tour later," Ryder told Miku as she brought him to the bedroom. He entered the bedroom and closed the doors as he walked back to his bed. ''Things are going good,''Ryder thought as he lay on his bed. "I have been here for so long. Time to go back to the real world," Ryder muttered as he opened the logout screen and logged out of Divinity. He woke up on his bed in the real world and took his Divinity Glasses off. 84 Chapter 80: Destiny "Hah, home sweet home," Ryder smiled as he put the Divinity Glasses to the side and got off the bed. He walked to the washroom to wash his face as he had been like that for over a week. As he took water in his hand and brought it towards his face, he noticed the bracelet in his right hand. He just stood there frozen as the water seeped out of his hand. "What the absolute fuck! Janus! What the heck is happening here! Why do I have that bracelet here with me?" Ryder let out loud. His voice was so loud that it even managed to escape his room. Alice was still in her room when she heard Ryder''s voice. "Did he finally decide to wake up?" She said as she put the box of Divinity to the side. As she saw her brother so engrossed in the game that he refused to come out, she had decided to try the game herself as well. She went out and brought one for herself to see what it was actually about and to find Ryder inside. She stood up and left her room. "It''s bound to you. What did you expect?" Janus replied. "How can an item from a game come to the real world! It must be your doing!" Ryder accused Janus. "All you need to know is that this bracelet is as real as it can get. Now that it has found you, it will never leave you," Janus answered. "But this is a cursed item! My poor soul!" Ryder wanted to cry but no tears came out of his eyes. "Wait a minute? Won''t that mean I get the Ruler of Time as well? But heck! Won''t I die of old age? Will I just keep going back in time to relive my last day again and again?" Ryder muttered. "Immortals can''t die," Janus said "What immortals! I''m just a mortal human! We get old and we die," Ryder said in an annoyed tone Janus didn''t respond. Ryder was about to repeat his question when he heard the knock on the door. He came out of the washroom and walked towards the door. He opened the door and found Alice glaring at him. "Oh Alice, good morning," Ryder said, smilingly. "It''s the night!" Alice replied. "Ah, right. I lost track of time I guess," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. "What''s the date?" Ryder asked. "Right, you wouldn''t even know the date. Why would you? it''s not like you care for your family more than your game," Alice said as her glare intensified. "I, ah, I had to do something important in the game, sorry for not coming out," Ryder apologized. "Hmph, the dinner will be ready in half an hour, come eat with me, unless you want to go back to your game," She snorted as she turned back and left. "Sigh, She''s so cute even when she''s angry," Ryder chuckled as he walked back to his washroom and finished washing his face. He left his room and walked to the dinner table. "Come on. I said I''m sorry. I''ll never go inside for so long unless absolutely necessary. Please don''t be angry," Ryder again apologized as he saw Alice looking at him. "Why would I be angry, It''s not like you ever spent such quality time with me," She snorted as she began eating. "How about we go shopping tomorrow? I need some new clothes and I''ll get you some as well," Ryder suggested. "Really?" Alice asked in surprise, a glimmer of happiness was clearly visible in her eyes, but she quickly recovered her expressions. "Of course. It''s not always that I get the chance to hang out with such a beautiful girl. Let''s have fun tomorrow," Ryder said, smilingly. "Sure," she said casually as if she didn''t want to show her excitement. "Great," Ryder said as he began eating as well. He walked back to his room after he finished eating. He fell to his bed as he began observing the bracelet of Immortality. "Janus, you said that the bracelet is not the game item? Does this mean it''s from the real world? Do gods really exist?" Ryder inquired. "It''s quite ironic to hear the question coming from you," Janus said. Ryder could feel that Janus'' tone was somewhat unusual. "You know Janus, I feel like you have become more human-like after the upgrade. I feel like I''m talking to a real person and not the system that you always felt like before the upgrade," Ryder said in a low voice. "Maybe I''m just waiting for the opportunity to screw your life again," Janus chuckled. Ryder was stunned as he sat up abruptly. "You can laugh?" Ryder asked in surprise. "What do you think?" Janus asked sarcastically. "Sigh, you really shock me sometimes. I guess you''re more human-like than I thought," Ryder muttered. "Or maybe I''m more god-like, just like a certain someone I used to know," Janus replied. "Who? Were you with another host before me?" Ryder inquired. Janus didn''t reply, and Ryder didn''t repeat his question. He had realized that maybe Janus didn''t want to talk about that. "Anyway, you said that all the bracelet unsealing fragments are not in the game world. Did you mean that they were in the real world as well?" Ryder changed the question. Janus replied, "Yes." "Interesting. Can you help me find them?" Ryder further asked. "No, I can''t find them, but they will find you," Janus replied. "Why? Do the fragments have a sentience that can help them track the bracelet?" Ryder inquired. "It''s more complicated than that. Just think of that as your destiny that a certain someone wrote for yourself," Janus answered. "Who would that certain someone be?" Ryder asked. "You," Janus answered. "Sometimes I can''t comprehend what you say," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. "Anyway, I can turn back time when I need to. I''m quite excited about my life, despite that curse," Ryder said smilingly. He suddenly remembered something as he asked, "Oh right, You said that I would get an Exp System in the real world after your upgrade. You didn''t explain what that is?" Ryder asked. 85 Chapter 81: Date? "It''s a leveling system for you. You will get experience for certain things you do, and you will gain level just like the game world, " Janus replied. " So I can become stronger in the real world? Won''t I become a superhuman if I keep leveling?" Ryder started fantasizing. Janus replied, "Something like that, but that''s nothing for you. You wouldn''t need any levels long as you..." but he stopped midway. "As long as I what?" Ryder inquired. "Nothing, Just get strong and stay safe until it''s the time," Janus said before he went silent. He didn''t reply after that. "Hey, at least tell me the things I can do to collect exp in the real world?" Ryder asked, but Janus didn''t answer. "Cheh, I''ll ask again tomorrow. I''ll definitely get my answers," Ryder muttered as he closed his eyes. He fell asleep. Ryder woke up the next day and went for a shower. It was only 6 am and one of the only few times when he woke up so early. He came out of the shower and got dressed as he sat on his bed. It was still too soon for them to leave. It was decided that they will leave after 9 am, but he was a little excited about this. Also, he didn''t wish to annoy Alice once again by being late. "Why am I so excited? I feel just as excited as I was during my first date. Calm down. It''s just a casual outing with your cousin! Not a date," He muttered as he closed his eyes and fell down to his bed. Time kept passing slowly and it was 8:30. Ryder left the room and knocked on the door of Alice. "Are you ready?" Ryder asked. "Wait a minute, I am coming," Alice replied. The door was opened and Ryder saw Alice and just stood there in a daze for a moment. She was looking so beautiful. She didn''t do extensive makeup, but she still looked as pretty as a flower. She was wearing a white top and a black skirt that covered her fair thighs but fell slightly short of her knees. "You look beautiful," he complimented her. "Thank you," Alice replied. She looked somewhat embarrassed at the moment. "Let''s go," She said as she came out of the room and closed the door. "Oh, right. Which shop are we going to get clothes from?" She asked Ryder as she walked towards the main door. "Not a shop, we''ll be going to the Dream Projects Mall. We''ll have breakfast in the restaurant first. Then shop for clothes. I have everything planned after that. It''s going to be a busy day," He said smilingly. "Oh?" ''I-is this really a date?'' she thought as her face timed somewhat crimson. ''Now that I think about it, it''s really bad to get an Uber every time. I should get some money and buy a car of my own,'' Ryder thought as he left the house with her. The car was already waiting outside for them. Ryder opened the door for Alice. He entered after Alice and sat beside her. The driver dropped them off at the Dream Projects Mall. Ryder paid for it and the Driver left. Ryder and Alice walked inside the mall. The Lover''s Restaurant that was on the first floor of the Dream Projects Mall was most famous for its delicious food throughout the city. Ryder walked inside the mall and went to the Lover''s Restaurant. Although the restaurant was named like that, Ryder didn''t think about this as he had heard a lot of good things about the restaurant and its food. Alice''s mind was in rumbles though. She wasn''t as open-minded as Ryder and the name really made her have a flutter in her heart. ''Lovers Restaurant,'' She thought as she looked at the name. She had heard a lot of things about this from her friends and she had all kinds of misconceptions about this place. Most of her friends have told her about how their boyfriends took them to the Lover''s Restaurant. They ate from the same plate and it was so romantic. Alice had already made an assumption about this place. Ryder opened the door for her and entered inside. They found an empty table and sat on it. The whole place was decorated in romantic decoration. There were hearts on the walls, a few paintings that depicted lovers kissing. "The decoration is quite Unique," Ryder muttered in surprise. The waiter was a girl dressed in pink. She served the menu to them before she went back to her work and gave them time to decide. "Sweet Memories Pancakes, First Kiss Parfait, Lovers Sandwich. Hah, I guess they just had to stick a romantic term before the items," Ryder couldn''t help but chuckle at the names. "How about trying Sweet Memories Pancakes?" Ryder asked Alice who simply nodded her head. "Waiter," Ryder called out. "We would like to have 2 Sweet Memories Pancakes. Oh right, get the Romantic milkshake for two as well," Ryder ordered. "Yes sir," The waiter left and came back with 2 plates of Pancakes that looked like they were made by a professional chef with the kind of decorations on it. "I love you," Ryder said. "Huh?" Alice exclaimed in shock. "They wrote I love you on pancakes. That''s so cheesy," Ryder said as he pointed towards the Pancakes. "Yeah right," Alice replied as she calmed down. Soon after, the waiter served the milkshake in a big glass. There were 2 straws in the glass. "Excuse me, I asked for a milkshake for the 2 of us," Ryder told the waiter. "I know, Sir. It''s for you two. It''s a special milkshake for you and your beloved ones. You can share it together while you stare in each other''s eyes," The waiter replied, as she gave a gentle smile. Ryder turned to look towards Alice, "Oh, I didn''t know that. Maybe we can just sh..." but he stopped midway as he saw her glaring at him. "Take it back and bring a drink that we can have in separate glasses," Ryder said to the waiter. "Sorry Sir, but we can''t take it back. But we can bring you 2 more like this if you want," The waiter replied. 86 Chapter 82: Betting "Are you serious? You expect us to drink such a big glass each after we finish our breakfast?" Ryder said in an annoyed tone. Alice could see that he was starting to get angry. She didn''t want others to look at them strangely, so she interrupted, "It''s alright. You can go." The waiter left. "Why did you let him go? I should have a talk with the manager," Ryder said. "It''s alright. Don''t get angry. It''s our fault for ordering without understanding. Also, sharing is not a big deal. We can finish it together. There''s no need to spoil the day," Alice said. Ryder''s mouth opened wide in surprise, but he didn''t say anything. He simply nodded his head. They both began their breakfast. The Glass of the milkshake was at the center of the table. They both sipped occasionally from their own straw while having breakfast. They both finished eating at the same time and coincidentally, they began sipping the milkshake at the same time as well. Their faces were so close to each other. Ryder couldn''t help but raise his eyes as he stared at her face. She looked up as well and both their eyes met. None of them removed their lips from the straw as they continued sipping while staring in each other''s eyes. The atmosphere had turned somewhat romantic, but none of them noticed it as they looked in each other''s eyes in a daze. Their daze was broken as the milkshake finished. They both removed their lips from the straws and moved back. None of them said anything for over a minute as the awkwardness returned. "I''ll be right back after paying the bill. We can leave after that," Ryder finally said as he stood up and walked up to the counter. He walked back and left the Lover''s Restaurant with Alice. They roamed through the mall and went to various clothing shops as they shopped for clothes. Everything that Ryder selected had to pass through the strict scrutiny of Alice, but he didn''t mind. He felt like Alice had a better sense of fashion than he did. After Ryder finished his shopping, they went shopping for Alice''s clothes. Surprisingly, it only took half an hour for Ryder to select all his clothes, but it took Alice around 2 hours, and still, she was not finished. Alice showed him a new dress and asked, "How does this look?" "Looks great. It will suit you. Take it," Ryder replied. "Hmm, you have been saying the same thing for every dress. You don''t even care, Do you?" Alice said as she glanced at him. "I''m not lying. You''re just so pretty, I feel like every dress will suit you," Ryder responded in his defense. "Hmph, you sure do know how to talk," Alice said as she walked up to the counter to get the dress packed. Finally, the shopping finished. Ryder paid for the dresses and they left the shop. "Where to next?" She asked Ryder. "Have you ever seen a horse race?" Ryder asked with a grin on his face as he brought out his phone and booked a car to take them to their destination. They left the mall and found the car waiting outside for them. ***** Delirium Arena, it was one of the most well-known places in the city amongst the rich tier people. It was a place where horse races were held. The rich people from all around the city and even from outside came there to have fun and bet on horses. Most of the people lost a great amount of money, but they didn''t mind since they were too rich. They didn''t mind losing money to have fun. There were also a few people that earned great riches in the races as well. This was the place Ryder came with Alice. In the previous timeline, he had no interest in this place as there was too much luck involved and he didn''t want to take the risk of losing all his money on a far fetched dream. This time, however, he had something that would give him an assured victory. He entered the Delirium Arena and walked to the stands. The horses were still not in the arena, but there was a timer that said that the race was about to begin in 20 minutes, Soon, the horses came outside. There were 20 horses and all had a number on them from 1 to 20. "Which one do you think will win?" Ryder asked Alice. "I don''t know anything about this, so I can''t say anything," she replied. "Just take a guess," He insisted. "No. 6?" She said. "Alright. Let me bet on that," Ryder said. "Wait, don''t do that! That''s just a guess and we might lose!" Alice suggested against it, but Ryder didn''t listen. Ryder smiled as he opened the app of the Delirium Arena on his phone. It was the official application developed for horse race betting. People didn''t need to go to the stands to bet, and they could just do so on their phone, but the app only worked on the Wifi network of the Arena. No one could use the app to bet from the outside. Ryder had 10000 dollars on his savings, but he bet only 10 dollars on no. 6. Horse No.6 had the Odds of 1:1.2, so it was the one that was thought to win by the organizers as well. The race began and in less than 5 minutes it was over. Horse No. 6 was the 3rd in the race. Surprisingly, the winner was horse number 12, which shockingly had the odds of 1:75. "See? Did you bet? How much did you lose?" Alice asked. "Nothing. I lost nothing," Ryder replied to her. The next race began in 5 minutes, but Ryder didn''t make a bet this time. He simply tested his luck the first time and he realized that he wasn''t lucky. He still watched the race. The race was also over shortly this time and the Winner was horse number 2 that had the odds of 1:5. "That should be enough" Ryder muttered as he looked at the time on his watch. 87 Chapter 83: Winning "Time Reversal!" He muttered. Everything turned black for a moment before he found himself standing in the stands. He looked at the watch and saw that he had actually traveled back in time by half an hour. He hadn''t made the bet yet. "No. 6?" Alice said. "No. 6 is good, but I have a feeling that no.12 might win," Ryder told her with a knowing smile on his face. "Hah, Kids these days. They don''t know anything. No.12 is the weakest. The girl is right. No. 6 will win," The guy that was standing near him on the stand commented. "Maybe," Ryder simply replied. He brought his phone out and placed the bet on no.12. He placed 10000 dollars on horse no.12 that had the odds of 1:75. The race began and soon, it was over. The guy that was standing behind Ryder had his mouth wide open as he saw no.12 winning. Even Alice was shocked. "Wow, you were right," Alice said to Ryder, and Ryder simply smiled. He didn''t say that he had bet on no. 12. Ryder now had 750k dollars in his account, but he again placed them on a bet. He placed all his money on no. 2 that had the odds of 1:5. The race began and finished, and the results were just as he had expected. He again won. Ryder now had 3.75 million dollars to his name. He had become a millionaire in an instant. There was only a smirk on his face though, he didn''t express any excessive excitement. "How was the race?" Ryder asked Alice. "It was good, but I don''t enjoy horse racing," Alice replied. "Oh? Alright. Come with me. I''ll take you someplace special. There''s something else I need to buy," Ryder smilingly said as he held her hand and left the Arena. **** Back in the office in the Arena, a man was sitting on a chair and typing something on his laptop when someone knocked on his door. "Come inside," he said. A person entered the room. It was a girl that had a tablet in her hand. "What happened?" The man inquired. "Sir, A person just won 3.75 million dollars on betting," the girl informed the man. "It''s just 3.75 million, is there really a need to fuss so much? People win more here and lose even more," The man casually said. "That''s not it, Sir. Our data show that it was that man''s first time here. He made 2 bets and both times he got it right. He earned 3.75 million from just 10000!" the girl replied. Her words finally managed to attract the man''s attention as he looked at her. "Interesting. He might just be lucky. There are a few people like that. Still, keep an eye on him. Tell me if he comes back here," the man said before he started looking back at his laptop. "Yes Sir," the girl replied before she left her room. **** Ryder and Alice were standing in front of the biggest car showroom in the city. It was a Ferrari showroom. There was a time when there were many supercar makers that were competing for prominence in the market space, but Ferrari had managed to keep up with time because of their thirst for innovation and keeping up with the times. It was the most selling car brand in the world. They now made Super Cars as well as affordable cars for the ones that couldn''t afford the expensive cars. "Brother? Why are we here? Are you buying a car?" Alice asked in surprise. "Yup," Ryder said to her with a cheeky grin on his face. "Did the app you develop get popular?" "Yeah, it''s going quite good. I earned some money from it. I can afford a car now. Let''s go," Ryder said as he held her hands again and walked towards the showroom. There were 2 showrooms of Ferrari there and Ryder chose the left one. "Wait! You''re going the wrong way! This is the Supercar building. That one there is the one where they sell affordable ones!" Alice reminded him in a worried tone. "Don''t worry about that," Ryder replied. They entered the showroom. There were many cars there. All of these cars were supercars that were said to be able to move like the wind. Each of these cars was worth more than what an average person could earn after years of hard work. "Hello Sir, How may I help you," A salesman walked up to them. Alice just lowered her head in embarrassment. She felt like they were soon about to be insulted for coming here despite not being rich. "I would like to buy a car. Can you show me your best model?" Ryder said casually without showing any worries on his face. "Of Course Sir. Please come with me," The salesman politely said as he took them towards the closest car. "This is one of our top models. Ferrari 996. It uses the same Octa-turbo X36 24.0-liter engine with 2,500 hp and 2,600 Nm of torque as Ferrari 497, Ferrari Sport, and Ferrari Z24. It is the new ''most expensive car in the world''. Priced only at $35 million," The man said smilingly. Ryder was stunned at the price, but he had already expected that. He already had a car in his mind, but he just wished to show off at the moment. "This is good, but I need the electric variant. I heard the Ferrari Whirlwind E is the newest model at the moment amongst the electrical?" Ryder casually inquired. "Ah, Right, Sir. That''s our company''s latest model. Please come with me. I''ll show you," The man said as he took them to a different section. He stopped before a styling black car. "This is our newest electrical supercar, Whirlwind E. It''s design is loosely based on our supermodel from an old era, the Spyder. It can achieve a max speed of 400 miles per hour. Although it''s not as fast as our 996, it will never let you feel like it lacks anything," 88 Chapter 84: Wife "It has every modern facility you could ask for. There''s Self Driving as well that has long been perfected by our company. You can go on a long drive with your wife in this car and you can turn the Self-Driving on while you spend the romantic moments with your wife. Its Price is only $3.5 million," the salesman said. Alice was initially stunned as she saw him call her Ryder''s wife, but Ryder didn''t correct him. She wondered what it meant, but her expressions soon changed to shock as she heard the price. She felt like the time was near. Soon, they would be thrown out for wasting their time despite not having money. "Alright. I''ll take the Whirlwind. Can you prepare everything for me? I''ll wait here," Ryder told the man. "Sure, Sir. Can you give me your digital citizenship number? I''ll prepare everything and then you can complete the payment," the man told them. "It''s RY19970103Fl," Ryder replied. "Great. You can wait on the sofa, I''ll be right back," The man said. "May! Get some cold drinks for them," He told the assistant that was following him before he left to finish the stuff related to the sales. May left as well, to get them something to drink. Ryder was casually standing there as he observed the car when he felt someone pinch his waist with full force. "Aaaa, That hurt. what are you doing?" He asked as he looked back at Alice who was glaring at him. "Why didn''t you clear the misunderstanding when he called me your wife!" She scolded Ryder. "There was no need to. He is unknown. What does it matter if he thinks that you''re my girlfriend or Wife? I just didn''t feel like there was a need to waste time to explain this small stuff," Ryder replied to her. "Hmph, that aside! What are we going to do now! Do you think they will sell a car like that on EMIs? We''re going to be insulted so badly. I can already feel the embarrassment," Alice said as she frowned. "Hahaha, don''t worry. I do have the money. No one will insult us," Ryder replied. "You do? You have $3.5 million? Which bank did you rob!" She glared at him as she asked. "Ah, Can you please stop doubting me? It''s my hard-earned money," Ryder replied with a wry smile on his face. "Really?" Alice again asked in a suspicious tone. "Yup," Ryder said as he nodded his head. Just as Alice was about to say something, May walked back. She gave both of them a can of chilled drinks before she stepped back to not interrupt their conversation. "I''m done, sir. You can check the details of the purchase and the insurance. Now you just need to complete the payment and this car will be registered to your name," He gave Ryder a tablet that had the details of the purchase. "Looks good," Ryder said as he transferred the money. "Sir, If I may suggest something. Since it''s your first ride in the car, you should take your wife to a long drive and test the self-driving feature," the salesman said as he winked at Ryder. Ryder understood what he meant, but he didn''t explain. "Thanks for the suggestion," He said as he walked towards the car and stepped inside. Alice sat on the passenger seat, but she didn''t take his eyes off him. It seemed as if she wanted to eat him. "Come on, It was already too late to clear the misunderstanding. Just ignore that man," Ryder said to her before he started the engine and brought the car on the road. "How about we go for a long drive?" Ryder suggested. Just enjoy our first moment in the new car?" Ryder suggested. Alice looked at him and nodded her head, but her heart was in a mess. The whole day has turned out to be shocking. They drank milkshakes from the same glass just like lovers, they shopped. It was going like a perfect date before he took her to a horse race. She was somewhat disappointed as she didn''t like places like that, but he shocked her once more by buying such an expensive car. Furthermore, she was called his wife by someone. She quite liked it when she was called that. Although the city wasn''t empty for him to use the full power of the car, once they got to the empty road, Ryder''s Whirlwind moved like lightning. Alice was somewhat frightened at the speed as she held Ryder''s hand and hid her face in his shoulders. "Should I slow down?" Ryder asked. "No, I quite like this," Alice replied without raising her head. "Hmm, You like the fast speed despite being scared of it? Strange," Ryder muttered but he didn''t decrease the speed. Although he acted casual on the outside, Inside he was quite happy as well. Getting a sports car like this has always been a dream of his, but he never could have imagined that this dream would come true because of a cursed item. There were so many possibilities for him to improve his life now. He could get money and get a big house with Alice. He wouldn''t need to be concerned about money anymore and he could just enjoy his life for as long as he can. After an hour, Ryder stopped the car. They were near empty green fields. "We''re here. You can raise your head," Ryder said to Alice who kept her head over his shoulders throughout the way. Alice sat straight and looked out the window. "This place?" She inquired. "You remember what this place is?" Ryder asked. "The place we used to go on a picnic with our family?" Alice replied as she reminisced about the past. "Yeah. It''s also the place where we first met. You were with your mother while I was with my parents. It was the third time I met my aunt and the first time I met you. You were just 8 years old at that time and I was 12," Ryder said smilingly. "I remember. It was such a great day," Alice muttered as she looked at the green fields. "Let''s go out. The weather seems so nice," She said as she opened the door and stepped out of the car. 89 Chapter 85: Missions and rewards Ryder smiled as he stepped out of the car as well. This place brought back so many memories. He could see his parents laughing while he played the games on his phone. Just when Ryder was getting depressed, Alice held his hand as she pulled him with her. She took him to the spot under a tree where they always sat when they were on a picnic with their family. They sat down and rested their backs against the tree as they looked at the distant horizon. "I can''t believe that it has already been 8 years since they died in the accident," Ryder let out softly. "Yeah, feels just like yesterday when mom left me at your house in your care while she left with your parents for a party," Alice muttered. [Ding... A mission has been issued to the host. Mission: Tell Alice that you have kissed her on her lips in her sleep. Reward: 10 Origin Points Punishment for failure: Your car will transform into a robot and fly away Time Limit: 5 minutes] ''That''s stupid! Now you''re copying the stories from the movies as well? Can''t you let this peaceful atmosphere lady?'''' Ryder thought with a wry smile on his face. "It''s getting too sad for me. One lifetime of sadness is already enough for me and for you," Janus answered. ''You and your strange words. Sigh, I know well enough to know that you won''t take back the mission. I''m about to get slapped, aren''t I?'' Ryder thought. "Ahmm, Alice?" Ryder said softly. "Yeah?" Alice turned to look at him. "I am going to tell you something, but please don''t take it seriously," Ryder said. Alice just looked at him with confusion. "I kissed you on the lips when you were sleeping," Ryder blurted out as he closed his eyes and waited for the slap. [Mission Completed] "You''re joking, aren''t you?" She asked in disbelief and Ryder simply nodded his head. "I thought so. There''s no way you would be shameless enough to do that," Alice chuckled as she replied. "Ahh, Right," Ryder replied before he closed his eyes and pretended as if he was resting. "You cheated," Janus said to Ryder. ''I followed the rules of the game this time,'' Ryder replied to Janus. "I''m not joking. I did that and I''m sorry," Ryder told her as he didn''t feel like lying to her. Alice simply looked at Ryder for a brief moment before she closed her eyes as well. She didn''t respond. 10 minutes passed in silence. [Another Mission has been assigned to the host. Mission: Take Alice back to the city Reward: Secret Punishment for failure: Alice will die Time Limit: 10 minutes] ''This one is quite weird I must say. I thought you will give something difficult to spite me,'' Ryder thought as he opened his eyes. "Alice, Let''s go," Ryder told Alice, but she didn''t react. "Alice? Are you sleeping?" Ryder asked, but Alice didn''t reply. "I guess she fell asleep. That was fast," Ryder muttered as he looked at the calm sleeping face of Alice. He stepped towards her as he inserted one of his hands below her knees and another under her back as he picked her up like a princess. ''I can''t break your sleep just to complete my mission, but I can''t fail it either,'' Ryder thought as he stepped towards the car. He didn''t notice, but there was a smile on Alice''s face at the moment. He opened the door of the passenger seat after some struggle and put her on the seat before he closed the door. He walked back to the driver seat and started the car as he left. Only 8 minutes had passed since Ryder left before a helicopter came crashing down. It crashed on the tree below which Ryder and Alice were sitting about 10 minutes ago. *** "Hmm? Why are we in the car? Did we leave?" Alice opened her eyes after a few minutes as she asked. "Yeah, I remembered that there was something else we had to do," Ryder replied. "Oh, where are we going now?" She asked. "An amusement park. We''ll spend some fun time there and then go to a nice place for dinner," Ryder told her. "Oh, nice. I''m resting. Wake me up when we''re there," Alice said before she rested her head on Ryder''s shoulders and closed her eyes. They got to the biggest amusement park in the city and spent the rest of the day here as they explored the place together. None of them had even been here as this place was opened 7 years ago. A year after their parents died. Ryder was more into the scary rides while Alice rejected those as she was scared of heights. Ultimately Ryder gave up on them and went to more normal rides with her. They explored the Haunted House. That was the place where Ryder saw the inner child of Alice that always looked so brave. She jumped in shock every time something scary popped out. Ryder''s smile never left his face as he enjoyed every moment. It was already evening when he left the place with Alice. He took her to the most expensive restaurant. Even the cheapest dish there was worth over $100. Ryder ordered everything that he felt would be good without worrying about money. In total, he had ordered $3000 worth of items. "There''s no need to spend so much!" Alice told him, but he simply replied, "Don''t worry about it. It''s not like we are coming here daily." "Did you really earn so much from your app? Why didn''t you tell me before?" She asked. "I''ll tell you more after everything''s settled. We might even be able to get a mansion if things go as I planned," Ryder said smilingly. "I really hope that you''re not doing something illegal," She said, suspiciously. "Everything I do will be perfectly legal," Ryder said. ''Mostly legal,'' He added in his mind. They finished dinner. Ryder paid the bill before they left. A Ferrari Whirlwind E stopped before the small house of Ryder, but no one was out on the streets to see at the moment. Ryder parked the car and walked inside the house with Alice. "How was it? Did you enjoy the day?" Ryder asked Alice. "Yes, It was the best day of my life. Thank you for everything," Alice said as she stepped forward and kissed on Ryder''s cheeks before she walked inside her room. "Well, I guess I should plan more trips like this," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his cheeks before he entered his room. 90 Chapter 86: Back where it all ended "Hey, Janus. Where are my rewards from my last mission?" Ryder asked as he began changing his clothes and got into more comfortable clothes. "You already received the reward," Janus replied. "What reward was that? All you said was that the reward was secret," Ryder said an annoyance as he rested on his bed. "The reward was the perfect completion of your date," Janus replied. "Huh, You can''t even give me Origin Points now? You''re being a cheapskate you know," Ryder told Janus before he picked up the Divinity Glasses that were resting on the table nearby and wore them. "Enter Divinity," He muttered. His surroundings changed and he found himself lying on the bed of the Demon Realm''s Royal Palace. "Miku?" He called out. "Yes, Master?" The maid replied from the outside. Ryder stood up and opened the door. The room of the King and the rooms of the Prince, they were both made from special materials that were impossible to break unless someone was as powerful as the King himself. Even the High Dukes couldn''t break into the rooms without the door being opened from the inside. "Where is Rale?" Ryder inquired. "Commander Rale is in the practice arena. He is practicing with the men," Miku answered him. "Alright, take me to him," he told her. "Yes, Your Highness," Miku replied as she started walking towards the Practice Arena. Ryder followed her. "Has Duke Devilia come here with a girl?" Ryder asked as he remembered about it. "No. Madam Duke has not returned since the ceremony," she replied. ''hmm? Did she forget about it?'' he wondered. Miku brought him to the Practice Arena and stepped aside. Ryder opened the door and entered. He saw around 20 men and women fighting against Rale, but despite being outnumbered, Rale didn''t look as if he was in any difficulty. "Your Highness!" Rale noticed Ryder and stopped the battle as he greeted him. "That was a good battle. You''re quite strong, I must say," Ryder said, smilingly. "I appreciate the praise," Rale responded. "Anyway, have you selected the people? We need to be leaving soon," Ryder asked. "Yes, Your Highness. The 20 people you see, are the best of the best that I''ve chosen for this mission," Rale said. "20? That''s a little on the high side, but I guess it would be much safer," Ryder muttered. "Are they all good at stealth?" He asked. "Yes, Your Highness. All of them are the best in stealth. They should have no difficulty staying hidden," Rale answered. "Good, we''re leaving in an hour. You can prepare the things that you need to take," Ryder told Rale, but he immediately got the answer, "Everything is prepared, Your Highness." "Hmm? Good. Let''s leave now then," Ryder said. "Your Highness, Shouldn''t we tell the Dukes that we are leaving?" Rale inquired. "There''s no need. It''s not like we''re going on a war. We''ll just go there, take the thing and come back," Ryder said, smilingly. "Alright," Rale nodded his head. Amongst the 20 people that Rale had selected, only 3 of them were female. "Good, Come with me," Ryder said as he turned back and left the hall. Rale and his team followed after Ryder. After walking for over 5 minutes, they were brought to an underground hallway. There were 5 doors there, but they were all locked. "The first door will take us to the realm of the humans," Rale informed. Ryder nodded his head as he brought out the keys and tried using them to open the door. He had around 50 keys and he wasn''t sure which one opened the door. After trying over 40 keys, it was the 42nd key that opened the door. As the door opened, Ryder saw nothing but white light. "Is this the space tunnel?" He asked. "Yes, Your Highness. Should I go first?" Rale asked. "Huh? If you want to go first, I don''t mind," Ryder said as he stepped aside. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale responded as he stepped inside the space tunnel. Ryder entered after him and the 20 team members entered after Ryder. "Hmm? This place? Isn''t this...?" Ryder muttered as his mouth opened wide. He turned back and saw a dragon sleeping behind him. ''This is the Malta Valley? My last quest in my previous timeline. Despite being a level 175 player and having a team of experienced players, I couldn''t kill this level 200 dragon. I''m back to where it all ended,'' Ryder thought as he observed the dragon that was sleeping. "Your Highness, Is there something wrong? Do you want to hunt this dragon?" Rale inquired. "Hunt the dragon? I will, but I''m not strong enough for that yet, and I won''t take your help to do it. But soon, I will be able to kill him alone," Ryder thought as he turned back and started walking away. "The Lightning Valley is towards the North of here if I''m not wrong," Ryder muttered. ''Rale is almost as strong as an average Duke, he should be able to fly like Devilia,'' he thought. "Hey Rale, can you fly?" Ryder inquired. "Yes, I can. I''m from Avalorian Demon species, so I do have wings," Rale answered as two wings came out of his back. "Oh? You keep those wings hidden? I don''t think I''ve seen the wings of Devilia when she flew. How was she able to fly?" Ryder asked. "Duke Devilia is a demon of the Wind Demon Species. They can fly without wings. In fact, there are many High Demon species that can fly without wings," Rale answered. "And the other Dukes? How can they fly? Are they from those species as well?" Ryder asked. "Most of them are from those High Demon Species, but there are a few Dukes that aren''t. They use treasures to help them fly," Rale explained. "Interesting. The team members that you selected. How many of them can fly?" Ryder asked. "There are 4 of them that can''t fly," Rale explained. "Good. We will fly to the Lightning Valley. Those that can fly will carry the ones that can''t. That will be faster," Ryder suggested. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale nodded. "Alright. You can take me as I can''t fly yet," Ryder said without the least bit of embarrassment. Rale walked up to him as he held Ryder''s hand and took him in the air. Other demons also began flying after them. 91 Chapter 87: Bai Lightning Valley, it was a beautiful place that was filled with greenery. There were trees as far as the eyes could see. Even though the place looked like this now, it wasn''t always like this. There was a time when it was just a barren land with not even a speck of green. It was said to be a cursed land that was so dirty that the Heavenly Thunder fell on it every 2 days to cleanse it. There was the time with the Greatest King of the Dark Elves, King Baron Elvian came here. He felt bad for the land and what it had to go through. It was said that King Baron stayed in the Lightning Valley for 200 years as he prayed to the heavens to stop this torture. Ultimately, the Thunder stopped. King Baron established his Dark Elves Kingdom on the Lightning Valley later on. The Lightning Valley that was entirely barren was soon filled with greenery. There were trees and grass everywhere. It was said that the Elves were blessed by nature. Even though the Dark Elves prayed to the dark gods and they were not as beloved by nature as the general elves, they still had the blessing of nature. They were more powerful than their other counterparts. The Lightning Valley kept growing. The clan that King Baron Elvian established became known as the Royal Elvian Clan of the Kingdom of Dark Elves. With the passing of each generation, the Royal Clan kept changing. Each ruler had different thinking than the last one. It was said that First King Baron Elvian loved all species and that''s why he allowed everyone to come to his kingdom and make it their home, but the 5th King Rakul Elvian had a different mindset. He didn''t like the other species as he felt like they didn''t respect nature as much as them. He also felt like the other species were impure. He ordered the other species to leave the Kingdom of Dark Elves and to never come back. Even though he forced the other species members to leave, he didn''t kill anyone amongst them. He was said to be the Fierce King that never killed. The 6th King Marki Elvian also followed the footsteps of the 5th King and didn''t let the members of other species establish their homes in his empire, but he didn''t stop them from visiting the Empire of Dark Elves. The 9th King Mikail Elvian further changed the rules and made it so that no other species were allowed to step inside the Lightning Valley. If anyone was found, they were to be killed in front of the whole kingdom if caught. It was the reign of the 10th King Regil Elvian currently and he maintained the same rules. No other species members were allowed to enter the Kingdom of Dark Elves. Ryder knew that the Dark Elves didn''t allow anyone else to enter their land, but he felt as if he had no other choice. He had to sneak inside. The Demons flew high in the sky along with Ryder, but fortunately, they didn''t attract much attention as they were still in an empty location. Also, not many people looked high in the sky even if they were flying above a crowded place. "That should be the Lightning Valley. Let''s get down," Ryder commanded Rale. He didn''t want to take the risk of getting shot at by bows and arrows. It was said that the Dark Elves were great archers that could even shoot a little bird flying high in the sky. If they weren''t careful, they might be hit by the arrows as well. He knew that Rale and his men wouldn''t die from an arrow. They were too high level to die from such weak damage, but he was still weak. If he was killed, he would be thrown back in time by a day and he would have to repeat everything again. He didn''t want to waste time just because he was careless for a moment. The Demons landed on the ground some distance away from the Lightning Valley. "Alright. Now let me tell you some things. Our intentions are not to go there and slaughter everyone. It''s better to be careful as we still don''t know how strong their king actually is. All I need is to get the object I''m here for. The battle would be the last option and it should be under the conditions in which they won''t see our attack coming," Ryder said to Rale. "The first thing we need to do is to get information about the kingdom and we need to catch a dark elf for that. That''s why I have come up with a plan," Ryder said. "What Plan, Your Highness?" Rale inquired. "My plan is quite simple. I would enter the Lightning Valley and pretend to be a lost human. That should make the hiding guards come out because of their curiosity. At least most will come to me out of their curiosity. They wouldn''t even be worried as I look quite weak," Ryder replied. "No! I can''t allow that to happen. How can I let you act as bait! It should be us who act as bait. The Prince should never be the bait!" Rale opposed the suggestion. "Oh, Believe me, I myself don''t want to act at the bait, but that''s the only option I have. Even if you guys hide your aura, you guys still look like intimidating opponents. There''s something about you that gives the feeling of fear to others. I believe that if one of you goes as bait, most of the guards will attack you and one or two of them will leave to inform the king. It would be troublesome if the King is informed as he might hide the thing," Ryder said as he shook his head. "But, You might die if anything goes wrong!" Rale said with concern. "Don''t worry about me. I''m not going to die anytime soon. I''ll be perfectly fine one way or another," Ryder replied. ''I''ll just be bored to death if I had to repeat my last 24 hours again though,'' He thought. "Think of it as an order. You guys just have to make sure that none of the guards manage to escape after I get them at once place. That should be all," Ryder added. "Alright. I''ll follow your orders. I''ll make sure that not a single person manages to harm you!" Rale said in full determination. "Good. Now use your stealth and get ready. I''m going in," Ryder told Rale before he started walking towards the Lightning Valley. 92 Chapter 88: Rale,Get to work! Before entering the forest, Ryder glanced back and noticed that none of his men were there. "Not bad," Ryder muttered as he walked inside the Lightning Valley forest. He had received 2 treasures during his coronation, ''Robe of Extreme Defense'' and ''Boots of the Wind Blessing''. Ryder had removed both of them and kept them in his storage. His crown and his Moon Scythe were already in his storage ring and he had also changed his clothes to normal adventure clothes. As Ryder stepped inside the forest, he didn''t see anyone, but after he walked for around 200 meters, he started having a feeling as if he was being watched. He looked here and there as if he was lost and he was trying to find directions. He also pretended to be worried and tired as if he was walking for quite some time. "Stop right there!" After around 10 minutes of observation, an elvian guard finally took action. An arrow was fired that landed in front of Ryder and stuck on the ground. Ryder looked in the direction where the arrow came from and noticed a girl standing on a tree branch. She held a bow in her hand and it seemed as if she was ready to fire the arrow if Ryder made a movement. The girl looked mostly like a normal human girl, but she was quite tall. She was even taller than Ryder. It seemed as if she was at least 7 feet tall. She wore a green dress that stuck tightly to her body and highlighted her curves even more. "You have infiltrated the territory of the Royal Kingdom of Dark Elves! What do you have to say for yourself?" the girl asked. "Why do you even have to ask, Raphtalia. Just capture him and take him to the Royal City. It has been a long time since we last saw someone getting executed for infiltrating the kingdom. It''s going to be fun," Another Elf''s voice came. Ryder turned back and saw another woman standing on a tree branch. "Looks like a lost sheep to me," Another woman came out of the shadow as she commented. "Are their only girls here? Not that I mind," Ryder thought as he glanced at the guards that kept coming out of the shadow. "Migu! There''s no need to go inform the king. You can stop hiding. It''s just a weak guy," the first girl said as she looked to her left. A person came out of the shadow. After seeing over 20 female elves, it was the first male elf he saw. The male was quite different compared to the females. Instead of being taller like the girls, he was even shorter than Ryder. He was just 5 feet tall. "I am sorry if I unknowingly entered your territory. I''m new here and I was lost. I thought that I would find water inside the forest and that''s why I entered. I''ll leave right now," Ryder pretended to act scared as he told them. "Hehehe, You''re quite a cute human! But you can''t leave now that you have entered our land," The elf guards came down from the tree as they all started walking towards Ryder. "Hey, I''m just a single kid! You don''t need to bring all your army to catch me. I''ll leave and won''t ever come back," Ryder said, but the guards didn''t stop. "Don''t worry. We know that you''re not dangerous, but that''s not why all of the guards that were assigned here had come down. It''s just that it''s been so long since we last saw a human. We are all quite intrigued," the leader of the elves, Raphtalia said. It was the same girl that had fired an arrow at Ryder. "The citizens would be quite excited to see another execution of the impure humans. Even the King would be happy. It has been so long since someone dared to enter our land," she further said. "I am sorry," Ryder said as he looked down. "It''s too late to be sorry for infiltrating our land," the male elf said sarcastically. "I''m not sorry for that," Ryder answered him. "Then what are you sorry for? Raphtalia asked as she frowned. "I''m sorry for spoiling your fun. I believe that your king and your citizens might have to wait longer to watch a human''s execution," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. "What do you mean?" The leader asked with a confused look on her face. "Rale? Time to get to work!" Ryder said casually as he looked in the girl''s eyes. The girl could see a slight smirk on Ryder''s face, but before she could even move, Rale appeared in front of her like a ghost as he grabbed her neck as he raised her in the air. The girl tried attacking Rale with her hand but her attacks were just like soft cotton hitting on a concrete wall. Rale wasn''t hurt in the slightest. 20 other demons of Rale''s team appeared behind the other guards and placed their hands around the guards'' necks as they twisted their heads. The guards fell down to the ground. Only the leader was awake now and she was in Rale''s grip. "There weren''t any other guards right?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yes, Your Highness. We didn''t find anyone else," Rale replied. "Good," Ryder said. "I once again apologize for spoiling your future entertainment of watching a human die," Ryder said, smilingly. He could still see the girl struggling to free herself. "Anyway, now that we''re in a better situation, let me ask you a few questions. Please be honest when you answer," Ryder said as he gazed at the girl. "W-who are you?!" the girl asked in surprise. "I guess you still don''t realize. I''m the one that''s going to ask questions," Ryder said as a smile formed on his face. "Rale, tie her hands, and put her down. If you keep her like that, she might lose consciousness before answering all my questions," Ryder told Rale. "You guys spread out in the forest and keep an eye on the surroundings. Tell me if you see someone coming!" Ryder told the other demons. The demons disappeared as they spread out in the forest and followed Ryder''s commands. Rale also put the girl down and tied her hands behind her back. "Alright. Now that we''re done, let''s begin," Ryder said as he stepped towards the girl. 93 Chapter 89: Another Fragment? "First, tell me your name. I want to know how to address you," Ryder inquired as he stopped 2 meters away from her. "I''m the Royal Elvian Guard, Raphtalia. Who are you? Why did he address you like that? Are you a prince of a human kingdom? Wait, he doesn''t look like a human! Have you disguised yourself as a human?" The woman answered him before she asked questions one after another. "Sigh, Did I tell you that only I can ask you the questions? Please don''t force me to have him teach you that lesson painfully. I''m not the enemy here, so please cooperate with me," Ryder told her as he sighed. "Now back to our topic. You must know quite a lot about the Royal Elvian City, right? How strong is your king and how many members are in the Royal family? I want the details about all of them," Ryder said to her. "You think I will betray my kingdom? Are you so stupid? I don''t care about my life. You can kill me for all I care," Raphtalia replied as he snorted. "I never expected it to be easy. Well, we can only try to get you to speak. There''s no hurry. We have all the time in the world," Ryder said as he saw her stubborn expression. "Rale, how about we hear the ideas on how to get her to talk. We can do them all at the end. You go first. What do you think we should do?" Ryder glanced at Rale as he asked. "I can burn her body limb by limb until she starts speaking?" Rale replied. Raphtalia''s eyes opened wide as she heard the suggestion of Rale. She felt scared, but she didn''t open her mouth. "Interesting idea. Let me suggest one as well. Then we can ask Raphtalia about which one she likes more. We will try that first," Ryder told Rale. "My idea is quite simple. I don''t want it to end too fast, so I think we should start easy," Ryder said as he observed Raphtalia from top to bottom. "W-what are you intending to do to me! Don''t you dare touch me with your dirty hands!" Raphtalia said with a disgusted look on her face. "I don''t understand what you''re thinking, but it''s a torture. Why would we listen to you? Anyway, You have beautiful blonde hair. I quite like your hair, they match your eyes quite well. How about we shave off your head? I can''t help but imagine how you would look," Ryder said to her. "My hair?" Raphtalia said with a weird expression on her face. "It''s not a bad punishment, Right? So pick your poison for the 1st stage of torture. Getting your limbs burned to ashes by Rale or going bald," Ryder said to her. "You guys are crazy!" She let out loud as she glared at them. "Alright. Let''s try both then. I''ll go first. Let''s shave off your head," Ryder smilingly said as he brought out the Moon Scythe from his storage ring and used the transformation to turn it to a blade. "Let''s begin," He muttered as he extended his hand towards her head. Raphtalia was starting to look even more worried now. "Stop!" Raphtalia bellowed before the blade could touch her head. "So, are you ready to talk?" Ryder inquired. "I''ll tell you everything," She replied with a defeated look on her face. "That''s like a good girl," Ryder chuckled as he transformed the blade back to the Moon Scythe and placed it back. "Now answer my first question," he said to her. "I don''t know how strong our King is. He is the strongest in our kingdom, that''s all I know," She said. "As for the Royal Family, there are only 4 people in the Royal Family. The King, the Queen and their twin daughters," she further said. "Alright. Next question. Have you heard about Nature Healing Crystal?" Ryder inquired. "Nature Healing Crystal? Yeah I have heard of it. It''s the ancestral treasure of the Royal Elvian Clan passed down from generation to generation," She replied. "Good. Where is it kept?" Ryder asked another question. "Wait a minute? Are you here to steal the Nature Healing Crystal?!" Raphtalia exclaimed in shock. "We''re here to see it," Ryder told her. "What see it? It''s clear that you want to steal it!" Raphtalia said as she glared at Ryder. "Alright. Put it that way if you like it. Just tell me where they keep it. If we had to go search it ourselves, you can''t even imagine how many elves will die! Please trust me, I don''t want to go down the path of slaughter unless it''s absolutely necessary," Ryder replied in full seriousness. Raphtalia looked in his eyes and she could feel that he wasn''t lying. She fell in deep thought. ''He is so mysterious. He has so many strong people calling him, his Highness. Who is he? Does he really have the power to cause so much chaos in our Elvian Kingdom? I can feel that his followers are even sronger than our Chief Royal Guard back at the Royal City. I can''t even see through the strength of this guy called Rale. Why do I have a feeling that he''s atleast as strong as our King?'' She thought as she glanced at Rale who was still holding her. "Alright. I''ll tell you if you promise to not cause problems for our kingdom unnecessarily," She told Ryder. "That''s the plan," Ryder chuckled as he replied. "The Nature Healing Crystal is kept in the ancestral temple and it''s only taken out on our Annual Establishment Festival in order to pay respect to our Ancestral God," She replied. "You have an Ancestral God as well? Does all species in this world have an Ancestral God?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. ''Can there be a crystal fragment of Bracelet of Immortality in the ancestral temple?'' Ryder wondered as he remembered that he had found the first fragment in the ancestral place of the demon. 94 Chapter 90: Me "I don''t know about others, but we have an Ancestral God. The same Ancestral God as the Elves Clan, the Goddess of Nature," Raphtalia replied. "Nature? Where is this Ancestral Temple and how can we enter it?" He asked her. "The Ancestral Temple is right behind the Royal Palace and it is heavily surrounded by Royal Guards. Also, only the members of the Royal Clan can enter the Ancestral Temple as there''s a formation that keeps the door locked and only opens it when a blood drop of a Royal Lineage member falls on it," She answered. "So I need to kidnap a royal as well? The more I hear the more it feels like it''s not going to be peaceful," Ryder said with a frown on his face. "You promised me that you won''t harm our people!" Raphtalia said as she heard his words. "I said I don''t want to harm them as long as there''s no need to. And I intend to keep that promise, but only if there''s no obstruction in my path. I will get the Nature Healing Crystal at any cost!" Ryder said. "All of it can be prevented if you help me get that crystal. That sounds like a fair deal to me. A crystal versus the life of your people," Raphtalia hesitated for a moment before she made a decision. "Alright. I''ll help you. Even if I get banished from the Kingdom for helping you, I''ll do it to save the lives of my people," Raphtalia said. "That good. Also, if you''re banished, you can come to my Kingdom. Don''t worry about that. You won''t lack anything," Ryder comforted her. "So tell me. How can we do it peacefully? I need Royal Blood, so I need to kidnap the Princess or the Queen. And even if we do that, we can''t enter the Ancestral Temple without dealing with the guards. If you have any suggestions, tell me," He added. "I can help you get the princess. As for the guards, If you enter with the Princess, they won''t stop you as long as they don''t realize that you''re not Elves," Raphtalia replied. "Alright. First things first. Tell me how you''ll help me get the princess?" Ryder inquired. "The princesses are my friends. I know a few things about them. One is that the princesses sneak out of the palace every full moon night to take a shower in the lake of the forest. It''s a full moon night, so they should be there," She answered him. "Really? Why would they do that?" Ryder asked with a perplexed look on his face. "I asked the same question. They told me that it was told to them by an old woman right before she died. She said that if the princesses bathed in the lake on every full moon night, they would meet their true soulmate," She replied. "That''s stupid. I guess they told their father who didn''t believe them and didn''t allow them to leave, that''s why they sneak out? They look like hopeless romantics to me," Ryder muttered. "Alright. Take me to them," Ryder told her. "Wait a minute. You need to cover yourself first. If someone saw you, it would be problematic. Don''t you have a cloak?" She asked. "Nope," Ryder shook his head. "Your Highness, I have a cloak. Here," Rale said as he opened his spatial storage and brought a cloak out. He gave it to Ryder. ''Who are these guys? They both know space magic? Which species is so advanced?'' She wondered. "Let''s go," Ryder said as he wore the cloak. Rale also wore a cloak. "Ah? Can you free my hands first?" She asked them. "Rale?" Ryder muttered softly. Rale waved his finger and cut off the ropes that tied her hands. Raphtalia started walking towards the lake while they followed her. They got to the lake after 50 minutes. "This is the place. They should be here at night," Raphtalia told them as they got there. "Huh, so we need to wait for hours. Are there any beasts nearby? I want to go hunting in order to not get bored," Ryder said. "The beasts do come here during the day, so we should see a few if we stay here," Raphtalia replied. Ryder nodded his head as he sat under the shade of the tree and started waiting. Rale and Raphtalia stood beside him. Rale never took his eyes off of Raphtalia for even a second. Time kept passing and just like that, 12 hours passed away. It was already night. "What the heck? Didn''t you say beasts come here? Why is it that I did not see even a glimpse of a beast!" Ryder said in annoyance as he glanced at Raphtalia. "I''m not sure. But I heard that the beasts of Lightning Valley are more sensitive towards danger. Your men are so good at stealth that even we can''t sense them, but maybe the beasts did? It''s possible that that''s why they didn''t come here," She replied. Ryder was about to reply when he heard the sound of footsteps. "Looks like the princesses are here," Ryder stood up as he looked to his left. After some time, he did see 2 girls come out of the woods. They were both just as tall as Raphtalia, but they were much more beautiful. Although they wore ordinary clothes, it was clear that they possessed more charisma. They had light green hair and deep blue eyes. They looked really identical. Ryder couldn''t see any difference at all. "Who''s there!" both girls called out at the same time as they sensed someone ahead. "It''s me, princess!" Raphtalia replied as she stepped towards them. Ryder and Rale also stepped forth. "Raphtalia? What are you doing here? Why did you bring more guards here? Did our Father order you to take us back?" One of the Princess said. "It''s not that, my lady. It''s something else entirely. I need you to listen to me carefully. The lives of our citizens depend on it," Raphtalia said to them. "Lives of our citizens? What do you mean? Who would dare to put the lives of our citizens in danger?" the princess inquired in shock. "Me," Ryder said as he stepped ahead of Raphtalia. "W-who are you?!" The Princesses were scared as they stepped back but they couldn''t move back much as they saw the cloaked person that was standing behind Raphtalia appear behind them. 95 Chapter 91: Ancestral Temple "I''m Prince Hades, as for my identity, you might know if there comes a need for it," Ryder said as he stepped closer to the Princesses such that there was only 1 meter of gap between them. "Raphtalia? Why are you with someone from other species? You should''ve let the guards catch him! Are you betraying us?" The Princess on the left said. "Dead guards can''t catch anyone," Ryder replied to her instead. "What? You killed all our guards?" The Princesses exclaimed in shock. " Why didn''t you send someone to inform the Royal Palace when their army attacked you?" They asked Raphtalia. "We failed Princess. They are just too strong. I believe that they are even stronger than our King," Raphtalia replied. "Preposterous! No one is stronger than father!" The Princesses strongly expressed. "Please, believe me, princess. I''ve felt their strength! You know that I have a skill that can give me a vague feeling about someone''s strength. That guy behind you is at least as strong if not stronger than our King," Raphtalia replied. ''Hmm? Interesting. So that''s the king''s strength level. From her words, it should be right around Rale''s level,'' Ryder thought as he heard her words. "I don''t believe it!" The princess said as she shook her head. "Please, believe me, Princess. They are after our Nature Healing Crystal and they claim that they will take it no matter what cost. If it came to war, no matter who wins, our losses would be much bigger. The Nature Healing Crystal is special to us as it is considered a gift from nature. Other than that, there is nothing in it that benefits our society. If giving it away saves the lives of everyone, we should do it!" Raphtalia let out, full of emotions. "No! I don''t believe you!" The Princesses still didn''t believe Raphtalia. "Sigh, we tried talking to you guys, but you still didn''t listen. Let''s just use force then," Ryder sighed. "Rale! Kill the lady on the right. They don''t think that we''re being serious" Ryder said. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale nodded his head as he brought his sword out and placed it over the neck of the Princess on the right, but before he could swing it, Ryder stopped him. "You still have one last chance. Will you help us or not? You will die if I hear a no," Ryder said to the girl on the right. "You can kill me! I''ll never betray our people!" The Princess on the right said. Ryder smiled at her reaction because even though he didn''t see the worry in her eyes, he did see the worry in the eyes of her sister. "Rale, do i..." Ryder was about to give the order, when the princess on the left said, "No, don''t! I''ll help you. Don''t kill my sister!" "Amelia! What are you saying! You can''t do it! Just let me die!" The Princess on the right called out as she saw her sister agree. "I''m sorry Olivia, You''re the only sister I have. I can''t watch you die," Princess Amelia said. Her eyes were filled with emotions. "Dale!" Ryder let out loud. "Yes, Your Highness," A demon from Rale''s team appeared right beside Ryder. Amelia and Olivia both were surprised as they saw another man appear near them just like a ghost. "Tie Princess Olivia''s hands and keep her as a prisoner. If Princess Amelia betrays me, kill Olivia on my command," Ryder said. "As you wish, Your Highness," Dale replied. "Well then, Princess Amelia. Let''s go. The faster we do it, the faster your sister can be freed," Ryder told Amelia who looked to be concerned. "Wait! You can''t separate her from me, or I won''t do it!" Amelia insisted. "No," Ryder straight away replied. "Listen to her. It would be troublesome if you separate them. Everyone in the kingdom knows that the princesses never stay away from each other. If you keep them away and anyone sees Princess Amelia alone, it will just arouse suspicions," Raphtalia informed Ryder. "Hmm? Alright. You girls will stay together. But Amelia, if you betrayed us, Olivia will die and Olivia if you betrayed us, Amelia will die. So it would be good if you girls behave," Ryder informed them. "Alright Dale, You''re coming with us as well. You''ll keep an eye on Raphtalia and Rale will keep his eyes on the Princesses. There should be no mishaps," Ryder told Dale. "Yes, Your Highness," Dale said as he wore a cloak as well. "Good. Now that it''s clear, Take me inside the Ancestral Temple," He told them. Both the princesses looked at each other before they nodded their heads. They started walking away from the lake and the others followed close to them. It was midnight when they reached the Royal City. The city was also guarded, but not as strictly as the entrance of the Lightning Valley. As not many dark elves committed a crime, the Royal City didn''t need such strict protection. Most of the Guards were around the Royal Palace, but only a few were in the city. They got close to the Royal Palace and that''s when they started seeing the Guards. The guards also noticed the Princesses, but they didn''t say anything. It was normal for the Princesses to leave the palace and come back. The only strange thing was that she was with the Lightning Valley guard captain and the other people that they assumed were also guards. The Princesses walked towards the back of the Royal Palace. "Her Highness? What are you doing here at this time of the night?" The in-charge of protecting the Ancestral Palace asked. "I need to enter the Ancestral Temple," She replied. "Oh, Alright," The guard stepped aside after hearing her answer. The Elvian City has been so peaceful that the people had never even suspected that the princesses could be forced. The Guards were there to guard the Ancestral Temple just as a formality. They didn''t believe that someone would come here as only the Royals could open and enter it. That''s why the guards were standing quite far away from the Ancestral Temple, talking with the guards of the Royal Palace. The Princesses stopped before the Ancestral Temple. 96 Chapter 92: Prince saving the Princess "We have never entered the Ancestral Temple with someone that''s not from the Royal Bloodline, so I can''t say how it would turn out. You should be careful," Princess Amelia told Ryder. She didn''t want any mishap to happen. She knew that if anything happened to Ryder or his team, he would think that it was because they betrayed him. Because of that misunderstanding, it was quite possible that they would kill her sister or her. She didn''t want it to happen and warned Ryder. "It''s fine. Just open the door," Ryder told Amelia. Amelia pulled out a hairpin from her hair and stabbed it in her thumb, making it bleed a little. The metallic door had something like a Hexagonal Formation. She placed her bleeding thumb on the center of the formation. The formation started shining as it came in contact with Amelia''s blood. The metallic door opened, revealing the darkness inside. "Let''s enter," Amelia said as she removed her thumb from the formation and entered the Ancestral Temple. Princess Olivia, Ryder, and the others also entered after her. As they entered, the door closed behind them. The long hallways that were previously shrouded in darkness turned bright as if it was bathing in the direct sunlight. No one could see where the light was coming from, but everything was clearly visible now. As Ryder and the others entered the Ancestral Temple, there was one guard outside that was suspicious. It was the Guard of the Royal Palace. The guard had seen the Princesses walking towards the Ancestral Temple. Although he found it strange, he didn''t stop that as it was not under his authority. He was worried that if he stopped them, and he turned out to be the one in the wrong, he''ll be punished for doubting the Princess. But the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to stop them, but he didn''t. His feelings kept getting stronger and stronger until he couldn''t bear doing nothing. If he was wrong, he would be punished, but if he was right and he did nothing, he would become one of the biggest criminals in the history of dark elves. He walked to the Chief Guard and expressed his suspicions to him. The Royal Elves were quite naive when it came to people of their own species. They always doubted people of other species but they rarely doubted Dark Elves, but after the Chief Guard heard the point of view of that guard, he also started getting suspicious. "Let me go check," The Chief Guard said as he started walking towards the Ancestral Temple. He met the guards of the Ancestral Temple and talked to them about it. "I agree that the Princesses walked there with the Border Guards, but that''s no reason to doubt them. It''s not like they are humans, right? They are the Princesses who can never betray us. Also, it''s not like they will enter the Ancestral Temple with those guards. They will just leave them outside and enter alone," The Chief Guard of the Ancestral Temple said. "Did you check if they entered alone or not?" The Chief Guard of the Royal Palace inquired. "You''re so doubtful, Rex. Alright. Come with me. I will prove it to you. You can see it with your own eyes how wrong you are," The Chief Guard of the Ancestral Temple laughed out loud as he said. He started walking towards the Ancestral Temple with the other guards but as soon as he got there, his eyes opened wide as he saw no one standing outside. "T-they all entered? How can someone that''s not from the Royal Bloodline enter?" The Chief Guard of the Ancestral Temple let out a shocked noise. "There''s something really wrong going on here. We must inform, His Majesty," The Chief Guard of the Royal Palace said. "You guys keep an eye on this place, I''ll go inform, His Majesty," The Chief Guard of the Ancestral Temple told the other guards before he left with the Chief Guard of the Royal Palace. **** Inside the Ancestral Temple, Ryder and the others have only taken around ten steps when an arrow shot out of the wall. Its target seemed to be Princess Amelia that was walking on the front. "Look Out!" Ryder called out as he jumped forth as he wrapped his arms around Amelia and landed on the ground with her. His single gesture had managed to save Amelia. Ryder freed her and stood up. "Amelia! Are you alright?" Olivia ran to her as she helped her stand up. "Ah, yeah. I''m fine," Amelia said, though she still looked shocked as she saw the sharp arrow stick on the other wall. If Ryder hadn''t helped her, the arrow would have penetrated her skull. "T-thank you for saving my life," She thanked Ryder as she bowed down. "It''s alright," Ryder replied, acting cool. What he didn''t know was that even if he hadn''t saved her, Rale would have caught the arrow and would not let it hit her, but Rale didn''t catch it as he saw that Ryder already saved her. "There was nothing like this when we entered previously," Olivia said softly as she gazed towards the arrow. "Looks like the Ancestral Temple knows that we brought outsiders here. It should be the safety mechanism that''s activated," She added. "You told us to be careful, but I guess you should be the one being careful. Don''t walk on the front. Stick closer to us so that we could keep you safe," Ryder told Amelia. "Right," Princess Amelia nodded her head with an embarrassed look on her face. It was indeed the truth that she had told them to be careful and she herself wasn''t careful which she found quite embarrassing. "Let''s continue then," Ryder said before they resumed their journey. Princess Amelia didn''t know, but the reputation of Ryder had really improved in her mind. Even though he was here to steal, she felt as if he was a really nice person in reality. They began moving further inside. 97 Chapter 93: Class and 2nd fragmen As they moved deeper, they had to face a few more attacks in the forms of arrows. There was even a boulder that came rolling towards them, but it was stopped by Rale without any trouble. After 5 more minutes, they reached the dead end. "What is this? It''s already the end and we haven''t even seen the Nature Healing Crystal. Were you lying?" Ryder asked Amelia. "It shouldn''t be the end. The Ancestral Temple hallway isn''t this short. When we came here last time, this wall wasn''t here. It should be here to stop us from moving forward because we brought you inside," Princess Olivia told Ryder. "Hmm? Rale, try breaking the wall," Ryder ordered Rale. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale replied, "Please move back so that you aren''t harmed accidentally." Ryder and the others stepped back about 30 meters as they gave Rale the space to attack freely. Rale packed his fist and used all his force as he punched the wall. Ryder could feel the wind pressure change as Rale attacked which reminded him how strong Rale was, but despite all that, he wasn''t able to break the wall. In Fact, not even a dent was made on the wall. Rale didn''t attack a second time as he turned back to look at Ryder and shook his head. "It''s impossible to break it, Your Highness. This wall is made from the same material that your and His Majesty''s room is made from. Even the Grand Dukes shouldn''t be able to break it. Only someone as strong as His Majesty can break it," Rale replied. "Grand Dukes? The way he talks about them, it should be that they are stronger than him? And then there''s even a King? If only he is as strong as our Royal Father according to Raphtalia, then how strong must the others be? Just who exactly are they?'' Princess Olivia and Princess Amelia thought as they looked at Ryder. "So you can''t break it? Let me try it," Ryder let out as he brought out his Moon Scythe and stepped forth. Rale stepped back and gave Ryder some space. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder muttered as he swung his Scythe. The blade of the scythe hit the wall and slashed through it, but even it wasn''t strong enough to break it. Even after using his full strength, he was only able to leave a deep groove on it. ''H-he managed to leave a mark on the stone wall? So strong,'' Rale thought. He was shocked as he saw the groove on the stone wall. ''Sigh, the Moon Scythe is strong, but I''m not strong enough yet. It''s not possible to break it with force,'' Ryder thought as he turned back with disappointment. "There should definitely be a way to get past it," Ryder said with a frown. "Wait a minute, I see something," Amelia abruptly let out as she walked to the wall. She could see ten small stone pieces lying on the ground. There were some carvings on the ground as well. It seems as if there were dots on the ground in a 9x9 format. There were 9 rows of those dots and 9 columns. "This should be something that I saw in our Royal Clan book. It''s an Ancient Enlightenment Pattern. This was a pattern that is said to increase your concentration if you keep looking at it. It''s also a 9x9 for format and only 5 of those dots were colored," Princess Amelia said as she picked 5 stone pieces from nearby and placed it over 5 dots. She placed the stones in the same position as the colored dots were in those drawings. As soon as she placed the 5th stone pieces, the stone door turned sideways and opened the path. "Great work," Ryder smilingly said as he saw the blocked road opening. Olivia on the other hand was frowning behind. ''Why did she have to open it? If there was no way to enter, they would have left. Amelia, you''re so innocent,'' She sighed as she shook her head. Even though she was upset, she didn''t hate her sister for it. They continued ahead and soon reached a big hall-like place. There was a giant 25 feet tall statue of a woman that Ryder assumed to be their Goddess of Nature. The Goddess of Nature looked awfully similar to Alice, which Ryder thought was a nice coincidence. On the statue''s foot, there was a small silver box. "Is the Nature Healing Crystal inside that box?" Ryder asked Amelia. "Yes. It should be there," Amelia replied as she nodded her head. "Good," Ryder chuckled as he stepped towards the statue and picked up the box. He opened it and found a beautiful Green Crystal in the box that was in a Hexagonal Shape this time. [Class Quest Completed: Received Nature Healing] [Class upgraded- New Class: Demon Monarch] [All Stats are doubled] [All Skill Levels; +1] [Mana Consumption of skill has been halved] Ryder couldn''t help but smile as he saw all the notifications. These missions were turning out to be really useful. He couldn''t help but think that even if he had used his previous world knowledge to achieve success in the game, he wouldn''t be as successful as he is now. This unexpected journey has become so incredible. ''Too had that I didn''t find the fragment Crystal of the Bracelet of Immortality,'' He thought. "You got the Crystal. Now you can leave and never come back," Olivia told Ryder as she saw the box in his hand. She was quite upset, but there was nothing she could do now. "Right. I''m not like I was thinking of becoming a son-in-law of this kingdom and staying here forever," Ryder said sarcastically before extending his hand towards the Nature Healing Crystal. He wanted to leave the box behind and only take the Nature Healing Crystal, but as soon as his hand touched the orb, a fresh set of notifications started resounding in his ears. [2nd fragment of Bracelet of Immortality found] 98 Chapter 94: Ruler of Nature [2nd fragment of Bracelet of Immortality found] The announcement brought such a wide smile on Ryder''s face that the others were confused as to why he was suddenly so happy. ''So the Nature Healing Crystal was the fragment of Bracelet of Immortality. I guess the Demon Emperor didn''t know that when setting up this quest for class promotion. He helped me so much!'' Ryder thought to himself. [Fragment of Nature found] [Bracelet of Immortality: Second Seal is broken] [Skill Received: Ruler of Nature] [+10 Level ] "Ruler of Nature?" Ryder muttered as he opened the stats screen. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: Demon Monarch Level:40 HP: 20000+1300 Mana: 8000 Strength: 922(+1053) Defense:1023(+1070) Speed: 960(+1037) Stamina:1200(+1850) Dexterity:800(+1903) Intelligence: 598(+657) Available stat points: 20 Skills: Ruler of Time: Level Not Defined Ruler of Nature: Level Not Defined Enraged Slash: Level 4 (35% mastery) All-Seer: Level 3 (53% mastery) Flame blast: Level 5 (62% mastery) Shadow ball: Level 4 (22% mastery) Stealth: Level 2(3% mastery) Sand Storm: Level 2(12% mastery) Strengthening: Level 2( 1% mastery) Taunt: Level 2( 0% mastery) Intimidation: Level 2 (1% mastery) Weapon Related Skill: Absorption: Level 2(3% mastery) Transformation: Max Level Items: Moon Scythe: Unique Grade Bracelet of Immortality: God Grade (sealed) (2/25 fragments collected) ] "Incredible," Ryder kept staring at his stats for quite some time. Not only has he gained stats because of his instant increase of 10 levels, but all his stats were also doubled. He opened the description of Ruler of Nature to see if it was as useful as Ruler of Time or not. [Ruler of Nature: Nature is the basis of life. Not only humans but all the species depend on it. The one that controls nature has the potential to control their lives. Skills: Passive Skill: Double Growth Active Skill: Blessed by Nature] Ryder tapped on the Passive Skill first to see what it was all about. [Double Growth: Every growth that the person achieves is doubled. The Stat Points received after every level up will be doubled. The experience gained will be doubled. (Limitation: Doesn''t work on body proportions like height and weight) ] ''So it''s something like a growth booster. I wonder how it will work in the real world. I can see some potential for it,'' He thought as he rubbed his chin while looking at the screen. Amelia and the others just looked at him weirdly. "Is he going crazy?" Raphtalia asked Dale who was keeping an eye on her, but she shut her mouth when she saw Dale glaring at her as if he didn''t appreciate the insult of Ryder. Rale just decided to wait on the other hand. Although he didn''t know what Ryder was doing, he believed that it must be something important for him. "Is he pretending to look mysterious?" Princess Olivia asked as she frowned. "Sister, just let him be. There must be a reason," Princess Amelia replied. Ryder, on the other hand, didn''t care for what the others must be thinking about him as he closed the window and opened the description of the active Skill ''Blessed by Nature,'' [Blessed by Nature: Skill 1: Infinite Healing Skill 2: Locked (Level not enough) Skill 3: Locked (Level not enough)] ''It''s a set of 3 skills as well?'' He let out in surprise. He clicked on Infinite Healing to see if it actually meant he was thinking. [Infinite Healing: When used Infinite Healing, even the deadliest of wounds can be healed in a second. (Warning: The Infinite Healing can''t be used to heal deadly wounds Infinite number of times at low levels) Current limit: For life-threatening harm: 8 times a day. For Non-Life Threatening Wounds: Infinite Number of times in a day. (Note: Infinite Healing depends on the level of the user. Every 10 levels increases limit by 2) ] ''So that''s what it is? If I''m shot by a gun, I can heal myself completely in an instant? It sucks that I can''t use it an infinite number of times in damage like that, but then again, the time will just rewind. It just makes it too difficult for me to be killed,'' Ryder thought smilingly. He closed the screen and glanced towards Rale and the others who looked at him blankly. "Alright. Let''s leave," Ryder said as he started walking towards the exit. Amelia walked closer to him as she asked, "What were you doing standing there? Were you having an enlightenment?" "Yeah, it''s something like that. Anyway, why are you talking to me as if you''re my friend? Have you forgotten that I''m a thief?" Ryder inquired as he looked at her with an amused smile on his face. "Yeah, you''re a thief, but you''re my savior as well. You could have killed so many to take the crystal, but you chose the peaceful way. I don''t think that you''re really that bad. You must have a reason for taking the Nature Healing Crystal, right? I don''t think it''s because you''re greedy or because you''re a thief," Princess Amelia said to Ryder with an innocent look on her face. "The two of you are sisters, yet you''re so different. You''re so friendly to me, whereas your sister is looking at me as if she wants to eat me," Ryder chuckled as he glanced back at Olivia who was glaring at him. "My sister is really nice, but she doesn''t trust humans so easily," Amelia said. "Why do you trust humans then?" Ryder asked her. "Because I haven''t seen humans before. The first human I saw is you and you don''t seem like a bad person," Princess Amelia replied. "Believe me, girl, you have no idea about humans," Ryder couldn''t help but laugh as he heard her words. "Will you ever return to our Empire after you leave?" She asked again. "I''m not sure. It''s possible that I might come here in the future," He replied. He wasn''t sure if there would be another quest that needed him to come here or not. Anything was possible. "I''ve never been outside our Royal City. Can you tell me how the world outside is? Is it really as terrible as I have heard?" she asked. "What have you heard about the outside?" Ryder inquired. "I heard that the outside world is a dark place. People kill each other for greed. They destroy nature. I even heard that they eat each other?" She replied to him. "I agree with all of them except the first one. It''s quite a beautiful place outside if you know where to look. The thing about them killing each other is true as well and there are a few species that eat others like the Dragon Race that eats the weaker people," Ryder replied. They were already at the exit and when they finally stepped out of the ancestral temple, they were all stunned as they saw the King standing there with his army. 99 Chapter 95: Under Attack Ryder was surprised to see a 5''5" tall man standing outside the Ancestral Hall. The man was wearing a beautiful golden crown and a lustrous red robe. Behind the man stood over 500 Elvian Guards that were holding their weapons in their hands. "Rale? Looks like we''ll have to engage. I hoped that this would be over peacefully, but I guess that''s not an option anymore," Ryder said softly as he glanced at the King. "Amelia, Olivia, we didn''t expect that you would betray our trust and bring strangers to our Ancestral Temple! Why!" The king let out loudly as he glared at the Princesses. The princesses were worried as they saw their father. They did all this so that no lives were to be lost, but in the end, that''s what it all came to. "Father, Please listen to me. I¡­" Princess Amelia tried speaking, but she stopped abruptly as she heard the King shouting, "Silence! We don''t want to hear any excuses! You betrayed our trust. You are not my daughters anymore! You know the punishment for intruders, right? They are to be slaughtered in front of every citizen! Guards catch them all! Don''t worry about harming the princesses. Treat them like intruders!" 50 of the guards ran towards Ryder and the others with their swords, but before they could get near Ryder, Ryder looked slightly upwards and gave a simple command, "It''s wartime! Kill them!" "No, don''t!" Princess Amelia let out loud as she looked towards Ryder, but she was too late. 19 Demon Guards of Ryder appeared in between Ryder and the running guards. It didn''t even take 2 minutes, before the bodies of 50 Elvian Guards could be seen lying on the ground. "We have no other option, Little Princess. If I show weakness now all of us would be killed including you and your sister," Ryder said to Amelia. The king on the other hand was alarmed as he saw the Demons appear. The team of his strongest Elves was killed in an instant. "You are not humans! Who are you?" The King bellowed as he glared at Rale. He considered Rale to be the leader as he looked strongest. "We are someone who doesn''t want to harm you. If you let us leave, no more lives will be lost!" Ryder replied. "Kid! Who allowed you to speak! I''m talking to your leader!" The King berated Ryder. "Tell me who you are! Why have you infiltrated our land!" The King asked Rale again. Rale just looked at Ryder and waited for his orders. "Rale, you think you can take care of him?" Ryder asked Rale. "It is possible, Your Highness," Rale replied. The King heard how Rale addressed Ryder and couldn''t help but be stunned. "Good. We are leaving. Kill whoever tries attacking us, even if it''s the King himself," Ryder let out in a carefree tone as he began walking towards the King. "You arrogant Kid! You think you can disrespect me!" The King bellowed as he himself ran towards Ryder. He moved as fast as lightning as he punched towards Ryder, but Rale appeared in front of Ryder and attacked the King in a similar manner. Both of their fists collided, but it seemed as if the King was the one defeated in the clash. Although none of them took a step back, from the facial expressions of the King, it was clear that he was in pain. The bones of his fist were cracked, but he didn''t let out any noise in order to maintain his dignity as he stepped back. The King moved back enough so that the distance between them became 50 meters. The wind has started flowing towards the south amidst the growing tensions between both sides. Even though the guards saw their king move back, they believed that it was his strategy and not because he was defeated in the clash. Although the Elvian Guards didn''t notice it, Ryder and his team were absolutely clear as to what actually happened. It was clear that they absolutely didn''t need to worry about the king. Even the princesses were surprised at it. "ARCHERS! FIRE!" the King commanded as loud as he could. His powerful voice echoed in the whole region. The Elvian Guards that were standing at the back of the army raised their bows and aimed their arrows towards Ryder. At once, hundreds of arrows cut through the air and rained over Ryder and his team. The Princesses were scared as they saw a barrage of arrows coming towards them. "Protection of Aria!" Rale spoke softly as a bright yellow barrier spread out with him at the center. The barrier covered Ryder, his team, and the Princesses. The rain of arrows fell over the barrier but they weren''t able to pass through. Not even a single arrow managed to enter the barrier. "Once more! Don''t stop!" The King saw the arrows getting deflected, but the King didn''t give up and commanded them to attack once again. The rain of arrows continued for a long time, but the barrier didn''t seem to be diminishing at all. The king was starting to get restless. He couldn''t understand where these guys came from before. He knew about the kingdom of nearby species, but even they weren''t as strong as these guys. "Father stop! It''s not going to work! Please let them go. We did all this so that no unnecessary lives could be lost, but if you don''t stop, our effort will go to waste! Please!" Princess Amelia screamed loudly in hopes of getting her father to understand. "I didn''t know that a day like this would come, but now that it has happened, I have no choice left but to use the relics of the past left behind by the First King," the King said as he took a small coin-shaped token out of his pockets. The Small Coin Shaped Token was semi-transparent but it did have a small carving that seemed as if it was a map of the Lightning Valley. "Akhabis Bikumina Wartis Escotia Destructina Intrusa!" the King started muttering a small spell. Princesses saw the coin in the King''s hands. Their faces lost all their color immediately. It was as if they had seen something really horrible. "Father, Please don''t!" the Princesses bellowed, but before their words could reach the King, the king''s spell was completed. The whole Lightning Valley started shaking as if it was going through a massive earthquake. Ryder was frowning through it all. He saw the horrified look on the girls'' faces and couldn''t help but ask them what was happening. 100 Chapter 96: Guardian "This is very bad! It''s the Guardian of the Valley!" Princess Amelia replied. "Guardian of the Valley?" Ryder asked her in confusion. "When the first King came here, he found the Guardian of the Valley here. After a lot of effort, he found ways to control the guardian of the valley, but he knew that the guardian of the valley was too dangerous and using it would cause destruction, so he commanded the Guardian of the Valley to stay underground until there came a time when it was needed," She replied. "Since that day, the Guardian of the Valley has never been used ever again, but its commanding token has been passed down through generations. Father is calling the Guardian of the Valley and ordering it to come out!" she added. The shaking of the ground continued for only a short period of time before the ground split apart and a giant stone hand came out of the ground. Another hand came out and soon, the whole body of the Guardian of the Valley was out of the ground. "That''s the Guardian of the Valley?" Ryder let out with a frown as he saw a 50 meter tall giant stone golem standing there. There was no life force inside the golem, but it was able to move and looked even more powerful than a dragon. "He looks strong. Anyway, If I understood you correctly, you''re saying that the coin can control the Guardian of the Valley?" Ryder asked Amelia. "Yes. That''s why father always keeps that coin with him in his protection," She replied. "Rale, Can bring me that coin," Ryder asked Rale with a smile on his face. Rale nodded his head before he disappeared and appeared in front of the king. The King was stunned but he instantly moved back. "You might be strong, but you can''t match my speed. I''m blessed by the wind. You will all die today," The King said to Rale, with a grin on his face, but his eyes opened wide in shock as he saw the coin in Rale''s hand instead. He looked towards his hand and saw that the coin was missing. "H-how!" He exclaimed in shock as his hand started shaking because of the shock that he received. Rale didn''t bother responding as he walked back to Ryder and gave him the coin. "Let''s see how it works," Ryder held the coin in his hand just like the king. "Stop walking!" he commanded, but the Guardian of the Valley didn''t stop. "Do you think that you can control the Guardian of the Valley just because you have the coin? Only the commands spoken in Ancient Elvian Language works, but I haven''t even taught them to my daughters yet. You can never stop the Guardian! You will die!" The King mocked Ryder. "Your Highness, Try saying Mikyama Sutina," Rale told Ryder. The King heard Rale''s words and felt his heart skip a beat. "H-how do you know our ancient language!" he bellowed in disbelief. "Mikyama Sutina!" Ryder commanded. This time his command worked and the Guardian of the Valley stopped in its tracks. "Do you have anything else left?" Ryder asked the King. The king just stood there blankly as he stared at them. ''Is there anything I can do still left? They even control the Guardian now!'' The king cursed in his mind. "As I promised your daughters, I won''t have anyone killed unnecessarily, that''s why I''m still giving you another chance. I only took your Nature Healing Crystal and that too because I really needed it. If you still try to stop me, then you won''t be the only one who dies. If you don''t want me to command your Guardian to destroy your kingdom, then step aside," Ryder commanded. "You can leave!" the King said. He ordered the guards to move aside and clear the way for them. "That''s like a good King," Ryder said to the King. "Oh right. Your daughters didn''t betray you. I forced them similar to how I forced you just now. So if you think that they are a betrayer to the kingdom, then you''re the same. Please be a better King and a better father," He added before he glanced back at Amelia and Olivia. "I''m leaving the Guardian of the Valley behind, but I''m taking the token with me. If you still didn''t behave properly and I found out that you punished anyone for what happened today, that will be the last day of your kingdom in existence," He warned the King before he walked away with Rale and the others. The Princesses were left behind. "Will you ever return?" Princess Amelia let out loudly as she questioned Ryder. "I will," Ryder responded, but he specifically looked at the King as he said it. It seemed as if he was trying to warn the King. Amelia and the others looked at the back of Ryder that grew increasingly distant the further he went until he disappeared from their view entirely. "Just who were those people? Can it be that they were from those places?" the King muttered as he looked in the direction Ryder went. He turned back to look towards his daughters. "I''m sorry girls. I didn''t know that you were forced. I should have trusted you instead of thinking that you betrayed us. Can you forgive this old man of yours?" he asked them. "Of Course, Father," the girls stepped forth and hugged the king. **** Ryder left the Lightning Valley with a bright grin on his face. "That went quite good. Even though some of it was unexpected, the final result was satisfactory," Ryder muttered. "Rale, how do I command the Guardian of the Valley to go down in Ancient Elvian?" Ryder asked. "Xiayina Mihamu Sakiva Ghomu Madyina Nirvayi," Rale replied. "Xiayina Mihamu Sakiva Ghomu Madyina Nirvayi," Ryder repeated the command and felt the ground shake again. Back in the Royal Elvian City, the Guardian of the Valley started moving and walked back into the Earth. "This token is amazing. Now I have another weapon that I can use in the future. Too bad that it''s so slow," Ryder muttered as he kept the Ancient Token in his storage space. "Rale, do they teach Ancient Elvian in the Demon Realm as well?" Ryder asked Rale. "They don''t, but there are books related to every language there, Your Highness. I self-taught myself as I wanted to learn the languages of the world," Rale replied. "Oh? How many languages do you know?" Ryder casually asked. "I know 1236 languages," Rale replied. "That''s amazing. I know only one," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. 101 Chapter 97: Back "Your Highness, I can teach you if you want," Rale suggested. "Oh? That would be nice, but it''s too much effort. I don''t think I can learn 1236 languages. I might try learning the Ancient Elvian Language though. If I learn that, I would be able to control the Guardian of the Lightning Valley more efficiently next time," Ryder replied. "We can start with Ancient Elvian Language. You should be able to learn it in a few months if things go right. If you still want to learn more languages, I can teach you dragon language after that. That''s pretty incredible as well," Rale responded. "I''ll tell you later if I decide to start it," Ryder told him. As they left the Lightning Valley, Rale and the others brought their wings out. While Rale carried the Ryder, the others carried those that couldn''t fly. "The way to go back is in the same place right?" Ryder inquired to make sure. "Yeah, it''s right there but it''s closed at the moment. It will appear before you as long as you hold the key of the Space Tunnel high in the air and think for it to appear before you," Rale responded. "That''s nice," ''Oh right. I still didn''t accept Shu''s friend request. That guy called me so many times on my date with Alice about it. I''m back in the main game realm, so I should be able to use those options,'' Ryder thought. He opened the friend request screen and accepted Shu''s request. As soon as he accepted Shu''s request, he got flooded with Shu''s messages. "Brother Ryder, You finally accepted my request," "Where are you now?" "Want to go on a quest with me?" "You can''t imagine what I got. I found a silver grade weapon!" "The rewards of this mission are even better than this. We can both get awesome rewards," "Reply," "What happened?" "Are you sleeping in the game?" "Wait a minute, how can you accept my request if you are sleeping?" Ryder looked at all these messages with a wry smile on his face. "Come on man, at least give me time to respond," Ryder sent a message. "As for the quest, what''s the quest? I should be able to help you with that. I also want to see how your growth has been," Ryder replied to him. ''It feels like it''s been so long since I last saw other players. It would be good to compare,'' Ryder thought. "It''s a dungeon related quest. I''m in the Stech Kingdom. How far are you from here?" Shu asked Ryder. "Stech Kingdom? You already left the Estella Kingdom?" Ryder inquired. The Estella Kingdom was the first kingdom where players were brought to after passing the Novice Village. Although the Estella Kingdom was a kingdom, it was one of the weakest kingdoms in the game. Even the Royal guards of the kingdom were only as strong as a level 10-15 player. As for why the developers made a kingdom as weak as this, even Ryder didn''t know. Despite being so weak, the real powerful kingdoms never attacked them. If a player attacked and killed a guard, they would be marked by the game. The mark will show above their head which would be like a punishment. If someone managed to kill that player, they would receive 3 times the experience that they would have received after killing the same level of a beast. The real problem was that even if that player died once, that mark wouldn''t disappear. This whole thing was so strange that he never understood, but that was why no player ever tried to attack the guards of Estella Kingdom even when they were stronger. The Stech Kingdom was the neighbor kingdom of Estella "Alright. I''ll message you with the details later," Ryder sent the message to Shu. They got back to the Malta Valley. Ryder raised the key and wished for the Spatial Tunnel to open. The key started shining brightly and a Spatial Tunnel opened in front of them which they entered. They got back to the Royal Palace and came out of the first Spatial Tunnel door. "Your Highness, you''re finally back! You need to come with me fast!" As soon as he came out of the portal, the maid Miku informed him. "Why are you looking so worried? did something happen?" Ryder asked. "Madam Duke is here. She brought a girl with her. She''s been asking for you, but I hid the fact that you left the Royal Palace. She is getting impatient waiting," Miku replied. "Oh, she''s back. You did well by not telling her. One should always keep the secrets of their masters," Ryder smilingly said as he patted her head. Miku lowered her head in embarrassment. "Alright. Take me to her," he said after removing his hand. He was brought to the main hall of the Royal Palace where Devilia was waiting for her. Rale was the only one following him as Rale sent the other guards back to train themselves. "You''re finally up! How long do you sleep?" Devilia said with an annoyed expression on her face. "You''re talking about me being late? Weren''t you the one that told me that she will be coming back the next day?" Ryder chuckled as he sat on a nearby seat. "Hmph, I''m only late because I had to deal with some business," Devilia replied. "It''s alright. I already guessed that. Anyway, where is she?" Ryder inquired. "Your maid took her to her room I suppose. You can ask her later," Devilia responded. "How''s life as a Prince treating you? You like it?" after a moment of silence, Devilia asked. "It''s been good and quite useful I must say," Ryder replied. "That''s good. Have fun and keep training so that you won''t disappoint His Majesty in the future. I look forward to the time when you decide to complete the Kingship trials," Duke Devilia told Ryder. "Hopefully that will be soon, but I''m not in a hurry at the moment," Ryder replied. "That''s better. I''ll take my leave now, I need to deal with some stuff. You can contact me if you need anything, or just visit my palace in the future," She said as she stood up and left. Ryder watched her leave before he stood up and looked at Miku. "Where is the girl that came with her?" Ryder asked Miku. "I took her to the guest room," Miku replied. "Alright. Take me to her," Ryder told her. Miku nodded her head as she brought Ryder to the guest room. Ryder opened the door and entered inside. 102 Chapter 98: Rich? Ryder entered the room after opening the door and saw Miyali inside. "Sleeping?" Ryder muttered as he saw her on the bed. She seemed as if she was in a deep sleep. Ryder left the room and closed the door behind her. "She''ll be staying here as a guest but not a prisoner. If she wants to leave, let her leave. I''m going back to my room for now," Ryder told Miku before he left. He entered his room and closed the door before he logged out. Waking up in his room, he removed the Divinity Glasses and stood up. It was 6 in the morning as he got up and left his room as he was starting to feel hungry. As he walked into the kitchen, he saw Alice standing there, making breakfast. "You''re up so early today? Did you die in the game or something?" Alice asked Ryder as she glanced back at him. "Hey, it''s not the first time I woke up early," Ryder replied. "Oh? When was the last time you woke up so early?" Alice asked as she laughed. Ryder opened the fridge and took a bottle of water and drank a sip before he replied. "It was just yesterday! I woke up at a similar time for our dat... I mean for our shopping," "Didn''t we plan for 9 in the morning? Why did you wake up so early for that?" Alice asked in surprise. "I... Oh right, you''re going to college today, right? How about I drop you off?" Ryder asked as he changed the topic. He found it embarrassing to say that he was excited about it and that''s why he woke up so early. "There''s no need for that. I don''t want to trouble you and if I go to college in such an expensive car, it would just attract unnecessary attention. I''ll take the bus like always," Alice replied as she served breakfast on the table and sat on a chair. Ryder also sat down on a nearby seat. "It''s no trouble. I also need to go out, I''ll drop you off. Also, when you''re free, maybe I can teach you how to drive as well? We can get you a car you like and then you will be able to take the car to college in the morning," Ryder suggested. "That... Alright. I''ll learn to drive but I don''t need a sports car. Don''t you dare to bring a new sports car as a surprise. I like cheaper cars as they will attract less attention, so you can''t buy any car without my permission. You must promise that you won''t do that!" Alive said in full seriousness as she glared at Ryder. "Hahaha, alright. I promise. We can have another day out when it''s time to buy you a car. But that''s all in the future. For now, I''ll drop you off to school," Ryder told her. Alice nodded her head. They finished their dinner and left the house. Ryder walked to the parking and got in the car with Alice and got the car on the road. **** The University Of Dreamers was one of the top 3 Universities in the city. It was a private university that was owned by the Dream Corporation. Many people in the city dreamed of getting accepted into the University of Dreamers. It was a dream for many as the graduates of the University always got high-level jobs. The University was also dubbed as the university for the rich. Its fees were so high that kids from poor households could not afford it, but the university did give out scholarships to exceptionally talented kids. Alice was one of those rare people that got the full scholarship from the University. "Yo Kaylee, did you get a new car? The car looks amazing," a red-dressed girl said to a blonde girl that had just stepped out of her car. "Yeah, It''s not something that I wanted, but I received it as my birthday present from my father," the blonde girl replied. "Amazing, that car should be worth a million dollars. I wish I had a father like that, my dad only brought me this 60k dollar piece of crap," the red-dressed girl responded. "Your car is decent enough for the position of your family. It''s not like your family owns a big company like the Dream Corporation," The blonde-haired girl responded. "On that note, I heard a rumor that the owner of the Dream Corporation lives in the city. Do you think there''s any truth to that?" the red-dressed girl again asked. "Don''t be stupid. Someone as big as he won''t live in the second tier City. He must be enjoying his life in the first-tier cities or on his many personal Islands. I don''t think any billionaire lives in our city. I wish my father was a billionaire as well. I would be satisfied if he had even 1% wealth of Mr. Maxwell," the blonde girl replied. "Hmm? Isn''t that the new model Whirlwind? I haven''t seen that at University before. Did someone get a new car?" the red-dressed girl said as she noticed a beautiful car coming towards them. It stopped near them. "Alice? Isn''t she supposed to be poor?" she let out in shock as she saw Alice step out of the car. "Don''t be shocked. She''s not bad looking. She must''ve found a sugar daddy for herself," the blonde girl, Kaylee responded. "Bye, brother!" Alice said to Ryder before she started walking away from the car. "Brother? Her brother is rich?" the red-dressed exclaimed loudly. Even the frown of Kaylee had gotten deeper. "She hid herself quite well. She must be from a rich family as well," Kaylee muttered as she watched the car leave the campus. "Should we try getting closer to her? I''m quite curious about her family now," the red-dressed girl asked Kaylee. **** A Ferrari Whirlwind stopped before the Delirium Arena. It was a place where Ryder won 3.75 million dollars in horse betting. "I need to get some more money, but this can''t be what I do all my life as it would just be too suspicious. I''ll get some money here one last time and then use my powers more efficiently to build a business empire of my own," Ryder muttered as he walked out of his car and walked towards the Delirium Arena. Ryder entered the place and started watching the race. After 40 minutes, he reversed the time and placed his bets on the winning horses. He intentionally bet on the wrong horse for the first race to avoid some suspicions, but he won all other bets. 103 Chapter 99: Its my car In a big office of Delirium Arena, the Incharge of the place, Frisk was in his office going through business documents when his secretary walked in. "Sir, he''s back!" the secretary said. "Who''s back?" the man inquired as he put the documents down and looked towards his secretary. "That boy I talked about last time. He had come here for the first time and he won all his bets. You told me to keep an eye on him and tell you if he was back. That same guy is back!" the secretary said. "Oh? Is he winning all his bets again?" the man asked with an interesting look on his face. "He lost the first bet but he won all the other bets. He had won 4 bets already and he won 7 million dollars," the secretary said. "Interesting. Alright. Let me go meet him myself," the man smiled as he stood up. The secretary brought Frisk to a stand Ryder was standing in and pointed towards him. "That kid? I think I''ve seen him before, but I can''t remember," Frisk muttered as he saw Ryder. "Alright. You can go back. I''ll go check him out," he said as he left the secretary behind and walked up to Ryder. Ryder was looking towards the ground, waiting for the race to start. Frisk walked up to him and stood on the right side of Ryder. "Are you new here? I''m a regular and I''m seeing you for the first time," Frisk inquired. Ryder looked towards Frisk and observed him for a short moment. "No, It''s my second time here," Ryder responded to him. "Oh, nice. Do you like horse racing as well? Did you bet already?" Frisk asked him. "Yeah, I have some interest in it," Ryder replied. "Awesome. I''m an old-timer here. I love watching the races. It gives me so much rush. It gets my adrenaline pumping," Frisk said as he chuckled. "I''m going to bet my money. I think number 9 will win. What do you think?" he asked Ryder. "Maybe. He looks like he''s in good condition," Ryder casually replied to Frisk. "Alright. I''m betting a million dollars on number 9. Let''s see how my luck is today," Frisk laughed out loud as he unlocked his phone and placed the bet. Ryder didn''t react and just watched the horses. The race finally began after some time and ended soon after. Number 8 was the winner and number 9 was in the 2nd place. "Dammit, I lost. It was fun though," Frisk let out in disappointment. "Sometimes the weaker horses win in the race of the stronger horses. You can call it luck I guess," Ryder said to Frisk. "I think I''m done for the day. I''ll be leaving. Best of luck," Ryder muttered before he turned back and left the Delirium Arena. "Interesting. Looks like your luck is quite strong," Frisk muttered after Ryder left as he looked at his phone about Ryder''s betting history. The last bet Ryder made was for the race that ended just now and the data showed that he bet on number 8, the winning horse. Ryder left the Delirium Arena with 18 million dollars this time. Frisk picked up the phone and dialed a number. "I want all the information on that boy. It should be on my table tomorrow," he said before he disconnected and walked back to his office. **** Ryder walked out of the Delirium Arena and walked towards the parking. He was wearing his casual inexpensive clothes when he left the house which made him look rather poor. As Ryder got near the car, he saw a girl standing by the support of his car, with her phone in front of her face. The girl was live-streaming herself. "See guys, my new car. Do you like it?" The girl cutely said as he showed the car to her viewers. "Hmm? Guys? I think some poor guy is stalking me," The girl said as she moved the camera towards Ryder. "Hey, keep moving. Have you never seen a rich and beautiful girl? Don''t even think of asking me for my number. Keep moving!" the girl told Ryder. Ryder just stood there, stunned as he watched the girl showing him on a Livestream. He couldn''t help but sigh as he stepped towards her. "Hey, stay away from me. Do you want me to call the police?" the girl threatened Ryder. "Miss, it''s my car. Can you move aside?" Ryder asked her nicely. "Yours?" the girl looked at Ryder with a weird look on her face before she started laughing out loud. "Hahaha, Guys, did you hear him? This poor bloke is calling my car his car. He thinks that he can impress me with these childish tactics. Hey boy. Do you think that you can even afford a tire of this car? Keep moving before I really call the police," the girl said. "You''re really stupid, aren''t you?" Ryder muttered as he looked at her. He raised the key of his car and pressed a button on it. *beep* *beep* The car engine started as the car came closer to Ryder. The girl that was standing on the car''s support fell down on the ground. This was one of the self-driving features of the car that found its owner and helped the car get to him. "You believe it now?" Ryder told the stunned girl that was lying on the ground, looking at him. Ryder opened the door of his car and sat on the driver''s seat and left. Ryder was driving his car when he dialed up Shu''s number. "Where are you?" He asked Shu. "Oh, Brother Ryder. Did you call me to talk about our quest?" Shu asked a question in return. "Yeah, I thought about meeting you and discussing that now that I have time," Ryder told him. "Oh, awesome. How about I meet you at the Yumyum Cafe near your house? I heard that it sells some really nice coffee," Shu told him. "Alright. I''ll see you there," Ryder said before he disconnected the call. He drove the car towards his house. Ryder stopped the car near the Yumyum Cafe. Many people saw the car and stopped on their tracks as they appreciated it. "Isn''t that the newest electric model of Ferrari? What is someone that rich doing in our area?" Ryder opened the door and stepped out of the car. As he stepped out of the car, he saw another car driving towards him. "A Ferrari 2047?" Ryder muttered as he looked at the car. The car stopped in front of Ryder. 104 Chapter 100: Guild Token The car stopped right before Ryder, and the door opened as a man stepped out of the vehicle. "Shu?" Ryder muttered as he saw the boy. "Brother Ryder, You got a Whirlwind? I thought you liked the 2047 model? If you had told me that you were getting a Whirlwind, I would have asked them to get me a Whirlwind as well!" Shu told Ryder as he stepped closer to him. "I should''ve guessed that you were rich when you told me where you lived. Did you bug your parents to buy you that car? If I''m not wrong, even though it''s an older model, it should still be worth 2 million in the market," Ryder told Shu as he closed the door of his car. "Something like that. Let''s get in," Shu said. Both of them started walking towards the Yumyum Cafe under the watchful eyes of others on the road. Everyone was shocked to see two rich guys coming to their poor neighborhood. The girls wanted to try their luck, but just by seeing their car, they gave up as they realized that these two were way above their league. Ryder and Shu entered the cafe and found a seat for themselves. They ordered coffee for themselves that was served by a girl in a maid uniform. "Alright. So tell me, what''s the Quest and how you got it?" Ryder asked. "It happened when I was fighting a monster outside the Estella Kingdom to gain some experience. One of the Monsters dropped an item when it was killed. When I checked it, it turned out to be a guild token," Shu told him. "What the heck? You found the guild token? That should''ve dropped in the Matris Kingdom 2 months later!" Ryder exclaimed in surprise. "What''re you talking about? You know that the Guild Token is a rare item that doesn''t have a certain dropping location," Shu answered him. ''My time travel seemed to have caused a ripple in the events. That should''ve been expected as some of my decisions directly or indirectly influenced the decision of other players,'' Ryder thought as he drank the coffee. "You found a guild token, why don''t you start a guild then? Also, how is that related to the quest you were talking about?" Ryder asked Shu. "I''m not making a guild now as I''m not strong enough to operate a guild. I was thinking of getting more levels before I start my guild. Anyway, I was talking about that because the guild token wasn''t the only thing that I found. I also found a small key. As I held the key, a quest screen was opened in front of me," Shu said. ''A key related quest? I don''t remember something like that happening in the least timeline,'' Ryder thought in full seriousness. "What''s the quest?" Ryder asked. "The quest talked about a D-Rank dungeon in the South of the Stech Kingdom. From the information that I''ve gathered, it seems like that place is still undiscovered. We need to enter the dungeon and conquer it. There''s a box on the deepest floor of the dungeon which can only be unlocked with the key," Shu explained. "A D-Rank dungeon? The Monsters there should be level 10-15. What''s your level?" Ryder asked Shu. "I''m level 12 now, but I''m sure that we can do it. We''ll have something like a raid team with the help of other adventures. We can share the rewards with them equally. I''ll get most of the experience and an equal share of the reward. Doesn''t seem like a bad deal, right?" Shu said, smilingly. "That should be the most logical option, or you can spend some more time hunting, to increase your level," Ryder suggested. "There''s a time limit of 4 days in this quest. If I delay it anymore, it''ll be bad. I''ve already selected ten players for our team. Including you and me, we''ll be 12 people," Shu replied. "Since you''ve already planned everything, it''s alright. What''s your class?" Ryder asked Shu. "I''m a thief in the game. Also, there are three mages, three warriors, two priests, and two hunters in our team. What''s your class?" Shu inquired. "My class? It''s somewhat complicated," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. "Keeping it a secret? It''s alright. I''m sure we''ll get to see you in action during the quest," Shu chuckled. "It''s..." Ryder was about to respond when someone placed their hands on his shoulders. "Ryder?" the person said. Ryder looked back and saw a blonde boy standing behind him with a girl. "I was right. It''s you. What happened, man? You never come to our class reunions? Do you hate us that much? Or are you still angry because someone joked about you being poor last time? Come on, man; there''s nothing to be embarrassed about being poor. You can''t ghost your friends for such a small matter," the blonde-haired man said to Ryder as he chuckled. "Jason? What''re you doing in this area?" Ryder muttered as he looked at the blonde guy with a frown. "I was taking my girlfriend on a date, but she started asking for ice cream. I had to stop the car in the first place I noticed. Amazingly, I found you here. You never told us your address. Do you live here?" Jason asked Ryder. "No, I came here because a friend suggested this place," Ryder responded. "A friend? Oh right. I didn''t notice this guy sitting near you, which is strange considering his large size. I pity you, man. You used to have such a rich and handsome friend like Bastion in college. I can''t believe you stooped to a level like that," Jason laughed out loud. "You didn''t grow up, did you? The arrogance can be bad for you, Jason," Ryder said as he stood up. "Don''t get angry, man. I''m not trying to insult you; I was just talking about reality. Also, even if you get angry, what''re you going to do? Do you know who I am? I''m the General Manager in the marketing branch of Dream Corporation. You can''t even imagine how high my position is. Even if I kill someone, the police won''t dare to arrest me!" Jason said in a proud tone. "Anyway, you must''ve already received a reunion invitation, right? If you happen to grow some balls, I hope you will attend it. It''s not fun without having someone we can joke about," Jason chuckled as he said. "Please leave before I break that smug face of yours," Ryder warned Jason. "Hmph, poor trash," Jason muttered as he walked out of the cafe. "Don''t mind his words. He''s always like this," Ryder comforted Shu as he sat down, but he was visibly surprised as he saw the smile on Shu''s face. 105 Chapter 101: Company "Don''t worry about that. I know people like that quite well. It doesn''t bother me," Shu replied casually. "That''s the spirit," Ryder chuckled as he took another sip of his coffee that had already gotten cold by now. "Are you going to that reunion thing?" Shu asked Ryder. "Nah, it''s just a stupid thing. It''s not like I have many friends there that I can''t meet otherwise. I''m already in contact with my friends, and we can meet without going to that reunion thing," Ryder replied. "That makes sense. Anyway, we are doing the mission tomorrow, right? The faster we do it, the better it would be. Otherwise, we won''t even have any room for mistakes," Shu said. "Yeah, I''ll get there on time. Just tell me the meeting location," Ryder responded. "That''s good. The mission is in the South of Stech Kingdom, so we''re meeting at the nearest location of our target. At the center of the City of Aztec. You can check the map, or I''ll send you the coordinates," Shu replied. "It''s alright. I''ll find you," Ryder responded. "I''ll take my leave then. There''s somewhere I need to be. I''ll see you later," Ryder added before he stood up. "I also need to be going now. There are some things I need to take care of. I''ll see you in Divinity," Shu also said. Ryder paid the bill before he left the cafe with both of them Both of them got in their cars and went in different directions. **** Shu was sitting in his car. He used his voice commands to call a number. "Hey Albert, is there a Jason in our marketing division?" Shu asked the person on the other side. "Jason? There are quite a few people with the name Jason in our Marketing Division, Sir. Do you have a last name?" Albert asked. "He should be a General Manager in our Marketing Division," Shu told him. "Are you talking about Jason Todd? He was recently promoted to General Manager," Albert replied. "Well, he did look like a toad, so that should be him. Anyway, I heard that he loves fat people. I want you to demote him and promote a fat guy instead. Is there someone worthy like that in our division?" Shu asked. "Our Assistant General Manager fits the description," Albert replied. "Good. Promote him and make Jason his assistant," Shu told him. "I''ll handle it, Sir," Albert replied. Shu disconnected the call and drove his car towards his mansion. **** It was afternoon when Ryder reached the university for Alice. As soon as Alice left the campus, she saw a Whirlwind standing at the door. With an embarrassed look on her face, she walked up to the car. Ryder unlocked the door on the passenger side and opened it for her without getting out of the car. Alice entered the car and closed the door before she glared at Ryder fiercely. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryder asked innocently. "You know how much trouble you caused me? Now everyone in my class is talking about me hiding the fact that my family is rich!" Alice said. "Ignore it. There''s no need to worry about what the world says," Ryder replied as he started the car. He drove back home and dropped Alice there. "You''re not coming home?" Alice asked Ryder. "There are some things that I need to take care of first. I''ll be back later," Ryder responded before he left. Ryder left the place and drove to the Registrar Office. It was a place where one could register their companies. Every city has a place like that. Ryder stopped his car outside the building and entered the Registrar Office. "I want to register a company that I''m starting," Ryder told the officer assigned there. "Alright. Fill this form," The Officer gave Ryder a form and a pen. Ryder filled in the details on the form and returned it. "Did you really put 1 in the number of employees?" the officer asked Ryder. "Yeah, it''s a new startup. I''ll hire more people soon," Ryder replied. "Just wait for a minute. Let the check if the name is taken or not," the officer said as he started searching something on his laptop. "Alright, Divine Corporation is not taken yet. Your application is valid, but you need to pay 50000 dollars to register your company," the officer told him. Ryder nodded as he paid the fee. "Just out of curiosity, will your company really be an all-rounder? In the specific field, you wrote so many things. Tech, Research, Pharmaceutical, Entertainment, Marketing, etc. Shouldn''t you focus on one thing? It''s not good to be so ambitious, or you might fall before even rising," the Officer said. "It''s alright. Thanks for the advice, though," Ryder smiled as he stood up and left. Now he was the owner of a Registered Company, but that was just in name. His company had no business yet. "First things first, I need to arrange for a place as our office and hire some great people," Ryder muttered as he walked out the building and got in his car. "There''s plenty of time, so no need to be in a hurry. My three years of knowledge will be quite handy," Ryder muttered as he drove his car away. After an hour of driving, he stopped the car in front of a small house. Ryder got out of the car and walked towards the house and knocked. An older man opened the door. "Who are you?" he asked Ryder. "Ah, Uncle, I''m here to meet your grandson. Is he inside?" Ryder asked. "What do you want with my grandson?" "I''m here to talk about a job," Ryder responded. "Oh? Please come in," the old man smilingly invited Ryder inside as he noticed the expensive car in front of his door. "Aleson! Someone''s here to meet you!" the old man called out. "I''m so glad that you''re here. My grandson has been trying so hard to get a job, but no one is willing to give him a job. He''s really talented, I can assure you. Even though he didn''t get high marks in University, his practical knowledge is amazing," the Old Man told him. "I understand that perfectly. That''s why I''m here," Ryder smilingly replied. In the previous timeline, Aleson was a genius as well, but he didn''t get a job. One day his grandfather got sick and died. He didn''t even have the money to get him treated. The poor guy could do nothing but watch him die. But he turned that pain into motivation, and after a short year, he came up with something that made the world remember his name. 106 Chapter 102: Undead After around 10 minutes, a man came downstairs and stopped before the old man. He looked towards Ryder with confusion as he didn''t recognize him. "Why are you standing there like that? He''s here to talk about a job, go greet him," the Old man said to Aleson. "Ah, H-hello Sir," Aleson said, but he stuttered as he was nervous. ''Just like I had heard, his lack of university scores and his shy personality was the main reason for the world not to notice the upcoming genius,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. "Don''t worry, Aleson. I''m here to offer you a job. I have a pharmaceutical and tech company, and I want to hire you to work with me on an idea that I think will revolutionize the world. As this is just the beginning, I can only pay you 10000$ but when our company''s profit increases, your salary will increase as well. What do you say?" Ryder asked Aleson. "I agree," Aleson responded immediately. "Hmm? Don''t you want to hear the idea first?" Ryder asked in surprise. "There''s no need for that. I need the money to take care of my family. No matter what the idea is, I''ll give it my all to make it the reality," Aleson responded. "Hahaha, that''s fine. Let''s go to your room. I''ll show you the contract and tell you what I need you to work on," Ryder laughed as he stood up. Aleson took Ryder to his room. Aleson''s room was mostly empty. There was nothing much in the room except a bed, a table, a computer, and a wardrobe. Ryder took out the contract papers and gave them to Aleson. "Read that carefully before signing. There are a few important things in there, like the fact that you will be the leader of our pharma team and about your salary and your future. I''ll wait here while you go through it," Ryder said before he sat on the bed. Aleson began reading the contract, and after reading it thoroughly, he signed it. He gave the papers back to Ryder. "Great, now hear my idea," "You know how many people in the world get cancer every year? Despite all this growth in our society, we haven''t had a large breakthrough in this field. Let alone the treatment, even the testing hasn''t been improved, but I want to change that," Ryder said to Aleson. Aleson just looked at Ryder with curiosity on his face and a little bit of surprise. "I want you to work on a piece of tech that can be used to find out cancer, its type, and its stage just from a blood drop. Something that everyone could use right in their homes without going to the hospital. Just imagine a world where everyone could test themselves," " A lot of cancer patients die because of not finding out about it in the initial stages, but I want to change that. I want a world where people can actively test themselves. I believe that this would decrease the deaths in our society as people won''t have to wait for symptoms to show," Ryder explained. "That?" Aleson had his mouth wide open in surprise. This was similar to a thought he had previously, but he didn''t intend to explore that idea as he wasn''t sure if it was possible. "Don''t worry. It''s entirely possible, and I believe that you can do it. I have the initial idea on the principal this test would work on, and a few other basic things about this and I need you to work on what I know and dive deeper from there. I''ll tell you more details about what I know; you can start working after a few weeks. I''ll send you the office address and other details. Give me your number," Ryder said to Aleson. He took Aleson''s number before he left his room and went downstairs and left the house. He got into his car and left the place. "The start wasn''t bad, I guess," Ryder muttered as he drove the car under the evening light. As he drove through the city, he saw a lottery stop along the way. "Wait a minute. How could I forget about that? Isn''t tomorrow the date that happened?" Ryder muttered as he increased the speed and went to a different part of the city. He remembered that there was a lottery worth millions of dollars. Even though he didn''t remember what the winning numbers were, he did remember the shop the winner bought the ticket from. It was still in his mind as that was a massive thing at that time because the winner was from his area. Ryder stopped the car in front of the lottery shop. He got out of the car and entered the shop. "I need all your lottery tickets," Ryder told the shop owner. He purchased every lottery ticket the owner had and left the place. The lottery winner was supposed to be announced after three more days, but he was confident that the grand prize was already his now. Ryder got back to home right at the time of dinner. He walked straight to the dining room. "You''re back, How did your work go?" Alice asked Ryder as she served the dinner. "It went great. Soon everything will fall into place," Ryder responded as a smile formed on his face. He finished dinner and walked back to his room. He rested on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. He found himself in the world of Divinity inside his bedroom in the Royal Palace. Ryder got off the bed and left his room. Miku was still standing outside his room. "Do you always stay outside my room?" Ryder asked her. "It''s my responsibility to take care of Your Highness," Miku replied. "Is Rale still in the practice hall?" Ryder asked her. "No, Your Highness. Master Rale went outside to the town. He should be back soon," she replied. "Alright. I''m going to Miyali''s room. Inform me when he''s back," Ryder told her before he started walking towards Miyali''s room. Soon he got there, he knocked on the door and entered the place. Miyali was sitting in the bed. "Miyali? Is it my misconception, or are your eyes a deeper shade of red now? Can I know what your species is?" Ryder asked in confusion as he saw her eyes. Miyali looked worried as she looked at Ryder. "Why are you worried? Don''t worry. You won''t be hurt because of your species," Ryder told her as he walked closer to her. "I-i''m not a full demon. I''m a half-demon and half undead," Miyali replied as she gathered her courage. 107 Chapter 103: Vampire "Half Demon and Half Undead?" Ryder exclaimed in shock. "Yes. My mother was from the Winged Demon Species of Demon Realm, and my father was from the Vampire Clan of the Undead Realm," Miyali answered him. "Vampire? There was no mention of vampires in the game, even in the last timeline?" Ryder muttered in confusion. "What about that guy who that Demon Lord killed? Didn''t you call him father as well?" Ryder asked her. "He was the brother of my mother. He was taking care of me like a father since my mother died when I was only a few years old. To not get people suspicious about myself, he had me call him father. Although he wasn''t my birth father, he was no less than a father to me," Miyali replied. "What about your father? I don''t know much about vampires in this place, but shouldn''t vampires be immortal?" Ryder asked her. "I don''t know much about my father or where he is now. All I was told was that he was a vampire from the Undead Realm," Miyali looked down and responded. "Alright, don''t worry about that. Stay here comfortably and think of it as your home. I''ll try asking around about vampires. Maybe we will find out more about you," Ryder told her, smilingly. He was about to ask about why her eyes were a deeper shade of red now, but that''s when there was a knock on the door. Ryder walked toward the door and opened it, only to find Miku standing outside. Rale stood behind her. "Oh, you''re back. Wait a minute, I''ll be right outside," Ryder told Rale before he looked back towards Miyali. "I''m going now; I should be back soon. If you need anything, you can ask Miku," Ryder told Miyali before he left her room. "Rale, come with me," Ryder said as he started walking towards the underground location where spatial tunnels were located. "Do you have anything to do here in the next few days?" Ryder asked Rale. "Nothing significant, Your Highness," Rale responded. "Good then. Let''s go to the human realm again," Ryder told him. "There? Is there something else we need to take?" Rale inquired. "Not exactly. Think of it as a fun bonding exercise," Ryder chuckled as he said. "We''ll be going outside disguised as human adventures. I want to experience how they gain strength," Ryder said to him. "Should I bring others as well?" Rale asked. "No need. The two of us should be enough," Ryder told him. "Alright," Rale nodded his head. "Miku, we''re going again. If someone comes, tell them that I''m sleeping. I should be back in a day or so," Ryder told Miku as he stepped down the stairs. He stood before the first spatial tunnel and brought out his key. He opened the spatial tunnel door and entered inside. Rale entered after him. Both of them appeared in the Malta Valley, the same location as last time. "The location we need to go is somewhat far away. You can carry me as you fly so that we aren''t late," Ryder told Rale. That was one of the main reasons he brought Rale with him. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale said as he held Ryder''s hand. 2 wings appeared behind his back, and he began flying. Rale flew, and Ryder told him the direction. Ryder was on the way when he got the message from Shu asking him where he was and how long it would take him. "I''m on the way. I should be there in a few hours. I won''t be late," Ryder responded. "Alright. I''ll wait with the others," Shu replied to him. After a few hours, Rale and Ryder entered the Stech Kingdom They got to the City on the south and landed right outside the city. "Wear your cloak and try not to take that off," Ryder told Rale, who did as he was commanded. They entered the city and walked towards the center of the city. As Ryder got there, he found Shu standing there. Shu looked similar to how he looked in real life, but there were a few changes. He had long hair in the game, and he even changed the color of his eyes. A few adventures were standing beside Shu. "Brother R... Hades, you''re finally here. Right on time," Shu said, smilingly. "Big Daddy, is that the person we were waiting for?" a girl that was standing on the right side of shu asked him. "Yes. He will be our teammate in this exploration. Oh right, who''s the person behind you?" Shu asked Ryder. "He''s a friend," Ryder replied. "What do you think you''re doing? As far as I know, Big Daddy only invited you. We don''t need any more players in this mission, do you think we''re opening a charity here? You''ll bring anyone with you, and we''ll take it? You should know that each extra member means lesser rewards for each of its members," another girl said. She was wearing a Mage dress as well and held a staff in her hand. Before Shu could silence the girl, Ryder started speaking. "You don''t need to worry about that. He doesn''t need experience. He''ll be with me, but he won''t join the quest or the team. He''s here just to explore the dungeon," Ryder told her. "That''s better," the girl snorted. "You don''t need to do that, Brother. We can have another player in our team," Shu told Ryder. " I''m not kidding. He really is not here for the quest, so forget it. Anyway, aren''t you going to introduce everyone?" Ryder changed the topic. "Alright, if you say so. She is Mimi121; she''s our Level 13 mage. That''s SexyLady; she''s our Level 12 Hunter. That''s BlizzardCane; he''s our Level 12 warrior. He''s MountainMan, another Level 12 warrior. He''s CharmingHunk, our 3rd warrior. He''s level 13. She''s Mamamiya, our second mage, level 13. She''s PokiChu, our last mage, Level 13. Those two girls are our priest, she''s LightinDarkness, and the one on her left is Darknessinlight. They are both sisters, and they''re both level 12. And lastly, she''s our second Hunter, Dumdum, a level 13," Shu introduced his team. "Now you should introduce yourself," Shu told Ryder, mostly because he himself didn''t know Ryder''s class. "I''m Hades; I''m a mage. I''m at level 15," Ryder told them. "Level 15? You''re the strongest in our team? Why don''t you have a staff if you''re a high-level mage?" SexyLady asked. "I have a staff. I kept it in my storage," Ryder smilingly said as he brought out his Moon Scythe, which was already transformed to a magical staff using transformation. "That''s an excellent staff. Which grade is it?" Mamamiya asked Ryder. 108 Chapter 104: Lucifers Whereabouts "It''s a normal grade staff, it just looks pretty," Ryder responded casually. "Can you sell that to me? I''ll give you a different staff and some money as well," Mimi123 told Ryder. Even though all three mages liked it, she was the only one to ask to buy it proactively. "I can''t sell it, but thanks for the offer," Ryder rejected straight forward. "Money is not an option, think carefully," she said again. "As I said, I don''t want to sell it," Ryder replied. "As you wish, I won''t force you, but just remember that you missed the chance of selling a normal grade staff for 10000$. Even higher grade treasures would be cheaper than it on the outside," she told Ryder, but Ryder simply smiled and didn''t react. "Now that we''ve introduced ourselves, we should get going. The faster we go, the faster we can finish it," Shu said to everyone. They all agreed and started walking towards the dungeon. ''Your Highness, I have a question. What is a dungeon?" Rale asked Ryder. "A dungeon is something like a building or a cave inside which monsters hide. Adventurers go there to hunt the monsters which give them experience, and that makes them stronger," Ryder informed Rale. "Oh, so it''s something like a monster cave. We have those in our place as well. Your Highness can go there if he wants to get stronger," Rale informed Ryder. "I heard about that, but I also know the level of monsters there," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. They got to the Dungeon after walking outside the city. The dungeon was inside a forest. The whole forest was covered in plants and trees, which made it difficult for them to find the dungeon even though they had the coordinates because of the quest. They got to the dungeon after searching for a while. The Dungeon looked like a cave that went underground. Shu pushed the door and entered first. The others entered after them. Notifications started appearing one after another for everyone. [Discovered a dungeon] [First team to find the Dungeon of the South; Fame Points +50] Everyone got an increase in their fame points. [First team to find the Dungeon of the South; Strength +10 for next 30 minutes] They got another notification. "Incredible. Now I have fame points as well. We should be able to see our names in the fame points ranking," one of the mages said. "Hey guys, umm, I just noticed it, but the 2nd person in the Fame Ranking seems to be Hades?" a priest exclaimed in surprise as she looked towards Ryder. The others also started looking at Ryder. "Now that you mention it, I remember. The first person to pass the novice village was Hades. Are you that Hades?" another person asked Ryder as they looked at him in shock. "I should be the one, yeah," Ryder responded. "You''re first in the weapon ranking as well!! Incredible, I never knew we had a top player with us. Big Daddy, did you know it?" PokiChu asked Shu. "Of course, I knew it. Do you think I wouldn''t know about such a big thing?" Shu chuckled as he responded. "What''s so special about that? He was lucky in the Novice Village and managed to pass first and get a unique grade weapon, but so what? After leaving the village, he had only fallen behind Lucifer. Look at the fame ranking. He has 300 Fame Points, whereas Lucifer is at 700 Fame Points. There are many more players that are about to overtake him in fame points," one of the warriors said. "His level isn''t that high either. Only one or two levels higher than most of us," another warrior said. "You should focus more on the quest than focusing on me," Ryder responded. "That''s right. Our main mission is to finish the dungeon. We can talk about other things after we come out," Shu said to everyone. "Let''s talk about our formations. Warriors should be in the lead, followed by archers and mages that will fire long-range attacks¡ªpriests on the back to heal us and buff us. I''ll do the recon at the front," Shu suggested. They all agreed as they started moving deeper into the dungeon. "There are goblins up ahead. They are level 11-12 monsters. Be ready to battle," Shu came back and informed them all. "Alright. Let me attract their aggro with my Taunt and defend. You can kill them in the meanwhile," Mountain Man, the level 12 warrior, said. The Warriors used their skills to attract the attention of the goblins. Five goblins ran towards the warriors, but mages started bombarding them with their spells. It took four spells for a mage to kill a goblin, but when Ryder used a fireblast, only one attack was enough to blast the goblin to smithereens. A few people noticed it, which shocked the ones that saw them, but they couldn''t be sure if it was because of Ryder''s attacks as every goblin was stuck with at least one or two attacks of the archers and the mages. The fight was shorter than their expectations and finished in a few minutes. The goblins didn''t drop anything, but they did give experience points. The experience of killing a level 12 player was significant for the others, but it was like a droplet of water in a pond for someone like Ryder, who was a level 40 player. "That went great. If we worked like that, we could probably finish this dungeon much faster," Shu said as he chuckled. They started walking deeper into the Dungeon and faced a lot more goblins, but after an hour, they managed to reach the end of that floor. They had finished the floor, and there were stairs ahead of them, which led to the underground levels, but none of them stepped on the stairs. They all drank their potion to recover their mana and their Qi before stepping down. Ryder and Rale were the only ones that still had most of their mana. Rale followed them from some distance, but he didn''t involve himself in a fight as per Ryder''s instructions. They got down to the next floor. The monsters on the second floor were Snow Star Wolves along with Giant Orcs that carried clubs in their hands. They kept killing monsters as they went further. From the first floor, they went down to the 5th floor. "Do any of you know Lucifer''s level or any information about his whereabouts?" Ryder asked the other players as they moved forward. 109 Chapter 105: Trap "I saw him once a few days ago. He had a big red mark over his head. The other players surrounded him, but he killed them all before he left that place. I''m not sure what his level was, but he was pretty powerful," Shu told Ryder. "A red mark? He should''ve killed the guards of Estella. Quite stupid, I suppose, but that would make the game more interesting for him as well," Ryder muttered as he smiled. ''I wonder if I should do something like this as well. Although a red mark makes it tough for you to hide from other players and makes you a target, it comes with some benefits as well. When you kill the players that want to kill you, you get experience as well,'' Ryder thought. "Look, there''s a box there! Our first loot box in this dungeon!" Shu exclaimed as he pointed towards the distance. As he was a thief, his vision was the greatest amongst the players that were present there, making him able to see the farthest. Everyone walked to the Box. "Looks amazing, who''s going to open it?" Mimi123 asked the others. "It doesn''t matter. The rewards are going to be shared equally no matter who opens it, so don''t worry about that," Shu comforted others before he stepped towards the box and opened it. As soon as the box opened, a giant snake jumped out of the box. Shu sat down in a hurry and managed to dodge the attack, but the snake instead landed on their Warrior and bit his head off. The Warrior was poisoned, and his health bar reached 0 before he could even use Healing Potion. "Shadow Ball!" Ryder used his skill and killed the snake before it could target others. "This was a trap box, the snake was at least a level 14 beast, you should stay careful with what you open next," Ryder told Shu, who was still lying on the ground in shock. Ryder walked up to him and extended his hands towards Shu. Shu caught his hand and stood up. "I''ll keep that in mind. I was too ignorant just now," Shu nodded his head. "Hey, there''s something else in the box!" Lightindarkness pointed out. Shu and Ryder glanced towards the box and saw that it indeed had something in it. There was a small ring in the box. Shu picked up the ring and got a notification about it. "It''s called the ring of increment. A mid-grade treasure that can increase the HP and the Mana by 5 percent," Shu informed others. "Incredible! That treasure is so useful for us mages, one of us should keep it. We can cast more spells with more mana," one of the mages said as she looked towards the ring. "Hey, that''s not true! You know that we warriors fight on the front lines, and we take the brunt of most of the attacks. We need the increased HP more than you need the Mana. Just look at BlizzardCane, if he had more HP, he might have been able to take the Healing Potion before dying!" the Warrior, MountainMan said. "What about us Priests, we need the boost as well! We''re the weakest when it comes to defense, and the HP can be useful to us!" the priest said. Just like that, slowly, everyone started asking the ring for themselves, giving a big headache to Shu. "It''s too soon to be sharing the treasures right now as there''s no way I can share the ring equally between you all. I understand that this ring is useful for every class. How about we wait till the end of this quest before we find all the rewards, and then we can decide who gets what equally. There''s no need to be in haste as we might find even greater treasures later," Shu thought for a while before he decided that it was too soon for sharing. "So we are supposed to let the ring sit uselessly until the end of the quest? You know that it can help one of us, right? How about I keep that. I''ll return it at the end of the mission, and we can decide who keeps what?" MountainMan again said. "This... This would be unfair for others as they all want it. It might even divide our team. I''ll keep it in my storage in the meanwhile. None of us will use it," Shu said as he put the ring in his storage. Although other players were left unsatisfied, they all agreed at the end. They walked down to the 10th level of the dungeon. Even though the number of monsters was less compared to the upper floors, the monsters were all level 14 monsters now. The fights took longer as Ryder let the others fight instead of taking care of all the monsters himself. Rale just stood behind everyone watching everyone fight. He was also starting to get bored as he couldn''t do anything here; still, he stayed alert as he considered protecting Ryder as his primary mission. They reached the end of the 10th level and saw a big door in front of them. "Everyone, restore your HP, the room ahead should be the room of the Boss Monster on this floor. Even though he will be a level 15 monster, his real strength would be way higher," Shu told the others as he sat down and started restoring his HP using potions. The others also did the same. Even Ryder drank a potion to get his Mana to full as his HP was already full. Since the start of exploration, he wasn''t harmed in the slightest. After everyone was ready and prepared, they pushed the door open and entered the room. They saw a giant humanoid monster standing at the end of the room with his eyes closed. It looked like an Orc, but it has two heads instead of one. The monster was 7 meters tall and looked like a giant. Its arms itself was as wide as the shoulders of Ryder. The Monster held a four-meter long machete in his hand. As everyone entered the room, the eyes of the monster opened. Its red eyes glanced at the intruders. "Follow the formation and attack!" Shu commanded everyone. The two warriors ran to the monster, and the Mages started attacking it, but their attacks didn''t seem to be harming the monster too much. They could see the HP of the monster getting lower at the snail''s speed. "Such frightening defense," the priest muttered as she stood in the back, casting buffs on the other players that were fighting. Ryder hadn''t attacked yet. 110 Chapter 106: Treasure ''I didn''t explore this dungeon last time, but I heard that the first team to enter was wiped out. It took a team of level 15 players to clear the dungeon. A few Level 12-13 players facing a level 15 monster reminds me of the time when we faced that dragon,'' Ryder thought as he stared at the slowly lowering HP of the monster. "Hey! Are you here to help us or just watch! Do something!" the Mage scolded Ryder, who was just standing in the back doing nothing. "Alright," Ryder muttered as he raised his staff. "Flame Blast!" Ryder casted a spell, a ball of fire took shape and flew towards the monster. It landed on the forehead of the monster, instantly bringing his HP down to 0. His HP bar that was previously Green had reached 0, but the HP bar again got full as it changed its color to red. ''This should be its berserk mode that activates when it''s killed for the first time. So many teams died because of this. It was really unexpected when I heard about it for the first time as well,'' Ryder thought as he cast another flame blast. The monster was in berserk mode, and it had managed to kill another warrior before the ball of fire landed on him again. His HP got down to 0 once more. A system-wide announcement was made that was hard by everyone in the game. [The first Grade D dungeon has been cleared] Every participant in the exploration also got a notification. [Fame Points: +400] They also gained equivalent experience from killing the monster, and some of them even got a level-up notification. Even though Ryder also gained a similar experience, it was nothing for him. He needed to kill monsters in level 40s to gain faster experience, and level 15 was just like a small bump in his experience. "There''s the box. I think that should be the one your quest talked about," Ryder told Shu as he saw a box at the end of the room. Ryder looked towards Shu when he didn''t hear a response. As he looked towards them, he saw all of them looking at him with a strange look on their faces. "Why are you looking at me like that?" Ryder asked them all. "Was that a mythical grade spell? It killed the boss monster in one hit," one of the mages stared at Ryder as she asked. ''Mythical Grade Spell? I remember there was a rumor like that in the last timeline as well about the presence of an all-powerful spell in the game. Even after spending three years in the game, there was nothing about that spell, so it was clear that it was just a false rumor spread by someone,'' Ryder thought. "That should be it. You got a Mythical grade spell in the game! It''s so powerful!" Another girl commented. "If you had that from the beginning, why didn''t you use it! 2 of my friends died because of you!" the last remaining warrior, MountainMan, said to Ryder as he blamed him. "Stop talking! Can''t you see that he saved us all? If he wanted, he could have let us all die before finishing the quest alone," the hunter responded to the warrior. "Guys, no fighting. Let''s just focus on the rewards!" The Priest tried to calm everyone down. "That''s right. The treasures are right in front of us. There''s no need to argue!" Shu also said to the others before he walked up to the chest at the end. "Be careful. There might be a trap as well," Mimi warned Shu. Shu carefully opened the chest and found that there was no trap inside. The chest was filled with treasures and artifacts. There were a few gold coins in the chest as well. He brought out all the items and placed them on the ground. He also put the ring that was found in the box there. "There are exactly ten things here. No one is allowed to touch them or see their stats or buffs. Choose which one you want. If there are two or more people that want the same thing, we can have a vote to decide the one who gets that!" Shu told everyone. "I''ll go first," "No, I''ll go first," "Why do you want to go first, it should be me. I''m the youngest," "I''m the only one amongst the warriors that survived. I should go first," Shu just facepalmed himself as he saw their reaction. "Alright. I already thought that something like this would happen, so I made these. Each of these paper slips has a number written in them from 1-12. I''ll remove the 11 and 12, fold the rest and throw them in the ground. Everyone will choose one. We''ll go number wise," Shu told them as he started folding the papers. "Alright," they all agreed. Shu placed all the slips on the ground. All of them picked one. Ryder and Shu picked up the last remaining slips. "I''m first!" Mimi smiled as she showed the number on her slip to everyone. "Pick one," Shu told her. "I''ll take the Ring of Increment! I need the excess Mana," Mimi told them as she picked the ring and wore it. "I''m number 2," The Priest, LightinDarkness said next. She chose a small bracelet that looked as if it was made from silver. "Incredible! This is the Bracelet of Defense. It increases my defense by 5 percent! Exactly what I needed," She exclaimed excitedly as she wore the bracelet. Some of the players were visibly jealous of her luck. The Warrior went next and picked up the headband. "What the crap is this? Headband of Skulkin? What the heck am I going to do with a 7 percent mana increase?" MountainMan cursed in anger. "7 percent mana increase? That is useless for you. How about we exchange our treasures? I''ll give you my Ring of Increment in exchange?" Mimi told him. MountainMan agreed and exchanged the item as the Ring of Increment was able to give him a 5% HP boost. Just like that, everyone went up one by one and picked up items. All these items gave them some kind of boost. Some liked them, and some hated them. "I''m 9, but you can go first," Shu told Ryder. "Don''t worry about that. Go on, pick what you like," Ryder rejected the offer. In his eyes, none of these treasures was worth anything. Shu nodded his head and stepped forth as he picked up the yellow robe. "The Robe of Invincibility? It can make me unkillable, but the effects only last for 1 second, and I can only use it once a day," Shu described the item and wore it. The last item that remained was a book. Ryder picked up the book and got a notification. 111 Chapter 107: Ancient Hobbi "The book of Mystery: Written by Ancient Hobbits, unreadable," Ryder read the description. "That? Isn''t that useless? Hahaha, I thought my item was bad, but that''s clearly worse," MountainMan laughed out loud. Ryder didn''t react to him and opened the book. ''The book clearly has something written, but I can''t read it. This should be written in Ancient Hobbit Language. I wonder if Rale can read it,'' Ryder thought. He put the book back in his storage. [Quest: Finish the Dungeon of the South and open the Mysterious Box: Completed] [Experience: +20 percent] [Received the Title: The Persistent One] [Level +1] [Level +1] Shu started getting notifications for completing the Quest. "Wait a minute; there''s also a letter in the chest. I don''t think it was there last time," Shu muttered as he looked towards the box. "I don''t see any letter?" Ryder muttered as he looked inside the chest. "I don''t see anything either," the others said. "Strange," Shu muttered as he picked the letter. ''To the person that''s reading this, I''m the owner of the treasures that you found. My name is Albus Albino; I''m the Supreme Mage of the Resuria Kingdom. I am one of the strongest people in the Kingdom, but despite having all my Powers, I wasn''t able to protect what really mattered to me,'' ''My only daughter, Lexini, was kidnapped by the dark sorcerer of the Southern Elisia Kingdom. I''ve decided to put my life on the line to go to save my daughter, but I''m not sure if I can do it. I''m leaving these small treasures behind for the ones that may find it. If I succeed, I''ll take back the treasures, but if you''re reading this letter, it means that I''ve failed,'' ''I don''t know how many years may have passed when you open the letter. I''m not even sure if my daughter would still be alive. I won''t ask you to save my daughter, but I hope that you can fulfill my last wish and find the ring that my daughter was wearing. It was a gift from the Royal Family. Please find that ring and return it to the Royal Family of Resuria along with the second letter. You''ll be heavily rewarded for your effort,'' Shu finished reading the letter silently. [You have received a chain Quest] [Quest: Find the Ring of Lexini and return it to the Royal Family of Resuria. Quest Grade: C Time Limit: 2 month Limitation: You can only select one person to share this quest with. No other team member allowed] [Would you like to accept? Y/N ] As soon as Shu finished reading the letter, he received a Quest. "What''s in the letter?" MountainMan asked Shu as he saw him standing there. Shu accepted the Quest before he looked back at MountainMan. "You can read it," Shu muttered as he passed the letter back. "There''s nothing on it," MountainMan let out with a frown as he saw the letter. "Let''s leave. The Quest is done," Shu told them before he walked out of the room. MountainMan threw the letter on the ground and left the room with others. The letter disappeared. They walked out of the Dungeon and went back to the city before going their separate ways. They didn''t forget to remind Shu to invite them if there was an exploration like this again. This exploration turned out to be quite fruitful for everyone. Only Shu, Ryder, and Rale had stayed behind. They walked to a beer bar and sat on a table far away from others. "What was in the letter? It must be a quest if I''m not wrong," Ryder asked Shu. In his three years of experience, he himself received quite a few quests this way; that''s why he understood. "That''s what I wanted to talk to you about, but I didn''t say it in front of others. I received a quest, and I can share it with one person. I want you to be that person, Brother Ryder," Shu said. "That''s what I thought. Alright, we''ll do this Quest together. Let me see what it is," Ryder told Shu. Immediately, he received a notification. [Big Daddy wants to share a Quest with you] [Quest: Find the Ring of Lexini and return it to the Royal Family of Resuria. Quest Grade: C Time Limit: 2 months] [Would you like to accept? Y/N ] Ryder accepted the quest. He read the detailed description. "So that''s what it''s about," Ryder muttered. "Exactly, I also got a compass that can track the ring, but I''m sure that it won''t be easy," Shu told Ryder. "It''s a Grade C quest, so it should be tough, but not impossible. "You should still try to level up. Level up as much as you can in the next 30 days. After that, we will start the quest," Ryder told Shu. "Is this really right to delay it? We''ll only have a month to do it if we waste a month," Shu told Ryder. "Don''t worry about that. One month is more than enough to complete that mission with that compass," Ryder chuckled as he stood up. "I''ll be taking my leave. I need to get back somewhere. Don''t forget to level up, alright? I''ll meet you later," Ryder told him as he left. He walked out of the city with Rale. "So, Rale? What did you think about the way people progress here?" Ryder asked Rale. "It is strange. It is as Your Highness said, I could feel them getting stronger the more they kill, which is quite fascinating. But still, they''re too weak. They would be wiped out without your help," Rale responded. "Exactly, but they would keep coming back stronger. That''s how people should be. Never afraid of difficulties," Ryder chuckled as he stepped forth. "Oh, right. Let''s go back," He added. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale nodded as two wings appeared behind his back. He carried Ryder with him as he flew towards Malta Valley. "Hey Rale, I have a question for you. Do you know the Ancient Hobbit Language?" Ryder asked Rale as they flew towards their destination. "I do know the Ancient Hobbit Language, and I must say, it was one of the toughest languages to learn," Rale replied. "That''s good. I might need you to translate something written in the Ancient Hobbit Language for me," Ryder told him. "Of Course, Your Highness," Rale nodded his head. "Oh, another thing. What do you know about the Vampires of the Undead Realm?" Ryder inquired as he remembered about Miyali. "The Vampires?" Rale muttered as he frowned. "Yeah, I want to know everything you know about vampires," Ryder said again. 112 Chapter 108: Urge to Kill "The Undead Realm is a very vast and diverse place. It has many species, and it is closely related to the Death Domain. I''m not sure if Your Highness knows about it yet, but the people from the Death Domain are able to control the Undead Species and bring them out during a fight, but that''s not all there is to it," "The Death Domain can only establish links with weaker Undeads like Skeletons, Zombies, etc., but there is also another branch of Undead that is uncontrollable by them. Even their King wasn''t able to control them," Rale responded. "Interesting. So the Vampires must be the uncontrollable ones," Ryder muttered. "Exactly, just like we have High Demons, the Undead Realm have High-Rank Undeads. Those are the ones that are able to think for themselves, and in some instances, they are even smarter than other species. The Vampires are considered High Undeads. And some of them are as strong as our Dukes as well," Rale explained. "Is there someone in the Undead Realm as strong as our High Dukes?" Ryder asked again. "There are 2 Undeads that are as strong as our High Dukes. The Vampire King and the Lich King. There is Ghoul King as well, but it''s said that he''s not at their level yet," Rale replied. "What about the Death Domain? How many of them are on the same level as our High Dukes?" Ryder asked again due to his curiosity. "They have the same number. They have 4 Death Ministers that are said to be as strong as our High Dukes," Rale replied. "4 in the Death Domain and 2 in the Undead Realm? Why haven''t they joined together in the last war between Death Domain and the Demon Realm? And even after that?" Ryder inquired. He believed that if they attacked together, the Demon Realm might be in trouble. "Because the High-Rank Undeads don''t like the people from the Death Domain because they control the low-level Undeads and use them as puppets. The High-Rank Undeads don''t involve themselves in flights between the two sides as they don''t like either of the sides," Rale responded. "Interesting, so it is like that. It''s good that they don''t like each other," Ryder muttered. "Oh, right. What do you think it means when the eyes of a vampire turn from light red to deep red?" Ryder asked again as he remembered the thing about Miyali''s eyes that he had noticed last time he left. "From what I know, Vampires have light red eyes, but their eyes turn deep red when they don''t drink blood for a long time. If they don''t drink the blood even after that, then they may lose control of themselves and attack others," Rale replied. "What the heck! Rale, increase the speed. We need to get home fast!" Ryder said in a hurry. He was starting to get worried. He knew that if Miyali lost control and attacked others, she might be killed by his Royal Guards. She might even be able to kill Miku before that. And if others found out that she was a vampire, it would be troublesome. There were a few demons that had red eyes, and she had demon blood, so no one recognized her yet, but it might not be for long. Rale flew even faster and brought Ryder to the Malta Valley. Ryder brought the Key out of his storage and opened the spatial tunnel. He entered the spatial tunnel that opened before him. Rale followed after him, still wondering why they were suddenly in such a hurry. They got back inside the Royal Palace and walked to the higher levels. Ryder ran towards Miyali''s room. "Don''t come inside until I invite you!" He told Rale as he entered Miyali''s room. As he entered, he saw Miyali sitting on the bed, writing something on the paper. "Miyali?" Ryder called her. She looked up, and her eyes were again the lighter shade of red. "Did you drink blood?" Ryder asked Miyali with a frown. Miyali looked up and saw Ryder standing in front of her. She nodded her head. "Whose blood?" Ryder asked Miyali in a harsh tone. She pointed to the left. Ryder looked in the direction she was pointing at and saw a small tray there. The body of a small bunny was lying on it. "You drank monster blood? That''s better than attacking someone from the palace, though," Ryder muttered. "You should''ve told me if you needed blood. I would''ve arranged something for you. What would have happened if you hadn''t found the beast and lost control!" Ryder said to her as he stepped towards her. "Tell me how many times do you need blood? It should be daily, right?" Ryder asked her. "I''m half demon, so I don''t need to drink blood daily. I can handle myself on normal demon food, but I do need to drink blood once at least two weeks; otherwise, I start feeling the urge to kill," Miyali told him while looking down. "Alright. I''ll arrange for it. Also, If there''s anything else like that, you can tell me, alright?" Ryder asked her. Miyali nodded her head. They talked for a little more before Ryder left the room. "Is everything alright, Your Highness?" Rale asked Ryder as he stepped out. "Yeah, everything''s perfectly fine," Ryder responded. "I''m going to sleep now, but you should stay in the palace, alright? I''ll need you to translate something for me tomorrow," Ryder told Rale before he left for his room. Ryder locked the door and laid on the bed before he logged out. He removed his divinity glasses and saw the time on the clock, which made him disappointed. "I''m late. Alice must''ve already left for college. I really need to teach her how to drive," he muttered as he got off the bed and went to take a shower. After getting ready, he ate the breakfast that was already prepared by Alice and left the house. He went to the property dealer and looked around for a place he could use as the headquarters of the Divine Corporation, but he didn''t find what he was looking for. Throughout the day, he kept looking for places by going to various property dealers, and ultimately he found a place that he liked. It was a 7-floor building that was being sold for only 10 million dollars. "Why is this place so cheap?" Ryder asked the property dealer as he found it suspicious. "I have this property on sale for five years now. It''s so cheap because no one wants to buy this place," The Property dealer said. ''Why?" Ryder inquired. 113 Chapter 109: Ancient Ghostbuster "I won''t hide it from you as I don''t do unfair practices. You can decide for yourself after that," the Property Dealer told Ryder, which made him even more curious about the reason. "The property is said to be haunted. Since the property was constructed, more than four people owned it. Two of them are dead, and the other two have gone crazy," he added. ''A haunted place? It might as well be true. I''ve seen too many impossible things to doubt anything now,'' Ryder thought with a wry smile on his face. "I''ll take the property," Ryder told the dealer. "Are you sure? I won''t deny you the property, but I must advise you against it. Think carefully. Even though I myself don''t believe in ghosts, everyone else in the city seems to believe it. That''s all I''ll say. It''s your choice after that," the dealer once again said. "I''ve thought about it carefully. I''ll buy it. You can start the paperwork. Let''s finish it today," Ryder replied. "As you wish," The Property Dealer responded. They finished the paperwork, and the property was legally transferred to Ryder. Ryder left the place and entered his car, advanced towards the building. He stopped before a 7-floor building, which had a parking of its own. He stepped out of the car and entered the building. The building covered a large area but had no security at the moment. The interior was completely empty, and only a few papers were lying on the dust-covered ground. He checked all seven floors but saw nothing strange and no ghost, but he did feel as if someone was watching him. He stood at the top of the building and looked at the beautiful town filled with people. "Beautiful place, I''ll need furniture and other stuff for it, though. So many expenses," Ryder muttered as he turned back, but as soon as he turned back, he saw a spirit standing before him. The spirit was semi-transparent, and he was able to see across her. It seemed to be the spirit of a young boy that seemed to be only 18-19 year old. "Hey?" Ryder said to the spirit, but the spirit didn''t reply and pushed Ryder to make him fall off the roof, but as soon as the spirit''s hands touched Ryder, it started roaring in pain as it stepped back. "Sorry, man, I don''t want to harm you, but I had to protect myself. Now we can be friends, and I can help you with what you need, or I can wipe you off the face of this earth. The decision is yours," Ryder told him. When he was coming here, he had already thought of ways to protect him. That''s why he had purchased a necklace from the system that was able to protect him from spirits. The spirit looked at Ryder in silence. "You can doubt me, but you can''t deny that you can''t touch me. And that was only one of my powers. I''m the ancient ghostbuster, and I have many ways to kill you, but you seem like a good guy, that''s why I won''t kill you unless you misbehave and hurt someone else," Ryder said with a proud look on his face. In reality, even though the necklace could protect him and harm the spirit when it touched him, there was no other way for him to hurt the spirit. There was an item that was able to destroy the spirit, but he didn''t have enough points to get that at the moment, which made him try to bluff his way out. "You can not help me!" the spirit said as he glared at Ryder. "Why can''t I help you? Just try telling me what you need?" Ryder told the spirit. "Y-you can understand me?" the Spirit asked in surprise. "Yeah, Is it strange? As I said, if you''re just a spirit that is doing this for a reason, I can help you. On the other hand, if you''re just doing it for fun, I would hope that you can stop it. I can kill you, but I don''t want to do it if I don''t have to," Ryder asked as he smiled. Him being able to understand the Spirit was also because of that necklace that he had bought from the system. "I promise I won''t harm anyone if you help me. You have to do just one thing for me!" the Spirit said to Ryder. Ryder was visibly surprised at the moment. He thought that the spirit would be different and evil, but it seemed to be quite civil in the conversation with him. "Tell me what you want?" Ryder asked. "I need you to kill someone for me!" the Spirit told Ryder. "Who and why?" Ryder asked in confusion. "I want you to kill my son!" the Spirit said. "Your Son? That''s a first. Why do you want your son to die?" Ryder asked in an unusual tone. "I was the owner of this building, but my son killed me for my property. I want you to kill him for me as I can''t leave this building," the Spirit told Ryder. "A son that killed his father for the property? Why? Doesn''t a father''s property belong to their son already after they die? Why was he in such a hurry that he killed his own father?" Ryder inquired. "For a girl. That bastard killed his father for a girl! I want him to die!" the Spirit bellowed. "Didn''t you say he killed you for the property? Now it''s a girl? Can you give me a summary of the events? It''s getting confusing," Ryder asked as a wry smile covered his face. "There was a man who wanted to buy this building, but I didn''t sell it. I don''t know why he was so eager. He was even willing to pay double for it, but I didn''t sell it. It was a property that belonged to my father. The first big thing we owned, I didn''t want to sell it at any cost. It wasn''t like I lacked the money, but that bastard played a cheap trick!" "He sent his daughter to make my son fall in love. That bastard did fall for her, and he even killed his father for the girl and sold the property to her father!" the Spirit said. "Shouldn''t you try to kill that man first then?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "I already killed that man. He was the first person I killed! His daughter was the second person that I killed! Only that son of mine hasn''t come here!" the Spirit said. 114 Chapter 110: Arrested "I get it. The two owners that you killed were the father and daughter duo. Your son might have already been scared enough that he didn''t even step foot in this place, and you can''t leave," Ryder muttered. "Yes. I can''t feel at peace until he is punished!" the Spirit told Ryder. "Will getting him arrested work? He''ll be exposed in front of the whole world and spend his life in prison. Wouldn''t that be better? If he dies, it''s over for him, but if he''s in prison, he''ll regret what he did all his life," Ryder suggested. "No! I still remember how he killed me in my own office. I can never forget that cruel face that is unrecognizable to me to this day! He doesn''t deserve to live for even a second," the Spirit yelled as loud as it could. "Alright, I''ll think about it, but you can''t harm anyone in the meantime. I purchased this property, and I''ll be setting up my office here. If you harm anyone, I won''t simply kill you, but do something which you can''t even imagine. No matter how long I take to come to my decision, you won''t harm anyone!" Ryder warned him. The Spirit nodded its head. Ryder left the building, got back in his car and left. He had seen the building and seen its ghost as well. He also had a general idea about how he should set things up and the furniture and equipment that he needed for what he planned. He went to Alice''s college to pick her up. He parked the car on the side as he waited for Alice to come, but someone else came and knocked on his window. There was a girl in a short skirt standing outside. Ryder lowered the window. "Yes?" "Are you Alice''s brother?" the girl asked him. "Yeah, I am. Do you know me?" Ryder asked in surprise. "I saw you with Alice before. I was waiting for you here as I don''t know your number. Alice has been arrested," She told Ryder. "What?! Why?" Ryder asked in an unusually loud tone. "She was involved in a fight with someone. The other person seemed to be injured. The police arrested Alice and took her with them," the girl replied. Ryder''s face lost its colors as he picked up the phone and dialed Alice''s number. "The number you''re calling has been switched off. Please try again..." He got the recorded message. "Why didn''t anyone inform me? The university has my number! They should inform me if something big like this happened! Even Alice didn''t call me," Ryder muttered in a concerned tone. "Things are complicated," the girl told Ryder. "Can you come with me? Tell me everything on the way," Ryder told her as he opened the door on the passenger side. The girl nodded her head and entered the car. Ryder''s Whirlwind zoomed off the streets and went towards the police station. "What happened? Tell me in detail?" Ryder asked. "The daughter of University Dean,Misha, had an argument with Alice, and it somehow developed into a fight as Alice slapped Misha. Even though the Campus security separated them, things still escalated. The cops were called who arrested Alice and took her. I''ve been waiting here, hoping to meet you since then," the girl told Ryder. "Daughter of the Dean? Is that why the college authorities didn''t call me? Those bastards!" Ryder cursed. After driving for over half an hour, he was finally getting near the police station. He was deeply concerned about Alice, and that''s the only thing that was in his mind at the moment. His car''s speed was as fast as he could keep it. He abruptly pressed the brake of the car as a kid jumped onto the road in front of his car, but it was too late. The car hit the kid, throwing him far away. "Aaaa!" the girl that was sitting beside Ryder screamed in shock. Ryder hurriedly stepped out of the car and ran to the kid who was bleeding on the ground. He checked the nerves and found out that the kid was already dead. "Faaaack!" Ryder cursed out loud. The cars started stopping around him, and the passersby on the footpath also stopped. "I won''t let you die!" Ryder muttered as he used his skill that he received because of his Bracelet of Immortality. The time was reversed by 40 minutes, and Ryder found himself back in his car, driving it. "The daughter of University Dean,Misha, had an argument with Alice, and it somehow developed into a fight as Alice slapped Misha. Even though the Campus security separated them, things still escalated. The cops were called who arrested Alice and took her. I''ve been waiting here, hoping to meet you since then," the girl told Ryder, but he had already heard it. ''I''ve never been so glad to be able to turn back time than I am now,'' Ryder thought as he watched the street. After half an hour, he reached the same location where the accident had taken place, but he already slowed down the car. The kid once more jumped on the road, picked his ball, and walked back on the footpath. Ryder breathed in relief as he increased his speed again. He got to the police station. He and the girl stepped out of the car. Ryder entered the police station and walked up to a cop. "My sister was arrested by you. Where is she?" Ryder asked the cop. "We did arrest a girl. She was involved in a fight, and her attack broke the jaw of the other girl. This is a case of assault," The cop replied to him. "This is a lie! There''s no way a simple slap like that can break someone''s jaw!" the girl that came with Ryder immediately reacted as she called the accusation a lie. "Did you check if she was actually hurt?" Ryder asked the cop as he glared at him. "You have no right to ask me anything. You can get bail if you want her to be out, or she stays behind bars until it''s the time to present her before the court," the Cop replied. "Great. You don''t care about right or wrong, do you? It doesn''t matter what happened, right? I want to see my sister right this instant!" Ryder asked in anger. "Elkin? Take them to the girl," the cop told another guy. Ryder was brought to Alice, who was in a cell, alone. "Alice? You aren''t hurt, are you?" Ryder asked Alice as soon as he saw her. Fortunately, he didn''t see any wound on her. 115 Chapter 111: Taking Help "I''m fine. I was not harmed in the least. Don''t worry," Alice replied as she walked closer to Ryder. "Why didn''t you call me when so much happened?" Ryder asked her as he reached out his hand and held her hand on the other side of the bars. "My phone was broken," Alice said. "You could''ve asked the cop to let you call me," Ryder told her. "I tried, but they didn''t allow me to call anyone," Alice said as she glanced towards the cops. "It''s alright. I''ll get you out, don''t worry," Ryder said. Ryder brought out his phone and dialed a number. "Shu, your family is Rich, right? Can you ask your parents if they know any lawyer? I need a lawyer urgently to get my sister out of prison," Ryder told Shu. "Your sister? What''s she doing in prison? Wait, you can tell me later. Just tell me the name of the prison, her name, and the charges. I''ll be right there with my lawyers," Shu replied instantly. "Her name is Alice. She''s charged with battery and assault of a girl. Just get me the lawyer as fast as you can. Don''t worry about the money; I''ll handle whatever bill they throw my way," Ryder told Shu. He also told him the police station location. "Don''t worry about the bill. The lawyer is my friend. We''ll be right there," Shu said as he disconnected the call. "The lawyer will be here. We''ll be back home in no time," Ryder comforted Alice. ***** Back at his place, Shu also called a number. "Zhang, Get your ass out of your house right now. I need you to get a girl out of prison. She''s arrested for battery and assault," Shu told his lawyer all the information. "Alright. I''ll be at the station in half an hour," Zhang said before he disconnected the call. Shu also left his house and got in his Ferrari 2047, which raced on the road. **** "Can you tell me why you hit her?" Ryder asked Alice while he waited for Shu to get here. "She talked vulgar things about me. She said that I''m sleeping with a rich guy for money who dropped me off to the university. She also said that I call him my brother to hide my dirty secret from the world," Alice replied as he looked down. "You did great. If I were in your place, I would definitely have broken off her jaw," Ryder told her. "I didn''t even hit her that hard. She accused me falsely, and the Dean also misused his powers to get a fake report from the school nurse about her jaw being broken," Alice replied. "He couldn''t take it that I hit his daughter. I even worry that he might cancel my scholarship and throw me out of the university," Alice said as her eyes started getting wet. "Hey, don''t cry, alright? No one is going to throw you out of the university. I''ll go talk to the dean properly after you''re free. I would definitely love to see how seriously her daughter is injured," Ryder said. **** Shu reached the police station. "Brother Ryder," he called out as he entered the police station. Ryder heard Shu''s voice. "Wait here. I''ll be right back, and we will go home," Ryder told Alice as he rubbed her cheeks gently and left her behind. "Where''s the lawyer?" Ryder asked as he saw Shu. "He is coming. He should be at the judge''s house getting the bail papers ready," Shu replied. Ryder stepped back and forth as he waited for the lawyer to arrive. "Can you tell me what exactly happened?" Shu asked Ryder. Ryder described everything that Alice had told him. "What the f*ck? It''s his daughter who''s clearly at fault here. How can someone be that corrupt!" Shu cursed out loud. "Don''t worry about that. Also, I''m going to sue the police for falsely arresting my sister without checking the facts as for the Dean; I''ll see him myself," Ryder muttered. "Are you really going to sue the police force?" Shu asked him. "Yup. They handled this whole matter wrong. Without checking the condition of the other party properly, they charged my sister with the grave offense of battery and assault when it was just a light slap. Secondly, they didn''t allow her to call her family to inform them. If I hadn''t found out about it, they would''ve kept my sister here without letting her inform anyone," Ryder told Shu. "That might work. We can talk to our lawyer when he gets here," Shu muttered as he smiled. An SUV stopped before the police station, and a white-haired man stepped out of the car. He looked to be 50-60 years old. As he stepped inside, even the cops were surprised. "Mr. Zhang? What are you doing here?" The Chief of Police walked out himself to meet the lawyer. "Is that your family lawyer? He seems to hold quite a high position?" Ryder asked Shu as he saw the reaction on everyone''s faces. "Yeah, he''s our family lawyer, and he has somewhat of a reputation in the city I guess," Shu muttered. What he didn''t tell Ryder was that Zhang was one of the best lawyers in the entire country, and he was also the one that handled most of the legal matters of the Dream Corporation. "These are the bail papers. Leave the girl known as Alice," Zhang gave the papers to the Police Chief. His strict expressions never left his face. The police chief commanded the officer to release the girl. The cell of Alice was opened, and she stepped out. She walked up to Ryder. "I''ll go talk to him about Suing the Police. Wait right here," Shu told Ryder before he walked up to Zhang. He talked to Zhang about what he and Ryder spoke about. "We can do that," Zhang nodded his head as he said. "Alright. You can get things ready. Remember, you''re not doing this for the Dream Corporation, but for my friend. Mention his name instead of Dream Corporation so that he gets the money if we win. Prepare accordingly. I want you to win," Shu told Zhang. "Yes," Zhang nodded his head. Shu walked back to Ryder. "He says that it''s possible. He''ll prepare things for you," Shu told him. "Good. I want them to pay for what they made my sister go through," Ryder said. ''Too bad my company and other stuff is not set up. I would''ve been drowning in money otherwise,'' Ryder thought as he sighed. They walked out of the Station. Zhang got in his car and left. Alice also sat on the passenger seat of Ryder''s Whirlwind. Ryder and Shu were standing outside, talking. 116 Chapter 112: Its Raining Missions "How are you going to deal with the Dean?" Shu asked Ryder. "I''ll go to his office and talk to him like an adult," Ryder smilingly said. "How is that going to do anything?" Shu asked with a confused look on his face. "I can help you with it if you need it," he added. "Nah, it''s fine. I have a plan," Ryder muttered. "Alright. I won''t do anything then. I''m quite interested in how you deal with it, though. Be sure to tell me later," Shu said. "Oh, right, I forgot to thank you for helping me. I don''t know any lawyer in the city. You really helped me get it done faster," Ryder thanked Shu. "It''s alright, bro. Don''t worry about it," Shu said smilingly. "How''s your leveling up going?" Ryder asked Shu. "That''s, ah, I haven''t gone hunting yet. I''ll go tonight and officially begin the grinding," Shu said with an embarrassed look on his face. "Yeah, I don''t want you to die on our first try because I''ll definitely complete the mission, and I don''t want you to miss out on the experience and rewards because you were killed," Ryder chuckled as he placed his hand on Shu''s shoulders. "Don''t underestimate me. I''ll definitely show you how great this Big Daddy is! Everyone in the game will know my name," Shu pumped up his chest and said. "I''m sure there will come a day like that," Ryder laughed out loud. "Anyway, I''ll take Alice home. See you later," Ryder told Shu before he entered his Car. Shu also went to his car, and they went their separate ways. "Dean Greyson, I know about your actions, but as I promised, I won''t do anything. I''m quite curious about what you''re going to face," Shu chuckled as he drove his car towards his Mansion. As he entered his mansion, his butler walked up to him. "Master Maxwell, you again left without telling me! The helicopter is waiting on the helipad for an hour already. We''re going to be late for the meeting," the Butler said to him. "Yeah, I had to do something important. Let me get fresh; I''ll be right there. Tell the pilot to keep things ready," Shu said as he walked to his room. ***** Ryder was driving Alice back home when he heard Janus'' voice. [ Ding... A Main Mission has been issued to the host. Mission: Help the Spirit get its revenge Reward: The Spirit will become your servant and do anything for you Punishment for failure: The spirit will be able to leave the building, and thousands of people will die including Alice Time Limit: 1 month] [Ding... A Sub- Mission has been issued to the host. Mission: Make the Dean''s Daughter apologize to Alice in front of the Whole University Reward: A clue about your parents'' death Punishment for Failure: Dean''s Daughter will destroy the reputation of Alice Time Limit: 3 Days] [Ding... A Sub- Mission has been issued. Mission: Take Esmi on a date and make her tell you a secret without asking for it Reward: 50 Origin Points Punishment for failure: A bad rumor will spread about you in the whole city Time Limit: 1 Week] [Ding... The 3rd mission from the Chain Mission has been issued. Mission: Find the heir of a cultivation family before Bastion is killed Reward 1: 200 Origin Points Reward 2: 500 Experience Points in real world Reward 3: Mystery Box Punishment For failure 1: Bastion will die Punishment For Failure 2: Alice will die Punishment For Failure 3: You will lose your company Time Limit: Two Months] One after another, Ryder got four quests. He was so shocked that he had to stop the car on the side so that he could understand the missions. ''The first mission is the main mission, so I have to do it. It looks like I have no choice about it, but it didn''t say that I have to kill anyone. Let''s see if I can get his revenge and how,'' Ryder thought as he looked at the first mission. ''The second mission is somewhat complicated but not impossible. What''s with the reward, though? A clue about our parents'' death? Is it something about the truck driver that hit their car? He''s still not found yet, so it might be that,'' Ryder''s frown hit deeper as he saw the second mission. ''Third mission about Esmi, it shouldn''t be tough either. The punishment is bizarre, though, a rumor about me?'' Ryder thought as a wry smile formed on his face. ''The biggest problem is the 4th mission. How can I find a cultivator in this place? I thought that they only existed in fantasy novels. I didn''t even know that they existed before I got this mission. Apparently, they''re doing a really great job hiding,'' He ultimately sighed as he saw all the punishments. It was like Janus had thrown all the mission backlogs at him all at once. "What happened?" Alice asked as she looked towards Ryder in concern. "Oh, it''s nothing," Ryder muttered as he closed the mission screen and started the car again. "Let''s go eat something. You don''t need to cook today," Ryder told Alice as he stopped the car before a small restaurant. Alice and Ryder stepped out of the car. They went inside the restaurant and ate before they walked back to the car. They got back home and entered their house. "So much happened today. Just rest, alright? There''s no need for you to go to University tomorrow. I''ll go talk to them myself," Ryder said to Alice. Alice looked towards Ryder and slowly walked up to him. She hugged him tightly. "Thank you," She said. The peaceful hug lasted for over 5 minutes before she freed Ryder and entered her room. "I''ll definitely make them regret what they did," Ryder muttered as he asked back to his room. He laid on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. He woke up in the Royal Palace of the Demon Realm. Ryder stepped out of his room and went to the practice hall, where Rale was practicing. "Good morning, Your Highness," Rale greeted Ryder. "Good Morning. Come with me. I need you to translate what I talked to you about," Ryder told Rale. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale said. He walked out of the Practice Hall and followed Ryder to the Royal Library. There was a table at the center and chairs placed around it. Ryder sat on one of the chairs and brought the book out of his storage space. "This is the book. Don''t stand, just sit beside me," Ryder told Rale, who was standing beside him. Rale followed the command and sat on the chair near him. 117 Chapter 113: The Crazy Hobbi "You can start reading it. This book only has 20 pages, so it shouldn''t take long," Ryder said to Rale. Ryder placed the book between him and Rale and opened the first page. Rale started reading the words and frowned. "It says Book of Mysteries. It should be the title," Ryder nodded his head in approval. "That''s right. That is the book title. Does this name remind you of something? Have you heard of it before?" Ryder asked. Rale nodded his head as he remembered the lore that he had heard. "I''ve heard about the book. This should be written by the Ancient Hobbit Greenwitch. He was said to be the most unorthodox Hobbit who was obsessed with mysteries," "He spent all his life in search. What was he searching for? No one knows. It was said that his search never stopped. Throughout his life, he wrote seven books. All of those books were called the Book of Mysteries. He died in his old age," Rale said. Ryder was visibly confused. "A Hobbit who wrote books and explored? Is that strange? Why is he so famous that even you know about him?" Ryder asked. "He wasn''t famous before. In fact, even in his own Hobbit Clan, he was considered a crazy man who wasted his life like a crazy person. Even though Greenwitch always talked about his seven books, no one was interested in it even after he died," "His house was sold to another Ancient Hobbit Salaka. The Hobbit Salaka found one of the seven books written by Greenwitch, and out of his boredom, he started reading it. The more he read, the more shocked he became. He tried looking for other six books, but he didn''t find them," "Salaka left the town. Salaka''s destiny seemed to have changed because of the book. He was not the richest or the most powerful, but in less than six months, he entirely changed. When he came back, he was the strongest Ancient Hobbit. In fact, he even challenged their Clan Leader and won. To this day, Salaka is considered to be the strongest Hobbit Leader who wasn''t weaker than the Elf King of that time," Rale explained. "Salaka grew old. On his deathbed, he finally talked about it. He gave all the credits of whatever he achieved in his life to Greenwitch and his book. Since that day, the Book of Mysteries, written by Ancient Hobbit Greenwitch, has become the stuff of legends. I can''t believe that I have something like that in front of me right now," he added. "Interesting. This might be useful in a sense," Ryder muttered as he looked towards the book. Ryder turned the page. "You can start reading," he said. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale responded and started reading. "It''s the 3rd day of Eres Year. I''m going to the Valley of Wandering Souls. The rumors that I have heard sound really credible. I really hope that I will find what I''m looking for," Rale started reading, and he kept turning the page after he finished reading the pages. "It''s my 200th day in the Valley of Wandering Souls, and I finally saw it. It''s not what I came looking for, but It''s still as incredible as it can get¡ªthe Guardian of the Pearl. I see the pearl in its hand, but I can''t take it. It''s more powerful than anything I''ve seen before..." "... I managed to steal the pearl, and it''s uses are amazing. It''s definitely a treasure that fell to our land from the realm of gods. I can''t believe that I''m holding it in my hands..." "... the guardian is here. He''s not alone. I guess this is as far as I can go with the pearl. I will have to return it. This trip was really worthwhile," Rale finished reading the book and closed it. ''Fascinating. A land that has something like that. And I somehow feel that the pearl might be an unsealing fragment. If that''s true, then this book was something I desperately needed,'' Ryder thought as he picked up the book. He put the book back in his storage space. "Where is the Valley of Wandering Souls? Do you know?" Ryder asked Rale. "Ah, it''s in the Undead Region," Rale replied. Ryder was visibly surprised as he heard Rale''s answer. "Undead region? Greenwitch traveled from the mortal world to the Undead Region? He definitely was crazy," "That''s what his peers called him, but now they call him Great Master Greenwitch," Rale said with a wry smile on his face. "I want to go to the Undead Region. I need that pearl," Ryder said to Rale. "We can go there, but it will be dangerous. As long as we don''t meet the Lich King and the Vampire King, we should be fine, but if we meet them, we will die," Rale said. "We will not meet them. We''ll stay near the portal and check the surroundings first. Also, we can disguise ourselves. It wouldn''t be easy for them to find us," Ryder said. "If Your Highness said so," Rale nodded his head. "Alright. We will go there tomorrow. Take the same team that we had when we went to the Dark Elves Kingdom," Ryder told Rale. "I''ll tell them to be ready," Rale said. Rale stood up and left the place. Ryder also left the room. He walked to Miyali''s room and opened the door. Miyali was sitting on the bed, and her lips were covered in blood. Ryder understood that she must have drunk blood. Miyali saw Ryder and wiped the blood off her lips. "How are you feeling?" Ryder asked her. "I''m fine," Miyali replied. "Are you? Didn''t you say that you only have to drink blood once every two weeks? It''s just the 2nd day," Ryder asked as he looked at her with a questioning gaze. "I..." Miyali struggled to find words to respond. "It''s alright. I guess the blood is not what you need, but it''s what you desire. It must be pretty lucrative for a vampire. Anyway, it''s fine as long as it''s monster blood, but try to self-control, alright?" he told Miyali. Miyali nodded her head like an innocent child who was accepting her mistake. "That''s like a good girl. If you want to go to the city, you can go there too. Just tell Miku before you leave. She''ll assign a guard with you. Just make sure that your eyes aren''t a deeper shade of red. It might cause unrest amongst people," he added. "Yes," Miyali said. "Also, you said that you don''t know much about your father. Do you really have no clue about him?" Ryder asked her. 118 Chapter 114: Nightmares to this day Miyali shook her head as she looked towards her feet. "I don''t know anything about him, but I have something that I was told was given to my mother by my father," "What''s that?" Ryder asked. Miyali was wearing a long gown. She pulled it slightly upwards and showed Ryder the golden ankle bracelet she was wearing. "It was a gift to my mother by my father when they first met," she told him. "So there''s no way for you to recognize your father even if he was still alive, is there?" Ryder inquired. Miyali shook her head. "Why are you asking that? Is there something you know about?" She inquired. "Nope, I was just casually asking. I have a few people in the Undead Region. I was just wondering if I could somehow help you to meet your father," Ryder said to her. ''It would''ve been great if there was a way to find her father. Her father is from the High Undead Vampire Species. If I help a father and daughter meet, then it might spark some goodwill between the Demon Realm and the Undead Region. Also, Miyali would''ve gotten to meet her father,'' he thought. Miyali looked towards Ryder with surprise clearly written on her face. She started smiling, but her smile was melancholic. "It''s alright. I don''t want to meet the father that abandoned me," she said. "You really don''t care about him? Why are you still wearing the ankle bracelet that belongs to him," Ryder asked. He clearly didn''t believe her. "Because it''s the only memory of my mother that I have," Miyali replied as she looked towards her ankle bracelet. "Oh, right. I didn''t consider that. It''s fine if you don''t want to meet him. I won''t raise this matter again," Ryder said. "Also, I''ll be going out soon. It might take days or weeks. I''ve told Miku, and she should handle everything related to you. You''ll get a beast every four days. Try to drink blood in control, though. If you can''t control it, tell her, she will bring more," he added. He left her room. He was walking towards his room when he met Miku. "Your Highness, I finally found you. High Duke Oris is here to meet you," Miku informed him. "Oh? Alright," Ryder started walking towards the throne room. As he got there, he found High Duke Oris sitting on the seat beside the main throne. His seat was slightly lower than the main throne. "Prince Hades, Why are you standing there? Come sit on your throne," High Duke Oris said. Ryder smiled as he walked towards the main throne and sat on it like a Ruler. "What brought you here, High Duke?" Ryder asked High Duke Oris. "I just came here to check up on you and see how you are doing," High Duke Oris said. "I''m doing great. Thanks for asking," Ryder replied. "I heard that you hadn''t left the Royal Palace since the coronation. Don''t you want to roam around your land?" High Duke Oris inquired. "I want to, but I''ve been swamped lately," Ryder answered. "Busy in what? You don''t have to tell me if it''s anything personal like that," High Duke Oris said. "It''s nothing like that. I''ve just been training so that I can be capable enough of completing the Kingship Trial as fast as I can," Ryder responded. "That''s no hurry. Training and love shouldn''t ever be done in haste otherwise since regrets might be left behind," High Duke Oris said. "Oh, right. That reminded me of something. It''s my 4000th birthday after 20 days. I would like to invite you to the celebration. It would be great if you can come. I''ll send an official invitation a few days before the birthday," he added. Ryder looked towards High Duke Oris in surprise. "You are 4000 years old? And you still celebrate birthdays?" he asked. "I don''t want to celebrate birthdays, but my granddaughter makes me celebrate it. I can''t deny her, can I? What can I say, this Old Man can win against anyone, but not against his family," High Duke Oris said as he started laughing. "Alright. I''ll try my best to attend it," Ryder said. He didn''t promise High Duke Oris as he wasn''t sure if he would be back by that time or not. "That would be great. I''ll take my leave then," High Duke Oris said as he stood up. Ryder stood up as well and walked to the door with him. "You know, I''m so glad that you came here. I had lost hope after His Majesty didn''t appear. Your arrival again burnt that hope brightly. I can see a glimpse of His Majesty in you. I''m sure our Demon Realm will only become stronger with time under your leadership," High Duke Oris said before he flew away. ''A glimpse of Salem in me? I don''t know how he was, but he sure sounds like a nice person if so many people love him,'' Ryder thought as he watched High Duke Oris disappear into the horizon. He walked back inside and went back to his room. He closed the door and laid on his bed. Ryder logged out and found himself back in the real world. He took off the Divinity Glasses and looked at the clock. It was 7 am. He got off the bed and went for a shower. After getting ready, he left his room and walked towards the kitchen. "Why are you up today? You don''t need to go to University today," Ryder said as he saw Alice preparing breakfast. "I''m not going. I woke up to prepare breakfast for you," Alice replied. "Rest for one day. You know I can cook," Ryder told her. Alice looked at him and started laughing. "Your cooking? Don''t remind me. I have nightmares about that till this day," she said. "Hey, I ate that too. It was not that bad," Ryder insisted. "Let''s agree to disagree," Alice chuckled as she served breakfast on the table. "You just don''t appreciate my talent," Ryder muttered as he started eating. "Are you going to University?" Alice asked Ryder as he finished eating. "Yup. I need to meet your Dean," Ryder replied. "Don''t do anything inappropriate, alright. The Dean has a high reach in the police. I don''t want you to be arrested like I was," Alice said. "Don''t worry. He won''t dare to do anything," Ryder said with an amused smile on his face as he left the house. Ryder got in his Whirlwind, which drove off towards the University of Dreamers. "Mr. Dean, you used your power and reach on my Sister, let me give you a dose of my Powers," Ryder muttered. 119 Chapter 115: Deans Punishmen Ryder''s car raced through the city and reached the University of Dreamers campus in almost no time. Ryder didn''t get out of the car, though, and stayed inside as he looked ahead at the campus of the University of Dreamers. "Janus, Open Store. I need to get some things," Ryder muttered with a smile on his face. A screen opened in front of him that listed all the items that Ryder was allowed to buy. "There it is," he muttered as he selected an item. [The host doesn''t have enough Origin Points to buy it] Janus replied. "I know I don''t have enough points, but I do remember that you talked about a loan. That''s what I''m doing right now. Give me the Origin Points on loan," Ryder said. Janus agreed as he had once told Ryder that Ryder could take a loan of up to 500 Origin Points once. Ryder received the item. He selected another Item as well while he was at it. After getting what he needed, he got out of the car under the curious eyes of the campus students. He stepped towards the administrative building. After asking around, he found his way to the Dean''s room. Ryder knocked on the door of the Dean''s Room. "I''m busy right now," the Dean''s voice came from the other side of the door. Ryder still opened the door and entered inside. "Who are you? Didn''t you hear that I''m busy right now?" Ryder saw a big guy sitting on the chair, eating French fries. The person looked to be 40-50 years old and had no hair on his head. "I heard that you are busy, but you should listen to me first. You can continue your important meeting with your French Fries later," Ryder said as he closed the door behind him. He walked closer to the Dean and sat on the chair in front of him. "Don''t you have manners? Did you ask permission to sit?" The Dean scolded Ryder as he stood up. "Shut the hell and sit down," Ryder replied in a carefree tone. "Security!" The Dean called the security, but there was no response. He pressed the button on his table, but he didn''t hear any sound. "Looks like your hearing is weak," Ryder muttered as he stood up. He walked to the Dean. "You! Don''t do anything you''ll regret. I have a CCTV in my office. I''ll have you arrested for life!" The Dean said as he stepped back, but Ryder simply started laughing. "Just like how you got my sister arrested? I would like to see how you do that. Go ahead. Call the police," Ryder told him as he folded his arms and started watching the Dean with an amused smile on his face. The Dean brought his Cell Phone out to call the police, but his phone didn''t turn on. It was as if it was not working. "What happened? Did your phone hang? Call from the landline then," Ryder said smilingly. The Dean ran to the landline and started dialing the number as he put the receiver near his ears, but there was no sound. It was as if the phone wasn''t working either. "Because of you, my sister had to spend time in a fucking prison. You know, how much I want to kill you right now?" Ryder said as he caught the back of Dean''s neck and smashed his head on the table. "You will regret it. The CCTV is recording everything! I will destroy your life!" The Dean bellowed. "You''re not going to do anything. The CCTV isn''t working either," Ryder chuckled as he smashed the Dean''s head on the table again. The Dean was crying in pain. "Are you in pain? Is your Jaw fractured as well? Should I call your guardian?" Ryder asked as he pretended to be concerned. "Stop! Please stop!" The Dean pleaded with Ryder to stop. His head had swollen after being smashed so many times. "When you used your powers and high reach to get my sister arrested, did you think that she had no one behind her? Isn''t that right?"Ryder said as he smashed his head once more. The Dean''s eyes were filled with tears by now. He pleaded incessantly. Ryder freed him after smashing his head one more time. By now, the Dean''s face was swollen like a pig. "Did you learn anything?" Ryder asked him. "Y-yes! I won''t do anything like that again!" The Dean said with tears in his eyes. "Nope, you didn''t learn anything. I can already see what you''re thinking. You will still use your reach to hurt our small family again. Alright, Take your clothes off," Ryder told the Dean. "W-what?" The Dean let out in surprise. "I said, take your clothes off!" Ryder said as he kicked the Dean and made him fall down. The Dean stood up and started taking his clothes off. "That''s enough," Ryder said as he saw the Dean strip down to his underwear. He brought a paper out of his pocket and gave it to the Dean. "You''re the Dean of this prestigious place. Your memory should be decent enough. Read the letter and learn it carefully. I want you to speak all that without the paper," Ryder told him. The Dean started reading the letter, and his face turned white. "I can''t say this! This is a lie!" He let out loud. "I don''t care if it''s the truth or the lie. My sister went to prison because of you. If you don''t want to die, then read it otherwise, I wouldn''t mind committing a murder of a bastard and going to prison," Ryder muttered casually as he brought out a gun and started playing with it. It was his licensed gun that he had bought just yesterday. "I''m only giving you 5 minutes to learn it," Ryder told the Dean. The Dean started sweating as he saw the gun in Ryder''s hands. He started learning the content of the letter. "Your 5 minutes are up. Get ready to speak. Oh right, just wait a second. There won''t be any fun without your true face," Ryder smiled as he walked to the Dean. He brought out a spray from his pockets and sprayed it on the Dean''s face, which healed his face. The Dean''s face returned to normal. "Good. That''s better," Ryder muttered as he walked back to the table. Ryder sat on the table and brought his phone out of his pocket as he turned on the recording. He gestured for the Dean to speak. The Dean started speaking. "I am Ray Greyson, the Dean of the University of Dreamers. There is something that I want to confess today. I don''t think I can hide it anymore," 120 Chapter 116:Confessions While Dean Greyson talked, Ryder recorded with a smile on his face as he pointed the gun at Dean Greyson with his other hand. "I have hidden it for so long, but I''m tired now. I am a pervert, and I want the world to know. My laptop is full of hent*i because I love cute anime girls, but that''s not all. I also pass vulgar remarks on girls who happen to be the students of this University. I enjoy doing it," "I also get angry fast. If someone insults my family, I get them arrested using my high reach in the police. It also brings a smile on my face seeing their futures being destroyed," "You might wonder why I''m saying all this. That''s because I don''t care. I know that none of you can do anything against me. I''m the Dean of the University of Dreamers, and my friends are high-rank officers in the police. Even if you retards know it, you won''t achieve shit," "I''ve taken money from rich people to give admissions even if they don''t have valid documents, so I have lots of money. If anyone has a beautiful daughter who is old enough to get married, I wouldn''t mind marrying them. My aim is to have a harem of 20000 girls at least,'' "Oh right, if anyone has any nice hent*i, forward me some. You can never have too many. Bye suckers," Dean Greyson finished his dialogues. Ryder stopped recording. "I''ve said everything you wanted. Can you please lower the gun now?" Dean Greyson asked Ryder. "That was a good performance, but that''s not all. That''s just a part of it. I''m going to play a song, and I want you to dance on it," Ryder chuckled. Dean Greyson wanted to say something, but he ultimately nodded as he saw the gun in Ryder''s hands. Ryder started the music, which was used in strip clubs nowadays. Dean Greyson danced in the music awkwardly, whereas Ryder recorded it. "That''s enough," Ryder said after stopping the recording. "That''s enough. Now I can viral this video. I don''t know about others, but the students of this campus are really going to like this one. And who knows, you might get a nice collecting as well," Ryder smiled as he said. "Please don''t. I''ll lose all my self-respect and reputation. If the higher-ups find out about this, I might be fired as well. I''ll do anything you want, just don''t do it. Do you want money? I''ll give you money!" Dean Greyson pleaded. "Alright. Give me 25 million dollars cash," Ryder let out with a smile on his face. "25 million? That''s crazy! I don''t have that much!" Dean Greyson bellowed. "Very well. I''ll earn from your video then," Ryder chuckled as he raised his phone. Dean Greyson started sweating profusely. "Wait! I can''t give you 25 million dollars, but I can give you 10 million dollars cash right this instant," Dean Greyson told Ryder. "Alright. Give me," Ryder said. "I-its at my home," Dean Greyson said. "Cool. Let''s go to your home then. If you try anything against me when we get out of here, your video will be viral before anyone can catch me," Ryder warned him. ''I can also rewind time if he does something. Ten million dollars is a nice incentive, but it''s not equivalent to my sister''s respect. Don''t think that your punishment will end after giving me money,'' he thought. Ryder put the gun back and told the Dean to get dressed. Dean Greyson wore his clothes and followed after Ryder. They left the room. "Where are you going, sir?" A female teacher asked the Dean as she saw him leave the administrative building, which he rarely left. "Mind your own business!" Dean Greyson scolded the woman as he continued walking. "My car is outside. We''ll go in that," Ryder told the Dean as he watched him going towards a white car. They walked to his Whirlwind and sat inside. Ryder started the engine and got the car on the road. Dean Greyson kept telling him directions, whereas Ryder drove accordingly. They got to the mansion of Dean Greyson in half an hour. The Mansion was just as big as Esmi''s mansion. Dean Greyson entered his Mansion, and Ryder followed after him. He found 10 million dollars cash for Ryder. "I''m really sorry for what I did. Please treat this as my apology. I promise that I will be a better person," Dean Greyson said. "Don''t apologize to me. Apologize to my sister. Come with me," Ryder told him as he left the mansion. Dean Greyson walked behind him. They got in the car once again, and Ryder took him to his house. Ryder had already told Dean Greyson how he should apologize. He knocked on the door, and Alice opened the door. Alice was visibly surprised as she saw the Dean of her college standing before her door. "W-what is happening?" she asked Ryder, but right at that moment, Dean Greyson dropped to his knees. "I am really sorry for what I did. This old man was stupid and a bastard for getting you arrested. You can hit me if you want to, I won''t say anything, but I won''t stand up until you forgive me," Dean Greyson said to Alice as he touched his forehead on the ground. Alice looked towards Ryder and saw him smiling. A smile appeared on her face as well. "That''s enough. I forgive you," She said. "Thank you," Dean Greyson said as he raised his head. He stood up. "Do you want him to do anything else?" Ryder asked Alice. "No. It''s enough," Alice said. "Alright. You can go inside. I''ll handle the rest," Ryder told her. Alice entered the house and closed the door. "I did all you wanted. You won''t do anything, right?" Dean Greyson asked Ryder. "Nope. I won''t do anything more to you than I already did," Ryder smilingly said. "Ah, can you take me back to campus then?" Dean Greyson asked. "You''re rich. Get an Uber," Ryder said before he opened the door and entered the house, leaving the Dean behind. The Dean walked away with a tired look on his face. ''I won''t do anything bad other than what I already did, but you don''t know what I did yet,'' Ryder thought with a smile on his face as he stood behind the door. He looked at the spray that he had used to heal Dean Greyson''s wounds. ''Such an incredible item but such horrible side effects. I wonder how vivid his expressions will be when he finds out that his weapon is useless now,'' Ryder thought as he walked towards the kitchen. 121 Chapter 117: Missing Bodies "How did you do it?" Alice asked Ryder as soon as he entered the kitchen. Ryder pumped up his chest and stood proudly as he replied to her. "Did you doubt my words. You might not know it, but I''m low key a Mafia don," Ryder joked around. "Is that how you got all that money?" Alice glared at him. She didn''t understand that he was joking. "Hey, I''m kidding. Why do you take it so seriously? I have no relation to... I mean I''m not a Mafia don or a gang member," He was about to say that he had no relation to any mafia or underworld group, but he remembered Esmi and changed his words. "Then how did you get the Dean to come ask for forgiveness?" She asked. "It''s not that strange. When I went there, I saw him having private time with his secretary. He was scared and started begging me not to expose him. You can imagine what happened next," he said with an innocent smile on his face. "Really? That was quite lucky that you managed to see them together. I guess I can understand, though. He would be ashamed if someone found out that he had an affair with his 60-year-old secretary," Alice said as she thought about it. "Exactly," Ryder smiled. "You can go to college without any worries. He won''t do anything. In fact, you can do anything in University now," he added. "Thank you for that," she said as she stepped towards Ryder and hugged him tightly. "Don''t say thanks. It makes me feel like I''m an outsider," Ryder muttered as he hugged her back. She freed him shortly and went back to her place. "Just wait a second. Lunch will be ready in a few minutes," Ryder nodded and sat on the dinner table as he took out his phone and started going through his news feed. "The Basketball Knights won the National Basketball Championship for the 3rd time in a row," "Actress Jiah Malkova won the best actress award for her praiseworthy role in the movie, ''Friday Love in the Wind''. The whole community congratulated her," "The mystery of disappearing bodies continues. According to expert''s, ten dead bodies went missing from various graveyards this week," The last news attracted Ryder''s attention, and he clicked on the headline to open the page. "This morning, the grave keeper of Oarkinson Graveyard noticed something strange. One of the bodies from the place had gone missing, and only a human-shaped hole was left behind in the ground. This is not the first time this has happened. This is the 10th case, like this of the week. This year alone, hundreds of bodies have gone missing from all over the country," "The authorities are searching for the culprit, but there is no clue at the moment. Mr. Hatch Hutchinson, the Officer handling this case, said that this thing is unprecedented. Although he refused to give any details, he talked about how they believe it to be the work of a big organization as the cases seem to be appearing all over the country," Ryder read the news before closing the page. ''Stealing the dead? Why would someone do that? If they wanted dead bodies, they could''ve taken all the bodies from the same place. Why take ten bodies from 10 different states,'' Ryder though. "Criminals are weird," He muttered as he shook his head. "Did you say something?" Alice asked as she looked back. "Nothing. I didn''t say anything," Ryder replied. Alice prepared the lunch and placed that on the table before she sat beside him. "Looks delicious," Ryder complimented. Alice smiled at the compliment. Her smile attracted Ryder''s attention. "I should learn some jokes," Ryder let out as he glanced at her. "Why?" Alice inquired. "So that I could make you smile. You look so beautiful when you smile," Ryder said to her. Alice''s face turned red as she heard Ryder talk about it. "Do I really?" Alice asked. "Of course. Every time I see your smile, I feel like just watching you smile for eternity wouldn''t be so bad," Ryder answered. "I feel the same when you smile. I feel jealous of the girl that will become your wife," Alice muttered in an almost inaudible voice, but Ryder managed to hear her. "How about you become my wife then? We are already together, nothing much would change," Ryder chuckled as he said. "Don''t talk while eating," Alice said as she looked away from Ruder, hiding her red face. Her heart was beating faster as she thought about Ryder''s words. Ryder smiled wryly as he started eating. Alice had finished faster, and she had already gone to her room. She was lying on her bed as she hid her face in a pillow. "Why am I thinking so much about it. Of course, he was joking," She muttered. After a long time, she managed to calm down. **** Ryder also finished eating and went to his room. "I''m so stupid. Why did I say it? I hope she won''t find me weird for saying that," he muttered as he walked to the shower. He came out after he finished his shower and got dressed. He sat in the bed and placed the briefcase that was given to him by Dean Greyson on the table. "Now I have 17 million dollars, including it. The lottery results will be announced in 2 days, and I''ll get 10 million dollars from there. That will make it 27 million dollars. I can get all the equipment I need with it and establish the operations, and I''ll still have money left. Finally, things are falling in place," Ryder let out. "Next month, the Estaragon Limited will sell its shares cheaply to save themselves from bankruptcy, but no one will buy them as they have lost the trust of people on their business. I know, though, It is all just temporary. As soon as I get the majority shares, the next stage of my plan will be complete as well," he added. Ryder put the bag filled with money in his storage space. "It might take some time, but I will definitely make Divine Corporation the biggest conglomerate in the whole world," he muttered as he laid down on the bed. He rested for half an hour before he left the house and got in his car. The Car''s engine silently started. Ryder took the car on the highway and raced it towards his destination. After a brief moment, he got to his destination, which was the Bucky''s Club. He parked his car near Esmi''s car. 122 Chapter 118: Ill go to prison Ryder stepped out of the car and walked towards the club. The guards recognized him and allowed him entry without any trouble. Even though the guards didn''t say anything, another person was there that did. Mark went to Ryder as soon as he saw him. "You! What did you do to me last time? I don''t remember anything after I met you and people said that I was behaving like a child!" he said. "Me? What could I have done? I saw you behave strangely and thought that you were drunk. I left," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. "Anyway, I''m here to meet your boss. I''ll talk to you later," he added as he walked towards Esmi''s room and left Mark behind. Mark stood there, confused as he watched Ryder''s back. Ryder knocked on the door of Esmi''s office. Esmi called out from the other side of the door. "Come in," Ryder opened the door and entered. "It''s you. I must say, I like this surprise," Esmi smiled as she stood up. Ryder walked closer to her and sat on the table, right in front of her. "Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something," "You already know, you can ask me anything," Esmi told Ryder as she sat down as well. "Would you be interested in going out with me? Tomorrow is Sunday, and I wanted to take you out," Ryder informed her. "You mean you want me to go on a date with you? I accept," Esmi replied without even taking a second to think about it. "That''s great. I''ll send you the details later," Ryder let out as he stood up and turned back to leave, but Esmi stopped him. "Hey, are you going to leave just like that? Not even going to kiss me?" Esmi called out. Ryder stopped as he turned back. He walked towards Esmi and bent forward as he gave her a light kiss. "See you tomorrow," he said, smiling. Ryder left her office. "See you tomorrow, darling," Esmi muttered as she got back to her work. **** Ryder left the Club. He was walking towards his car when he saw another car stop near his car. A man came out of the car, dressed in a luxurious black coat. A woman also stepped out of the car as well. The man was the same person that had met Ryder when he was meeting Shu. He insulted Shu, and it resulted in him losing his position. Even to this day, he didn''t understand what he did wrong. "That bastard fatty. What does he have that I don''t? Why did the management demote me and give my position of General Manager of the Marketing Division to the fatty," Jason cursed as he stepped out of the Car. "Calm down, babe. I''m sure you will get your position back. There should be no one more suited for that position other than you," the Girl comforted him. "I hope so," Jason muttered. He walked towards the club when he noticed Ryder coming towards him. "Hey, Ryder. You missed the Reunion again. I must tell you that you''re stupid. Never be friends with someone like a fatty. They eat jobs of deserving candidates like me," Jason complained. Ryder ignored him and walked towards his car. "You dare ignore me?! First, that fatty became the GM and acted all smug, and now you?! Don''t be arrogant! You''re nothing. I can bring you to ruins. You have a sister as well, right? If you don''t lose some of that arrogance, you both might regret it. Listen to my advice and control that arrogance of yours. It only suits people like me," Jason said to him. Ryder stopped in his tracks and looked back. "I warned you last time, didn''t I?" Ryder muttered as he walked towards him. Jason just stared at him when Ryder kicked him in the guts, making him drop down to his knees. "I''m not your servant, so I won''t listen to your insults. Stop thinking that you''re some big shit before you lose your life," Ryder told him as he looked down at him. "You hit me!" Jason exclaimed as he touched his stomach that was hurting like crazy. "Oh, right. I think I know people like you quite well, so let me teach you in a manner in which you''ll understand," Ryder let out as he brought his gun out and pointed towards Jason. As soon as the gun was pointed at him, Jason started sweating like crazy. His shivering became uncontrollable as his face lost all his color. "Next time you see me, stay away from me. I don''t want you within 500-meter proximity of my family and me; otherwise, I''ll go to jail, and you''ll go to God," Ryder said to the man before he stood up. He looked towards the girl that was with Jason. "I know he''s rich, but you can find a better man," he told the girl before he walked away. Ryder entered his car and drove away. ***** It was 2 in the afternoon when Ryder got back home. He walked back to his room. "Tomorrow''s Sunday; I can complete my mission for the date with Esmi. Then I can complete the second Quest by making that girl apologize when the university opens on Monday. It sucks to get so many Missions at the same time. There will be two more missions left after that, but I can at least take my time doing those," he muttered. "The only worrisome thing is finding someone from a cultivation family. I''ve searched every corner of the internet, but the only thing I found about the cultivation families is those fantasy stories," Ryder muttered as he threw the phone on the bed. He himself laid down on the bed as he closed his eyes. He didn''t do anything for the next hour and just rested in the silence of the room before he ultimately fell asleep. As he was sleeping, his mind was showing him a really nice dream where he was married to Alice. They even had a son, and Ryder taught him baseball. He woke up at the sound of knocking on the door. "Such a sweet dream," Ryder muttered as he opened his eyes. He sat up as he walked up to the door. Opening the door, he saw Alice standing outside. "Were you sleeping? The dinner is ready," Alice told him. "Right. Let''s have dinner," Ryder smiled as he stepped out of his room and closed the door behind him. On the dinner table, they ate in silence before Alice asked him a question. "Do you still use Hades in all your games?" "Yeah," Ryder said as he smiled wryly. 123 Chapter 119: Exp In Real World "I read about Divinity online. It seems like a fascinating place. How''s your adventure inside going?" She inquired. "It''s going better than I expected. Still, if I could, I wouldn''t be playing it," Ryder said. "Why? From what I''ve seen, you were so excited about the game before it was released. What changed?" she inquired as her curiosity peaked. "Too many things happened. It''s complicated, but there''s clearly something wrong with the game. I don''t know how or why, but it doesn''t feel like a game anymore," Ryder let out softly. "Isn''t that a good thing? I don''t know much about games, but that just means that the game is more realistic," Alice chimed in her opinion. "It''s just a little too realistic for comfort," Ryder muttered. "Anyway, You will graduate in a year. What are you planning to do next?" Ryder asked. Even though he knew what her plan was, he realized that he wouldn''t be able to explain how he knew about it if he talked about that. "I don''t have anything for sure yet, but I''ve been thinking about continuing my studies. I might apply in a bunch of universities for a scholarship, and we''ll see how it goes," Alice said. "You don''t need to worry about scholarships. I''m well enough to pay the fees. Also, the universities in the country seem great. Don''t apply for foreign universities, alright?" Ryder told her. "Well, I''ve heard of the great reputation of China''s Tsinghua University. I was thinking of applying there as well. There are universities comparable to that when it comes to literature in America as well, but getting scholarships in them is really hard, and the fees are outright terrible," She replied as she thought about it. "Nope, The fees are perfectly fine. Don''t make a decision based on fees. Just focus on studies and choose the best University in our country. I''ll handle the rest," Ryder said. He remembered that last time Alice had gone to China as she received a scholarship from there. He didn''t want her to leave now that he was in the right spot financially. "If that''s what you want, then I won''t apply for foreign universities," Alice nodded her head. "That''s better," Ryder smiled as he continued dinner. "Thanks for the food. It was tasty like always," After finishing up, he stood up and went back to his room. "Janus? Now that I think about it, you still haven''t explained to me how I can gain experience in real life and increase my strength. Are you going to tell me or let the opportunity go to waste," Ryder asked. "The experience can be gained when the host defeats the ones that attack him," Janus replied. "Defeat the ones that attack me? You mean I have to beat the guys, and I will only gain exp if they were the ones that attacked me first?" Ryder inquired. "Yes. You will gain experience when you do that, and your level in this world will increase accordingly," Janus said. "That''s an interesting concept. Will it still work if I make them attack me or only if they attack me without me trying to make them attack me?" Ryder asked again. "As long as they attack you, everything is valid, but if you attacked them first, and then they attacked you, it won''t count," Janus replied. "That means I can use some loopholes. I should start leveling up in the real world too," Ryder let out as he picked his Divinity Glasses. "Oh right, I also wanted to ask you something, but I forgot. I saw a vision-like thing when I was giving the speech on my coronation. Do you have any idea what that was?" Ryder inquired. "I do, but I can''t tell you," Janus responded. "Why not? What are you afraid of? Aren''t you the Godly system that can do anything?" Ryder asked in curiosity. Janus didn''t reply. "Alright. Don''t answer me," Ryder snorted as he wore the glasses. "Take me to Divinity," He said. Ryder found himself in his bed in the Demon Realm. He sat up and left his room. Miku was standing outside his room. "Your Highness, You''re up. Someone is here to meet you," She informed Ryder. "Who is it this time?" Ryder inquired. "It''s the Granddaughter of High Duke Oris," Miku said. "His granddaughter? What is she doing here? Could it be that she brought me the invitation letter for her Grandfather''s birthday? This is too fast," Ryder muttered as he went towards the throne room with Miku. As he got there, he saw a girl standing there. Her back was facing him. Ryder could even see her hair as shiny as the moon itself. She also looked tall. She seemed to be of the same height as Ryder. She wore a beautiful white dress. Ryder didn''t say anything and continued walking. The sound of his footsteps attracted the attention of the girl who turned back to look at him. Ryder finally saw her face. She had deep black eyes similar to her grandfather. Even though she looked beautiful, Ryder didn''t glance at her much and continued walking as he passed by her. Without looking back, he walked to the throne. ''Have to maintain my dignity,'' he thought as he stopped right before the throne. He turned back and sat on the throne like a King who ruled the land. "Who are you?" Ryder finally said something as he asked a question, the answer of which he knew. The girl gracefully bowed before him as she started speaking. "Greetings Your Highness, I''m Felina, the granddaughter of High Duke Oris. "What brings you here?" Ryder inquired. "I came here to invite Your Highness for the birthday celebration of my grandfather," She said. "I heard about that. High Duke Oris talked about his birthday. But isn''t it too soon to distribute invitations? He said that he would send me one a few days before the event," Ryder asked. "I''m sure he said that, but it''s the first invitation we made. I thought that it would be better if we gave the first invitation to Your Highness as soon as we can," Felina told Ryder. "Alright. I accept the invitation," Ryder said. He tried to keep his voice as commanding as he could during the conversation. He extended his hands towards Felina, who walked closer to him. The invitation was as small as a small coin, which seemed to be the tradition here. She gave the invitation to Ryder. Their fingers touched in unintentionally, but Ryder acted as if it wasn''t a big deal. There was no change in his expressions. "I''m done here; I''ll take my leave, Your Highness," She said. "Alright. You can go," Ryder let out. Felina turned back and walked towards the exit. Ryder finally relaxed his expressions as he watched her back. 124 Chapter 120: Well be killed ''She''s definitely pretty. I would never have thought that High Duke Oris'' daughter would look like that,'' Ryder thought. Eventually, Felina walked out of the Throne Room and disappeared from his vision. Ryder glanced at the invitation and observed it. The invitation seemed like a coin that had High Duke Oris'' picture on one side and his birthday on the other side. "Where is Rale?" Ryder asked Miku. "Master Rale is in the training room like always," Miku replied. "I like how he''s so hardworking. He''s mostly always in the training room helping his teammates train," Ryder let out as he chuckled. He put the invitation coin in his storage space and stood up. Ryder walked out of the Throne Room, whereas Miku followed after him. ''Your Highness, are you going away again?" Miku asked. "Yeah, I''ll be leaving for a long time this time. You''ll have to handle everything back here," Ryder told her. "I will try my best, Your Highness. But I hope you can come back as soon as you can. High Duke Oris'' birthday is coming. The city is about to get more active, and I''m sure some people would even come to meet you," Miku said with a concerned look on her face. "I understand that, but I don''t want to delay my work. If anyone asks, just tell them I''m sleeping and keep delaying them until they eventually leave. It''s not like anyone can enter my room to see if I''m there or not," Ryder said as he chuckled. "I''ll do so," Miku said. Ryder entered the training room as he pushed the doors open. He saw Rale practicing with the other guys. "Your Highness," They all greeted Ryder. "Is everyone ready to leave?" Ryder asked. "Yes. Our team of 20 is ready and waiting for your orders," Rale said, full of zest "Let''s go then. The faster we leave, the faster we''ll come back," Ryder let out as he left the training hall. Rale and his team members followed after him. They got down to the basement that had the spatial tunnel connecting to various places. "That one will lead us to the Undead Region," Rale reminded Ryder as he pointed towards one of the doors. "I remember," Ryder smilingly responded as he started taking out the keys. He had so many keys and had no idea which of those keys opened the doorway to Undead Region. He started trying out the keys, and on the 6th try, the key matched. "Found it," Ryder muttered as he opened the door and exposed the Space Tunnel. "Your Highness, I should go first and test things out. I don''t want you to leave and get caught by the Undead Region Kings. I''ll come back after seeing the other side," Rale said. "Alright. You can go first then," Ryder gave the permission. Rale entered the space tunnel and didn''t come back for 5 minutes. "Could it be that something went wrong?" Ryder muttered as he looked towards the Space Tunnel. He was thinking about doing something, but Rale came back. "Everything is safe, Your Highness," Rale said. "Alright," Ryder nodded his head and entered the space tunnel. He stepped out on the other side of the tunnel. "I must say, this is exactly what I expected from a place called Undead Region," Ryder muttered as he looked around. The place looked dark and gloomy. Even the grass was black in color, unlike the usual green. There were trees there as well, but most of the trees had no leaves on them. The rare few trees that had leaves on them had pitch-black leaves as well. The air seemed to be filled with death. Ryder looked to his left and saw a skeleton lying on the ground. Rale and the others stepped out of the tunnel as well. "I saw it standing here when I came out. I destroyed it," Rale told Ryder as he saw him looking towards the skeleton. "Oh, that''s alright," Ryder muttered. "Now we need to find someone to tell us where we are and how to get to our destination," Ryder let out as he looked around. "Walking will consume too much time; we''ll go by air and find a town or a village. After getting the information, our trip will be much easier," he told Rale. "That might be dangerous. Vampires can fly, if we managed to meet them, or they saw us, things might get problematic. I''ll handle them in most situations, but if the Vampire King came, we would all die. I suggest Your Majesty reconsider. The town wouldn''t be far. We can walk there," Rale said. "Don''t worry about the Vampire King. If I met him, I''d just redo everything," Ryder responded. "Redo everything?" Rale asked with a confused look on his face. "Don''t think about that. Just have faith in me. I won''t let any of us be truly killed," Ryder replied. "Alright. We''ll fly," Rale nodded his head. Wings appeared behind his back. They all started flying towards the direction that Ryder randomly chose. After flying for over half an hour, they saw a small town at some distance. Ryder told Rale to get down. Rale and the others listened to his command and got down. They walked the rest of the distance on foot. All of them were wearing a long cloak that hid their entire bodies and even their faces to some extent. "Let''s hope we find more stories in the town then just skeletons, otherwise we''ll stay lost," Ryder muttered. Rale informed him that the skeletons weren''t able to talk. Ryder hoped that the town was more than just a skeleton town. They reached the town and entered its boundaries, but it only led to disappointment as Ryder saw no species other than a skeleton. Everywhere he looked, he saw skeletons roaming around the city. "This place seems useless," Ryder muttered in disappointment. "Not entirely," Rale replied. "Why not? The skeletons can''t talk," Ryder said, but he noticed the direction Rale was looking in and saw a female ghoul there. The body of the ghoul seemed to be rotten, and her left hand was missing. "She should be able to talk," Rale told Ryder. "Yeah," Ryder muttered. They walked towards the ghoul together. "What do you need?" the ghoul asked as she saw Ryder and the others stand before her. "We need some answers. Can you answer a few of our questions?" Ryder inquired. "Answer okay," the ghoul said. "Where are we?" Ryder asked her. " Home," the ghoul said. "I know it''s your home, but I need the name of this town. What''s the name of the town," Ryder inquired. 125 Chapter 121: I hope they wont eat us "It''s home!" the ghoul female replied. "I know it''s home! I''m asking about the town''s name! Anyway, just leave that. Tell me where Valley of Wandering Souls is?" Ryder changed the question as he found himself getting annoyed. "Valley!" the ghoul said as she pointed towards Ryder''s feet. "Your Highness, It feels like a useless endeavor. I had heard that low-level Undead had low intelligence, but I guess we still overestimated them. I don''t think she can tell us anything," Rale told Ryder. "With the level of her intelligence, I doubt if she would even know about it." Ryder looked towards the ghoul and sighed. "You might be right. It''s not going to work like that. We need to talk to someone smarter," Ryder muttered. He left the ghoul behind and started walking ahead. Rale and his team followed after him. They looked around the town but didn''t find any intelligent species. "Well, this was a wasted effort. It looks like we''ll have to continue our search for the Undead Towns that have intelligent Undeads," Ryder muttered. "Oh, right. How many Undead species are there?" He asked Rale as he stepped out of the town. "There are over 40 Undead Species that I know about, but there might be more. It''s quite possible that our information is incomplete," Ryder said. "40? That''s more than I expected. How many of these 40 are Intelligence species?" Ryder inquired. "There are six intelligent Undead Species. Amongst those 6, the Vampire and the Lich are considered to be the most intelligent and powerful," Rale explained. "That makes sense. That''s why their Kings are on the same level as our High Dukes. What about the rest? What are the other 4 Species that we can ask our questions to?" Ryder inquired. "Dark Ghouls, Dullahan, Mummy, and the Vrykolakas are the other four that are considered intelligent," Rale told him as he carried Ryder and flew in the air in search of the next town. "There''s a special like the Dark Ghouls as well?" Ryder inquired in surprise. "Yeah. They are very different from normal ghouls. They are more powerful, and they have intelligence. The Ghoul King that I talked about before is one of them. The Ghoul King is a Dark Ghoul. He''s not on the same level as the Vampire King and the Lich King, but if we go by hearsay, then he''s the 3rd Strongest in the Undead Region," Rale told Ryder. "Interesting. So we need to stay away from the 3 Kings, and we shall be fine. It shouldn''t be tough. The strong ones like them would rarely leave their castles," Ryder let out softly. "Yeah. We most probably won''t meet them, but it would be better if we don''t attract much attention after all," Rale replied. "Is it only me or that looks like a city?" Ryder asked as he saw a glimpse of something at a distance. There were tall buildings there that looked much better than the Town they saw before. "From the construction of that place, it does look like a city. We should be able to find someone from the High Undeads there, but we might be unlucky and meet the Kings there too. Should we go someplace else?" Rale asked Ryder. "There''s no need for that. We''ll go to this city. We can''t be afraid just at the thought of meeting a king, or we''ll never be able to fulfill our mission. Let''s go down. We''ll walk there," Ryder commanded Rale. Rale was somewhat stunned as he heard the response, but then a smile appeared on his face. He remembered the speech Ryder gave during his coronation, and his bravery impressed Rale even further. Rale got down to the ground with the others, and they covered the rest of the trip on foot. They got to the city and entered inside with ease. Their bodies were covered with their cloak, which wasn''t suspicious as many vampires dressed in a similar manner. As Ryder walked through the city, he saw many people there, but they didn''t look like Undead. Instead, they looked like normal humans. "Rale? What Species are they?" Ryder asked Rale. "They are the Vrykolakas, Your Highness. Even though they look similar to vampires, there are a few fundamental differences between the two. While the Vampires feed on the blood, they feed on the flesh. They also can''t fly like the Vampires," Rale informed Ryder. "This should be a Vrykolakas City as I can''t see anyone else other than a few vampires here and there. It''s mostly filled with Vrykolakas," he added. "Let''s hope they don''t try to eat our flesh, or things will get dirty," Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face. They walked to a small shop that sold flesh to others. "Welcome. How much do you want?" the seller asked. He was dark-skinned and had a short body, but his stomach was sticking out slightly. "We''re the Vampires from far away. We were wondering if you could tell us where we are," Ryder asked the man. "Oh? The Vampires? This is the first time I''ve seen so many vampires walking together. Are you from the Vampire Royalty?" the man asked with a cheeky grin on his face. "No, We''re normal Vampires, nothing special. Tell us where we are," Ryder asked. "You''re in the Wingu City. A city owned by our City Lady Asemori," The man said. "Oh, Nice. How far are we from the Valley of Wandering Souls?" Ryder inquired. "The Valley?!" The man exclaimed in shock as his mouth opened wide in shock. "Yes. We''re looking for someone who went to the Valley of Wandering Souls. Please tell us the directions to get there," Ryder said to the man. "I''m sorry, but I can''t talk about it. I don''t want to talk about it," the man said as he looked sideways. "It''s really important to us. Just tell us the directions and the distance, and we''ll handle everything else," Ryder let out as he looked towards the man. "I can''t. That place is cursed! I won''t talk about it, let alone pointing in the direction. Go away," the man said as he closed his eyes. Rale brought his face closer to Ryder''s ears and whispered into his ears. "Your Highness, should we kidnap him and force him to tell us? We can do it silently without anyone knowing," Rale suggested. "No, there''s no need to do that," Ryder replied to Rale. "We will find someone else to answer us. Don''t worry about it," he added. "Alright. Thanks for talking to us. We''ll ask someone else," Ryder told the seller before he turned and walked away. 126 Chapter 122: Please Drink Ryder turned back and started walking towards the girl on the nearby stall. That girl was selling clothes that were worn by Vrykolakas. The clothes often had the Symbol of hand over them, which was a symbol of the Vrykolakas Clan. "Rale, do they use gold coins here as well? or is their currency different?" Ryder asked Rale as he walked towards the girl. "Their currency is different, Your Highness. Everyone in the Undead Region uses something called the Crimson Undead Coins. It''s inherently different from our currency," Rale replied. "Oh, I was really hoping to buy some clothes. I believe that we can hide ourselves better as Vrykolakas because they don''t have red eyes. If someone saw our eyes, they would realize that we are not vampires. That''s what our clothes make them believe at the moment. It would be better if we dress and look like one instead of using a mix of both," Ryder suggested. "I wish I could help," Rale shook his head. The Demon Realm didn''t have the Crimson Undead Coins that were used in the Undead Region, and that''s why they didn''t carry it either. They reached the girl and stood before her. The black-haired girl raised her gaze and watched them. A few guards were roaming around the city, and they saw Ryder and his team, dressed in cloaks. "The Vampires? 22 Vampires together? Is a Vampire Royalty here?" one of the guards exclaimed in surprise. "You guys go tell the Lady about this group of Vampires," The Vampire Clan was one of the 2 Major Undead clans of the Undead Region, and the Cloaks were like the dress favored by the Vampires. Every Vampire wore a cloak except the Vampire King. There was no one in the entire Undead Region who would wear a cloak as that would be seen as disrespecting the Vampires, that''s why no one doubted the ones who wore the cloaks as being anyone else but a Vampire. Five guards walked towards Ryder, whereas the other three walked back to their Lady''s Palace to inform her. **** "We''ve come from far away, and we''re looking for the Valley of Wandering Souls. Can you tell us the directions to get there?" Ryder asked the girl. "The V-valley? I''m sorry, I can''t talk about it," the girl shook her head repeatedly. "Please. Our friend is trapped there, and we really need to find our way to them. Just point us in the direction. You won''t even have to talk about it," Ryder said to the girl. "No. I can''t tell you anything," the girl said as she started looking down. "Alright, thanks," Ryder said as he turned back, disappointed. Rale was about to say something, but Ryder turned towards him. "No, we are not kidnapping her," Ryder said as if he knew what he wanted to say. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale nodded his head. Ryder was about to walk to another person when someone called out from behind. "Wait," Ryder stopped in his tracks as he turned back. "Yes?" Ryder asked the person that had stopped him. There was a frown on his face as he recognized them as the guards. "Can I ask who you are? And what are you doing in our City?" the guard asked. "Why? Are we Vampires not allowed inside your city?" Ryder asked the man in a casual tone. "Are you from the Vampire Royalty?" the Guard asked once more. "Yes, we are. We were just passing by when we saw the city," Ryder told them. "I was right," the guard said smilingly. He was just about to continue before the other three guards came back and whispered something into his ears. "Respected Sir, Our City Lady, has found out about your presence in our City, and she wishes to meet you. Can you please take some time to come meet her?" the guards asked. "Sorry, but..." Ryder was speaking when Rale tapped on his shoulders. Ryder stopped and looked towards Rale, who brought his face closer to his ears and whispered. "Your Highness, don''t deny. Even though the Vampires are the strongest Undead Clan, they are known to follow Courtesy. I read in our books that they never reject an invitation from someone of high position. I also heard that they get angry fast, as well. If they aren''t satisfied with the host, they kill them," Rale said. "That''s why there is a saying about not inviting the Vampires into your house unless you''re ready to lose your life," he added. ''Oh, so denying that will make them know that we''re not Vampires,'' Ryder thought. "We accept the invitation. Take us to your Lady," Ryder told the Guard. "Incredible. Please follow us," the guards said as they started walking away. Ryder and the others followed after them. Along the way, Rale told Ryder everything about the Vampire customs, making Ryder know how to behave now. Ryder was brought to a magnificent looking palace, but it wasn''t even close to the level of Duke Devilia''s Palace, let alone his own Palace. They entered the mansion and were brought to a hall. A beautiful looking girl was sitting on the chair at the main seat on a long rectangular dinner table. She wore a long red gown that matched her red hair quite well. She looked like she was in her early 20s. "Welcome to my humble abode," the girl said as she stood up. "hmm. It''s a decent palace," Ryder gave a slight nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you for that. Please have a seat," She said. Ryder walked forth and sat on the chair right in front of her. His cloak was still hiding the top half of his face. Rale and the others stood behind him and didn''t sit on the chairs. ''So he is from the Royalty. The others should be his guardians,'' the girl thought. "May I ask where you are from? And what brought you to my small City?" she asked Ryder. "We are not close enough to share everything with you. Tell us why you invited us," Ryder said, his voice contained some arrogance that he intentionally added. "Ah, sorry if I offended you. I invited you here just out of pure courtesy. I wanted to see the Vampire Royalty that stepped in our City," she said. A maidservant knocked on the door. "Come inside," The girl said. The maidservant entered the room and placed a glass of blood in front of Ryder and a plate of meat in front of the girl. "I figured that I could also have dinner with you. That glass contains the best blood in our town. Please have a taste," she said smilingly. 127 Chapter 123: Caugh "Is this supposed to be a joke? or are you trying to disrespect us?" Ryder asked in a severe tone. "What do you mean?" the girl inquired. She had a confused smile on her face. "Rale? Take that ugly thing away from my eyes," Ryder let out in a disgusted tone. Rale disappeared from his position and appeared before the girl. He picked up the plate of flesh before her and threw it away. "Let''s just kill her," Ryder said casually. Rale caught the girl''s neck and picked her up in the air as he tightened his grip on her neck. The girl was strong, but she was nothing before Rale who was equal to the Dukes of the Demon Realm in strength "Tell me. Did you really think that you can eat that disgusting thing before me and still expect me to have dinner with you?" Ryder picked up the glass of blood and threw it away as well. Rale had already told him about the Vampires, and he knew that the Royal Vampires hated seeing Vrykolakas with their food before their eyes. Normal vampires didn''t like it much either. "I-I''m sorry, I forgot that the Vampire Royalties don''t like seeing our food," the girl said in an apologetic tone as she struggled to speak. Ryder didn''t react and simply stood up as he stepped towards her. The room was so silent that each of his footsteps echoed with the sound that was audible to everyone present in the room. He stood a few meters away from the girl. "You invited us, yet you forgot such an important thing? Do you think you''ll be treated special?" Ryder inquired. "N-no, It was really a mistake. I sincerely apologize," the girl let out. "You''re lucky that I''m not in the mood to kill anyone today; otherwise, this little palace of yours would have become a slaughterhouse," Ryder told her before he turned back. He walked back to the table and sat on his chair. "Rale, release her," Ryder commanded. Rale nodded his head as he loosened the grip of his fingers and released the girl before he appeared back at his place. ''I just wanted to test because I doubted if they were actually vampires, but I really screwed up. They are definitely vampires. Such speed, it seemed to be even faster than father''s speed,'' she thought. "Thank you," the girl thanked him. She walked back to the table and sat on the chair in front of Ryder. "Should I have them bring another glass of blood?" she asked Ryder. "No need. The dinner is over. Get to the point," he told the girl. The girl nodded her head. "I want to know what brought you to my city. I was just a little worried if it was to cause some harm to the citizens or not, that''s why I invited you," She told Ryder. "I''m not here to harm your City. I was just flying by and decided to stop by your city to ask directions," Ryder told her. "Directions? I can help you. Where do you want to go?" the girl asked Ryder. "You know the town before Valley of Wandering Souls?" Ryder inquired. He had decided to change his question now that he was facing her. The Book of Ancient Hobbit mentioned a small town where he stayed. "I have heard of an abandoned town right outside the Valley of Wandering Souls. What do you want from that town?" the girl asked. "We''re meeting someone there. We had a map, but some things happened, and we lost the map," Ryder said. "Oh, that''s unfortunate. I''ll give you a different map if that can help you," the girl said. "That''s what we were hoping to get from this city," Ryder said. The girl called out for the maidservant and ordered her to bring a map. After a few moments, the door of the hall opened, and the maidservant came back to the hall with a scroll. The girl stood up and walked towards Ryder. She took the scroll from the maidservant and opened it. She''s placed the map before Ryder. "This is our city, and this is the town that''s near the Valley of Wandering Souls," the girl told Ryder as she pointed to specific places on the map. Ryder took the map, folded it back, and gave it to Rale to hold. "Alright. We''ll be leaving now that we are done here," Ryder told her before he stood up. "What''s the hurry, my father will be here soon. How about you meet him before you go?" The Girl asked Ryder. "As I told you, we have a place to be at," Ryder replied. He turned back and left the hall with his men, leaving the girl behind. The girl stood there with a thoughtful look on her face as she looked towards the door. Ryder stepped out of the palace. He walked out of the town, under the curious gaze of the city people. He left the city, and he was just about to order Rale to carry him and fly when they saw someone fly straight towards them. It was an older man who wore a cloak and landed before Ryder. "Stop!" the Old Man called out as he watched Ryder. Ryder glanced towards the old man "Yea? Is something wrong?" Ryder asked. "Who are you? How dare you dress like Vampires to fool people?" the Old Man bellowed. Ryder looked towards Rale with a curious gaze on his face, but Rale didn''t seem worried, which put a calm smile on his face. "Should I ask why you think that?" Ryder inquired. The old man pointed towards Ryder furiously. "You don''t deserve the answers. Die!" the old man said as he flew towards Ryder, but Ryder didn''t even flinch. He was confident that Rale would save him. That was what happened as well. Rale appeared before Ryder. He packed his fist as he punched out. The fist landed on the face of the old man, which made him fly away. The old man hit trees one after another, breaking them as he flew back like a ball tossed by the strongest man. He ultimately landed on the ground 500 meters away from them. "I guess we can fulfill your wish now. Torture him to get the answers. I want him to answer how he knew about us," Ryder told Rale. Rale stepped forth and instantly appeared beside the old man. He brought his sword out and slashed it casually, but his casual slash was enough to cut the right hand of the old man. Another Slash arrived, cutting off his left arm as well. 128 Chapter 124: The Reason Ryder watched the old man scream as he stepped towards him. "I guess Undeads do feel pain. I was wondering about that for quite some time," he said. "Rale, can you calm him down? His screams are making me feel annoyed," Ryder told Rale. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale replied as he placed his left hand close to his chest. Rale had cut off both the arms of the old man, which made him scream like he was going through immense torture, but the man instantly stopped screaming as soon as Rale placed his sword on the man''s neck. Ryder chuckled as he saw that. "That''s better," he let out. He reached near the old man, but still kept some distance. "Now, let''s get to the topic. What do you know about us?" Ryder asked the old man. The man''s face was already pale previously, but it had turned even paler because of the pain of his hands being cut off. Now he was starting to regret coming here. "I know that you''re not one of us Vampires!" he said. "Oh? How do you know that?" Ryder inquired with an interested look on his face. "Of course I would know that? Are you considering us an idiot? Some of us do have the Magic that allows us to see if the other person is one of us or not. It was clear to me at first glance!" The man said. "Oh, we did not know that. I guess now it makes it clear why no one wears the cloaks. Coz some of you can see everything despite their disguise, Is that right?" Ryder asked. He lowered the hood of his cloak and looked at the man clearly. "Sigh, that''s an irritating ability to have. We should''ve brought the clothes of Vrykolakas in the city," Ryder let out as he sighed. "Did you tell anyone else about us?" He asked the man. "No, but everyone will soon find out about you. You can''t hide for long! You should know that if you kill a vampire, a special scent will be left on your body. Every vampire in the vicinity would be able to smell that scent and know that you killed me," the man said as he glared at Ryder. "Don''t worry about that. I''m not going to kill you. Also, I knew about that smell thing, at least," Ryder said. "Do you have any Crimson Blood Coins, by the way?" "Crimson Blood Coins? Why?" the man asked in confusion. Ryder looked at the old man as if he was looking at an idiot. "Of course to buy some different clothes. We can''t roam around in cloaks. I don''t want the situation like this to happen again," The old man heard his reply and got stunned. The people that were this strong didn''t have Crimson Blood Coins? He was finally starting to doubt if they were from the Undead Region or not. "You''re not from the Undead Region, are you?" the man asked. "Does that even matter? What matters is that your life is at our hands. Give us your Crimson Blood Coins, and I will let you go," Ryder said. As soon as he said it, he realized the irony of his demand. He facepalmed himself. "How can I forget that it''s impossible for you to give us your Crimson Blood Coins. You don''t have hands after all," The old man looked towards Ryder with a stunned look on his face. His shock turned to anger. "Are you mocking me? Aren''t you guys the ones that did this!" He roared in a fury. Ryder stepped closer to him and looked at his eyes. "Calm down; you''re the one that attacked us first. Be glad that you still have legs," he said. He looked back at the 20 people of his team. "You guys, Search him thoroughly and take everything you find," Ryder told them. "Strip him naked if that''s what it takes." Ryder walked back and allowed his men to do the rest of their job. They searched the whole body of the old man from top to bottom and finally found a pouch filled with coins. "We found it," One of the men said "Good, Makko. Go to the last city and get some clothes for us. They''ll consider you a single Vampire, and they won''t associate you with us," Ryder told his guy. "Yes, your Highness," Makko said as he turned back and started flying towards the city. "I was right. You''re not from our Undead Region! Where are you from? You can fly, so either you are from the Demon Realm or the Death Domain!" The old man told Ryder. "You guessed it. Sorry, but there''s no prize for guessing. As for where exactly we are from, I''ll leave that for you to guess," Ryder told him. "Your Highness, what should we do with him?" Rale asked Ryder. "Hmm... That''s the real question, isn''t it? What to do with him. We can''t kill him after all," Ryder said with a thoughtful look on his face. " But I have thought of something." Rale listened carefully while Ryder talked. "Tie him up and bury him alive at the depths of the ground. He shouldn''t be able to come out if we bury him 1000 meters underground, right?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, from what I can imagine, he won''t be able to come out of the ground, and I believe that he would not die either," Rale replied. "Good. Use our special rope to tie him up. It shouldn''t break even if he bites it for all his life," Ryder said. "Yes, your Highness," Rale replied. He brought out his rope and tied the legs of the man and then tied the same rope to the man''s neck and tightened it in such a way that the man''s feet were touching his head. Ryder looked at Rale with a weird look on his face. "Where did you learn such good rope play from?" Ryder asked. "I learned it from the books," Rale replied casually. "You guys start digging," Ryder commanded his men. He was hoping that no one would arrive there while they were doing it, but even if someone came and watched them doing it, it wouldn''t be much of a problem unless it''s the King himself. Also, if the King arrived, the worst that would happen is Ryder''s death and his going back in time. The men continued digging through hours. Makko had also come back by now with the clothes. "Did everything go smooth?" Ryder asked him. He asked just to be sure. "No, there is a problem, Your Highness," Makko replied as he shook his head. 129 Chapter 125: Father "What problem?" Ryder asked as a frown enveloped his forehead. "I saw the lady of the city talking to an old man. She had a map in her hand, and she was telling him something. I think that there''s a good chance that she was telling that old man about you," Makko told them. Ryder fell in deep thought as he heard about it. He glanced in the direction of the city. There was no one coming in their direction from there. He was also confident that Makko was an expert in stealth. There were not many people who could catch him. The chances of him being followed without him knowing were almost negligible. "How powerful was that old man?" Ryder inquired. "I think that he was stronger than that guy," Makko said as he pointed towards the old vampire that had attacked them, who was lying on the ground unconscious, tied like a toy. Rale had made him lose consciousness as he was being way too loud. "I see you didn''t compare him with Rale. He should not be at that level, I guess, but it''s indeed troublesome. I believe that they won''t enter the Valley of the Wandering Souls, though," Ryder muttered. "You did well. Give me one of them and distribute the rest to others. Let''s change clothes," Ryder took a pair of clothes from the hands of Makko and walked behind a tree to change his clothes. The others also changed their clothes. All of them were wearing white clothes now. At the top, they wore a beautiful white long coat that had long collars. "The clothes are not bad. I like the fashion sense of Vrykolakas more than I like the dressing sense of Vampires," Ryder muttered as he walked back. The others had also gotten dressed by now. They never stopped digging, though. A small team was always digging, giving the time for the others to get dressed, and after the others got dressed, they changed places with them. Soon, they had dug a 1000 meter deep pit. They threw the old man''s body inside. Rale placed a ton of heavy stones over the old man before they filled the pit with the soil. It didn''t take long for the pit to be filled by them, and soon, the ground started looking like before. No evidence could be seen about it being dug open. "Good work, everyone. I know you might be tired, but we need to leave now. We can rest when we get to our destination," Ryder told them all. Rale walked towards Ryder and caught his hands as he began flying high in the air. The others flew behind them, maintaining their speed. **** Back in the city of Vrykolakas, a girl was sitting inside her room in a hotel. The girl had light red eyes that seemed as deep as the sea of flames. She looked to be around 19-20 years old, judging by her face, but it was impossible to judge someone''s age by their faces here. The Undeads like the Vampires aged like an average human until they were 18; after that, their aging slowed down. Even though they still aged, it was almost at a negligible speed in some cases. It was clear that the girl had reached the adulthood of vampires, and her aging had slowed down. The girl looked towards the window. An upset look was shrouding her face. "Geez, Uncle Ren went out for a walk, and he''s still not back. He''s getting old and slow," she said. She stood up and started walking towards the window. She opened the windows and looked outside. The girl saw a young girl and an old man talking amongst themselves. They had maps in their hands. "Looks like the Owner of the city is back," she muttered. She looked around, but she didn''t find the person she was looking for. She walked back to the bed and started waiting again. Two more hours passed away, but the person she waited for didn''t return. "I can''t wait anymore! We have to leave the city, and he still isn''t back. I''ll have to go find him myself," she let out. The girl stood up and left her room. She walked through the city in search of the Old Man, but she didn''t find him anywhere. "Where could he have gone? I checked the whole city and yet I can''t find him. Did he leave the city and went back on his own? No, he won''t do something like that. Maybe he''s back at the hotel now," the girl muttered as she walked back to the hotel after searching everywhere. The girl entered her room, but it was just as empty as it had been the moment she left it. "Did someone harm him? Who could be strong enough to harm him? And why would someone do something like that?" she frowned as she walked back to the window. "The City Lord! In this town, only he''s strong enough to hurt him. Is he trying to start a war? Can he really be stupid enough to do it when he knows the strength difference between the two races? He must know how bad father''s wrath is!" she let out as she looked at the crowd of people walking all around the city. " I need an explanation from him. I''m not letting it go," she determined. "I can''t go there alone, though. If he had indeed gone mad, then he would definitely capture me if I go. I need to inform father about it," the girl said. She took out a paper from her pocket and ripped it. A small light came out of the ripped paper and flew towards the sky. The small light left the city and flew far away from her. After half a day, the light reached a dark looking palace. Dark thundering clouds covered the sky above the palace, but no thunder fell over the castle. A man was sitting on the throne inside the palace. His eyes were closed as if he was in deep thought, but his eyes abruptly opened as soon as the small speck of light entered the palace. His deep red eyes were scary enough to cause everyone who looked in them to start shivering. There was a powerful aura surrounding that man, making him look like an unapproachable deity. The man watched the speck of light coming towards him. He extended his hand and let the speck of light land on his palm. He watched the small speck of light in full seriousness. In less than e seconds, he was standing up. He flew outside the palace. 130 Chapter 126: Vampire Royalty The girl was still sitting inside her room, waiting for her father to get here. Her red eyes gazed out the window, hoping to see her father''s silhouette. She wanted to raid the mansion of the city lord and free the person that had been kidnapped as fast as she could. The girl''s name was Halia. She was the daughter of the General of the Vampire Clan of the North. The General of the Vampire Clan, Viden, was said to be the second strongest Vampire in the whole Clan, right after the Vampire King himself. Even though he was the second strongest Vampire, there was a wide gap between him and the Vampire King of the Vampire Clan. The Vampire King was equal in strength to the High Dukes of the Demon Realm, whereas the Vampire General Viden was equal to a Duke from the Demon Realm. Halia waited for her father eagerly. She was sure that her father would be here as soon as he got the message. **** Ryder and the others reached the small town that was just outside the Valley of Wandering Souls. The city was small and only had ten or so wooden huts. Ryder told Rale to take him down. They all landed in the center of the town. There was a stone wall right beside the place they landed. Ryder glanced inside the well and found it void of water. The well was not too deep so that he could see the bottom of it clearly. Many broken skeleton bones and pieces of bodies were lying inside. "Ancient Hobbit Salaka mentioned in the book that when he came here, there were Undeads living here and the well was filled with crystal clear water that increased his strength by a little. Whatever happened here should''ve happened after he gave that pearl back to the guardian of Wandering Soul and left," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. ''Something big definitely happened here. I hope the Pearl is still inside. I don''t want the unsealing fragment to be lost again,'' he thought. "You guys have constantly been flying, take rest for the night. I don''t know if we''ll get the opportunity or not once we enter the Valley of Wandering Souls," Ryder said. The others agreed and found a place to rest. "Aren''t you going to go?" Ryder asked Rale, who was still beside him. "I''m not tired, Your Highness," Rale replied. " Go and rest, Rale. Even if you''re not tired. Anyway, I''ll be missing for the night. Don''t try to search for me. And if you see anyone coming here, just hide," Ryder told Rale. Rale heard his words and became confused. "You''ll be missing for the night?" Rale asked Ryder. "Yeah, I have an item given to me by my master. Using that, I can sleep in a different space. You and no one would be able to see me after that," Ryder told Rale. "Oh, alright. I''ll wait for the night then. Have a great night, Your Highness," Rale said to Ryder, but he didn''t leave as if he was waiting for Ryder to go first. Ryder smiled wryly as he opened his system screen. He tapped on \u003cLog Out\u003e and left the game. "Amazing. There''s even a treasure like that. It''s good. At Least His Highness can use that to keep him safe when he sleeps," Rale muttered as he looked towards the spot Ryder was standing. **** Vampire General Viden reached the City of Vrykolakas at his best speed. He landed at the center of the town as he let out loud. "Halia, Where are you?" Halia heard her father''s voice and jumped outside the window. She ran to her father and hugged him. "Tell me what exactly happened here," Vampire General Viden asked her. "Uncle Ren and I had decided to stay in the city for the day and leave at night. He went out for a walk during the afternoon, but he didn''t come back. I searched the whole city, but I didn''t find him. I think that he was kidnapped. Only the City Lord here is strong enough to kidnap him!" She said. "He dared to harm one of my guys? Come with me," Vampire General Viden said. He caught the hands of the girl and walked towards the biggest mansion in the city. The guards had already informed the City Lord about the commotion, and he was in a hurry to leave his mansion to see what was happening, but as soon as he got near the door, the doors broke apart as they flew towards the City Lord. The City Lord dodged the heavy metallic doors. He looked towards the entrance. "General Viden, did I do something to make you so angry?" City Lord Feil asked Vampire General Viden politely. Time seemed to have stopped as Vampire General Viden moved from his position and appeared in front of the City Lord. He gripped his neck and raised him high in the air. "Where is Ren!" "Who is Ren? I don''t know what you''re talking about," City Lord Feil replied. He looked confused. "He''s the person I sent with my daughter! He''s missing since the afternoon. Are you telling me that he went missing in your city, and you have no hand in it?" Vampire General Viden asked. City Lord Feil saw the sharp teeth of Vampire General Viden, and he could feel the grip on his neck tightening. If it kept tightening like this, in no time, his neck would be utterly crushed. "I... I don''t know anything about it. I wasn''t even in the city at that time. I came back in the evening!" City Lord Feil said. "Is there anyone in this city as strong as you? He was only slightly weaker than you. Do you want me to believe that excuse?" Vampire General Viden asked. City Lord Feil was having a hard time breathing now. "There was a person in the city who was even stronger than me here today. My daughter talked about them when I returned; maybe it was them!" City Lord Feil replied. "In fact, they left this place in the afternoon as well!" "Who?" Vampire General Viden asked. "They were Vampire Royalties. A group of 22 Vampires, all dressed in Dark Cloaks. You can ask anyone in the city. Everyone saw them! I know the power of Vampires full well. Why would I harm a Vampire in my own city?!" City Lord Feil replied. "Vampire Royalty? Tell me everything!" Vampire General Viden released his grip from the neck of the City Lord, which made him fall down. 131 Chapter 127: Exposed "Let my daughter tell you the whole story. She can explain better as she was the one who interacted with them," City Lord Feil said to Vampire General Viden. The Vampire General looked towards the girl that was standing at some distance. "Tell me everything. If there''s even a single lie mixed in, I will raze this city to the ground right before your eyes, and then I will kill you and your father," the Vampire General threatened the girl. "Ah... I-i was sitting in the mansion when some guards told me about a group of 22 vampires arriving in the city. I told them to invite them as guests to our mansion..." "... I gave them the map and showed them the Valley of Wandering Souls, and they left. Father came back later, and I told him about it. Since then, father has been in the mansion with me," the girl explained everything that happened without missing out on a single detail. "People in cloaks and they were looking for the Valley of Wandering Souls? Did you see their eyes?" Vampire General Viden asked the girl. The girl shook her head. "I didn''t. Their cloak was hiding their eyes," "They could move like lightning, which does make them seem like Vampires, but other than me, only the Royal Guards could be so strong to do something like that. I''m sure that the King''s son won''t be coming here, so there''s no way for a Royal Guard to be here," The Vampire General placed his hand on his chin as he fell in deep thought. "The Princess has left the palace from what I heard, but she went in the other direction, and her entourage only had 9 Vampires. How could a vampire be here with an entourage of 21 Vampires that were as strong as she described?" he muttered to himself. "Ren left his hotel at the same time as those guys left this place. It shouldn''t be a coincidence," "I remember, Ren has a skill that lets him see if the other person is a vampire or not, even if the other person puts on a heavy disguise. It must be that he realized that they weren''t vampires, and he went after them, unaware of their strength," Vampire General Viden thought of a possibility. He looked towards the City Lord and his daughter in full seriousness. "I''m going to the Valley of Wandering Souls. You guys better pray that I find Ren or those guys there; otherwise, I''ll be back. Even if you run, I''ll find you, and I''ll kill you," he told the City Lord before he caught the hand of his daughter Halia and left. "Father, do you believe them?" Halia asked her father as they left the Palace. "While they were talking, I was observing them. Feil might be able to lie to me, but his daughter was definitely telling the truth. Also, the ones that have the most are afraid of losing the most. They wouldn''t try to hurt Ren when he was in their City. Feil can''t be that stupid; I believe that" Vampire General Viden replied. Halia looked towards her father in concern. "Are we going to the Valley of Wandering Souls to catch those guys? That place is dangerous, Father," Vampire General Viden heard the concern in his daughter''s voice and patted her head gently. "We are not going; only I''m going. You''re going back home. Also, Don''t worry. From what they said, it seemed like they were going to the town outside the Valley of Wandering Souls. Most probably, I wouldn''t even need to enter the Valley," he said. "I won''t let you go alone. Take me with you," Halia insisted. *Sigh* "You heard that they were strong, right? It would be dangerous if they took you hostage. I''d be defeated without fighting. Try to understand," the Vampire General said. "I... alright. I''ll listen to you," Halia agreed. She realized that she might just become the biggest weakness of her father if she went with him. **** Ryder logged out of the game. It was Sunday morning, and the date when he had to take Esmi on a date to complete the mission. Ryder took the Divinity Glasses off and placed them in his storage space this time. He sat up and stretched his arms as he yawned. He got off the bed and went to the washroom to take a nice shower. After 20 minutes, he came out of the shower. He was wearing nothing, and his hair was still dripping wet, which he was drying using a towel while walking towards the wardrobe. Suddenly, the door of his room opened. "Wake up. Breakfast is ready," Alice entered his room without knocking. She thought that Ryder was still sleeping, but her mouth opened wide as she saw Ryder looking towards her, shocked. His tower was near his head, whereas everything else was exposed right before her eyes. "I-i didn''t see anything," Alice let out loud as she ran out of the room and closed the door. Her face was as red as a tomato. Ryder looked down and sighed. "What a great start to the day," he said sarcastically. He opened the wardrobe and chose a set of clothes to wear. He got dressed and left the room. The breakfast was on the table, but Alice wasn''t there. "She must be embarrassed," Ryder sighed as he sat down on the chair. He started eating. After having breakfast, he stood up and left. He did say that he was leaving as he passed by Alice''s room to inform her. Ryder left the house and walked towards his Whirlwind. He could see a few children playing near his car. One of them was standing above its bonnet. "Kids, can you get off? I need to leave," Ryder told the kids as he reached near the car. He unlocked the car and entered inside. The kids got off his car and walked away. Ryder started the Engine of his Whirlwind and drove away. He had decided to meet Esmi near the Amusement Park so that he wouldn''t need to go to her house to pick her up. As he got there, he saw Esmi''s car parked on the side. Ryder parked his car behind her car and stepped out of his car. He locked the car and walked to Esmi''s car. Esmi was sitting on the driver''s seat, checking her phone. "Is he going to be late? There are only a few seconds left in the decided time," she muttered. *Tuck* *Tuck* Ryder knocked on her window. Esmi looked to the side and saw Ryder standing outside. A smile blossomed on her face. 132 Chapter 128: Abrupt Mission Esmi lowered the window of her glass and smiled. "Yes, Sir, Do you need something?" Esmi asked politely. She pretended to be ignorant that it was Ryder. "Is that how you want to do it?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. "Could it be that you are looking for someone?" Esmi asked Ryder. "Ah, right. I''m looking for a girl. We have a date planned for today, but it seems like she''s running late. So nonpunctual," Ryder told her. "Really? Could it be that you''re late and she left?" Esmi asked. Ryder placed both his hands on the roof of her car as he shook his head. "Maybe. Anyway, it''s fine as well. At least I got to meet a pretty lady like you in this way. I have two tickets for this amusement park. Would you like to come with me?" Ryder asked Esmi. "Are you flirting with me?" Esmi asked with a curious look on her face. "Come on, stop acting ignorantly. We''re getting late, let''s go," Ryder told her. "Hmph, you''re no fun at all," Esmi pouted as she opened the door of her car and stepped out. "You''re a few seconds late, by the way," She told Ryder. "I was stuck in traffic," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. He knew that Esmi didn''t really care about him being late and was only messing up with him, but he didn''t want to prolong this topic. He wanted to finish this date fast. "Next time, leave a little early from your house," Esmi chuckled as she held the hand of Ryder and pulled him towards the amusement park. She intertwined her finger with Ryder''s. "I must say, I was quite surprised when you suggested the Amusement Park for our date. I never expected myself to come to a place like this, considering my field of work. Did you do it because you know that Bastion hates amusement parks?" Esmi asked Ryder with an amused smile on her face. "It''s not that. I just like these amusement parks. The reviews of this park are great. It should be fun," Ryder replied to Esmi. Esmi simply smiled and didn''t reply. They reached the gates of the Amusement Park and showed the pass to the guard. They were allowed to move forward. They passed through a metal detector and entered the amusement park. The park was filled with a crowd, which showed how popular it was amongst the people. There were many rides here, high and low, along with many other attractions. "Do you want to go on a ride first or get something to eat and just visit various other attractions first before we move onto the rides?" Ryder asked Esmi. Their hands were still holding onto each other, making them seem like a couple. Esmi was about to reply when she saw a photo booth nearby. "I see a photo booth. Let''s get a photo first!" she told Ryder as she pointed towards that photo booth. "A photo?" Ryder exclaimed with a stunned look on his face. "Are you embarrassed about being seen with me? If that''s the case, you can tell me," Esmi told him. "It''s just that it would be weird if Bastion sees those photos," Ryder told her. He didn''t want to be in this situation with someone close to Bastion, but this is how this whole situation turned out to be since the beginning. He didn''t know how this would end, but he was hoping that it wouldn''t end badly. "You don''t have to be worried about that. It''s not like I''m going to keep the photo framed in my room. It will just be in my purse. Please?" Esmi looked towards Ryder with a pleading look on her face. Ryder looked at her expressions with a wry smile on his face. ''From no angle does she look like a badass person who handles all that. If I hadn''t fought with her, I would never have believed it,'' "Alright. I''ll take that picture with you," Ryder agreed at last. Esmi pulled him with her towards the photo booth smilingly. They entered the booth. Esmi inserted the coin in the photo machine and selected the options of filters. The timer started on the screen. 10... 9... 8... 7 Ryder and Esmi stayed close to each other as they waited for the timer to get to zero. "Ryder?" Just when the timer had 2 seconds remaining, Esmi called Ryder. Ryder looked towards her, curiously, but as soon as he looked towards her, his lips were closed by her lips. Esmi kissed him so unexpectedly that Ryder never thought of. The machine captured their photo right at that time. Even though Ryder was surprised, he didn''t push her back. Esmi had embraced him firmly and continued the kiss. The kiss lasted for over 2 minutes before they separated. "You planned it the moment you saw that booth, didn''t you?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. "Nope," Esmi replied as she shook her head. "I planned it before I even left my home." She started laughing as she walked towards the machine to take the photo out of it. The photo was delivered in 2 ways. It could be transferred digitally or physically. Esmi selected the picture to be printed out as well as to be delivered to her email. " It''s nice, isn''t it?" Esmi asked as she showed the picture to Ryder. The picture was the same as Ryder expected. It showed him and Esmi kissing. "It''s good, but keep it carefully. I don''t want to get into trouble because of that," Ryder told her. "I will," Esmi nodded her head. She kept the photo in her purse and walked towards Ryder. She held his hand once more and left the photo booth. "I heard that the haunted house is the place that couples must enter when they come to places like these," she told Ryder. "Where did you hear it from?" Ryder asked her. "Why does it matter. Let''s find the place. It should be fun," Esmi replied. "If that''s what you like," Ryder responded as he walked the Haunted House. The Date commenced mostly as per Esmi''s wishes. They went to the Haunted House. But it was different than his time with Alice. When he went with Alice, she was sometimes scared inside the Haunted House, but this time it was entirely different. Neither Esmi nor Ryder was scared this time. They left the Haunted House without anything significant happening. It seemed as if both of them were on a tour of the Haunted House. As they left the place, Ryder got an abrupt mission from Janus, which made his expressions grave. 133 Chapter 129: Explosion \u003cA new Mission has been assigned to the host. A Terrorist has entered the Amusement Park. Find that Terrorist and Kill him before he plants the bomb and kills thousands of people\u003e \u003cReward: 1) You will receive a Clue about the Ancient Cultivation Family and 100 origin point\u003e \u003cPunishment for failure: Thousands of people will die along with someone important to you\u003e \u003cTime Limit: 1 Hour\u003e \u003cOther Limitations: Only two try allowed\u003e Ryder''s expressions turned grave as he heard the mission. ''A terrorist is in this place?'' "Where can I find him in such a big place?" Ryder muttered with a frown on his face. "Find who? Are you looking for someone?" Esmi asked as she looked at him curiously. "Ah, no one," Ryder replied, shaking his head. ''There''s no clue other than the fact that it''s a guy and that the bomb will kill thousands of people. A bomb that kills thousands of people? If I was the terrorist, where would I plant the bomb to kill thousands of people?'' Ryder thought as he looked around the Amusement Park. "There are so many places like this here. If I''m not wrong, at least five places are popular enough to have that many people," Ryder muttered. "Let''s go to the WaterFall mountain," Ryder told Esmi as he started walking towards a specific direction. Waterfall Mountain was the closest attraction to them that was this famous. It was a mountain that was artificially made, and the most attractive thing about this place was that the waterfall of this mountain wasn''t a waterfall but a Chocolate Milk fall. It attracted people to see that from far and wide. Even though the water was replaced with chocolate milk, no one was allowed to drink it or even touch it themselves. Every person that arrived here was served a glass of chocolate milk from the waterfall by the authorities. Ryder entered the Waterfall Mountain. ''Janus, what does it mean that I have two tries?'' "It means you can cheat only once to complete this mission," Janus said. '' Cheat? What does that mean?'' Ryder asked with a frown on his face. Janus didn''t reply. Ryder could see thousands of people there who seemed to be having a picnic there. He carefully observed everyone to find if there was any suspicious person there or not. "Is there anything worrying you? You seem nervous, suddenly?" Esmi asked him. She could feel that something was wrong. "I found out that there is a terrorist in this amusement park, and he will plant a bomb that will kill thousands of people. We have to find him at any cost," Ryder said to her. "A terrorist? How do you know?" Esmi asked in shock. "I can''t tell you how I know, but it''s definitely going to happen. We need to find him at all cost," Ryder told her. "I''ll believe you, but I''ll definitely ask you how you know after we deal with this thing. Also, How about we separate? We can cover more areas?" Esmi asked. Ryder agreed to her suggestion. "You can check the Delish Plaza. It is also very crowded, and it might be his target," "Alright. I''ll go there and check more places after that. Do you know anything else about that terrorist that could help identify him?" Esmi inquired. "I don''t. I only know that he should be a man," Ryder said as he shook his head. Esmi sighed as she turned away. "I''ll try to do my best to find him. I think I have a good eye to see criminals," she said as she started walking away. Ryder and Esmi both searched on their own as they kept going through various attractions of the sect. They kept searching but without any result. 55 minutes passed away, but Ryder didn''t find anything. He was starting to get nervous as he watched the time trickle away on his watch. His phone started ringing. It was Esmi on the phone. "Did you find him?" He asked as soon as he picked up the phone. The time on his watch changed from 10:59:59 to 11:00:00. It was precisely 11 am in the morning when Ryder heard a loud blast. He listened to the explosion from his surroundings as well as from the phone. The loud noise from the phone made it seem as if Esmi was standing right beside the bomb. *Beeeeeeee* He heard a screeching noise in his right ear because of hearing the loud sound from the phone. He saw a big cloud of smoke rise in the air at some distance. "Esmi? Esmi, answer me? Are you alright?" He asked as he ran towards the location of the blast. People were running and screaming everywhere, but he didn''t hear Esmi''s voice through the phone. Instead, he received a recorded message that the phone has been disconnected. "God Dammit!" He roared in anger. He decided to use his power to turn back the time by 40 minutes. He was hoping to solve the problem as he already knew the location of the blast. This way, Esmi would be alive as well. The time was rewinded by 40 minutes, and Ryder found himself back in the Waterfall Mountain. "Whoever you are, you will regret messing with people close to me," Ryder muttered as he ran towards the place where the blast had occurred. The blast happened near a place called Spinster. It was one of the tallest rides in this place. The ride could fit 300 people at once, but the crowd around it was definitely in thousands. Ryder reached near the Spinster and started looking for the person that could be the terrorist. There were still 30 minutes left before the actual blast, so Ryder only hoped that the bomb wasn''t set up yet. ''If the bomb was already set up, I wouldn''t have received this mission so late. There must be a way to catch that guy,'' Ryder thought as he looked around. He walked through the crowd and after some time, he saw a suspicious man. The man was wearing a long hoodie. There was a traveler bag in his hand that was way bigger than what an average person would carry. "Is that guy the terrorist? How can the security allow this bag and the items of a bomb?" he muttered. He started following that man as he acted casual. The man sat on a bench nearby and kept the bag near him. He sat for only 5 minutes as he casually checked on his phone before he stood up and started walking away. As Ryder watched the man walk away, he was 99 percent sure that this man was the bomber. The man walked away, but he left his bag behind. 134 Chapter 130: Magician The hooded man walked away, leaving his bag behind. Ryder walked to the bag in a hurry. He was worried that the man would leave, but he didn''t leave the bag behind as that would have made thousands of people die. He kept his eyes on the man that was walking away while he stood near the bag. ''What should I do about this bag? I''m sure the bomb would be inside it, but if it''s a bomb with a timer or a bomb that works on a remote, I can''t be sure. Fuck it; I''ll just do it. From what I know, the time doesn''t move in my storage space." Ryder looked at the bag and opened his inventory, and placed the bag in his storage. A child was standing some distance away from him and noticed the bag disappear. He tucked on the skirt of his mother. His mother looked towards the boy. "Mother, that uncle is a magician! He made the bag go poof!" the boy said as he pointed towards Ryder. His mother just smiled and ignored the words of her child as a story. "Let''s go. If you like magic, I''ll take you to see a true magic show," the woman said as she took the boy with her. Ryder kept the bag in his storage and started running after the hooded man that had already reached far away from him. The man glanced back casually and saw Ryder running towards him. He grew suspicious and increased his speed. The man changed his direction and went towards a more secluded area of the amusement park. There was an abandoned place in the amusement park known as the Land of Pirates. It was similar to the haunted house. It was long and dark, but instead of showing the haunted stuff, it had the pirates related stuff. This place was made for the kids, but it wasn''t popular. The operating cost of this place was much higher than what the amusement park earned from this place. That''s why they had closed this place until they could review how they could improve it. The man ran towards the Land of Pirates and entered that place. Ryder realized that the man had seen him following him, but he didn''t care. It was even better for him now that he was in a secluded place. Ryder walked inside the Land of Pirates. He was walking deeper into the Land of Pirates. There were many decorations all around him, related to the pirates. There were lifelike statues of bearded pirates and huge pirate ships. *Bang* Ryder was walking deeper to look for the man when the sound of a bullet being fired from the gun arrived. The bullet entered Ryder''s chest, making him fall down to the ground. Ryder laid on the ground lifeless. "Didn''t your mother tell you that it is bad manners to follow someone? Look where it brought you," The Terrorist stepped out from behind a statue. There was a gun in his hand. It was a small, single-handed gun. He walked towards Ryder, sure that he was killed. What he didn''t know was that Ryder''s Ruler of nature skill was working, healing his wound. The bullet that was inside his body was turned to nutrients similar to how plants use photosynthesis. His wound also healed, not leaving even a single mark behind. The only thing that still proved that he was shot was the hole in his shirt, which was covered with his own blood. "Hmph, wasted my time. It''s fine as well. I can still hear the sound of that blast from here. It should be the time soon. The man said as he looked towards the entrance of the Land of Pirates, smilingly. He looked at the time on his watch, which was showing 10:59:55. He started counting the time. "5... 4... 3... 2... 1... 0," As soon as the man said the word 0, the watch showed the time 11:00:00, but he didn''t hear the blast he was expecting. Instead, he heard a gunshot. A bullet penetrated his hand that was holding the gun. The man screamed in agony as the gun fell down to the ground. He held his hand and started roaring like mad. "Stop acting like a child. I was shot in the chest. Did you hear me screaming like that?" The man was screaming in pain when he heard a mocking tone from behind. He looked back and saw Ryder standing as if nothing had happened to him. Ryder had a gun in his hand, which he always kept in his inventory. It allowed him to bring his weapon anywhere. Ryder walked forward right before his eyes and picked up the man''s dropped gun as well. "H-how are you alive?" The Man asked with a horrified look on his face. "Uhmm... Because I have a cheat?" Ryder muttered as he shot the right leg of the man. The man again screamed like a beast being slaughtered. "I don''t like the sound of your scream. Can you stay silent?" Ryder let out as he shot his left leg as well. The man screamed again. His eyes had turned blood red and were filled with tears. "I told you that I don''t like your screaming," Ryder muttered as he shot his left hand as well. "Then stop shooting me, you bastard!" the man screeched in pain. Ryder shook his head as he looked at the man without any pity. "Oh, geez, Being shot makes one scream? how about being blown to smithereens because of a bomb some idiot planted?" "I-i... " the man stuttered. "Don''t say anything without asking; otherwise, the next bullet will be making a hole in that empty head of yours," Ryder said as he pointed both his guns towards the man. Even though the man was in excruciating pain, he closed his mouth, but the worried look on his face was evidence of how much pain he was going through. His hands and legs were turned useless; now, the only thing he had left was his life, which he didn''t want to lose. "That''s better. Now let''s get back to the point," Ryder smiled as he sat near the man. "Why did you plan to blow up this place? And how were you able to bring the bomb and a gun inside this place without getting caught," Ryder asked the man. The man hesitated briefly. *Sigh* "I know I told you to stay silent, but if you don''t even answer me, then you can''t expect me not to shoot you, can you?" Ryder asked with a wry smile on his face as he shot the shoulder of the man. 135 Chapter 131: Experimen "Tell me what I ask, it''s not a tough question, is it?" Ryder asked again. "How did you bring the bomb inside and who''s behind you," Ryder inquired. "I... I won''t tell you anything. You can kill me for all I care, but I won''t say a word," the man shook his head and refused to say anything. "Oh, you will tell me. I am not worried about that. Anyway, you know what part of the human body gives the most pain if it''s hit?" Ryder asked the man as he looked at him with an amused smile on his face. The man just looked at him with his stern expressions, without saying anything. Ryder moved his gun and pointed it towards a particular part of the man''s body. The man''s eyes didn''t leave the gun and watched its every movement, but his face turned white as he saw where Ryder was pointing his gun. "You know, Let''s do a biology experiment now that we have an opportunity. Is being hit in the nuts more painful or being shot in the nuts," Ryder said as he glanced at the face of the man. "Let''s start with the first option!" Ryder added as he looked down at the man. "S-sto..." The man called to stop Ryder, but before he could even complete his word, a kick landed on his manhood. For the first few seconds, the man felt nothing, as if the kick didn''t hurt in the least, but after a few seconds, the pain arrived. The pain was so massive that the man''s face lost whatever little bit of color it had remaining. His eyes opened wide, and his face started sweating. The man''s head started spinning after a brief moment, and he felt as if he was about to die. He could feel like vomiting as he tried to bear the pain, but it was even worse that he couldn''t use his hand. Ryder watched the man groan in pain as he stood on the sidelines, waiting for the man to recover. The man seemed as if he was dying, but Ryder knew that he wouldn''t die with just that, but he would still die from excessive blood loss after some time. "Ugh... Kill me, you bastard!" the man roared in pain. His eyes were blood red, and his face was covered in sweat. "Not yet. I still haven''t finished my experiment, did I? Though I wouldn''t need to finish my experiment if you decide to answer me. In fact, I would even bring you to the world''s greatest doctor if you answer me," Ryder told the man. The man kept wriggling in pain until the pain subsided. The pain didn''t stop entirely, but after 10 minutes or so, it did decrease. "Alright. Now that we''re done with that, time to move onto the second part of our test," Ryder said, with an interested skill on his face as he pointed his gun towards the place he had kicked some time ago. "I''ll count to 5. If you still don''t start talking, then you will know how it feels, and I will know how someone that goes through this looks like," Ryder said to the man. He started counting. "1... 2... 3... 4... " "Wait! I''ll tell you. Don''t do it, but you must promise that you will keep me alive and take me to the doctor," Ryder had only got to the 4th when the man started speaking. His voice sounded weak. "Of Course. I already told you that I would bring you to the best doctor," Ryder said smilingly. "I-i did it on the orders of Master Jameson," The Man replied. "Who is this, Master Jameson?" Ryder asked. He didn''t know anything about it. "H-he is the owner of this Park. He helped me bring the bomb and my weapons inside," the man replied. "The owner of this Park? That does explain how you were allowed to bring the things inside, but why would he do this to his own place?" Ryder asked. "I don''t know. This mission was given to me by him, and he helped me bring the stuff in. That''s all I know. I don''t know what his reasons were or why he did this. I did this for the money, and I didn''t care what his motivations were," the man said. "The owner of this Amusement Park, Jameson," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. "So he is the reason that was going to get so many people killed." "You don''t know anything else about it?" Ryder asked the man. " I told you everything I know. I know nothing else. Now it''s your turn to fulfill your promise. Take me to the hospital," the man said. "One more thing, that bomb was a time bomb, right?" Ryder inquired. "Yes. It was supposed to go off when the timer hit 0, but it didn''t work. Now don''t waste time and take me to the hospital, or I''ll die," the man said. His voice had almost no strength and was almost inaudible. Ryder walked closer to the man without a hurry. " I never said I''d take you to the hospital, but I did say that I''ll bring you to the best doctor," Ryder said to the man. " Let me fulfill that promise of mine." Ryder raised his hand and pointed his gun towards the man''s head. "Y-you..." the man stuttered as he saw the gun pointed towards his head. "Say hi to the world''s greatest doctor when you get there," Ryder pulled the trigger of his gun. A bullet left the gun, and penetrated the head of the man, killing him instantly. \u003cMission Finished\u003e \u003c100 Origin Points Awarded\u003e \u003cCheck the pocket of the man for the clue about the ancient cultivation family\u003e Ryder walked closer to the man and checked his pockets. He found a folded paper inside the man''s pocket. He checked the other pockets of the man, but there was nothing else other than that one paper he found. He unfolded the packet. "An invitation to the party?" Ryder exclaimed as he read the content of the letter. "The birthday celebration of Keia Silva?" he muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. "Looks like I''ll have to attend another birthday party." Ryder placed the body in his inventory as he wanted to dispose of that body in another way instead of leaving it here this time. He also put the guns in his storage ring and picked up the bullets that were lying on the ground before he left the Land of Pirates. 136 Chapter 132: Im not doing tha Ryder stepped out of the Land of Pirates and brought his phone out of his pockets. He could see the missed call of Esmi just a few moments before 11. He dialed her number. As soon as the call connected, Esmi started going off on him about not picking up her phone. "Anyway, I had called you to give you the update that I didn''t find anyone. I did see a suspicious person, though. I''m following him at the moment," Esmi told him. "You don''t have to do that. That problem is solved. Come back," Ryder said. "Alright. Where are you?" Esmi asked him. "Meet me at the cafe in the central park," Ryder told her before he disconnected the call. He started walking towards the Cafe and reached there after some time. He waited for Esmi to get there while he ordered two coffees. By the time the Esmi got there, the coffee was ready. He picked up the cups and walked towards the empty table. He placed the cups on the table and sat on a chair. Esmi sat on the other seat. "How did you know that I would be here exactly now?" Esmi asked him. "I didn''t know," Ryder replied. "Then why was it that the coffee got ready at the exact time. Can you see the future?" Esmi inquired. Ryder shook his head as he took a sip of his coffee. "Nope, I just ordered coffee without knowing when you would be here. I would''ve thrown it and ordered another one if you were late," he replied to her. "I thought it was more Mysterious than that," Esmi chuckled before she picked up the cup and started drinking. "Is now the right time to talk about that? What was that whole thing about? How did you know that a terrorist was going to be here? and how did you handle him?" Esmi asked. "A friend told me. He is a cop. He knew that I was coming to this place. He called me and told me that there''s a report about a terrorist entering the Amusement Park. He was asking me to leave," Ryder made up a story. "I somehow don''t believe that, but go on. How did you handle that guy?" Esmi asked. Ryder smiled as he took another sip. "I didn''t do anything. I got another call from my friend that it was a false alarm. Someone gave them a wrong tip." "Really? So our date was disturbed for no reason? You know how much I had to work? How do you intend to make up to me?" Esmi asked Ryder. "Ahmm, how about I increased our date duration? We can stay here until 4 pm instead of 2," Ryder told her. "Nope, that''s not enough," Esmi replied. Ryder smiled wryly as he saw her stubborn look. "6?" he asked. "Nope. It''s not about the time, but how we spend that time," Esmi said. "What do you want me to do then?" Ryder asked with a defeated look on his face. Esmi smiled as she looked towards him. She moved her chair so that it was right beside Ryder''s chair. She brought her red lips closer to Ryder''s ears and whispered something in his ears. "What? No way! I''m not doing that!" Ryder straight away denied. Esmi looked disappointed as she started looking down. "I-i didn''t even ask twice when you told me to help you search for a dangerous terrorist. I gave it my best even though it could''ve cost me my life, but I didn''t think twice. You, on the other hand, can''t even do this for me," she said as she rested her head on the table. Her voice was breaking up and seemed as if she was about to cry. Ryder knew that she was just acting up, but he also realized that she was right. She did try to do her best to help him. In fact, in the previous timeline, she had even died in the blast. "Alright. I''ll do that," Ryder told Esmi. Esmi smiled as she sat up and kissed him on his cheeks. She held his hands and stood up, and she pulled him with her. Esmi brought Ryder to the Ferris wheel of the amusement park. The Ferris Wheel was 600 feet tall, and it was a slow-moving Ferris wheel that allowed the people to see the city in peace. It took 3 hours to complete a spin. Esmi took Ryder inside one of the cabins of the Ferris Wheel. Both of them sat in the cabin, alone as the Ferris wheel started moving. "I never thought that I would be doing that on my trip to this park," Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face. Their cabin had completed 25 percent of the spin, and it reached the height of 300 feet after 45 minutes, that''s when the things started. Esmi looked towards Ryder and started kissing him. Ryder kissed her back. Their kiss lasted for over 5 minutes before they separated. It didn''t take long before their clothes found their way to the floor of the cabin. **** After 90 more minutes of intense exercising, they wore their clothes. "That was great," Esmi said to Ryder as she smiled. Her face was still red and looked intoxicated. "It was nice," Ryder replied as he glanced out the window. Esmi started laughing as she heard his response. "You can be more honest with yourself," Esmi said. She held Ryder''s hand and intertwined her fingers with his as she looked at the view of the city with him. "The city looks so peaceful from there," Esmi said. "Yeah, the light hides the darkness much better," Ryder muttered. "Hey Ryder, What have you thought about your future? I heard that you develop apps to earn money? I can help you get a small studio and hire a small team of developers? You can enter the much bigger field and get more exposure," Esmi suggested. "Are you trying to help me financially?" Ryder asked as he glanced at her. "You can think of that as my investment in a startup if you want. You can return whatever you want after everything''s settled? I just want to help if I can," Esmi said as she lowered her head. Ryder smiled as he placed his hand on her cheeks. " I appreciate the gesture, but I don''t lack the money. You have the wrong information. I''m well settled already," he said. "What you heard might be old news. I''ve started a business, and I''m already earning quite well. You might not have noticed it, but there was a car being your car. That was mine," He added. 137 Chapter 133: New Mission? "I did notice a Whirlwind standing behind my car. Was that really yours?" Esmi asked in surprise. "Yeah," Ryder replied. "I guess I really misunderstood you then. If you can afford that car, then you definitely wouldn''t need my help," Esmi chuckled as she said to Ryder, but she was still embarrassed about the fact that she offered help to him without knowing everything. Time kept passing slowly as they watched the scene outside. Both of them stayed in silence. After 45 minutes, they got back to the ground as they stepped out of the cabin. "Where do you want to go next?" Esmi asked Ryder. "Really? It''s already the time to leave," Ryder said as he looked at his watch. It was already over 2 Pm. "Didn''t you say that you would extend my time to 6 pm because I helped you?'' Esmi asked as she glared at him. "I did offer that, but you chose another option. Don''t you remember?" Ryder chuckled as he held her hands and walked towards the exit. Esmi simply pouted but didn''t reply to him. Ryder stopped near an ice-cream shop along the way. "Let''s end this date on a sweet note. Which one do you want?" Ryder asked Esmi. "Chocolate," Esmi replied without even looking towards him. Ryder took a chocolate Ice Cream and gave it to her. Esmi took the ice cream, but she didn''t stop glaring at him. "Come on; There''s no need to be salty. We can have another date some other time," Ryder told her with a wry smile on his face. He turned towards the exit and started walking that way when he noticed something that made him shocked. He stopped on his tracks as he turned back. He saw Alice in the Amusement Park with one of her female friends, coming in his direction. She still hadn''t noticed him. "I think I forgot something. You get to the car, I''ll be right back," Ryder said to Esmi before he started running deeper into the Amusement Park, away from the exit. "Why is she here? Just my luck that I had to choose this place," Ryder cursed as he continued running. Alice looked ahead and noticed a person running. She didn''t know why, but she felt as if she found that back familiar. The thing that saved Ryder was that Alice hadn''t seen what clothes he wore before leaving home. The only time she saw him at home today was when he was without any clothes. Since then, she didn''t see Ryder even when he left, because of her embarrassment. She didn''t think that the person was Ryder, but she did feel that the person had a Physique similar to Ryder. "What happened?" Alice''s friend asked her as she saw her standing still. "Oh, nothing. Let''s continue," Alice said, smilingly as she continued ahead. Esmi ate her ice cream as she walked towards the exit. At one point, Esmi and Alice walked past each other without realizing who the other person was. Ryder was back in a corner of the amusement park, waiting for Alice to leave. As soon as he saw Alice move deeper into the park and away from him, he walked out. He started walking towards the exit, but he had to stop once more as he heard a voice. It was Janus'' Voice. \u003cDing... Another Mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Follow Alice for the whole day without leaving 100 meters of her proximity\u003e \u003cRewards: 100 Origin Points\u003e \u003cReward: 50 Preloaded Credits on your Deity Phone\u003e \u003cPunishment for failure: Alice will die\u003e \u003cDuration of the Mission: Until she leaves this Amusement Park\u003e \u003cNote: If she realizes that you''re here, a secret punishment will begin\u003e "Awesome. Now I have to stalk someone. Are you giving me training about how to be a criminal?" Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face. ''At Least I don''t have to buy credits for that Deity Phone. I wonder who I''ll be able to call,'' Ryder thought. He started walking in the direction Alice went in. Ryder brought his phone out of his pocket. He wanted to inform Esmi that he wouldn''t be able to come, but before he could even unlock the phone, it started ringing. The screen was showing Esmi''s name Ryder picked up the call. "How long are you going to take? Come fast; I''m getting bored in the car," Esmi told him as soon as he picked up. "I was just about to call you. I don''t think that I would be able to come. I met a friend here, and things are troublesome. I don''t think I can leave him," Ryder told Esmi. "How about you leave alone? It''s better than waiting for who knows how long. I''ll call you later." "Alright. If you''re going to be busy with your friend, I''ll leave," Esmi replied before she disconnected the phone. Ryder walked for a little more before he found Alice. Coincidentally, he was near a mask shop as well that sold cute anime character masks. Ryder purchased one of the masks that belonged to a bald anime character who was super powerful. He was called Single Attack Man, a favorite of kids nowadays. He wore the mask and walked closer to Alice. Even though he was allowed to stay 100 meters away from her, he decided to be only 40 meters away as she was drinking coffee on the same table that Ryder and Esmi sat at. He walked towards the coffee shop and ordered a coffee, but he didn''t take his eyes off of them. He got a cup of coffee and selected a table that was around 30 meters away from Alice''s table. He watched them subtly while holding the cup of coffee in his hand. "I''m so glad I killed that terrorist. I didn''t even know that Alice was about to come here. Even if I stopped the bomb, I wouldn''t feel safe about her safety if that guy was running out in the open," Ryder muttered as he watched her. "I wouldn''t even be able to rewind time if something had happened to her." After some time, Alice and her friend sat up and started walking away. Ryder also stood up and threw the coffee in the dustbin before he started following her. Alice went to the swing ride next with her friend. Ryder couldn''t help but smile as he saw her preference when it came to rides in the park As he was watching her, he saw a man walk towards her. Although the man didn''t look strange, Ryder could see that his eyes were looking towards the girls. 138 Chapter 134: Him again? Ryder saw the man coming towards the girls. He could feel something was wrong as he watched the man staring at the girls. The man looked suspicious. He started walking towards the man. Ryder reached the man before the man could reach the girls. He lightly tapped on the shoulders of the man. The man turned back, but he was shocked to see a man in Single Attack Man''s mask, pointing his gun towards him. Ryder kept the gun in such a way that only the man could see it. "Don''t move unless you want to become a shooting practice for me," Ryder told the man softly. "What do you want?" the man asked Ryder. "Why do you want to harm the girls?" Ryder inquired. "What do you mean? I don''t want to harm them," the man said in confusion. "Really? Why was your hand moving towards your pocket that contains a knife as you were walking towards them?" Ryder asked again as he pointed towards the man''s pockets. "H-how, do you know?" the man stuttered as he asked. His face was filled with shock. He couldn''t understand how Ryder knew about the Foldable Knife in his pocket. "I didn''t know, but I took a vague guess after seeing its outline and your expressions. You just verified it. Give me an excuse not to shoot you right now," Ryder said to the Man. "I-i have nothing to do with it. I don''t even know the girls. My boss asked me to do this. Let me leave. I won''t ever do this again. I''ll even leave this job," the man pleaded to Ryder. "Who''s your boss, and what did he ask you to do?" Ryder asked him. "My boss is Jameson. He''s the owner of this place," The Man answered Ryder. "That Jameson once again. He isn''t going to learn without dying, is he?" Ryder muttered with anger on his face. "What did he tell you to do?" Ryder asked. "H-he told me to kill the girl. He said that the girl is without security at the moment, and it would be the best opportunity to kill her. I don''t know much else," the man answered. Ryder subtly glanced at Alice and her friends. ''Security? Alice never had security. Is he talking about her friend?'' Ryder thought. "You''re talking about the girl in the red skirt, Right? Why is Jameson targeting her? I don''t think she had any enmity with him," Ryder asked him as he pretended to know the girl. "Yes, the girl in the red skirt. I was given her picture, and I was told to kill her," The Man said. ''Is that Jameson idiot? He made two plans, and both contradict each other. If the blast had succeeded, the girl wouldn''t come here. Why would he have made this second plan to kill her here,'' Ryder thought with a frown. ''Unless the plan was made some time ago?'' "When did he tell you about what you had to do?" Ryder asked. "It should be after 12 today, right?" "How do you know about that?" The Man was once again surprised at Ryder''s knowledge. Why did he know about it, he couldn''t understand. ''I was right. The blast didn''t happen at 11, and Alice and her friend made this plan. Jameson must have found out about their plan and made this plan,'' Ryder thought. "Tell me everything that happened from the beginning," he asks the man to get the information from him. "I received a call 2 hours ago. He told me to kill a girl and said that it''s the best opportunity as the girl doesn''t have her guards today. He also sent me a photo of the girl on my phone. You can already imagine after that. I regret agreeing to do this, and I will seriously leave and never come back if you don''t hurt me," he told Ryder. ''Well, his target wasn''t Alice, but he still put her in danger. That Jameson is proving to be a troublemaker today. It''s the second time already. I''ll have to meet him myself,'' Ryder thought. "Where can I find Jameson? Is he here today?" Ryder inquired. "No. From what I know, he is out of the city. I don''t know which city he went to, though." "Give me Jameson''s number." "A-alright. His number is 192677277541." "Can I leave now? I already told you everything I know," the Man told Ryder as he looked around. He was hoping for someone to come so that Ryder would be forced to hide his gun, but no one was coming. "I''ll let you leave, but first, I need to check if you have any other weapon. I don''t want to let you go only to be shot from behind." "You can check. I only have one knife, and that''s also folded right now. You can take that if you want." Ryder shook his head. "Are you really telling me to check you here? The girls are right behind. What will they think about me? Come there," he said as he pointed towards the wall on the side. There was just a single wall there that was more like an art piece that had a beautiful nature painting. The great thing was that the wall was within the 100 meter proxy of the girls so that he wouldn''t fail his mission either. "Alright," the man nodded his head. The man walked towards the wall, and Ryder followed behind him. They got behind the wall. "First, give me that knife." Ryder asked for his knife as soon as he got there. The man agreed and took the knife out of his pocket and gave it to Ryder. Ryder put the gun in his storage space and walked closer to the man. The man thought that Ryder was coming closer to check on him, but Ryder''s hand closed his mouth, whereas Ryder''s other hand thrust his knife in the man''s heart. As soon as Ryder thrust his knife in the man''s chest, a short scene flashed before his eyes. He felt as if he had thrust a sword in someone''s chest. He didn''t know who that person was as he didn''t see the face, but he had a feeling that it was a girl. His heart ached a little. The scene finished as soon as it appeared. In fact, it seemed as if it only lasted for the blink of an eye before it ended. Ryder''s hand was still on the Man''s face, whose eyes were open wide. His breathing had stopped, and he had died instantly. 139 Chapter 135: Altered Destiny "You think I don''t know that you would''ve killed both the girls? One to finish the mission and one to finish the witness?" Ryder muttered as he looked at the man. He placed the man''s body and his knife in his Storage Space. ''It''s so weird that my inventory has two dead bodies. I don''t even know how I''m alright with it, but it doesn''t seem to affect me much anymore. Just what is happening? And what was that scene that had appeared before my eyes? It was the same feeling as the last time in the Demon Realm,'' Ryder thought as he left that place and walked towards Alice. He stayed 50 meters away from her as he pretended to be on the phone. Alice got off of the ride with her friend and continued walking away. "Where do you want to go next?" Alice asked her friend without any care in the world. Her friend brought her phone out and started searching. "The Ferris wheel is pretty popular. Let''s go there." "Alright," Alice nodded her head. They turned back towards Ryder and started walking in his direction. Ryder stood near a tree, still pretending to be on a call. He again started following after them as they left. They reached the Ferris Wheel and entered the cabin. Ryder entered the immediate next cabin to them. Now that he was there, he could relax for 3 hours. There was no chance that he would fail the mission for the next 3 hours as their cabins were nearby. Ryder pulled out his phone from his pocket and started looking at the number of Jameson. He wondered if he should call him. In the end, he decided to call him. He was about to call the number, but before he could call him, his phone started ringing. It was a private number that wasn''t showing. "Who could be it?" Ryder wondered as he picked up the phone. The private numbers were really difficult to get nowadays. Before he could speak, the person on the other side started talking. "When are you bringing the bodies?" Ryder was visibly confused about the question. He understood that it was a wrong number, but the question itself didn''t give the right feeling. "Why aren''t you speaking? You know that he doesn''t like any delay, right? Get the bodies here! You have 3 hours only!" the person said before the call was disconnected. "That was creepy," Ryder muttered as he looked at his phone. "Whatever, there''s no need to jump into those matters unnecessarily." He shook his head as he tried to relax his mind. The phone once again started ringing. It was an unknown number, but at least the number was visible this time. He picked up the phone. "Hello, am I speaking to Mr. Ryder?" The person said from the other side. It sounded like a girl''s voice. "Yeah, who''s this?" Ryder asked. "Ahmm, I''m calling you to inform you that you have won the lottery. You won 10 million dollars. I would like you to come up to our office to get the money. We need you to do some paperwork," the girl informed him. ''Oh, right. I forgot about that. Even though the results would be announced to the public later, they announce it to the winner before that. They must''ve received my information from the details I submitted while registering the ticket on their site,'' Ryder thought. "Alright. Thanks, I''ll come to your office on Tuesday as I have matters to attend tomorrow," Ryder replied. "Oh, ok. I''ll arrange that," the girl said before she disconnected the call. **** On the other side of the call, a young girl was sitting in her office. She was the assistant of the owner of the organization that handled the lotteries. She was assigned the duty to call the winner and arrange everything. "Geez, Such a stern guy. He won so much money, yet he didn''t give any reaction. I would''ve been jumping up and down if I had won such money," the girl muttered as she shook her head. If Ryder were here, then he would have recognized the girl as she was the same girl that he had saved when he killed the criminal to complete his first mission. The girl worked in this office. In fact, it was only after that day; she got this job. In the timeline when Ryder didn''t have Janus, the girl didn''t work here as she had died in that alley, but that Mission changed her life and altered her destiny. She was still alive and living a life better than she ever lived before. Ryder had no idea how things changed because of him. It was not the only thing that changed either. There were many things that changed¡ªsome for good and some for the bad. **** "I can finish the next mission tomorrow and then get the money on Tuesday before getting back to the more important stuff. I already feel tired just thinking about it. I need a long vacation," Ryder smiled wryly as he shook his head. He again dialed the number. Fortunately, this time no call disturbed him. He called Jameson''s number that he had received. "Hello? Who''s this?'' "Ah, sorry to disturb you. I''m speaking from Betaphone networks. As you may already know, your e-sim is registered on our network," Ryder said to the man. He had already looked up which network that sim belonged to. It turned out that it was a number from betaphone networks, one on the big names in the country. "Yeah, I know that. What do you need?" the man asked. "Ah, Sir. From what I can see, you''re not in the city you registered your sim in. Am I right?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, I''ve come to the Valis City for business. What about that?" "The thing is that we wanted to know when you would be returning to the city you registered that sim in. We''re doing some upgrade to our system and activating some additional features for your sim. But it can only be done when the sim is in the city it was registered in. If you could give me the date, I can input that to my system so that it would happen on the day you return," Ryder told the man. "Oh, I would return on Wednesday morning. You can put that date on your system," the man replied. "Alright. Thank you for your time, sir. Have a great day." Ryder disconnected the phone. "Wednesday... It looks like that''s the day we''ll meet," Ryder muttered as he glanced out the window. 140 Chapter 136: Dangerous Misunderstanding Time kept passing as the Ferris wheel moved. After half an hour, Ryder was starting to feel extremely bored. "I didn''t know this ride was so slow. Time passed much faster when I was here with Esmi," he muttered as he started playing with his phone. Ryder played a game on his phone. It was a multiplayer game that he himself had developed. Time kept passing like that, and after what seemed like an eternity, 3 hours were over. "Finally," Ryder muttered as he stood up and left the cabin. For the rest of the day, he kept up with the routine. He continued following Alice and the other girl. Estonia Silva was the name of the girl who was with Alice. She used to study with Alice in the same class, but she transferred to another University mid-semester for reasons unknown. Even though both of them studied in different universities, they still kept in touch. She was also the person that Ryder was unknowingly linked to. Ryder knew her, but he didn''t realize it. She was the girl that raided the tomb with Shu and Ryder just a few days ago. Her username was Mimi123. She was the mage that wanted to buy his Scythe that was disguised as a staff. "Hey, Alice?" Estonia asked her with a frown on her face. She seemed somewhat serious. "Yeah?" Alice responded. "I feel weird. I think the guy behind us has been following us for quite some time," Estonia said to her in a low voice. She didn''t want the man to hear her. Alice was about to turn back, but Estonia stopped her. "Don''t look back. He''ll realize that we have seen him. Let''s just try something. We''ll go on another ride, and if he still follows us, then it will be clear," Estonia told her. Alice was somewhat worried, but she nodded her head. They chose the more crowded route as they walked towards another ride, but Ryder followed after them. "It''s clear. He''s following us. It can be dangerous. I guess we''ll just have to cancel our trip today," She informed Alice. "Should we inform the Park Rangers?" Alice inquired. "No. The guy might have weapons. If he sees us going to the guards, he''ll definitely run away or attack us. Just act casual. I''ll call for help. He wouldn''t even know how he got caught," Estonia replied. " Sigh, it feels bad just to stop our fun day when I worked so hard to come out without security. Whatever safety should be our first priority," Estonia let out. The disappointment was evident in her tone. She picked up her phone and started to call someone. Ryder was somewhat surprised as he saw them roaming around the crowded streets as if they were confused about what ride to choose. "Let me call my brother as well," Alice muttered as she brought her phone out as well. "Hello? Ah, yes. I''m sorry, father. I should''ve informed you before leaving. I''m in the amusement park. Can you send the guards here? Someone is following me," Estonia told her father on the phone. Ryder was still confused as to what was happening. He could see both of them using their phones at once. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He looked at his phone and was surprised to see that it was Alice calling him. He picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Hello, ah, Where are you right now?" Ryder was starting to get worried. He wondered if she had recognized him. " Me? Why? Did something happen?" he asked. "Yes. I came to the amusement park, and we can see a guy in a mask following us. I am scared," Alice answered him. "A guy is following you? And he''s wearing a mask?" Ryder couldn''t help but smile wryly. He could see that they had found out about him, but she still didn''t recognize that he was Ryder. Generally, he would''ve just left in this situation, but because of the mission, he couldn''t go out of 100 meters range of her. "Tell me where you are," Ryder asked her. Alice told him that she has come to the Amusement Park. She told him about her location, as well. "Alright. Come out of the amusement park. I''m nearby. I''ll be there. It would be difficult finding you inside. Check if he''s still following you after you get him outside the park. I''ll handle everything else," Ryder told her. He wanted her to leave the park so that the mission would be over. "A-alright," Alice nodded her head. She disconnected the phone. "My guys will be here soon. Don''t worry about anything," Estonia comforted Alice. Alice told Estonia about what Ryder told her and got her to leave the amusement park. "Alright. We''ll do that. My guards would have an easy time finding us as well. Let''s go," Estonia agreed. They left the place and started walking towards the exit. Ryder finally breathed in relief. He could see that this mission was soon about to be over. He kept as far from them as he could without failing the mission. Estonia and Alice were only 200 meters away from the exit when Ryder saw ten men entering the Amusement Park. They were all dressed in black clothes. "Those are my guards. Just act casual. That stalker shouldn''t know that I called them here," Estonia informed Alice. The men walked towards Alice and her friend. Ryder wondered if they were Jameson''s men as well or not. He couldn''t take the risk, and he started walking towards them. He could see that he wouldn''t get there in time if he walked. The men had a chance of getting to them faster. He started running towards the girls. Alice and Estonia also noticed Ryder running towards them. They also started running, but they ran away from Ryder. The Black Clothed Men saw Ryder running towards the girls and the girls running away from him. "That must be the guy that is harassing Young Miss! Catch him!" The guys started running towards Ryder. The situation had turned complicated. Ryder saw the Men running. He thought that they were running towards Alice and her friend. Everyone was under a misunderstanding at the moment¡ªa misunderstanding that was about to create unnecessary trouble. Alice and Estonia passed by the black-clothed men and stood behind them. "He''s that stalker. Beat him up!" Estonia told her guards. "What?" Ryder was shocked. He stopped in his tracks, surprised. It didn''t seem like the girls were afraid of the men. In fact, Alice''s friend seemed to know them. He realized that the situation was wrong. The Black Robed men didn''t stop and continued running towards Ryder. 141 Chapter 137: Exp System One of the men managed to reach Ryder first, and he attacked him. Ryder dodged the man''s punch. He used the Lower Martial Arts to catch the arm of the men and twisted it in such a way that the man''s arm broke. The Man that seemed to be buff screamed like a little kid. Ryder punched the man, making him go unconscious. \u003c50 Exp added\u003e \u003cReal World Level upgraded to Level 2\u003e \u003c5% increase in all physical stats\u003e "The Exp system activated. I guess that''s what Janus talked about. I can feel my strength increasing," Ryder muttered. He dodged another punch that was coming towards him. He twisted his body and kicked the face of the man, breaking his nose. The Man''s nose was bleeding, but Ryder didn''t stop there. He punched the man, making him fall down to the ground. \u003c50 Exp added\u003e "This is fun," Ryder smiled. He didn''t attack anyone first as he wanted to utilize the opportunity to the fullest to gain exp. The 3rd guard also attacked Ryder and soon found his way to the ground, giving Ryder another 50 points. "What the hell are you doing! Attack him together! You can''t even handle a man," Estonia scolded them from behind. Seven guards were remaining. The 7 of them had surrounded him to stop Ryder from running. One of the guards brought out an expandable baton. He ran towards Ryder and attacked towards his chest with the baton. The other came from behind, also holding a baton. He attacked towards Ryder''s head. Ryder lowered his body, dodging the baton that was about to hit his head and caught the baton of the second person that was coming towards his chest. He kicked the man, making him fall back. The baton was left behind in Ryder''s hand. Ryder twisted his body and used a decent amount of force to hit the man who was standing behind. The man immediately lost consciousness and fell down to the ground. His face was swollen, and some of his teeth were also broken. \u003c50 Experience points added\u003e \u003cLevel upgraded to level 3\u003e \u003cAll Physical stats enhanced by 10%\u003e The man that was kicked had sat up, but before Ryder could attack him to gain more exp, he was attacked by the rest of the man. He faced the barrage of attacks, but his reflexes were much faster than before. Overall, he had a quite a lot of increase in every physical stat, which included strength, speed as well as defense, and stamina. Using the baton that was still in his hands, he kept fighting against the guards and defeating them one by one. Just like that, 7 of the ten guys were defeated. Only three were still standing. "T-that guy is a monster. I don''t think my guys can handle him. Let''s leave while they keep him busy," Estonia held the hand of Alice and started running towards the exit. Ryder watched them leave and started to get worried. He wanted them to leave, but if they walked out of his 100-meter proximity before they left the amusement park, he would fail the mission. He hit the head on one of the guys with the baton and rotated his body to give a spinning kick to another black dressed man, making him crash on the ground. \u003c50 Experience Points Added\u003e \u003c50 Experience Points Added\u003e \u003cLevel upgraded to Level 4\u003e \u003c10% increase in all physical stats\u003e Only one man was remaining, but Ryder couldn''t take any more time. He started running after the girls leaving the man behind. If he had delayed for even a second, he would have failed the mission. The last remaining guard stood in the back, watching Ryder follow after the girl. "I know the boss told us not to use guns, but it''s impossible to stop that man without shooting him. He''s too much of a monster. If I let him do as he pleases, then Young Miss would die," the last man muttered. He brought a gun out and aimed at Ryder. "Sorry, boss," The man muttered as he fired. Surprisingly, the bullet was fired just when the girls stepped out of the proximity of the Amusement Park. Ryder''s mission was over, and he had stopped when a bullet hit the back of his knee, making him fall to the ground. The man walked towards Ryder while keeping his gun pointed at him. Ryder''s Ruler of Nature was activated, which healed his injury and turned the bullet into nutrients for his body. He was only level 4 in the real world, but he was level 40 in divinity. The Bracelet of Immortality took into account the highest level, and that''s why his Divinity level was chosen. For every five levels, he was allowed one use of the Ruler of Nature in a day. That''s why he could use the Ruler of Nature''s healing ability eight times a day, and it was only his 2nd time. Ryder''s leg was healed. The man was still running towards Ryder. As soon as the black-clothed man reached near Ryder, Ryder kicked the leg of the men using the leg that was shot. The man hadn''t expected that. He fell down to the ground. The gun also fell out of his hand, onto the ground. "Didn''t your father tell you that shooting someone is bad?" Ryder asked the man, but he remembered that he himself had shot someone. He quickly added to his statement. "Unless you are me." He kicked the face of the man, making him lose consciousness at once. \u003c50 Experience points added\u003e \u003cMission Finished\u003e \u003c100 Origin points added\u003e \u003c50 Credits added to the deity phone\u003e Ryder heard the announcements of Janus. "Sigh, finally. Now time to escape before cops are here," Ryder muttered as he ran inside the Amusement Park. He walked to an empty-looking place and removed the mask. He started changing his clothes. He kept a separate pair of clothes in his inventory in case he had to change clothes for whatever reason. He kept the old clothes back in his inventory and walked out. He was walking towards the exit and called Alice. "Where are you? I was at the entrance, but I didn''t see you. I even entered the park. I''m still looking for you," Ryder told Alice in a worried tone. "I-i left. I''m in my friend''s car, and we are going to her house. Things had gotten dangerous, and I couldn''t wait. That guy was a monster. He beat up the guards as well. I don''t think he''s following us. We should be safe now," Alice replied to him. Ryder had a wry smile on his face as he heard her words. Being called a monster wasn''t a pleasant thing. 142 Chapter 138: Beat him up "Oh, it''s nice that you have left. Is your friend going to drop you home, or should I come to pick you up from her place?" Ryder asked her. Alice didn''t answer him immediately. Ryder could hear her talking to her friend. After some time, she replied to him. "She will drop me home." "Alright. I''ll come home then," Ryder said to her. The call was disconnected. Ryder walked out of place and noticed the black-dressed men were still lying on the ground. Some of them were awake now. They were trying to help their fellow guys. Ryder casually walked past them and left the place. He walked towards his car. There was a large truck standing on the side of his car, hiding it from the view of the public. He walked to the other side of the truck and entered his car. He started the car and got on the road and started racing it towards his home. "Janus, I like the experience system, and I could feel my strength increase every time I level up, but I don''t understand one thing. When I killed that terrorist, why didn''t I get exp? He had attacked me first, and I killed him. If we go by the logic, then I should''ve received experience," Ryder said to Janus. Previously he didn''t think about it, but after he understood the exp system more because of the fight that he went through, he was starting to get curious about it. \u003cBecause you were killed. You can''t get experience from the person that kills you in the real world\u003e Janus replied to him. "I wasn''t killed. The time would''ve reset by 24 hours if I was killed," Ryder pointed out. \u003cThe time only rewinds after you stay dead for 5 seconds, but the skill ''Ruler of Nature'' revived you instantly. That''s why the time didn''t reset\u003e "Oh, so I actually died. That makes it the second time I died in the real world," Ryder chuckled with a self-deprecating look on his face. Janus didn''t say anything. Ryder reached home and parked his car in the parking lot. Just when he was parking, Estonia passed by him in her car and left. Ryder stepped out of the car and walked towards his house. Ryder knocked on the door. "Alice? Are you back?" he asked. The door was opened, and a girl jumped into his arms like lightning. Alice hugged Ryder firmly as she started crying. "It''s alright. No one is going to harm you. I''m here, always," Ryder told Alice as he wrapped his arms around her gently. "I-i was so scared. That person was scary," Alice told Ryder. Her voice sounded muffled as her face was hidden in Ryder''s chest. "Was the bad guy dressed that scared you, wearing yellow clothes and a Single Attack Man''s mask? He was the person that was fighting the black-clothed men? Ryder asked Alice. "Y-yes. Did you meet him?" Alice asked as she looked towards Ryder''s face. "Meet him? I beat the heck out of that guy! He defeated the black-clothed men, and he was running away. I realized that he must be a bad person, and I started chasing after him." "What happened next?" Alice asked Ryder. "I caught up to the man and beat him up before giving him to the police. Don''t worry about him. You won''t ever see him again," Ryder comforted her. "Really? Thank you," Alice smiled before she separated from him. "You can rest in your room while I start preparing for dinner. It''s going to be your favorite tonight," Alice told him as she walked inside the house. ''Well, I had to beat myself up, but I guess it''s good that she''s happy. I should''ve been more careful when following them. I scared them for no reason.'' It was 7:30 pm as he entered the house and walked into his room. The sun had already gone to brighten another part of this earth. It was dark outside. He fell down on his bed and closed his eyes. He finally had the time to relax. After around 10 minutes, he sat up. He brought out the Deity Phone from his storage ring. It was an item he had received when he unlocked one of the mystery boxes. It was also known as the Mythical Phone. He was informed that it was a phone using which he could contact any legendary or mythical person. Through it, he could call mythical legends for advice if he needed to have his questions answered. They will answer him to the best of their abilities The cost of the call depended on the person he called. He was told that there were some that would cost hundreds of credits per minute, while some would be much cheaper. He never used his origin points to recharge the Deity Phone as he felt like it was a waste, but now that he had free 50 credits, he decided to give it a try. He turned on the phone and looked at the contact screen. The contract screen that was empty last time now had names on it. There was a cost written in front of each of the names. Some were five credits per minute, while others were 50 Credits per minute. There was not a single name that cost more than 50 credit points. "I guess I can''t see more names as I don''t have enough credits even to see their names on the contact list. Anyway, what''s with some of the contacts? Is this really the Mythical Phone? Why is there a Bread Boy who costs ten coins per minute?" Ryder asked Janus. \u003cYou can see their details by clicking on their name\u003e Ryder nodded his head as he tapped on the name of Bread Boy. The details opened in front of him on the phone screen. [Bread Boy: Also known as the magician of bread. His bread is so delicious that every person who eats his bread becomes his friend. He is also known as the destroyer of sorrows. His bread can make people happy no matter how sad they are] "Really? What kind of advice can I ask him? How to make bread? Even if I want to learn, it''s impossible that he can teach me his specialty in 5 minutes. Not useful," Ryder closed the screen and went back on the contacts. He was going through the names and found many weird names. Some of the names included¡ª Master Cleaner, Insect Hunter, Love Destroyer, Failed Swordsman, Chivalrous Knight, and many more. He kept reading through the names, but ultimately he found a name that shocked him. "Why is his name here?" Ryder asked in shock. 143 Chapter 139: Specter Ryder was going through the system when he saw a name that stunned him. "Janus, why is your name here?" Ryder asked Janus. There was Janus'' name on the contact screen. It cost 50 credits per minute to call him. Ryder didn''t understand why it would be here. Janus didn''t reply. Ryder tapped on the contact to see its details. [Janus: No details available. 99.999999% discount ongoing. Now call Janus at just 50 Credits] "Cheh, he''s just trolling me. Does he really expect that I would call him when I can talk to him," Ryder said with a wry smile on his face. Ryder started scrolling on the screen and found a contact that intrigued him. [God of Advice: Call the god of advice to ask for any advice. The God of Advice is known for giving the best advice for any problems. 50 credits per minute] This was the number that Ryder wanted to call. "Let''s see if his advice is better than what I wanted to do tomorrow or not," Ryder muttered as he looked at the screen. He called the number. There was no caller tune or music, but the call was instantly connected. "Please ask your question." The voice of the God of Advice sounded calm and peaceful. It made Ryder feel as if he was talking to a really confident and understanding guy, but on the other hand, he also felt as if he had heard that voice before somewhere. He just couldn''t remember. "There was a girl who bullied my sister and got her arrested. I need to make her apologize to my sister without forcing her. How can I do it in an hour," Ryder told the man. "I understand. The answer to this question is simple. Make someone else force her," The God of Advice replied. "I don''t mean it like that. I want her to apologize to my sister on her own," Ryder asked again. "Give her the enlightenment potion. She would become stronger mentally and would be able to see her mistakes. You wouldn''t even need to do anything," The God of Advice said. "But..." *Beep* *Beep* Ryder was about to ask more questions when the call was disconnected. His one minute was over. "The enlightenment potion? It sounds like a great thing, but why would I waste that on her. I''ll just follow the first advice and see how it goes," Ryder muttered as he sat up. He put the deity phone back. He walked into the shower to get fresh and came out after some time. He got dressed in his nightclothes and left the room. Ryder walked towards the kitchen. The dinner was almost prepared. After waiting in the kitchen for some time, he was served the food. He ate the food and had some conversation with Alice about the fact that he would be coming to the University with her tomorrow. Alice was surprised to hear about that, but she agreed as he told her that he had some business with the Dean. After finishing the dinner, he walked back to his room. He laid on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. "Take me to Divinity." Ryder found himself back in divinity on the same spot where he had disappeared from. The sun was rising high in the sky, brightening up the small town. Highlighting how ruined and broken, it looked. "Rale?" "Your Highness. You''re back." Rale appeared near Ryder. "Is everything alright?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, I didn''t see any person coming here. We are safe," Rale told Ryder. "Alright. Good," Ryder nodded his head. "We''re entering the Valley. Call everyone," Ryder commanded Rale as he started walking towards the Valley. ''It''s so amazing to have a team as strong as them, especially Rale. I can do anything. The gaming experience is much better than it was last time. I feel like I''m a guild leader of the strongest guild,'' Ryder thought smilingly. Soon, everyone was there. "Everyone be alert. This time''s mission is going to be much more dangerous than the Kingdom of Dark Elves." Ryder warned everyone to be careful before he took his first step inside the valley of Wandering Souls. Rale walked closest to Ryder, keeping an eye on his surroundings. As soon as Ryder stepped inside the Valley of Wandering Souls, he felt something strange. He felt like he had entered a different world altogether. The atmospheric pressure felt different. The air felt rotten, and the sky was covered in dark clouds that didn''t seem like that from the outside. "Keep your weapons ready to attack. Physical Attacks don''t work on the monsters of this place. They only work when someone attacks with their treasured weapon or using skills. Don''t attack with hands as it would not be effective in the least," Ryder told the others. He brought out his Moon Scythe and changed its form to a bow. "Don''t attack any beast without my orders," He also informed them. He wanted to get the experience from weaker monsters and let them deal with the stronger monsters. After walking for only a few minutes, Ryder saw a specter. It seemed like a wolf, but it was semi-transparent as if it was a spirit of the Wolf. Ryder used his All-Seer to see the level of the specter. It was supposed to be the weakest beast here as they were on the outskirts, but even it was a level 35 beast. Ryder aimed his arrow towards the Wolf Spectre and fired his arrow. His aim was still not perfect, despite the practice he went through, but still, the arrow hit the specter and killed it in an instant. Ryder gained the experience of killing the beast. [Absorption Activated: Intelligence +0\u003e "The heck? Why did it have to choose intelligence to give me? Was my luck so bad?" Ryder was feeling upset. He had already seen that the Wolf had 0 intelligence when he used the All-Seer on him, but the absorption chose the stats randomly, and he received intelligence, which wasn''t useful in the least. "Is something wrong, Your Highness?" Rale asked as he saw the confused look on Ryder''s face. "Nothing. Ignore that," Ryder recovered his casual expression and continued walking ahead. After walking for some time, Ryder saw a specter beast that was much stronger than him. He knew that he couldn''t kill it himself. "Rale, you can take that one," Ryder told Rale to kill it. Rale killed the beast in a single strike. ''I''ll definitely become as strong as you,'' Ryder thought as he looked at Rale, quickly killing the beast. They continued walking ahead. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 144 Chapter 140: Blood River After walking for some more time, they reached a river that was blocking their path. The strangest thing was that it was a river that seemed to be filled with blood to the brim. It was impossible to see how deep it was. "There was no mention of this river in that Ancient Hobbit''s book. Did it also appear after his time? Strange." Ryder looked at the river with a frown on his face. "The time of his trip here was too long ago. Maybe the topography changed, or something else happened here," Rale responded. "Yeah, it''s true as well. It''s just the blood that shocked me. Blood shouldn''t appear out of nowhere," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Anyway, do you have any idea about how we can cross this river? That book did talk about the taboo of flying, and I don''t wish to test that personally," Ryder said as he glanced at Rale. "How about we jump to the other side?" Rale suggested. "Really? The width of this river is 100 meters. Can you jump that far without flying?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yes, Your Highness. You don''t have to worry about it. We can all jump that far. We won''t drag you down," Rale replied smilingly. ''I''m not worried about you dragging me down. It''s me that can''t jump that far,'' Ryder thought as a wry smile eclipsed his face. "Really? Let me test that. I''m sure that you can jump that far, but I want to see if you can jump that far while carrying a person with you or not," Ryder said to Rale as he looked at Rale suspiciously. "Ahh, Alright." Rale started looking to the back to select the person he would carry with him. "You don''t need to disturb them. I''ll do that. You can carry me there," Ryder suggested. Rale nodded his head as he walked first and sat down on his knees in front of Ryder. Rale''s back was facing him. "I''ll prove it to you. You can hold onto my neck so that you don''t fall," Rale told Ryder. Ryder walked ahead and wrapped his arms around Rale''s neck as he held onto him from the back. Rale was taller than Ryder, thus when he stood up, Ryder was raised to the air. Rale faced the river and got prepared to jump. Rale didn''t do a run-up and simply jumped ahead. He jumped so fast that Ryder''s body was almost horizontal when they were mid-air. Ryder would''ve fallen in the river if he wasn''t holding onto Rale tightly. Rale landed on the other side of the Blood River. He sat down on his knees. Ryder released Rale and stepped back. "Not bad. I don''t expect anything less from my Royal Commander," Ryder praised Rale. Rale stood up and bowed down slightly as he thanked Ryder for the praise. "You guys can come here as well. Don''t worry; you can do it. Just jump like Rale and me." Ryder looked towards the other members of the team of his guardians. The other guards also jumped over the river. They seemed as if they were flying. If Ryder hasn''t known that these guys were jumping, for a moment, he would''ve thought that they were flying. "There''s something in the Blood," Ryder let out as he abruptly raised his bow and aimed towards the Blood in the river. He again felt a movement in the Blood. He pulled the string of the bow. An arrow made of Mana appeared in the bow. He waited to see another movement, silently. As soon as he saw another movement, he fired the arrow. The Arrow disappeared into the blood. He didn''t know if the arrow had hit its target or not. He didn''t even know what the target looked like if there was actually any. There was also a possibility of it being something that wasn''t what he thought. After some time, he got a notification. \u003cHundred Thousand Exp Added\u003e \u003cAbsorption Activated\u003e \u003c+30 Strength\u003e \u003cSkill Absorption Activated\u003e \u003cSkill Received: Underwater Breathing\u003e "Looks like it was indeed a beast. Most probably a specter of water type beast," Ryder muttered as he looked through the skill that he had received. [Skill: Underwater Breathing Level: 1 Description: Ability to breathe underwater without losing HP Duration of the Skill: 20 minutes without coming to the surface] "Wait a minute, shouldn''t this ability be called Underblood Breathing? That beast was swimming in blood and not in the water unless what looks like blood is actually water," Ryder muttered as he looked towards the blood river. He started wondering if he should check if it was actually blood or not. ''Nah, there''s no need to waste time on that. Even if it''s water, so what," Ryder shook his head. "Let''s continue ahead," Ryder told his men as he started waiting further. They traveled for 4 hours without a break. During these 4 hours, they came in contact with quite a lot of specters. Some of the Spectres were low level and good enough to be in Ryder''s range of the Beasts that he was able to kill. He killed them all as he found them. Rale and his team killed the other beasts that were stronger. After these 4 hours of hunting, Ryder had managed to increase his level by 3. He was now a level 43 player. Ryder looked at his level up notification as he smiled. ''Tomorrow should be the day when the Level Ranking becomes public. I wonder how much chaos my ranking is going to cause. I might even become an overnight sensation.'' ''It would be a good thing to brag about. Shu should be the one who will be most shocked. He had been asking me to tell him my true level, but I kept telling him that he will know soon. Tomorrow should be the day it becomes public. I''d also love to see how the number one player of the Last timeline is doing. His level should be around the 15-20 by now without the Scythe,'' Rale watched Ryder looking ahead blankly. He didn''t understand why Ryder was in a daze. "Your Highness? Is something the matter? You''ve been standing there in a daze for quite some time now." Rale tapped on Ryder''s shoulders to bring him out of a daze. "Oh, it''s nothing. I was just thinking about something. Let''s continue on our journey." **** Outside the Valley of Wandering Soul, a person was standing. His deep blood-red eyes were looking at the border of the Valley of the Wandering Souls. After some time and some consideration, he moved his foot forward and stepped inside the Valley of Wandering Souls. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 145 Chapter 141: Out of Mana It was afternoon when Vampire General Viden landed before the entrance of the Valley of the Wandering Souls. He was already 8 hours behind the team of Ryder. He stepped inside and started walking towards the depths of the Valley of Wandering Soul. "I hate this place. These souls are so irritating," the Vampire General muttered with an irritated look on his face as he shot out a ball of fire towards one of the Spectres that was flying towards him. "In this place, even the weak souls aren''t afraid. They''re like pests that keep coming," he let out as he shot a fireball on another specter that was coming towards him. Surprisingly, he had faced more specters than Ryder, and his team had to face. It was like he was more attractive to the specters. In less than 10 minutes, the Vampire General was attacked by 90 specters that flew towards him without thinking about the power difference. He had only faced level 35-40 specters only, which was even more irritating to him. He felt as if he was being underestimated by what he considered as ants. Because of continually being attacked by the specters, his speed of moving forward was much slower. His speed wasn''t even one-fourth of the speed that Ryder and his team had when they passed through this area. ***** Ryder and his team of guardians were still moving deeper into the place. They kept killing the specters that came near them. Ryder was the one that was enjoying the place more. So far, it has been like a treasure ground for hunting. He had collected tons of experience. Ryder also managed to become a level, 45 player. Even though he was upgrading in levels faster, he could also see that the specters were also becoming more and more stronger the further he went. When he entered the place, the weakest specter he was seeing was a level 35 specter, but now, the weakest specters he saw were level 50 specters. He could see why this place was considered dangerous. He was still in the place that was considered the outskirts of the Valley of Wandering Soul. It was called the dwelling of the weakest souls, and yet, the weakest specters that he was seeing had higher levels than him. He was still using the Bow to kill the specters without letting them get near him. He was trying to kill as many beasts as he could. Having a long-range weapon was really useful in this endeavor as he was able to fire multiple shots before the specters reached near him. This gave him a slight edge in the hunting battle. Ryder was facing a level 60 specter at the moment. He had fired five arrows already, but the specter wasn''t dead, instead it kept coming towards Ryder, trying to kill him. The Spectre had managed to reach within 30 meters of Ryder, and his HP was still quite decent. Rale raised his hand to fire an attack to kill the specter before it could harm Ryder. "Stop! Don''t interfere!" Ryder stopped Rale and fired another arrow, lowering the HP of the specter. Rale stopped and didn''t attack, but he didn''t take his hands down. He kept his aim on the specter, ready to attack if Ryder was in danger. He knew that it might mean that he would have to break the orders of Ryder, but he considered getting punished better than watching Ryder die. As the Specter got even closer, Ryder changed the shape of the bow back to the Scythe. He stepped towards the Spectre and rotated his body to give the Scythe more momentum. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder muttered. The blade of the Scythe seemed as if it was burning with the flames of hell at it cut the specter in 2 pieces. Ryder got the notification of experience that he received. It was the highest experience he had received so far. \u003cStat Absorption Activated\u003e \u003cDefence +70\u003e \u003cSkill Absorption: Failed\u003e \u003cLevel Up\u003e Ryder gained a level. He was now a level 46 player. In less than a day, he had gained six levels, which made him quite happy. By coming here, he had already gained a lot. He was now a level 46 player. He was sure that by the time he left this place, he would be much higher than level 50. It had taken him months to get to level 50 last time, but in this new timeline, he would be able to achieve it in a fraction of that time. Even though the gained levels made him happy, the thing that he was genuinely excited about was the fragment of the Bracelet of Immortality. He was quite curious if it was actually the fragment or not. The chances of it being the fragment were really high at the moment. He was also excited about the new powers he might receive from the Bracelet of Immortality after he gets that 3rd fragment. The 2 Powers that he had received were already so incredible. One made him immortal, while the other made him almost impossible to be killed. He was hoping for the 3rd power to be more on the offensive side. The defense was good, but he has always been a fan of offense. He didn''t want to be on the defensive side forever, especially after finding out about the existence of Cultivation Families. Ryder changed back the form of his Scythe back to a bow. "The arrows are powerful, but it can''t be compared to the attack of the Scythe," Ryder muttered. ''My Mana is almost depleted. It doesn''t look like I''ll be able to use skills before my mana restores,'' he thought. "Rale, you can take care of the specters that come next. I won''t be attacking anyone for a while now," Ryder informed Rale. Even though he has the Mana Restoring potion, he didn''t use that as he was not in an urgent situation. He wanted to save his resources for later when he reached to the depths of the Valley of Wandering Souls. The guardian of the Valley was the true target to him, and he didn''t want to take the risk of going there without his resources. "Yes, Your Highness." Rale agreed to that. He took the lead and told the others to surround Ryder as they moved forward to protect him. He had somewhat understood that Ryder was out of energy; otherwise, he wouldn''t have stepped back from the hunting. The guardians surrounded Ryder in a circle as they moved forward. Rale and the others kept killing any specters of beasts that came before them. They generally killed them in only one strike as they were strong. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 146 Chapter 142: Beast Egg Ryder and his team traveled throughout the day towards the depths of the Valley of Wandering Souls. Ryder had recovered his Mana from this, and he had again started hunting the beasts as much as he could. His experience counter kept rising the further they went, but his Mana kept decreasing faster than it was restoring. The number of beasts they were facing was more now. As they were almost at the edge of the outer region of the Valley of Wandering Souls, beasts were more powerful, and their numbers were more. "That''s the 8th golden tree. We should be getting near the safe zone soon. It took longer than I expected," Ryder muttered as he noticed a golden tree to his left. In the Book of the Ancient Hobbit, he had read about the experience of the Ancient Hobbit that explored this region. In the book, he learned that the 9th golden tree would be right between the border of the outer region and the Inner Region. There was said to be a cave near that 9th golden tree that was like a safe location. People could rest inside that cave without worrying about the attacks from the specters. The specters couldn''t enter the cave. The Hobbit that wrote the book had discovered the cave and its specialty. He also spent a lot of his nights inside the cave. "I''m again out of Mana," Ryder muttered. ''"You guys can take over again," Ryder told Rale. The team again surrounded Ryder to protect him as it continued to move forward. In fact, their speed of movement was only faster when Ryder wasn''t hunting as their single attacks were enough to handle them. Ryder was the one who actually took the time to hunt the beasts and the reason their speed was slow. As he stepped back, they kept advancing faster and faster, and in no time, they reached near the 9th golden tree. The 9th Golden Tree was the tallest tree they had seen so far. The tree was twice as tall as the other eight golden trees. "Look around. There should be a cave nearby," Ryder commanded others. Everyone spread out to look for the cave except Rale, who stayed behind to protect Ryder. "I found it!" One of the men said. Ryder and the others followed that voice and saw that cave hiding behind giant stones. Rale walked forth and moved the stones to the side, exposing the entrance of the cave. "Who closed the entrance? It''s not like specters could enter if the entrance were open?" Ryder muttered as he stepped towards the entrance of the Cave. As he entered, he heard a notification. \u003cFirst Player to enter the Cave of Protection in the Valley of Wandering Souls\u003e \u003c+300 Fame Points\u003e "Awesome. I guess I should find more places like this that give fame points," Ryder muttered. Rale and the others entered the cave after Ryder. Ryder was looking around the cave when he noticed something near the wall. It seemed like an egg, but it was as big as Ryder''s head. The Egg was blue in color that had beautiful golden dots on it. "There''s an egg here?" Ryder muttered in surprise. "This egg... I don''t think I''ve ever seen an egg like this before," Rale let out as he observed the egg. Ryder walked towards the egg and picked it up in his hand. "Mysterious Beast Egg recieved\u003e \u003cDo you want to bind it to you\u003e \u003cY/N\u003e "It''s a beast egg. Of Course, only a stupid would be the one who doesn''t bind it," Ryder muttered as he selected yes. \u003cMysterious Beast Egg bound successfully\u003e \u003cTime before it hatches: 7 Days\u003e "Awesome. I got a pet monster. Wonder if it will be something badass like a legendary monster," Ryder smirked as he watched the egg. "Does Your Highness know what this egg contains?" Rale asked Ryder as he noticed the smile on his face. "I don''t. I have zero ideas about its species, but I do hope that it would be a decent beast," Ryder muttered as he kept the egg in his inventory. He looked around the cave to see if there was something else here. "I wonder how that egg got here. No specter could enter here. There should only be two possibilities. One is that the beast came here, gave birth, and left," Ryder said to Rale as he gave his theory. "The second possibility is more realistic. A person came here carrying this egg. That person left this egg behind and covered the cave with stones. He never returned for whatever reason. Most probably because he was killed," he continued. "I also think that the second is more probable. We already know that someone came to the town outside after Master Hobbit left. The skeleton bones in the well were the proof of that. I think that person also entered the Valley of Wandering Souls," Rale responded. "Whatever happened, it''s good for me. I got a good beast," Ryder said. He looked outside the cave, and it was already dark. "I don''t know whose egg that is, but it should be special since it survived in a dangerous place like this," Rale nodded his head. "You guys rest for the night. We''ll continue the journey ahead. Also, even though specters can''t enter this place, don''t put your guard down. There can be other dangers that we might not know about. Be careful," Ryder told his men. "I''ll take care of them, Your Highness. You can sleep in peace," Rale said. "Good," Ryder said as he smiled. He opened the screen and logged out of the game. ***** Ryder woke up on Earth. He took his Divinity Glasses off and put them to the side before he sat up. He looked at the clock. It was 7 O''Clock in the morning. "Right on time. After finishing this last mission from Janus, I would be somewhat free. The other missions have some time. I would definitely take a day just to laze around at home after dealing with this," Ryder said as he walked to the washroom. He took a shower and got fresh before coming out of the washroom. He got dressed and left his room as he walked towards the dining hall, which was attached to the kitchen. "Good Morning." Alice noticed Ryder and greeted him. "Good Morning." Ryder greeted her back. Alice placed the plates on the table and sat in one of the chairs. "Are you really coming to the University today to meet the Dean?" she asked Ryder. "Of Course. I can''t miss out on today; otherwise, things might go wrong," Ryder replied as he started eating. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 147 Chapter 143: You cant do anything "What are you talking about? What could go wrong? What exactly will you talk to the dean about?" Alice asked in confusion. She didn''t think that this whole thing was that simple. "It''s a secret," Ryder smilingly replied as he focused on breakfast. Alice shook her head as she started eating as well. She wanted the answers, but she knew that she wasn''t going to get any. They finished breakfast and left the house together. They got into the Whirlwind of Ryder, which zoomed off towards the University of Dreamers. Ryder was driving the car when his phone started ringing. "Can you pick the phone and hold it near my ear?" Ryder asked Alice as he kept both his hands on the steering wheel. Alice brought the phone out of his pocket. "Who is it?" Ryder asked Alice. "It''s someone named Shu," Alice replied. "Oh, it should be the same Shu that helped me get you out of jail," Ryder answered her. "Alright. Pick up the call." Alice tapped on the green Symbol on the phone and put it on Ryder''s ears. "Hello?" Ryder asked. "Brother Ryder, sorry for being out of touch. I got busy with some work stuff. Anyway, I called you to ask about that thing. How did it go?" Shu said as soon as he heard Ryder''s voice. "Which thing?" Ryder asked him. Many things were going on with him, and he was unclear which of them Shu was talking about. "The thing about that Dean of the Dreamers University. You said that you would handle him. That''s what I called to ask about," Shu answered him. "Oh, about him. Yeah, that''s a done deal. He came to our home and apologized to Alice," Ryder answered Shu. Alice''s ear perked up as she heard Ryder talk about her. "He apologized? Really? That stubborn old man apologized? How did you do it?" Shu asked as he started laughing. "Ah, I talked to him like a gentleman, and he understood what I wanted to say," Ryder told him. "That''s a lie! Tell me what you did. Come on, I won''t tell anyone," Shu said again. Ryder smiled wryly as he heard him insisting. "Ah, Yeah, I''m going to the University with Alice, I''ll send those documents later," Ryder said, subtly. He wanted to say that he was with Alice and that he''d tell him something later, but he knew that Alice would start doubting him if he said that. "Oh, You''re with her. Alright. I won''t ask anymore, but I expect full details when you''re free," Shu said to Ryder. "Alright. Expect that to be a done deal," Ryder responded. "You can focus on what you were doing. Don''t forget to call me when you''re free. This curiosity is killing me," Shu told him. "Sure." The call was disconnected. "You can put the phone back," Ryder told Alice. Alice put the phone back in his top pocket. "Is he your business partner?" Alice asked Ryder. "You can call him Big Brother Shu if you''re wondering what to address him as. He''s a close friend of mine, and we do have a business partnership as well," Ryder told her. He didn''t mention what kind of partnership it was. "I forgot to mention it, but the next time you talk to him, please give my thanks to him. For helping me last time and for taking care of you," Alice told Ryder. "I''ll thank him for the first one, as for the second, I guess you can say that we both take care of each other somewhat." Ryder stopped the car. He was already at the University. "Let''s go. You can go to the class, and I''ll go meet the Dean," Ryder told Alice before he stepped out of the car. Alice also left the car. They both walked towards the University but separated along the way as Ryder walked to the administrative building. Ryder got to the Dean''s door and knocked on it. "Who is it?" the Dean asked. "It''s your friend," Ryder said as he opened the door and walked inside. The Dean saw Ryder and abruptly stood up. "You! What are you doing here! I thought we were done!" "Shhh. Don''t behave like that. What will other people think? I''m not here to harm you. I just want to talk to you," Ryder said as he closed the door behind him. "You want more money, don''t you? I knew that you would keep blackmailing me," The Dean sighed as he sat down. "Who wouldn''t want money, but that''s not what I''m here for. I need something else from you," Ryder said to the Dean as he sat on the seat in front of him. The Dean placed both his hands on the table as he gravely looked at Ryder. "What do you need?" He asked. "I want your daughter to regret what she did to my sister and apologize to Alice. I think you know that I have many methods to make that happen, some of which might be too brutal," Ryder said casually. "Don''t you dare harm my daughter, or I will kill you!" The Dean roared in anger as he smashed his hand on the table. His loud voice attracted the attention of the people on the outside. "Sir, Is everything alright inside?" Ryder and the Dean heard a female voice and a knocking on the door. "E-everything is alright. Don''t disturb me," The Dean replied. "Alright. I apologize for the disturbance," the woman responded. "You used your brain; otherwise, things might''ve gotten complicated for you. Back to the topic of your threat, let me tell you. I can do anything I want, and you can''t go anything to stop me," Ryder said as he smiled. " But I''m not that kind of person, and I don''t want to go down that dark path, that''s why I came here. I want you to help me make your daughter apologize to my sister so that I won''t need to take any strict measures," he continued. "I''ll tell her to apologize," The Dean said to Ryder. Ryder shook his head as he denied that suggestion. "No, she needs to regret what she did as well. That won''t happen if you just tell her to apologize. She will just detest my sister more and will never regret what she did. Do as I say and everything will be fine without any problem," he said. The Dean looked at him with a frown. "As long as it doesn''t harm my daughter, I''m willing to do anything," The Dean finally said with determination. "Good. It would have been so good if you were that understanding from the start. Things wouldn''t come to this point," Ryder muttered. "What do you want me to do?" the Dean asked Ryder. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 148 Chapter 144: Lie "What do you want me to do?" the Dean asked Ryder. "Is your daughter here today?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at the man. "Yeah, She should be in her class now," the Dean replied. "Good. You need to call her and tell her what I tell you," Ryder said as an amused smile covered his face. **** Misha was the daughter of the Dean of the University of Dreamers. She had everything one could ever need¡ªa rich father, money, reputation, and power on campus. Most of the students on the campus knew that she was the daughter of the Dean. She was the one that never hid it. She got a free pass to do anything on campus. She was the campus queen and also considered one of the prettiest girls of the campus, along with a few other girls. There was an unofficial Ranking of most beautiful girls on the campus. No one knew who started this, but it had become a legit thing throughout the years. Misha was ranked 3rd on that ranking right below Alice and another girl. She and Alice shared the same class. Misha was sitting in the class when Alice entered her class. She was surprised to see Alice here. Her father hadn''t mentioned that she was out of prison. The Dean hid what happened on the campus with Ryder from her. "You are back? Did you use the name of your rich boyfriend to get out of prison? Cheh, I should''ve expected someone like you to come out," Misha commented as soon as Alice walked past her. Many people heard her words, and a lot of them even started laughing. There was another girl in the class. She was Alice''s friend that told Ryder about her being arrested. She was about to stand up to say that her brother was a big person. She had seen how Ryder''s single call made the top lawyer in the city come to the police station to help her. She wanted to inform everyone to shut their mouth, but Alice stopped her. Alice didn''t want to extend the drama as it had already become big enough. She sat beside her friend. The teacher was still not here as there was some time in the first class. Misha was about to repeat something when her phone started ringing. "Father?" Misha was confused about why her father was calling her at this time. Generally, he only called her when things were really serious. "Hello?" "Misha, are you in class right now?" the Dean asked. "Yes, Father. Did something happen?" "There has been a problem. Do you remember that you had been in an argument a few days ago? The girl we had arrested?" "Yeah, That girl is in the class right now. What about her?" "We were wrong. You were wrong. That girl is not poor. She is from a very big family, but she detested using her the money to show off, and that''s why she hid it from everyone. I found out that her brother is a really big guy. The police that were on our side are now on his side, and they are planning to file charges to arrest you. Her brother has also sued me. We are in deep trouble," the Dean said. His voice sounded, really scared. Misha, for the first time in a long while, felt fear. She realized that if her father was acting like this, then things were really serious "I-is there nothing we can do?" she asked. "I got my lawyers involved, and they are saying that the chances are that we will lose if this thing goes to court. We will lose all our money, and I will lose all my reputation. I might even be fired from my job, and you will be arrested. This... I don''t know what to do anymore," the Dean told her. While the Dean was talking to his daughter, Ryder was sitting in front of him. His feet were resting on the table in front of him while he enjoyed the spectacle. Misha was starting to sweat as she heard everything. She didn''t doubt her father''s words. She knew that they were in deep trouble now. For the first time in her life, she was regretting doing something. If what her father was talking about actually happened, then she will lose everything. She couldn''t even imagine how she would survive being poor. "F-father, I''m really sorry for causing this problem. If the legal way doesn''t work, then let me try asking for forgiveness from her. I... She might ask her brother to forgive us if I try hard," Misha said. Even though she knew what she wanted to say, she still stuttered. She never imagined herself saying such words. "That would solve everything. Please, Misha, Everything depends on you now," the Dean said before he disconnected the call. "Good work. That should be able to make her realize her mistakes. Now, as long as she apologizes to Alice, everything would be solved. After that, you wouldn''t need to see my face, and similarly, I wouldn''t need to see your face, as long as nothing like this happens again," Ryder said The phone was on speaker, so he heard everything Misha said. He was sure that half of the mission was already done. He should be getting the notification of the mission being successful pretty soon. **** Back in the class, Misha was still wondering how to do it. She had never apologized to anyone in all her life. Her feet were not even listening to her. After much struggle, she stood up. She walked towards Alice. Misha looked at Alice, who looked back in confusion. "C-come with me," Misha said. "Are you still trying to escalate things? Can''t you stay content with what you already did to her?" Alice''s friend stood up for her. She didn''t want things to go as far as last time. She tried to stop them from talking. "I have something to talk to her about. It''s about my family and her brother," Misha said. "We are going to have a normal conversation. Don''t interfere." Alice stood up as she heard that. "It''s alright. Let me go talk to her," Alice told her friend before she left with Misha. They both walked out of the class. "What about my brother?" Alice asked in confusion. Misha opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out of her mouth. She didn''t know that it would be so tough, especially when she watched Alice looking at her. "I-i''m sorry for what I did. I was wrong for acting like that and blaming you. Please forgive me for everything that I did," Misha said as she bent her body forward and bowed before Alice. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 149 Chapter 145: Secret behind Parents Death Alice''s mouth opened wide as she saw Misha apologize. It was just as shocking for her as seeing the Dean apologize. She didn''t believe her ears for quite some time. "Are you serious?" Alice asked Misha. "I seriously regret what happened, and I believe that we could start everything anew. Let''s just forget all the negative past and start on a good note. We could only do that if you forgive me and don''t look for revenge. Can you do that?" Misha inquired. "I, Ah, Yes Of Course. Let''s do that," Alice let out, still looking stunned. "Good. Can you ask your brother to drop this issue as well? I hope he doesn''t go after my family for my mistakes. I''m willing to apologize to him as well," Misha said. "My brother? What did he do?" Alice asked her. Misha told Alice everything her father told her. ''He did that? Is that why the Dean came to our home to apologize?'' Alice wondered. She couldn''t help but be amazed at Ryder''s reach. How did he gain so much power that even the Dean was scared of him? She couldn''t understand. All she knew was that she was happy after knowing that Ryder had achieved so much. "I will tell him that you apologized and convince him not to do anything like that,'' Alice told Misha. "Thank you so much." Misha smiled happily. "Friends?" Misha extended her hands towards Alice. Alice had forgiven her, so she also reached out her hand. After shaking each other''s hands, they walked back to the class. "Let me make things clear to others as well," Misha said to Alice as soon as she entered the class. Misha stood in front of the whole class. She had shown her friendship gesture to Alice, and it was already accepted, but she wanted to show even more goodwill to secure her future. "Listen, everyone!" Misha shouted. Her words attracted everyone''s attention. The noisy class has turned entirely silent. "I want to confess something before everyone. I was wrong about Alice. I just found out about how wrong I was. Alice is nothing like I claimed. In Fact, her family is way richer than my family. Everything wrong that I claimed about her was false and my assumption. Now that I know the reality, I see how wrong I was. I want to clarify that before everyone, and I hope you will all behave properly with her," Misha said. Her words were very persuasive. Everyone knew how stubborn Misha was. If she was willing to apologize and admit her wrong before everyone, then that could only mean that Alice''s secret family was a really big deal. That day, everyone''s attitude changed towards Alice. Not a single person had an idea of how this simple event saved someone''s life from getting ruined. Not even that person themselves knew. Even Ryder didn''t understand the significance of what he actually achieved from this mission. ***** Back in the office of the Dean, Ryder was sitting comfortably. Suddenly, he got the notification of his Mission being successful. \u003cAlice received the apology. Mission successful\u003e \u003cReward Received: Open the Deity Phone to see the reward\u003e ''Finally, the mission is finished. I wonder about the reward. What clue will I get about my parent''s death? The photo of the driver?'' Ryder thought. Ryder didn''t bring out his phone before the Dean. "I''m done here. We won''t see each other again. Don''t tell your daughter that it was all a ploy. Also, make sure that my sister doesn''t face any problems at the university. I don''t want to have to come back again," Ryder said as he stood up. Ryder left the place and walked back to his car. He sat in his car but didn''t start it. Instead, he brought the Deity Phone out of his storage ring. As he unlocked the phone, he noticed a notification. He had received a video. There was no number of the sender, but there was the name of the Sender. It was sent by Janus. Ryder started playing the video. It was a short 3-second clip. Ryder saw what seemed like a graveyard. A person was digging out what looked like a grave. That was all. The video finished. Ryder didn''t even see the face of the man, but he knew that the man wasn''t a grave keeper. The man was wearing luxurious clothes and seemed rich. "A grave robber? Or someone from the team that steals dead bodies that I keep hearing about? How are they related to the deaths of my parents?" Ryder wondered as he frowned. He wished that the video was longer so that he could see the face of the man, but it was too short. All he knew was that his parents'' death had something to do with this rich-looking grave robber. The mysterious disappearance of the dead bodies was somehow related. Previously, he didn''t care for it, but now, he was getting more interested in it. He also remembered the call he had received when he was in the Ferris wheel from someone whose number was private and hidden. That person told him to bring bodies faster for someone. He was now suspicious if that person was actually related to these body stealers or if Ryder was blowing things out of proportion because of his suspicions. "Janus, can you explain more about this video? Anything about it? Or the identity of the man? How is this video related to the accident of my parents?" Ryder asked. Janus didn''t reply. Ryder asked again, but he didn''t answer. "Looks like you aren''t going to say anything about it." Ryder gave up as he realized that Janus wasn''t going to answer. He didn''t know why Janus couldn''t just tell him. What was stopping this almighty existence from disclosing some secrets about this? Ryder started the Engine of the car and drove it off into the horizon. He reached an Interior Designer''s Office and gave him the contract to handle his building, and it''s furniture. Everything related to that was given to the Interior Designer''s firm. It cost him a lot of money, but it was better to have a professional do it. He explained what he wanted in detail and only left after he made sure that the man understood. Ryder then went to the Building to meet the Spirit that lived in the building that he purchased. He wanted to get more information about the Spirit''s son so that he could plan things to finish that mission as well. Getting revenge for the spirit against the son who killed his father wasn''t a bad thing, and he wanted to do it without wasting much time. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 150 Chapter 146: Spirit Help Desk? Ryder reached the building that he had purchased to set up his company. He parked the car in the building''s parking and left the car. Ryder entered the building and called out a name. "Stanner? Come out," A spirit that looked like an 18-19-year-old boy appeared before Ryder. "Did you make a decision? are you going to help me?" the Spirit asked. "Yeah, I must say that I''ve gained some more experience when it comes to hurting people. Considering how he killed his father, I agree that he doesn''t deserve to live. I''ll help you," Ryder said to the Spirit. "Good." The spirit finally seemed relaxed. "Tell me your kid''s name and some more information about him so that I can search him on the internet," Ryder said. "His name is Pasher Stan," The Spirit replied. "You named your kid Pasher?" Ryder let out as a weird look covered his face. "What''s wrong with that name? It was my Great Grandfather''s name," The Spirit replied as it glared at Ryder. "Ah, nothing. It''s just a unique name. I was somewhat surprised," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. ''I thought that I would have to go through thousands of results to find that man, but after knowing his name, I think it''s going to be much easier than I thought. It''s not like there are going to be many people with Pasher as their name,'' Ryder thought. He brought his phone out of his pocket and searched the name. "The fuck? Is this thing broken? How can there be so many Pasher Stan in this world?!" Ryder exclaimed in surprise as he saw the results. He added the name of the city, and the results were still a lot. "Come closer. It looks like we''re going to have to do it the hard way. Let me know if you recognize any of them as your son," Ryder told the Spirit. The Spirit floated near Ryder. "Ahh." Accidentally, the spirit''s shoulders touched Ryder making the spirit go through a burning pain. It instantly moved back. "Sorry about that. Spirits can''t touch me. You can watch while keeping some distance," Ryder told the Spirit with an apologetic look on his face. He was still wearing the Spirit Warding Necklace that he had purchased from the system store. The Spirit looked at Ryder for quite some time before it again started flying towards him, but this time, it kept some distance. "This is the first result. The millionaire of the city, Pasher Stan, who lives in the south of the city," Ryder said as he showed Stanner the image. "No, he''s not my son," Stanner shook his head. Ryder went through the results one by one, but none of them matched the son of Stanner. After some time, Stanner did react positively. He recognized his son. "So he''s the guy, looks quite feminine," Ryder muttered. "Doesn''t seem like a murderer." "I wouldn''t have believed it either if I wasn''t the one that was killed by him," Stanner said as he clenched his fist. "Now that I know him, I''ll deal with everything else. I might even bring him here for you to kill him personally," Ryder said. The spirit didn''t respond. "Oh, right, can I ask you one thing?" Ryder asked the Spirit as he looked at him in curiosity. "Ask me," Stanner replied. "You were killed when you were over 40 years old. Why is it that your spirit looks like a teenager? Shouldn''t it have the same form as you when you were killed?" Ryder asked "How am I supposed to know that? It''s not like we have a spirit help desk to ask questions and attend meetings. I don''t even know why I can''t leave this place," Stanner said as he shook his head. "You''re the Ancient Ghost Buster and the Spirit Expert. Shouldn''t you know more?" He asked Ryder. "Well, Ah, you''re a new case. I haven''t seen a case like yours. Most spirits I saw were the same as when they died," Ryder bluffed. He had received a Skill of bluffing from a mystery box, which made even his lies seem like truths. No one was able to catch his bluffs after he learned that skill. "I will wait for the news," the Spirit said. He was about to leave when he heard Ryder telling him something. "Some people will come here soon. They will repair the building and prepare the furniture and stuff. Don''t disturb them and don''t appear before them." After informing the Spirit, Ryder left the building and walked back to his car. He was sitting alone in his car as he searched through the information of Stanner''s Son. "So he left the city. He lives quite far away now. I guess it''s another problem that I''ll have to face now, going to other cities to kill," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Hmm? What''s that?!" Ryder exclaimed in surprise as he read something. "That guy purchased shares in Jameson''s business? Awesome, Those two had to be related, didn''t they? I might be able to use him to call Pasher here, though." After thinking for some time, Ryder did come up with a plan. Previously, he wanted to kill Jameson, but now he realized that he could use him. "I''ll wait for Jameson to come back before I commence the plan," Ryder muttered. He looked at the time on his watch and thought of something. "Oh, Right. I do have some time. I wonder if I can go collect my lottery money. I did give them tomorrow''s time, but if I can do it now, then it will just save me time," He started going through his contact list to find the number of the girl that had called him about his winnings. Last time, he had forgotten to ask the name of the girl, so he only saved her name as the Lottery Lady. After he found the number, he called her. "Hello?" Ryder heard a woman''s voice from the other side as soon as the call was connected. "Ahmm, Hey, It''s Ryder. You talked to me about my lottery yesterday," Ryder said. "Ah, Yes. Mr. Ryder. I''ve arranged everything for you. You can collect the money tomorrow as you requested," The Woman said. "That''s what I wanted to talk to you about. I noticed that I had finished my business faster than I expected, and I was wondering if I could collect the money today. It would only save time for me as I won''t have to come tomorrow," Ryder told the woman. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 151 Chapter 147: Recognized "Ah, right. Of Course. You can come today. We can fasten the process," the woman said. "Alright. I''m coming then. I should be there in an hour," Ryder told the woman before he disconnected the call. Ryder started the Engine of the car and got it on the road. The car raced through the roads of the city, attracting the gazes of girls and boys alike. Soon, Ryder reached his destination. Cloud Inc. was the organization that held most of the lotteries in the country. The corporation was a big name in the country with branches in every city of the country. They held many businesses, but most of their businesses were related to the entertainment industry. They produced movies, had a famous music label, managed various big-name artists, and many more. Their headquarters were situated in the new capital of the United States, Glepnir. It was a human-made city in the middle of nowhere that had become the new capital of the country. It was the most well-developed City in the country that other cities couldn''t even compare to. It was the most technologically advanced city and the place where most of the billionaires lived. The Headquarters of many prominent organizations was there. The Dream Corporation Headquarters, the Cloud Inc. headquarters, and even the Necrosis Corporation were situated there. Glepnir had everything one could hope for. It had also become the largest city in the country with time. The branch of Cloud Inc. in Ryder''s city was just a minor branch. This time the branch attracted some attention because the lottery winner was from this area. Ryder''s car stopped before Cloud Inc. Branch. He came out of the car and entered the establishment. As soon as he entered, he called the woman he had talked to before and informed her of his arrival. "Oh, Mr. Ryder. Please wait there. I''ll be right down," The Woman replied. Ryder sat on a couch as he waited for the Woman to come down. It was better to be escorted by the one he talked to instead of talking to the receptionist and explaining to her. He had just sat down when he got a call. "Oh, Shu. I guess I did forget to call him." Ryder smiled wryly as he saw the name on the phone. He picked up the call. "Why are you torturing me with the suspense!" Shu bellowed as soon as Ryder picked up the call. "Sorry, I just got free. I only have a few minutes before I go to the second meeting," Ryder said. "At Least tell me in short what you did! I''m dying of curiosity how you made him apologize? Did you hire the mafia?" Shu asked. "No, I blackmailed him. That''s all I can say for now. I''ll tell you other details later," Ryder explained, but that''s when his expressions changed as he saw a woman standing behind him. The woman was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt. Her hair only came down to her shoulders. Her beautiful eyes looked like they were a mixture of crimson and brown. He was even more shocked as he recognized the woman. It was the same woman that he had saved when he killed a criminal to complete his first mission. The woman had a weird look on her face as she stared at Ryder. ''Did she recognize me?'' Ryder didn''t know how to react. "Shu, I''ll call you back," he disconnected the call and put the phone in his pocket. "Ah, hello," Ryder said. He kept his voice casual, to not make her suspicious as he had changed his voice when he talked to her on the murder site. "W-we talked on the phone. You can come with me to take your money," the woman didn''t say anything, but Ryder could see that she was disturbed by his words. He couldn''t help but facepalm himself before he started following her. ''She''s worried. It should be that she heard about the blackmailing. She can''t possibly recognize me from that event,'' Ryder thought. They got into the lift together. He didn''t speak any single word after that. He wanted to talk to her as little as he could unless it was necessary. "My name is Claudia. I''m handling the things related to prize distribution," the Woman said. She was worried about what she heard related to blackmailing, but after some time, she had recovered. She didn''t want it to affect her work. "I''m Ryder Flynn, but I''m sure that you already know my name," Ryder told her. "Have we met before?" Claudia asked Ryder as she looked in his eyes. "Ah, no. I would''ve remembered if I had met a pretty woman like you," Ryder said flirtatiously to throw her off. "Ah, Thank you," Claudia replied, but she didn''t seem impressed. "It''s just that you remind me of someone that saved me," she added. "I wonder if you are him." "Saved you? From what? Also, if he saved you, you should remember his face," Ryder said ignorantly. "Unless I have a twin running around without my knowledge." "He saved my life. I would be dead without him. I couldn''t thank him properly at that time because I was scared. I always regret that. Also, he was hiding his face, so I don''t know what he looks like," Claudia said as she sighed. "But, his body was like yours." "There are many people in this world with the same physique. Also, if I save someone, I wouldn''t hide my face, especially if the person I saved was a Pretty Woman," Ryder chuckled. Claudia didn''t reply. They stepped out of the lift on the 4th floor and walked to the office. Claudia sat on the main chair while Ryder sat on the other chair. She brought a tablet out of her drawer and gave it to Ryder. "You need to sign there and fill in the details like your Identification Number and address," Claudia said. "After that, I''ll begin the money transfer process. It will reflect in your account in an hour." Ryder nodded his head and filled everything before returning the thing to Claudia. "Thanks. Everything''s done now. You will get your money soon. Taxes will be deducted from the 10 million dollars, though," She said. "It''s alright. I know how it works. Anyway, thanks for fast-forwarding this to today. I''ll get going by now," Ryder stood up and turned back to leave. "Ahmm, Can I ask you something if you don''t get offended," She asked Ryder. Ryder stopped as he looked back at her. "Sure." "You don''t look like a bad guy. I did hear you talk about blackmailing, though. Although I won''t tell anyone as it''s your personal life, I do hope you can leave bad ways and improve your life. Crime is never the way to move forward," Claudia said after some hesitation. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 152 Chapter 148: Dream "I didn''t blackmail anyone. That was my friend who asked me about how I won the lottery. I was just joking with him that I blackmailed the one that''s handling it," Ryder made an excuse. "That''s what you probably heard. We both know that it''s not true." "Oh, I''m sorry for the misunderstanding," Claudia apologized to Ryder. "Bye." Ryder bid her farewell before he left the place. ''It''s crazy to look at her. I took a life that day because of Janus, but if I hadn''t done that, she wouldn''t be here. I got blood on my hands, but I got a good deed by saving a life as well. I wonder if that makes me a hell material or a heaven material,'' Ryder thought as he entered the lift. Ryder left the building and entered his car, which he drove back home. **** "Is he the same person?" Claudia muttered as she looked at her tablet. "He definitely wouldn''t accept it if he was. No sane person would admit that considering what happened, but I do believe that he''s the one that saved my life. I get the same feeling from him." **** Ryder was driving back home as he called Shu and put his phone on speaker. "Is your meeting over?" Shu asked as he picked up the call. "Yeah, You nearly got me in trouble. The person I was meeting heard my words when I was talking to you," Ryder said. "You don''t sound mad. You must''ve handled it well. Anyway, let''s continue the story. What did you do?" Shu asked. "It''s not that big. When I went to his office, I entered his room without knocking and saw him doing some embarrassing things. I recorded his video and forced him to apologize to Alice," Ryder replied to him. "Ah, That was lucky. I was wondering how you would handle the guy, but it looks like god helped you. Anyway, what was the embarrassing thing he was doing?" Shu asked. "He was singing and dancing naked," Ryder answered him. "Ahh..." For quite some time, Shu didn''t say anything. It was like he was shocked at what he heard. "Forget that. How''s your training going? Have you been leveling up?" Ryder asked Shu. "Yup. I''m doing great. You''ll understand what I mean when we meet," Shu said. "I''ll know soon after the Level Ranking release for players," Ryder replied. He knew that today was the day when the Level Ranking became public. Then he would be able to see the level ranking of the top 100 players. He thought that it would be good if Shu were there on the rankings. "I''m sure you''ll be on the top of the ranking when it is released. It will be you, or Lucifer. It might even be Darkness. You 3 are the most popular now," Shu said. "It will become clear soon. When that happens, the Treasure Ranking will also update, and this time, it will be something that updates daily, unlike before," Ryder muttered. "There''s a big shock in store for everyone when it happens," Ryder added. "Yeah, I was wondering when it would update. It hasn''t updated since it was released the first time," Shu said. "I want to see who else got treasures other than you." "You won''t have to wait for long. It should be today according to the rumors," Ryder told Shu. He already knew that it would most likely happen today if everything goes like last time with the number of players. There was also a chance that he was wrong as history was already changed. "Anyway, I''ll talk to you later. I''m picking up, Alice," Ryder let out as he applied the brake of his car after reaching the University. "Alright." The call was disconnected. Ryder got out of the car and stood near it as he looked at his watch. It should be the time for her to come out, he thought. He could see students leaving the campus. Many girls looked at him, standing before the car with curious gazes. ''I should get some new clothes as well. I always attract these weird gazes,'' Ryder thought. After some time, he saw Alice come out. She was walking together with two girls. Ryder recognized one of the girls as the one who had informed him about Alice''s arrest while the other girl was unknown. He didn''t know that the other girl was Misha, who had caused all the problems. Alice reached the car. "Is that your brother?" Misha asked Alice. "Hmm," Alice nodded her friend. Ryder looked at the girl in confusion as he saw her bowing her head before him. "Sir, I would like to apologize to you for what I did to Alice. Please forgive me. I was stupid and naive, but now I understand my mistakes," Misha said. "Ah, Are you the Dean''s Daughter, Misha?" Ryder asked. "Yea," Misha nodded her head. Before Ryder could say anything, Alice also started talking. She told Ryder everything that happened in class and that Misha apologized. She also asked him to forgive Misha. "Alright. If Alice says that, I won''t pursue the matter. It''s good that you learned from your mistake. Just don''t repeat that again," Ryder replied. "Thank you," Misha thanked Ryder politely before she walked back towards the office of her father. "Bye Alice," Alice''s friend also left. Ryder and Alice got in the car that started driving back towards home. "I didn''t know that you were taking legal action on them. You became so big in such a short time without me even realizing," Alice said to Ryder along the way. "You can call it a god''s blessing, I guess. Things are getting better," Ryder replied. After some time, they reached home. Ryder parked the car, and they entered the house. While Alice went to her room to change her clothes, Ryder went to his room to rest. "Tomorrow is a free day. I can spend the whole day in the game," Ryder muttered as he laid on his bed. He cozily rested his head on a pillow as he closed his eyes. Even though the gaming substituted for sleeping and provided the same benefits now, he still thought about taking a nap. There was still some time before dinner. He decided to sleep for some time as it had been a long time since he actually slept. It didn''t take long before Ryder fell asleep. The cold air of the AC filled up the room, making Ryder''s sleep even more comfortable. Ryder was sleeping, and soon he started dreaming. It was a weird dream where he found himself sitting in a strange place. It seemed as if he was sitting on the ground made of clouds. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 153 Chapter 149: Brother He couldn''t see his face, but his hands and feet made him seem like a teenager A young boy was sitting near him. The boy looked like he was 15-16 years old. He had flaming red hair and a cute looking face. The boy seemed to be crying. "No matter what I do, I can''t seem to attract her attention. She''s always with her friends. Why am I not as handsome as them?" the boy asked. Although it was a dream, Ryder felt as if he had no control over his body. It was like this was all a replay, and he couldn''t change or control anything. "Don''t forget your identity. If you want the girl, just take her," Ryder said. His voice was much different than it was now and felt grimmer. "I... I can''t do it. She will not respect me if I do that. I want to win her heart, not abduct her," The boy replied. "You will never get her the way you are now. It''s not that you aren''t handsome, it''s your personality," Ryder said. "You''re like a child." "What can I do to change that?" The boy asked as he looked at Ryder with hope. "You need to make your mindset more mature. Our identity is special, and we can''t be like you are right now. If you''re worried about a girl, then you will never achieve anything. Just do something to show her that she belongs to you. Show her that you like her if you want her," Ryder said. "She will hate me if I do that," The boy said as he shook his head. Ryder looked towards the boy before he stood up. He picked up the boy with his hand and started flying in a certain direction. After some time, he stopped in a place that was filled with people. There were men, and there were women. All of them looked thousands of times better than most of the people Ryder had seen on earth other than a few. The dream version of Ryder got down to the ground and walked up to one of the random girls on the street that had a crown on her head. "I-isn''t that..." the boy seemed surprised as he saw Ryder walking towards the girl. The girl had Crimson hair and deep blue eyes. Her jade-like skin made her seem like a fairy. Ryder walked to the girl, placed his hand around the girl, and kissed her abruptly. The girl was stunned at what happened, but she couldn''t understand why her heart was beating faster. It was like she was charmed instantly by Ryder''s eyes. She kissed him back as if she lost control of her body to her heart. The boy that was standing behind was stunned as he saw the events unfold. Ryder released himself from the girl''s embrace and walked back. He caught the boy''s hand and flew away, leaving the stunned girl behind. "T-that works?" the boy asked. "Not for everyone, but we are special. You don''t need to use words if you can''t use them. You need to show the girl you like, your true feelings. If you can''t express it with words, then express it in other ways. This is the way that father taught me, and it has been working for me," Ryder said. "So far, I haven''t met a girl that proved me wrong," Even though the dream version of Ryder felt like a badass, there was some ignorance in his words. It seemed like he was still quite young and hadn''t learned everything. "Father taught you?" the boy asked Ryder in surprise. "Yes, Janus, Father taught me. I will definitely become like him when I grow up. I will become the God that will make father proud," Ryder declared. "If father said that, then it must be true," Janus said. "Sometimes I wonder how I have a brother like you. We are so different. Anyway, tell me where we will find that girl. You need to do it as well. Express your feelings. I don''t want to see you sulk about it every day," Ryder said. Janus nodded his head after some hesitation and told him the place. They got to the place he talked about. "That''s the girl I like," Janus said as he pointed towards the girl. "Go, and do as I did. Act confident! Nothing will go wrong," Ryder said to Janus as he pushed him forward. Janus stepped forth and walked towards the girl that was standing with her friend. Ryder watched Janus talk to the girl. He took the girl to the side before he kissed the girl. The girl moved back in shock. The friends of the girls were mostly male. They were furious as they saw another guy kiss the girl. One of them walked towards Janus and slapped him. Ryder''s blood boiled as he saw his brother being hit After that, what happened could only be described as a massacre. It was at that time, Ryder woke up from his weird dream. "What... the ... actual... fuck?" Ryder cursed as he thought about what happened in that dream. He was weirded out. This was the weirdest dream he had seen. Janus as a real boy, that too, his brother? And what was with that stupid technique to pick up girls? "Janus?" Ryder asked. "Yes?" Janus replied instantly. "I think you should hear this. I had such a weird dream. I was like your brother, and I gave you tips on how to get girls. I guess your first mission about kissing Alice has somewhat influenced me, but seeing you as my brother was definitely weird," Ryder said as he smiled wryly. Janus didn''t reply to him. "Hey, you can at least respond," Ryder asked again. Janus still didn''t answer him. "Fine, don''t answer. I''m sure you would be freaked out by this as well if you weren''t a system," Ryder said as he stood up. He got off the bed and went for a cold shower. After coming out, he got dressed. It was already 8 in the evening. He stepped out of his room and walked towards the kitchen. "You''re right on time. I was just about to go call you," Alice said as she served the dinner on the table. Ryder smiled as he sat down on the chair. "I woke up at the right time," he answered her. They had dinner together before they walked back to their rooms. Ryder entered his room and laid on his bed as he wore his Divinity Glasses. He didn''t know that Alice was in her room doing the same thing. She had also started playing divinity some time ago. Ryder entered the world of Divinity and found himself in the same cave he was in when he left. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 154 Chapter 150: We have no choice Ryder appeared in the Cave of Protection. Most of the team members were already awake, but they were sitting with their backs resting against the walls of the cave. Rale, on the other hand, was standing near the entrance of the Cave, as if he was keeping an eye on the surroundings outside. "Is there something outside?" Ryder asked smilingly as he stepped towards Rale. "Your Highness!" Rale turned back and greeted Ryder. The other team members also stood up and greeted Ryder. "Everything''s fine, right?" Ryder asked him. "There''s nothing strange going on. There is no movement. I did see a few specters, but nothing worth mentioning so far," Rale said. "Alright, Let''s continue then. We will be entering the Inner Portion of the Valley. This should be where the important things start," Ryder told him. Rale nodded his head as he stepped out of the cave. Ryder and Rale walked together while the others walked behind them. None of them knew that the Vampire General was only slightly behind them. There were only 2 hours of distance between Ryder''s team and the Vampire General''s team. Strangely enough, the Vampire General was still facing more specters than Ryder''s team was facing. It was like the Spectres were more attracted to him. Ryder walked through the forest, hunting specters and increasing his level. Only 4 hours had passed when Ryder heard a system-wide announcement. \u003cAttention Players\u003e \u003cThe American Server Level Ranking has been released\u003e "The American Server Treasure Ranking has been updated\u003e \u003cThe Rank 1 Player in the Treasure Ranking, Hades has been awarded 500 Fame points\u003e \u003cThe Rank 2 Player in the Treasure Ranking, Hades has been awarded 200 Fame points\u003e \u003cThe Number 3 Player in the Treasure Ranking, Hades has been awarded 100 Fame Points\u003e \u003cThe Number 1 Player in the Level Ranking, Hades has been awarded 1000 Fame Points\u003e \u003cThe Number 2 Player in the Level Ranking, Lucifer has been awarded 500 Fame Points\u003e \u003cThe Number 3 Player in the Level Ranking, Darkness has been awarded 200 Fame Points\u003e "Looks like it''s out," Ryder muttered. "Guys, I''m not hunting anymore. You guys can take the lead," Ryder told everyone. Once again, his team surrounded him while they continued ahead. Ryder opened the Level Rankings to see how everyone else fared. \u003cLevel Rankings\u003e \u003c1. Hades Level 47\u003e \u003c2. Lucifer Level 33\u003e \u003c3. Darkness Level 24\u003e \u003c4. Mikael Level 22\u003e \u003c5. Wrecker Level 22\u003e ... \u003c99. BigDaddy Level 18\u003e \u003c100. PrincesPotato Level 18\u003e Ryder went through the list while he continued walking ahead under the protection of everyone else. There was a broad grin on his face as he saw the rankings. ''It feels good to be on the top," Ryder thought as he smiled. ''The others are not doing bad either. Some of them are performing even better than they did in the last timeline.'' "Shu has also gained a few levels since I last saw him." He closed the Level Rankings. He was about to open the Treasure Rankings when he heard Rale''s voice. "Your Highness, there''s a pond ahead. I think you should take a look." Ryder stopped focusing on the rankings and commanded his men to move aside to let him pass. Ryder walked closer to Rale and looked at the beautiful crystal pond in front of them. The pond was not significant in size. In fact, it was only as small as an average size swimming pool. The pond was frozen in ice. There was something at the center of the pond which seemed like a sword that was stabbed in the ice. The Sword had a Golden blade and a silver hilt. "Let me see what that is," Ryder muttered as he walked closer to the pond. He threw a nearby stone on the ice, but nothing happened. It seemed like the ice was solid. He tried touching the ice with his feet. The results were pretty normal. It seemed as if the ice was pretty hard that wouldn''t break. He also placed some weight on his foot to test the limits, but the ice didn''t break. Ryder was about to step over the Ice, but Rale stopped him. "Your Highness, let me step over the ice instead. I''ll bring that sword back to you," Rale said. "Alright. You can take the lead. Just be careful, there might be danger," Ryder said as he stepped back. It didn''t seem like there was any danger from what he had seen. He could still use his Time Rewind if something went wrong, and Rale gets hurt. Rale stepped over the ice and carefully walked over to the center of the pond and touched the hilt of the Sword. He was about to pull the sword out. His full focus was on the sword, as this could turn out to be dangerous. Everyone else was also looking towards Rale. It was at that time; a blood-red arrow came out of nowhere towards Rale. Rale sensed the danger as he turned back. He cast a barrier around him. The blood arrow hit the barrier. Rale''s barrier suffered a tiny crack that automatically recovered, but the blood arrow was also destroyed. Rale pulled the sword out and jumped out of the pond to the ground. "Do you really need to hide to attack us?" Rale asked as he looked in the back. They saw a man walk out of the forest. The man had long red hair and deep red eyes. He was wearing a crimson robe on his back. "You are not the Undeads, are you?" Vampire General Viden asked. "You are strong, but not as strong as the Vampire King is said to be. You should be the Vampire General if I''m not wrong," Rale said as he pointed the sword at Vampire General Viden. Rale''s team members surrounded Ryder to protect him, leaving a small gap in their formation so that Ryder could watch everything. "You don''t need to protect me. Let me talk to him," Ryder said to his men. The men stepped aside as per Ryder''s orders. Ryder realized after hearing Rale''s words that the person before them was the Vampire General, who should be as strong as Rale. "Vampire General Viden, We are not here to harm anyone. We just want to take something back that belongs to us. We would appreciate it if you don''t obstruct our path," Ryder said to the Vampire General. "Silence!" The Vampire General waved his hand towards Ryder, as an arrow of blood appeared out of thin air and advanced towards Ryder. Rale moved and appeared before Ryder as he used his sword to intercept the attack of Viden. "Looks like that''s a failed negotiation. We have no choice but to kill you," Ryder muttered as he sighed. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 155 Chapter 151: Battle with the Vampire General "We have no choice but to kill you," Ryder said to the man as he sighed. "Rale, he should be as strong as you, right?" Ryder asked Rale. He wanted to hear Rale''s answer. "That should be the case more or less," Rale replied as he glanced at Vampire General Viden. "Alright. Take over the fight. The others will back you up," Ryder commanded. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale nodded his head. "Why are you listening to the kid?" Vampire General Viden asked Rale. He was surprised to see how respectful Rale was to Ryder. "It''s too late to talk now," Ryder replied as he noticed that Rale had already moved to attack the Vampire General. The Vampire General was using a blood Red Sword whereas Rale had the sword that he just pulled out of the ice. Both of their swords collided, which gave birth to a big wind blast from the massive impact. Ryder''s hair fluttered because of the wind. ***** While the Valley of Wandering Souls was witnessing a battle between the top beings, the outside world was also witnessing something. The Level Rankings was released for the players and the public, which shocked everyone that watched the rankings. "How could the level difference be so big? Just who is this Hades? How can he become so strong?" "He''s also in the treasure rankings! He rules the treasure rankings! How can someone have so many treasures?" "Seriously! This is stupid! How can he be so lucky to get so many treasures? The Rank 2 on the Level Rankings, Lucifer, is not in the treasure ranking, whereas this guy is taking so many spots! The closest to him is Darkness, but even she only has a Silver-Rank Wind Dagger! The difference is so big!" Almost every player that saw the rankings was shocked. They couldn''t understand why the difference was so big! The difference in rank one and rank 2 was so massive, and the treasure ranking was even more incredulous. Some of the players were even doubting him of cheating. "Is Hades cheating? He must be! He should be the son of the owner of the Necrosis Corporation!" "There''s no way for someone to get so many unique treasures!" There were also some voices that opposed the cheating accusations. "That shouldn''t be the case. As far as I know, Necrosis Corporation won''t fall down that much! They deal with so many governments; they won''t destroy their reputation just to make one guy cheat." "Yeah, It might be that Hades got some unique chain quest, which is helping him grow. He might just be lucky." The whole player community was noisy at the moment. Shu was hunting monsters to increase his level when he got the notification of the Level Ranking being released. "L-level 47? What the actual fuck!" He couldn''t help but curse out loud as he saw the rankings. He immediately sent a message to Ryder. In one of the Kingdoms, a girl was also looking at the Rankings. She couldn''t help but smile as she saw Ryder''s game name at the top of the Rankings. The girl looked similar to Alice, but she had a different Eye Color and different hair color. The people that had gone to the Dungeon Exploration with Ryder were all shocked at the Rankings as well. Especially the boys that have argued with Ryder. The girls that underestimated him also felt terrible for acting up. Lucifer was the only one that hadn''t checked the Level Rankings. He didn''t care for the levels and didn''t check it. The only rankings he checked was the Treasure Rankings. He closed the rankings after looking through it and continued on with what he was doing. There was another girl in a different place. She was also looking at the treasure rankings. "How can he have so many treasures?" she muttered as she looked at her own, Silver-Rank danger. **** Back in the Valley of Wandering Souls, Rale was fighting the Vampire General. Both of them had an equal strength on the surface, but their specialties were different. Vampire General Viden and Rale both specialized in different elemental attacks. Even though their strength was almost equal, Viden looked like he was in difficulty. He was not only facing Rale, but also the long-range attacks of Rale''s team. Ryder had the Bow that was actually the changed form of his Scythe. He was also firing the arrows at the Vampire General constantly. The Vampire General was extremely annoyed. He wanted to find an opportunity to get free of Rale so that he could finish the others, but Rale was not giving him any chance. Their battle had changed the landscape of the area. The trees around them were destroyed. Even the ice lake that looks solid had started to melt. "Get out of my way!" the Vampire General roared as he started using his special bloodline magic. His body became bulkier, and red veins became visible in his arms. His clothes were torn off at places, especially around his biceps. This was the blood sacrifice. It was a skill that was exclusive to the Royalty of the Vampire Clan. They could burn half of their blood, but that would give them a massive boost in their strength. There were also downsides to it, though. The boost only lasted for a short time. And after the boost was ended, the Vampire General would become much weaker. But Viden was ready for that. He knew that the short moment would be enough for him to kill everyone. His strength was massively increased. Rale''s sword clashed with Viden''s sword, but this time, Rale was pushed back 20 steps. Viden utilized this opportunity, and he chose to attack Ryder. He noticed that everyone listened to Ryder''s command, which meant that he was someone important. He thought that killing Ryder would throw everyone off. He waved his arm. Another blood arrow appeared out of thin air and advanced towards Ryder, but it was much faster and more powerful. Ryder reacted fast and changed the moon scythe from a Bow to a shield. The arrow clashed with Ryder''s shield, but couldn''t penetrate it. The strength behind that attack and the impact was still more powerful, though. Even though the arrow couldn''t break through the defense of his shield, Ryder was still tossed back like a broken kite. Ryder flew back and crashed on the ground. The impact was just too powerful. He could feel his HP decreasing. Half of his HP was already depleted even though the attack didn''t touch him. "The strength difference is just too much," Ryder muttered as he stood up. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 156 Chapter 152: The Seal Ryder didn''t use his Ruler of Nature to heal himself. Instead, he just drank the hp Potion to recover. "That Bow can change shape? You''re definitely not a simple person to possess that," the Vampire General said as he started moving towards Ryder, but Rale came out of nowhere and hit Viden, making him fly away and crash on the frozen lake. As the Vampire General crashed on the lake, a few cracks developed on it, but the ice still wasn''t broken, even though it was melting slowly. "Your Highness, Can I release the seal? It would expose our identity if I do that, though," Rale asked Ryder. "Let me ask again. Vampire General, We are not here to harm you. If you calm down, we can still handle the matters without taking things too far," Ryder said to the Vampire General. He didn''t want to expose their identity as Demons. If Viden decided to escape, and this information spread, there was a good chance that the Undead Realm would not remain neutral. It would most probably join the Death Domain, which would not be beneficial for him or his kingdom. "You should have thought about that before you killed one of my men," The Vampire General said as he stood up. "What man? Why would we kill your man? I don''t know which man you''re talking about, but if we killed a vampire, wouldn''t we have his scent? As I said, we are not here to harm anyone. We only want to take back something that belongs to us. We can clear the misunderstanding," Ryder said to him. "Silence! I don''t care for your words!" The Vampire General bellowed as he moved towards Rale. "Alright, Rale, You have the permission to use that. Just make sure that he isn''t allowed to escape,'' Ryder told Rale as he sighed. "Understood," Rale nodded his head. He closed his fist as two wings appeared behind his back that he had kept hidden. As soon as the wings appeared, it was as if his power gained a complete boost. It was something that the Grand Duke Orisis had told Ryder about Rale. He had said that the whole Demon Realm thinks that Rale is as strong as a Duke, but they don''t know that Rale is actually even stronger. Even the Dukes don''t know about this. It is a secret that is only known by High Dukes. They kept it a secret so that no one knew how strong the one protecting the Royalty was. Rale was from the family of Royal Protectors that had sworn to protect the Royal Members. His father, at his peak, was as strong as the High Dukes and protected the previous Kings. Even then, people didn''t know about his actual strengths. Even during Rale''s father''s time, people thought that his father was as strong as the Dukes. Even though Rale was not as strong as his father or the High Dukes, he was definitely much stronger than the Dukes. He kept his powers sealed most of the time to make him seem like his strength was comparable to the Dukes. His strength, in reality, was somewhere in between the strength of the Dukes and the Strength of the High Dukes at the moment. He could only remove his seal when he was in his full demon form, and that''s why he asked Ryder''s permission as he knew that once his Wings appear, the Vampire General will know that they were from the Demon Realm. "Those Wings! You''re from the Demon Realm! I was right; you''re not the Undeads! You are the infiltrators from the Demon Realm. You should be their Duke! You called him Highness, so he must be the Prince of the Demon Realm! What a clever plan! I knew that the Demons were just as bad as the people from the Death Domain!'' the Vampire General roared as he pointed his finger towards Ryder. "As I said, we weren''t here to harm anyone, but now we have no choice but to do it," Ryder muttered as he sighed. As soon as his last word escaped his mouth, Rale moved his feet. He flew towards Vampire General Viden. Both Viden and Rale attacked each other with their fist using their full strength, but this time, Rale wasn''t on the losing side. Despite the strength that Viden received from his Blood Sacrifice, he was still not able to defeat Rale. In a brief second, tens of punches were exchanged, but the results were not as Viden had expected. Rale''s attack, as well as his defense, was much higher. Viden''s skills were proving to be useless in front of Rale as well, but he was still holding on, without backing down, but it didn''t last long. The effects of the skill were over, and Viden lost the strength he had gained. In fact, he only got weaker than he had initially been. Rale''s fist landed on Viden''s face, making him fly far away and crash on a tree. Rale walked up to him as he gripped his neck and raised him in the air. "So that borrowed strength didn''t last long. Such a pity, I was enjoying the fight. It had been so long since I met such a good match," Rale muttered as he looked in the eyes of Viden that still looked resistant. "Good-Bye," Rale said. "Wait." Rale was about to crush the neck of the Vampire General when Ryder stopped him. Rale stopped and walked back to Ryder with Viden in his hand. "If I''m not wrong, then your name must be Viden, the second strongest in the Vampire Clan after the Vampire King, Right?" Ryder asked. "Kill me if you want, I''m not going to tell you anything," the Vampire General said. "Oh, I don''t need anything from you. What can I ask from someone who doesn''t even own his life," Ryder muttered. "I don''t really want to see you killed. As I had said multiple times before, our purpose was not to harm anyone here. We are here to get something back that belongs to us. You were the one that attacked us out of nowhere without even talking. So you are clearly in the wrong here. We have the complete right to kill you at our discretion since you were the one that tried to kill us first," Ryder said. "Why aren''t you killing me then? Do you want to humiliate me by rubbing your victory on my face? You demons are even worse than others. Just wait till the King finds out," The Vampire General told Ryder as he snorted. "The Vampire King? And how will he find out?" Ryder asked with a slight smile on his face, but he suddenly looked back as he heard a sound. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 157 Chapter 153: Esmi is here? Rale and the others also looked behind Ryder as they heard the noise coming from there. They noticed that the sound was coming from the small pond that was behind them. The Ice that seemed unbreakable until now was cracking up. Small cracks were being developed on it that were spreading everywhere in the surroundings. "What is happening?" Ryder muttered as he saw the cracks covering every corner of the frozen pond. "It doesn''t feel right. Why is it cracking now?" Rale let out with a frown on his face. "No idea. The book didn''t mention anything about the frozen pond. It definitely came into existence after he left," Ryder responded. The Vampire General just looked at them in confusion, wondering what they were talking about. What book? "It might just be a delayed reaction after he crashed on the ice. It happens sometimes," Ryder said. He ignored the pond and turned back to look toward Viden. "Back to the topic. Vampire General Viden, what do you think we should do to you?" Ryder asked the Vampire General. "Kill me! Even death is better than being captured by you!" the Vampire General replied fiercely. "Did you have an affair with someone from the Demon Realm in the past?" Ryder inquired just to be sure that Viden wasn''t the father of the girl that was waiting back in his kingdom. "Cheh, I would rather die than have an affair with someone from the Demon Realm!" the Vampire General declared resolutely. "Good. That makes it easier. We still can''t kill you, or the other Royal Vampires will be able to sense that we killed a Vampire if we were in close proximity. That might be troublesome during our future endeavors. But that doesn''t mean that you can''t die," Ryder said, smilingly. "Rale, Remove his hand and legs, and let''s just watch what happens when a Vampire is killed by the specters. It might be a good experience," he said to Rale. Rale nodded his head as he gripped the hand of the Vampire General and ripped it off. "You have fast healing, but I don''t think you can regenerate your limbs," Ryder muttered. Rale kept going on and ripped his arms and legs. "Let''s continue ahead. Throw him like a shield when we meet the specters," Ryder told Rale. "Yes, Your Highness," Rale said with a bright grin on his face. He could see a glimpse of Demon Emperor Salem in Ryder''s decisions. He didn''t go easy on Viden and didn''t lose himself in anger, either, which made Rale even more impressed. They left the lake and continued towards the depths of the Valley of Wandering Souls. ***** The Cracking of the ice in the lake continued even after they left, along with the melting. After a few hours, a hand came out from one of those cracks. The hand seemed to be rotten, but it had flesh. It didn''t seem like a specter. After the first hand, another hand came out from a different crack. ****** Ryder and his team continued ahead. Rale still had Viden in his grip. "Where are all the specters when we need them?" Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face. After a few more minutes, they saw some specters coming towards them. "Rale, throw him," Ryder commanded. Rale nodded his head as he threw the body of Viden towards the Spectres. Even though the specters were the spirit forms, they were special as they could touch the others. They also ate the bodies of the ones they found. As soon as the body of Viden was thrown towards the Spectres, they ignored everything else as they moved toward Viden. Viden''s body was slowly being eaten, but he couldn''t do anything. His healing was slower than the rate his body was being devoured. Even though he was in pain, the Vampire General still didn''t make any pained noise. He didn''t want to give satisfaction to the enemy by allowing them to watch him scream. After some time, more specters came there. They also targeted the Vampire General. Soon, the Vampire General was utterly devoured. Not even the single remain of his body was left behind for others to see. "I don''t like that we had to kill you that way, but that was the only way. We can''t spoil the relation between the Demon Realm and the Undead Region by letting you go. There was just too much at stake," Ryder muttered as he looked towards the place where the Vampire General used to be. He raised his bow and fired an arrow towards the specters. Now that the Specters had done their work, they decided to wipe them. Soon, the specters were also wiped out under the barrage of attacks. Ryder continued forward with his team. Rale had hidden his wings once more and sealed his powers again. "There is no one here. Why are you keeping it sealed?" Ryder asked Rale. "I''m just more comfortable this way, Your Highness," Rale replied. They traveled throughout the day. The Inner Region also didn''t pose much threat to Ryder and his team since they had Rale, who was technically one of the strongest beings in the Demon Realm. Ryder didn''t even know what Rale''s level was, but he assumed that it was higher than a thousand. They reached the end of the Inner Region right when it was the night time. There was another Protection Cave between the Inner Region and the Core Region. Ryder decided to spend the night inside as it was a known fact that the beings inside the Valley of Wandering Souls were stronger at night. He didn''t want to deal with the Guardian of the Valley of Wandering Souls in the night. They entered the cave. Unlike the last cave, this cave was completely empty, and it wasn''t hidden by stones either. Ryder told Rale to take care of everyone before he logged out of the cave. By the time, everyone was familiar with Ryder''s habit of sleeping in a different space. Most of the guys were amazed that there existed a treasure like this. Ryder woke up in the real world and took off the Divinity Glasses. He sat up. *Yawn* "Today, I have nothing big to do. I''m just going to be lazy at home and rest. I think I deserve a break before I get back to the other missions," he muttered with a relaxed look on his face as he stretched his arms. He was about to get off the bed when he got a message notification. He picked up the phone and saw the message, which was enough to make his face lose its color. The message was from Esmi that said that she was coming to his house and that she would be there in a minute. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 158 Chapter 154: Uninvited Guest * "B-but why," Ryder muttered with confusion when he heard the doorbell ring. "Oh Fuck!" he exclaimed as he hurriedly got off the bed and ran towards the door. He didn''t want Alice to open the door. As soon as he stepped out of his room, he remembered something. His eyes fell on the clock that was in the hallway, signifying that Alice had already left for school. Still, just to be sure, he checked the kitchen and her room. Her bag was missing, as well. "She probably left. Good," He muttered as he breathed in relief. He walked towards the door in comfort and opened it, only to become shocked again as it was Alice standing outside the door. "You?" he asked in surprise. "Why are you acting weird?" Alice asked as she looked at him suspiciously. "I thought you left. I was just wondering why you were back. Did you forget something?" he asked Alice, acting all casual. "I forgot something important. My phone is in the room, I think." Alice moved Ryder back as she entered the house and closed the door behind her. She was about to walk towards her room when someone rang the doorbell from the outside. Alice was closer to the door, so she turned back to open it. "Wait," Ryder caught her by her shoulders and prevented her from opening the door. "What are you doing? Let me open the door," Alice told Ryder. "You should get your phone. You''re getting late. I''ll see who is outside in the meantime," Ryder told her. "Why are you trying to stop me? Did you invite someone home? Just let me open it. A few minutes'' delay won''t change anything," Alice said as she freed herself and opened the door. Ryder couldn''t help but facepalm himself. "Is Miss Monalisa home?" It sounded like a male voice that didn''t match Esmi''s voice at all. Ryder looked outside and saw a man standing there with a courier. "Wrong house. Miss Monalisa lives in that house," Alice told the courier guy as she pointed towards their neighboring house. "See, I told you that nothing was wrong. I could''ve handled the guy, and you would''ve gotten your phone by now," Ryder said to Alice with an innocent look on his face. "Sorry, I will get my phone back now," Alice entered the house and took her phone from her room before she came back outside. "Is that your friend?" Ryder asked Alice as he pointed towards a girl that was sitting in a nearby car. He had already seen that girl with Alice in the amusement park. "Yeah, she''s a friend. I''m going to college with her," Alice replied. "Alright. Have fun," Ryder said, smilingly. Alice left him behind and went to the car. She entered the passenger seat, and the car drove away. Ryder breathed in relief again as he sat at the entrance of his house. He was mentally exhausted. He had barely relaxed for a minute before he saw another car stop before his house. He recognized the car as it belonged to Esmi. Esmi stepped out of the car and waved her hand towards Ryder. Ryder didn''t wave back. In fact, he looked quite upset. Esmi walked closer to him. "Why are you looking like someone took your candy?" Esmi asked as she laughed. "Have you gone crazy? Why would you come here? That too, without informing me beforehand?" Ryder inquired with an annoyed look on his face. "It''s not like you have a wife at home that would get offended," Esmi said jokingly. "Also, I did inform you. I messaged you that I was coming." "You literally messaged minutes ago. Whatever, I''m too tired to argue outside. Come inside," Ryder said as he stood up and entered the house. Esmi entered after him. Ryder locked the main door of the house. "I understand that you''re angry, but I was just missing you too much. I decided to drop by since I was free today. Let me make it up to you," She said as she held his hand and pulled him closer to her before she kissed him. (((Warning: The content ahead contains adult content. Readers are advised to proceed with caution and even skip it in case it''s not what they prefer! (Also, join my discord. Link in the synopsis)))) "Mmm" Ryder responded to her kiss. His anger has calmed down under this special kind of assault from Esmi. He hugged her firmly. His hand slid down to her firm butt. It was enough to send a little shock, which made her mouth open. Ryder utilized this small opportunity to begin his assault as he invaded her sweet mouth with his tongue. His tongue roamed inside his mouth as if it was the ruler of this place. Their tongues intertwined as they both tasted each other''s taste. His hand kept roaming around her body. From her ass to her big breasts that were so soft that they offered only slight resistance as he pressed them. "Mmm," Esmi moaned every time Ryder played with her breasts. Ryder separated his lips from her lips and released her from his embrace. Her face was red, and her eyes looked intoxicated. Her breathing was also heavy because of the long kissing session between her and Ryder. Ryder placed his hand on her shoulders and turned her back. Esmi was wearing a tight-fitting green dress that had the zip behind her. He held the zip that was near her shoulders and slowly unzipped her dress. After unzipping her dress, he was able to remove it quickly. Esmi was in her underwear, exposing her body before Ryder. Even though Ryder had seen her nude before, he was still amazed at how great her body was. She had curves in all the right places. Ryder removed her red bra as well, releasing her big breasts from their restrictions. He turned her back towards him so that she was facing him. He stepped forward and moved his face towards her chest and kissed her peaks. He even playfully bit the tip of her breasts gently, making her moan. He sat down on his knees and placed his hand on the last piece of clothing on her body and slowly lowered it, revealing her sacred region. Soon, Esmi was standing completely naked before him with no shred of clothing covering her beautiful body at all. Ryder stood up and picked her up in a princess carry and carried her to the bedroom. His eyes couldn''t help but stare at Esmi''s breasts that were jiggling left and right as he walked. Ryder got near the bed and threw Esmi on the bed lightly. "Let me see how you make up for what you did," He muttered as he removed his clothes and exposed his body before her. Please go to to read the latest chapters for free 159 Chapter 155: All at Once Alice was inside the car, going towards the University with her friend. "That was your brother?" Estonia asked Alice while she focused her eyes on the road. "Yeah, he is," Alice replied. "Anyway, it''s your first day back to our university. How are you feeling? You''ll meet the old friends," Alice smiled as she asked Estonia. Estonia was back in the city, and she had transferred to the University of Dreamers again. It was her first day at University after her return. "Meh, I don''t care much for them. They are all idiots. Also, I think I am in a different class. I won''t meet them," Estonia replied. Alice suddenly thought of something when the topic of class came up. She started looking in her bag. "Oh no," Alice exclaimed suddenly. "What happened?" Estonia asked in confusion. Alice looked serious. "I forgot my assignment at home. It is the last day to submit that. I can''t believe I forgot something so important," Alice let out as she looked down. "It''s really not your day, is it? First, the phone and now the assignment. It happens sometimes, I guess. Let me turn back at the next U-turn," Estonia chuckled lightly as she shook her head. "No, don''t do that. It''s your first day. You will get late. Just drop me off here, I''ll get a cab back," Alice rejected her offer. She didn''t want Estonia to get in trouble because of that. "It doesn''t matter if I''m late. No one is going to say anything about it. My father is one of the biggest donors of this university. They won''t freak out just because I''m late," Estonia smiled as she turned her car back at the U-turn and started driving back towards Alice''s home. Alice just sighed. "Thank you," she thanked Estonia ultimately. **** Bastion was sitting in his car, talking to someone. Another person was sitting in the passenger seat. It looked to be a man of similar age to Ryder and Bastion. The man had short black hair. He wore prescription glasses. He was somewhat thin compared to Ryder, but he looked more intellectual. "A Reunion between us Book Club members?" Bastion asked the man. When Ryder and Bastion were in college, they were both in the Book Club. Both of them joined the club because of girls. Ryder joined the Club because there was a girl he liked. Bastion, on the other hand, joined the Book Club because it had more girls than boys, and some of the prettiest girls of the college were in the book club. "Yeah, We are organizing the reunion of the Book Club members that were under me," the man replied. The man that was standing beside Ryder was the President of the book club when Ryder joined it. Ryder and Bastion were technically Juniors of this man, but they were close and acted more like friends than like Senior and Junior. "It''s true. I didn''t know that you were back in the country, so you would not have received the invitation. It was lucky that we meet each other," Dan replied. "Have you invited Ryder yet," Bastion asked. "Well, Ryder lives nearby, so I wanted to invite him personally. I know that guy, and he would probably reject the invitation and give some excuse. If I''m there before him, I should be able to convince him. I was just going there," Dan answered Bastion. "Hahaha, Right. He''s not good at social gatherings, but he''s changed from what I''ve seen. Anyway, let''s go there together. I''ll help you convince him to come," Bastion told Dan as he started the engine of his car. "I''m quite excited to see how the girls look like now," Bastion muttered. "Hah, You''ll never change, man. You''re old now. Stop being a playboy. Find a girl and settle down," Dan laughed out loud. "Who''s old? We''re still young. At Least Ryder and I are, I can''t say the same about you," Bastion started driving the car. **** An hour before Bastion met Dan¡ª Shu was sitting in his house, having his morning coffee when his butler came to him. "Mr. Zhang is here to meet you," the Butler told Shu. "Oh? He didn''t inform me before coming. Whatever it must be something important. Bring him to the hall. I''ll be there," Shu answered. The Butler turned back and left Shu''s bedroom. Shu finished his coffee at his usual pace before he got off the bed and left his room. As he reached the hall, he saw a white-haired man sitting on the couch. The man seemed to be 50-60 years old. He was the city''s top lawyer and the person that Shu called to get Ryder''s sister out of prison. Zhang stood up as he saw Shu near him. "What brought you here, Mr. Zhang?" Shu inquired. "I came here to inform you that the papers to Sue the police are ready. I need a sign of Mr. Ryder on them. The faster we get the sign, the faster we can submit it to the court," Zhang said. "It would be great if you can call him here." "There''s no need to call him here. Let''s just go there instead," Shu chuckled as he tapped on the man''s shoulders. "Come." Shu started walking towards the exit. He was still in his casual clothes, but it didn''t seem like he cared about it. He told the lawyer to follow his car as Shu quite liked traveling in his car. **** Four luxurious cars stopped before Ryder''s house at the same time. Alice and Estonia stepped out of one of the cars, Bastion and Dan stepped out of the second. Shu stepped out of the 3rd while Mr. Zhang stepped out of the 4th. Alice recognized Shu. "Brother Shu," She waved her hand. "What brought you here?" Shu moved closer to her. "I have some work with your brother. Anyway, are you not going to University? From what I know, the classes should''ve been started by now," Shu asked as he looked at the watch on his wrist. "I forgot something at home," Alice replied. Estonia stayed behind while Alice walked towards her house with Shu. Except for Estonia, everyone reached Ryder''s door. Alice looked at Bastion in confusion, not recognizing him. "Little girl, have you forgotten your brother Bastion so soon? Bastion asked as he smiled wryly. "It''s you! I thought that you looked similar. Didn''t you move away?" She asked. 160 Chapter 156: Is someone here? "You''re talking as if I had died. Those who leave the country can come back, you know," Bastion chuckled as he pressed the doorbell of the house. "Is Ryder home?" he asked Alice. "He should be inside," She replied to him. The door still wasn''t opened, though. Bastion pressed the rang bell again. "He might have fallen asleep," Alice said as she pressed the bell this time. "Alright. It looks like we''ll have to use the spare key," she muttered. "Can you all move back?" The others stepped back. Alice raised the welcome mat and picked up an old and dusted key. She inserted the key into the keyhole, but the door was opened before she could open it. Ryder had opened the door. He was in his casual clothes, entirely calm. "Are we having a party? Why are all of you here?" Ryder asked in surprise as he saw all of them. "I forgot something." "I need to get your signature on something." "We are here to talk to you." Alice, Shu, and Bastion replied at the same time. Alice moved Ryder to the side and entered the house. She walked to her room. "Uhmm... Aren''t you going to invite us in? Don''t tell me you hate us," Dan told Ryder as he laughed. "Uh, not at all. It''s so good to meet you after so long. Come on inside," Ryder said as he moved to the side and let them enter. He brought them to the dining table and made them sit there. "Found it," Alice came out of her room with a file in her hand. "I''m going," She told Ryder before she left. "Alright. You guys can talk now," Ryder told them as he sat on a chair after Alice left. "I need to get your signature on the lawsuit papers. The one we are sending to the Police Department," Shu said first. The Lawyer brought the papers out and placed them before Ryder. "Oh, right. You reminded me at the right time. I was wondering about that. Let me get my pen," Ryder let out. He was about to leave, but two voices stopped him. "I have a pen." The Lawyer and Dan said at the same time. "Oh, thanks," Ryder took the pen from the Lawyer as he was sitting closer. He signed the papers and gave them back. "Alright. I''m done here. I will take my leave first," the Lawyer told Shu before he left. He didn''t ask Shu to leave with him as their destinations were separate. The Courthouse was on the opposite side of Shu''s house. Shu didn''t stop him either and let him leave. "Do you have something different to do?" Ryder asked Shu with a wry smile on his face. "Are you so eager to get me to leave?" Shu said jokingly. "Nah, you can live here for all I care. I was just curious. Anyway, let me introduce everyone. Shu, this is Bastion. My college friend and nothing less than a brother." He introduced Bastion and Dan to Shu. "And guys, this is Shu. My friend, and also like a brother. He helped me a lot," Ryder introduced Shu to others. "Nice to meet you, bro," Bastion extended his hand towards Shu. They shook hands. "So you are Bastion. I heard a lot about you from Ryder. I must say you look great. Now I understand why one of the guys that I met when I was with Ryder claimed that I look nothing like his best friend Bastion and that he went for the cheaper option," Shu laughed out loud as he remembered the person that came to annoy them during his outing with Ryder. "Which idiot said it? You look, great man. My grandmother used to say that the people that have fat on their bodies are the most beautiful people. You would''ve been her favorite," Bastion smilingly said to Shu before he looked at Ryder. "Tell me the name of that guy. I''d love to beat the sh*t out of whoever said that to him." "No need. I already dealt with him. I don''t think he would appear near him or me," Ryder responded before he stood up and walked to the fridge. He came back and served some cold drinks to everyone. "Anyway, why are you guys here?" he asked them. "Oh, Right. The Book Club is having a reunion. I came here to invite you. I met Bastion along the way, and he tagged along," Dan told Ryder as he picked up his glass. "You make me sound like I''m a puppy who tagged along," Bastion let out with an annoyed look on his face. "Also, why are we being served cold drinks? Get some beer out, man. Let us boys have some fun!" "You remember I live here with Alice, right? Do you think that I would have alcohol lying around the house? Drink what I have," Ryder let out as he picked up his glass and took a sip of his drink. "Whatever, man. Anyway, you didn''t reply to us. Are you coming or not? Also, Shu, how about you come as well?" Bastion inquired. "Me? I am not in your book club. I don''t think it would be appropriate for me to go there." Shu shook his head as he rejected the offer kindly. "I can''t come either. You guys know that I have no interest in reunions and stuff. I can already talk to the ones I want to. And there is no need to meet the ones I don''t want to," Ryder shook his head. Dan looked at Ryder as he sighed. "Is this because of her? Are you worried that she would be there? Don''t be. She''s not even in the city. You can come without any worries. I can promise you that she won''t come," he said. "If you still say no, then I promise that I would come here to drag you there myself! Also, I would tell Alice all your secrets," Bastion said to Ryder as he saw him not budging from his position. "You should go. What''s the worst that could happen," Shu told Ryder as he chimed in. "Not just him, you also have to come. I need both of you there. It doesn''t matter if you were in the book club or not. Each member can bring a partner or friend. You can come with Ryder. It will be fun. Don''t cast a bad impression on our first meeting; come with us!" Bastion replied to Shu. That''s when the sound of something falling came. "Is someone here?" Bastion asked as he stood up. 161 Chapter 157: Its not what Youre Thinking "No one is anywhere. Something might''ve fallen somehow. Anyway, I will come to the reunion with you guys. I accept the offer since you''re insisting so much," Ryder told Bastion as he agreed. "That''s good and all, but how can there be no one. I clearly heard something. Are you hiding someone from me? Did you get a girl?" Bastion asked with a frown on his face. "Stop being suspicious. I''m not hiding anyone," Ryder replied innocently. "It''s not like I have a woman in my room." The dining table was facing the door of the house, and Ryder''s room was on the right side of the hallway that was in between. "Hey, how about you show us your room? I wonder how the grown-up Ryder decorated his room," Bastion stood up as he walked towards the room where he heard a sound coming from. "You really think I''m hiding a girl in there, don''t you?" Ryder asked as he stood up and followed behind Bastion. Shu and Dan also walked behind them. Bastion opened the door of the room and entered it. He didn''t know which of the rooms belonged to Ryder, but he heard a voice coming from this room, so he was suspicious. Also, he realized that Ryder''s sister probably locked her door. He knew that if it opened, it must be Ryder''s room. "The f*ck?" Shu exclaimed as soon as he entered the bedroom of Ryder. Ryder entered his room after Bastion. "It''s not what you''re thinking," Ryder told Shu as he shook his head. "You became a geek that plays games? You know I hate gamers, right?" Bastion asked as he glared at Ryder. He had seen the Divinity Glasses lying on the table. "That''s not a game. That''s a VR, I guess. Even though they are the same things, they are different. You can''t blame me for playing," Ryder replied with a wry smile on his face. ''Damn, I forgot that you hated games. Whatever, it''s not as bad as finding Esmi here. I guess this time, Rewind Power came in handy. The things were agitated in the previous timeline after you saw her car outside and saw me hiding her. Fortunately, I could rewind time once a day. I was able to make her leave on time in this timeline,'' Ryder thought as he picked up the Divinity glasses and placed them in his drawer. "Aren''t they all the same? Whatever man, I guess you have gone to the dark side. I hope you see the light someday," Bastion said to Ryder. "Oh, right. I expect to see you at the Reunion. Don''t be late," Bastion said before he left with Dan. "Damn, what is his problem with us gamers? Don''t worry, brother Shu! We will stay on the dark side forever! I won''t let anyone bully you!" Shu said proudly. "What dark side? You guys are trolling me, aren''t you?" Ryder shook his head as he sat on his bed. "Also, the only one amongst us that can get bullied is you." "It''s fine. The lawyer said that he was in a hurry. It would''ve just wasted time if I had called you there¡ªanyway, Congrats on topping all the rankings. You are no. 1 in all of them. There are already articles about you online," Shu congratulated Ryder. ''It is nothing. Just wait for some more time. You don''t even know how popular Divinity is going to get. It will become a craze soon. It will be broadcasted on tv, pro players from all over the world will fight for prominence, the adventures will be broadcasted. It would be much better. Previously I wasn''t famous, but now that I have the high position, I would be on tv all over the world,'' Ryder thought as he remembered how the game had grown in the previous timeline. "It''s good. I''m not after the game, though. I just want to have some fun in the game," Ryder said casually. \u003cDing... A Sub- Mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Invite Shu to come to the party with you. Also, show him the birthday celebration invite that you received as a clue of the Ancient Cultivation Family\u003e \u003cTime Limit: A day\u003e \u003cReward: Good Luck at that party\u003e \u003cReward: 50 Origin Points\u003e \u003cPunishment for failure: You will not achieve any success at the party\u003e ''Invite him to that place? There''s no difficulty in this mission, but I would have preferred to go alone. Whatever, it''s just a birthday celebration,'' Ryder thought. Ryder moved his hand behind his back and brought the invitation letter out of his storage space. "Shu, I have an invitation. Would you come with me to that party?" Ryder asked Shu as he showed him the invitation. "How did you get that invitation?" Shu asked in surprise. "You know about this?" Ryder asked in confusion. "I have an invitation as well, but I think I dropped it somewhere," Shu muttered with a wry smile on his face. "Some guy gave it to me as a gift. It''s quite possible that he found the one you dropped. I''m not sure. Whatever, You can come with me, or I can come with you. This is a 1+1 invite. It works both ways." Ryder made up an excuse. He was wondering how that terrorist got this invitation. It made sense if Shu dropped it and he picked it up. Ryder had already known that Shu''s family was wealthy. It wasn''t weird for him to get such invites. "I wasn''t planning on going there, but I guess I can come if you want to go. It''s good that you showed me this. This invitation is special, but you can''t enter the party unless your name is on the invited list. I don''t think the one that gave you the invitation knew about that, or he would''ve told you that. Probably you are right that he found it." Shu agreed to come with Ryder. ''There was that as well? I guess I was too naive. I haven''t been to any high profile parties, so I couldn''t have known that. I guess Janus did help me this time,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. "Awesome. Thanks for that. There is a reason I must go there. It''s so lucky that you told me about that. It would be embarrassing if I were thrown out," Ryder chuckled. 162 Chapter 158: Shus Reques "Don''t worry about that. It''s normal to be oblivious about these things if you don''t attend it. I never liked these parties myself. This showing off when you''re rich seems childish. Also, the parties are boring as hell. I would much rather attend a karaoke party with you and your friends than attend a party with the pretentious folks," Shu responded. He made it clear that he didn''t like the parties and didn''t attend them most of the time. "Your family sounds rich. I''m sure you must be forced to go to parties with them. What do your parents do, though?" Ryder asked Shu. He was curious about Shu''s family and their business. "My parents, ah, they are dead," Shu replied as he looked down. "Anyway, let''s not talk about these sad things. I was thinking about going to a bowling alley. Do you want to come with me? Just to freshen up the mind," Shu suggested as he stood up. Ryder realized that he has made Shu uncomfortable by bringing up this topic. "Alright. Let''s go," He replied. Even though he wanted to rest today and just sleep, he decided to go with Shu. Shu had helped him a lot, and he was also taking him to the party with him even though Shu himself didn''t want to go. Ryder didn''t feel right denying Shu. "Good. Let''s go. We can also race to the bowling alley. The streets near that place are always empty as they made it in a place like that. We can have a short race when we''re there," Shu said. "I have been practicing my driving in my free time, as well. I consider myself to be quite experienced now." "Sure. Let''s do that as well," Ryder agreed as he stood up. He stepped out of the house and locked the door. They got in their separate cars and started driving them towards the bowling alley. The road of this place was pretty crowded, but as they reached near the bowling alley, they found the roads to be completely empty. Both of them stopped their cars in parallel. They both lowered the windows of their cars so that they could hear each other. Their cars were around 2 kilometers away from the bowling alley. "We will start on the count of 3. The one that reaches the bowling alley first wins!" Shu told him as he pointed towards the bowling alley. "It''s a race, so there should be bets to make it more interesting. What does the winner get?" Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face. "If I win, I can ask any one thing from you, and you can''t deny it as long as it''s not outrageous. I''ll tell you right now. What I will ask from you will be in Divinity, and it won''t be your artifact or treasure or anything that is important to you," Shu said to Ryder. "What would it be then?" Ryder asked in confusion. "I can''t tell you that yet. Anyway, as long as you win, you can ask me to do anything in the real world or in Divinity. How is that?" Shu inquired as he waited for Ryder''s answer. "Alright. I accept," Ryder nodded his head ultimately. Shu was his friend, and he didn''t mind helping Shu in divinity as that is what Shu probably wanted but didn''t want to say since he wasn''t after his treasures. "Awesome. On the count of 3," Shu let out as he started the engine of his car again. Ryder also started the engine. "1... " Shu said. "2..." Ryder continued. "3..." Both of them said at the same time as they pressed the race of their car and removed their feet from the brake. Both of them had the supercars that had similar specs. Both of their speeds were almost equal most of the time. Ryder''s car seemed like it had a slight edge, but not enough to take the lead. As each second passed, they reached more and more closer to the ending point, but right near the end, Ryder slowed down subtly to let Shu win. It was a way for him to pay Shu back for helping him to get Alice out of prison and to allow him to ask for whatever help that he needed. With Ryder''s speed slowing down, Shu took the lead and won the race. Ryder slowed down his speed, really careful so that it was impossible to see that it was intentional. Ryder and Shu both applied the break after the race was over. The tyres of their car skid on the ground, giving a noise that was loved by almost everyone who loved to race. Ryder and Shu both parked their cars on the side before they stepped out. "I didn''t expect to lose. You were lucky this time," Ryder shook his head as he pretended to be disappointed. "Alright. I won''t be a salty loser. Tell me what you want?" Ryder inquired. "Why does it feel like it was not my victory at all? Did you lose intentionally?" Shu asked as he suspiciously looked at Ryder. "Are you doubting my sportsman spirit? I would never lose intentionally," Ryder declared with a serious look on his face. "Alright. If you say so. What I need from you is to do something for me," Shu told Ryder. "I thought so. What do you want me to do?" Ryder asked Shu. "I want you to use the guild token that I received and establish a guild by becoming the guild master," Shu told Ryder as he started walking towards the bowling alley. "What the fuck? Why me? You can become a guild master yourself. Why do you want me to do it? You found the token, and becoming a guild master can be a good thing. Be one and enjoy," Ryder told Shu. "I don''t want to do it as I believe that it would just be wasting an opportunity. I want to be a member of the number 1 guild that is filled with top talents and led by you. If people knew that you were the guild master, many players would join us, and we can secure our future as the number 1 guild. And I can still become the vice guild master," Shu told Ryder. "You can''t deny that. You lost the bet!" he let out again as he saw Ryder looking like he was about to reject the offer. Ryder sighed as he finally agreed. "I will do it," he said. 163 Chapter 159: Getting Exp "I will do as you say. I will become the guild master when that system becomes available," Ryder answered Shu. "Hahaha, That''s more like it," Shu smilingly replied. They walked inside the Bowling Alley. "Let''s take the corner lane. That''s the only one that''s still empty," Shu suggested as they saw that there was space at the end. They didn''t expect the Bowling Alley to be this crowded, but there was one place free for them. "You go there and secure the place. I''ll bring some drinks," Ryder told Shu before he walked towards the reception that sold beverages and alcohol. He purchased two cold drink cans for himself and for Shu. He paid for them using his phone. After getting the drinks, he turned back only to find some people arguing with Shu. There were three bulky men, surrounding Shu. They were talking to him, but it seemed like they were threatening him. Ryder hurriedly walked there. He moved one of the bulky men to the side and stepped closer to Shu. "What''s happening here?" Ryder asked Shu. "Did you just touch me?" The Man that Ryder had touched glared at Ryder in anger. "Answer me," Ryder ignored the man and asked Shu again. "It''s nothing. They came here and told me to leave as they want to bowl at this place," Shu replied to Ryder. "Are you ignoring me?" the man let out as he extended his hand towards Ryder''s shoulders. He was annoyed at being ignored, and he wanted to grab Ryder. Ryder turned back and caught the hand of the man. He didn''t apply much force on his hand, though. "Guys. Can you please behave? We are a civilized society. Don''t act like idiots. My friend came here first. You can''t force your way," He told the men before he released the hand of the man. "I don''t care who came here first. You kids should go play somewhere else. Let the big boys stay here," Another man commented. "Are you the boss of this place?" Ryder asked the man. "No," the man shook his head. "But even the boss won''t dare say a thing. We are from the Dark Dragon Gang. we rule this place!" "The Dark Dragon Gang?" Ryder asked in surprise. "Hehehe, Scared? Yeah. We are from the Dark Dragon Gang," "Never heard of it before. Is your gang new?" Ryder asked with a wry smile on his face. " You dare insult our clan! Don''t blame us for breaking your bones!" the man roared as he punched towards Ryder''s face. Ryder brought his hand towards his face and caught the fist of the man. "That counts as an attack," Ryder smiled as he pressed the man''s fist tightly, which made the man cry in pain. Ryder kicked the man, making him fly towards the bowling lane. The man crashed on the center of the bowling lane, but he kept sliding towards the other side until he struck the ten pins at the end. \u003c50 Experience Points Added\u003e \u003cLevel upgraded to Level 5\u003e \u003c10% increase in all physical stats\u003e The other two guys were shocked to see their friend thrown away like a toy, but they didn''t let it intimidate them. One of them attacked Ryder while the other one targeted Shu. Ryder ignored the one that was targeting him and moved towards the one that targeted Shu. He stepped before Shu and attacked the man, whose fist was coming towards Ryder''s face. Their fist clashed with each other, which ended with the scream of the man as the bones of his fist were broken from the impact. Ryder kicked the chest of the man, making him fly back. The man crashed on the wall. His head was swollen because of the impact, and he lost consciousness. \u003c50 Experience Points Added\u003e There was only one man left who had stopped his attack as he heard his friend''s cry of pain. He was scared now that he had seen both of his friends being trounced. "Y-you think you won! Just you wait! Don''t leave this place if you have the balls!" The man let out as he tried to run, but Ryder stepped forth and caught his shirt, preventing him from running away. "Sigh, it would''ve been better for me if you had attacked me properly, but I can''t tell you to attack me either. It doesn''t work that way. And you won''t dare to attack me either¡ªsuch a wasted opportunity. I wonder if that small attempt will count," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he pulled the man back and caught both of his hands. "Should I break your hands?" Ryder asked the man. "N-no, please!" the man replied. No matter how he tried. He couldn''t free his hand. "Sigh, Do you know who I am?" Ryder asked him. "No. Who are you?" the man asked as he looked at Ryder in full seriousness. "I''m the man that broke your hands," Ryder let out before he twisted the hand of the man, breaking his hands. He kicked the man, making him crash on the ground. \u003c50 Experience Points Added\u003e ''I guess it did count, '' he thought. "Sigh, My mood is spoiled. Let''s just leave," Ryder told Shu, who was looking at him strangely. "Are you coming?" Ryder asked him again. "Ah, Right. Let''s go," Shu responded as he walked towards Ryder. They left the bowling alley. "I didn''t know that you were so strong. Wow. I felt like I was watching the Treminator from the Treminator Movie. How can you be so strong? The men were so bigger than you," Shu asked Ryder. "Body size isn''t proportional to strength. It helps, but that''s not all. Look at the martial artists as an example," Ryder replied to Shu. "Oh, on that topic, I remembered a rumor that there are some Ancient Cultivators in this country. Have you heard anything about that?" Ryder asked Shu, hoping that he would know something since he had the invitation to the girl''s birthday party, which was the clue of the ancient cultivator family. "Ancient Cultivators? You mean the ones from the Xianxia novels? I have no idea. I don''t think I''ve heard anything about that," Shu shook his head. "It should just be a rumor." "Maybe," Ryder muttered. "Do you want to do something else, or can I go back and sleep?" He inquired. "You can go back. I don''t think we should do anything else today. The start of our day hadn''t been what I expected," Shu told Ryder as he shook his head. He waited for a response from Ryder, but he was stunned to see him looking dazed. 164 Chapter 160: Call from the mysterious men Shu glanced in the direction where Ryder was looking only to find a woman and a man coming in their direction. The woman was pretty attractive. She had long blonde hair that was curly near the tips. She was wearing tight-fitting jeans and a red t-shirt. The woman looked to be the same age as Ryder. She was in her early 20s. She was 5ft. 7inches tall. She was holding the hand of the man she was walking with. The man, on the other hand, was much taller than the girl. He was close to 6 feet tall. He wore black jeans and a black shirt that made him look professional. "Do you know them?" Shu asked Ryder as he tapped on his shoulder. Ryder didn''t reply and continued walking. He soon passed by the couple without any strange interaction. Shu felt like something was weird. Ryder was acting strangely, and he also noticed the girl looking uncomfortable. She seemed to be diverting her attention and tried not to look at Ryder. Shu wanted to ask Ryder about it, but he realized that Ryder was uncomfortable. He decided to drop the topic and not mention it again. Even though he was concerned about Ryder, he didn''t want to involve himself in something that could annoy his friend. They reached their cars. "Bye. Work hard on upgrading your level." Ryder told Shu before he entered the car. Shu also got in his car. They started the engines and drove away towards their home. Ryder was driving much faster this time, though. Shu couldn''t help but shake his head as he said that. "You are not going to tell me, so let me find out myself. If it is something I can help you with, then I will do it," Shu muttered. Soon, they separated and went their different ways. Ryder stopped his car near his house and parked it. He stepped out of his car and entered his courtyard. He brought out his phone and called the number of Dan. Dan picked up the call. "Hello." "I''m not coming to the book club reunion!" Ryder let out sternly. "What happened? Didn''t you say that you would come just a few hours ago?" Dan asked in confusion. " What happened in the last few hours?" "Didn''t you say that she was not in the city! How is it that I still see her in the city?!" Ryder snapped. "She? I thought she was out. Maybe she came back to the city. I didn''t know about that, I promise!" Dan replied with uncertainty. "It doesn''t matter. I''m not coming. There are already people that I don''t like that will be there and now she as well? I won''t come," Ryder replied. "Please don''t do this, man. I already registered your name and informed people. Some of them are genuinely excited. Don''t disappoint them," Dan tried to explain. "I don''t care," Ryder said before he disconnected the call. He threw the phone on the bed before he walked into the shower. He stepped out of the shower after 25 minutes and got dressed. The phone had stopped ringing by now. Ryder picked up the phone to see the notifications. He had received a call from three people by now. Bastion, Dan, and even Esmi had called him. He was not in the mood to call anyone back, though. He put the phone on the table near his bed and laid on the bed, closing his eyes. He couldn''t help but unintentionally relive his past memories, which ruined his mood even further. Before today, he had planned just to sleep today and be lazy, but now that he finally got the opportunity to do it, he couldn''t sleep at all. He just laid in his bed for the next hour with his eyes closed, feeling down. His phone again started ringing. He opened his eyes and picked up his phone to look at the name of the person calling him. It was again a private number as it just said Private. The number was not showing either. "It seems like the repeat of last time," Ryder muttered as he looked at the phone ringing. He picked up the call and brought the phone close to his ears. "Number 23, Why is your other number turned off? We have another meeting after two days. You need to be present. I don''t want to listen to any excuse. You must attend this time. The new meeting will be held at the same place. Don''t miss it!" the person on the other side said. His voice was distorted, which made it clear that he was using something to hide his real voice. Ryder wanted to ask which place he talked about, but he was worried about exposing that he wasn''t number 23. He didn''t even know if number 23 was a guy or a girl. He wanted to know their location as he was sure that the guys that were behind the missing bodies would be the ones hiding their numbers like that, and they were his biggest clue about the death of his parents, according to Janus. ''I must go to the extreme to find them,'' he thought. He covered his face with a cloth to make it clear that he was hiding his voice as well. He knew that it would probably only work if number 23 was a male. The voice could be explained by the excuse of hiding it like the other person was hiding it. "Which place?" Ryder asked. "You idiot! Weren''t you conveyed the location last time? Was this the reason you hadn''t attended the meeting in recent times?" the man snorted. "No," Ryder replied. "Hmm, This will be the last time I tell you. Come under the Northeast Walter Flyover. The meeting will begin in the evening," Before Ryder could reply, the call was disconnected. Ryder glanced at the phone. "Northeast Walter Flyover?" Ryder opened the browser and searched the name of the flyover. "It''s in Washington, Looks like I''ll need to travel to attend the meeting," Ryder muttered as he found out that the Northeast Walter Flyover was in Washington. He opened the website of an Airline and booked the ticket for tomorrow morning. He wanted to deal with Jameson tomorrow, but this matter was more important. He wasn''t sure if he would ever get an opportunity to find them again if he missed them this time. He could deal with Jameson and the others anytime, but not with this, as he was dealing with an unknown enemy now. 165 Chapter 161: Boss Problems "Alright, Master Jameson. It looks like I can''t meet you tomorrow. Enjoy your life for a little longer," Ryder muttered as he looked at the ticket confirmation notification on his phone. His flight was at 11 o''clock in the morning. Since he received this call, his mind had been diverted to this topic. His mood was also calmer. "I would have just gone to Divinity, but it''s not good either. The guardian of the Valley of wandering Soul would be twice as strong at night. It would just be extra effort wasted for nothing. No need to be in a hurry," he muttered as he stood up. He picked up the key of his car and left his house since his plan to be lazy wasn''t working, and he had no alcohol at home. He entered his car and drove it towards the nearest bar. As Ryder''s car raced towards the nearest bar, another car passed by his car in the opposite direction. The person that was sitting on the passenger seat was the same guy that Ryder had attacked first in the Bowling Alley. He was the least bit injured. They were just coming back from the hospital. He wasn''t even admitted, but the other two guys were still in the hospital. The person that was sitting beside him was the boss of the Dark Dragon Gang. "Boss, the one that beat us up was in that car!" The man let out. "You sure?" The boss asked the man. "I am a hundred percent sure. He is the one," the man replied. "Good. Let''s see who dared to offend us even after knowing our name," the man muttered as he turned his car back and started following the car of Ryder. He also called his other men and told them to track his phone and come prepared. Ryder looked in the back mirror and noticed the car following him. "Good. I was just getting bored. Just to be sure about them, I should take expert advice," Ryder muttered as he used a voice command to call Esmi. "You finally decided to call me, huh! After ignoring my calls for so long," Esmi snorted as soon as she picked up the call. "I''m sorry about that. I was in a bad mood because of some things that happened. I put my phone on silent and slept. It had nothing to do with you. I just checked the calls and decided to call you," Ryder replied to her. "Why did you call me?" He asked her. "Forget that. It is not important anymore. By the way, what spoiled your mood that much?" Esmi asked Ryder. "Someone made me angry. I''m fine now. Anyway, Do you know anything about the Dark Dragon Gang?" Ryder asked her. This was the main reason he called her for. "The Dark Dragon Gang? Yeah, they are like our low tier subordinates, I guess. Did they do something to you?" She asked him. "Well, three of their men attacked me, and I beat them up. I think some of them are following me. I wanted to see if they worked for you," Ryder let out as he focused on the road. "Wait. Don''t interfere. I am in the mood to beat some people up today. Don''t spoil the fun. Let me have fun today, then you can get them in line," Ryder rejected her offer. Ryder didn''t want her to help him right now as he would lose the opportunity of farming the Experience points in the real world. He didn''t want to see this opportunity go to waste. "You do know that they have guns, right? It''s not a joke. You will get harmed. I''m calling them. You can have fun in other ways. It would be bad if things get out of control," she muttered as she shook her head. ''That''s true as well. I guess I should''ve thought of it. Now that I told her that I''m taking on those men, I can''t kill them. And I can''t expose my healing powers and let them live. This thing is annoying,'' he thought. "Alright. Call them then," Ryder finally gave up. He wouldn''t have minded if he hadn''t talked to her. He would have lured them to an empty place and collected his exp, but the plan was spoiled now. Esmi disconnected the call and called the number of Mark, who was her second in command in this place and the one that handled the matters of this city for her. She was actually from a different place and came here for a few weeks to see if their operations were flowing smoothly or not. **** The person that was chasing after Ryder in his car got a call suddenly. "Ah, Yes, boss." "No, Boss." "Of Course, boss." "I understand, boss. I won''t do anything to him. If I had known his reach would be so high, I wouldn''t even think about him." The call was disconnected. The man called other members of his gang to tell them to come back. He also turned back his car and stopped following Ryder. Ryder glanced at the rearview mirror and noticed that the car had turned back. "She worked quite fast," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He ignored whatever had happened and focused on the road. Soon, Ryder reached the Bar. He parked his car before he entered the Bar. He stepped towards the bartender and sat on an empty table nearby. "Get me an Old Fashioned," Ryder told the bartender who nodded in affirmation. "Not many people drink that nowadays. I''m glad to find someone who likes it as well," A woman said as she sat on the nearby seat. "Make that two. I need one as well," She told the bartender. Ryder looked towards the woman who looked like she was in her early 30s. She was dressed in a white suit and looked like a professional. "Isn''t this too soon for professionals to come to a bar?" Ryder asked her as he looked at his watch. It was 4 in the afternoon. "Bad day at work. I left early," The girl let out with a wry smile on her face. "What happened?" Ryder inquired out of curiosity. "Lost a big deal. It sucks," the girl replied. "Can''t say that I can understand. Sounds like boss problems," Ryder let out as he shook his head. Even though he was also technically an owner of a registered company, that was mostly in name at the moment. Things haven''t gotten on tracks yet for him, but he knew that his ride was going to be easy because of his knowledge. 166 Chapter 162: Not even the God of Death "You are lucky that you don''t know the boss'' problems. Sometimes even the monetary benefits aren''t enough to compensate for the stress," The woman sighed as she shook his head. "Every job has stress and troubles. We all believe our problems to be worse," Ryder responded with a smile. The bartender served the drinks before them. "That''s true as well. Anyway, I''m Herriet," the woman replied as she extended her hands towards Ryder. "Ryder," Ryder replied as he reached out his hand to shake her hand. Something strange happened, though, as soon as Ryder''s hands touched the hand of Herriet. His whole body felt a terrifying shock. He instantly retracted his hand as he looked at her with a stunned look on his face. "What happened? Why are you looking here like I am a ghost?" Herriet asked as she glanced at Ryder. "N-nothing. I just felt like there was current coursing through my body as soon as I touched you," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Hahaha, is this a new flirting line that guys are using nowadays?" Herriet started laughing at Ryder''s response. ''This is really strange. What just happened?'' Ryder wondered as he glanced at the woman. "Did that line work?" Ryder smiled as he asked the woman who was sitting before him. He knew that he would be seen as crazy if he insisted on what happened. "That was refreshing, I must say. Thanks for making me laugh," Herriet thanked Ryder as she picked her glass. Ryder also picked up his glass. "Cheers," They both touched their glass before they drank the alcohol in one sip. "One more." Both of them ordered more at the same time. The bartender picked up the glasses. "Which business do you own? Also, which deal did you lose? Maybe I can give you some ideas? You don''t have to tell me if it''s too personal," Ryder asked her. "I work in the Aviation Industry. We develop commercial planes. We had received the order for 50 planes. We even took out loans and stuff, but the client suddenly canceled the orders. We are going to the court to sue them, so I don''t think you can help me," The woman shook her head. "Are you the owner of Air Connect limited?" Ryder asked her with a surprised look on his face. "Yeah, How did you know?" Herriet asked in curiosity. "I read an article about the order of 50 planes. So I took a guess," Ryder let out as he smiled. He didn''t tell her the truth that he knew about her from the previous timeline. In fact, her company was a part of his bigger plan to boost his company further. It was also a big deal because of the rise of Air Connect Limited after the fall. It was something that no one could have expected. This time, Ryder wanted to change history. He wanted to buy the company when it was at its worst and mix them in his group of companies. If he weren''t wrong, the results of this lawsuit would come in less than a week, and in three weeks, the company will declare bankruptcy. Their shares will hit an all-time low. Ryder wanted to buy them at that time. No matter how much he wanted to help someone, he didn''t want to spoil his plan, so he didn''t tell Herriet any of this. He only comforted her that things would go better. He decided that after he owned the company, he would still keep Herriet as the CEO of the Aviation branch of his Divine Corporation. "I hope so," the woman let out as she took another sip. "I should leave now. If I get too drunk, I would not be able to drive back. Bye, Mr. Ryder. It was fun chatting with you," Herriet said as she stood up. She paid the bartender before she left the bar. "Air Connect Limited..." Ryder muttered as he glanced towards the door of the bar. "Tough times are ahead, but I would not let them last long for you. For my own benefit, though. Be with me on our rise together." He ordered another drink. He sat there for around an hour before he left as well. He drove back home. Alice was already home when he stepped inside the house. She stepped out of the kitchen. "You are back? Where were you?" She asked Ryder. "I was out with Shu," Ryder replied to her. "That smell... Did you drink?" Alice inquired, glaring at Ryder. "Ah, a little. It was like men''s day out," Ryder answered her with a wry smile on his face. "Go and eat on Men''s day out as well. You''re not getting anything to eat here today," Alice snorted as she walked back to the kitchen. "Hey, sorry. I wouldn''t do it again, I promise," Ryder said as he followed after her. "I''m not listening. You can cook for yourself if you want," Alice answered as she refused to look at him. "I heard some friends say that their wives treat them like this after they go home drunk. Don''t be like their wives. I promise you that I would be more careful next time," Ryder insisted as he sat on the dining table. "Hmph," Alice did not answer, but Ryder could see that she was angry. Ryder stood up and walked closer to her. He placed his hand on her shoulders and turned her back to face him. "I am sorry," he said in full seriousness. "Why are you crying?" he asked her as he saw tears in her eyes. "You know what the cops said, right. Even though it was the truck owner''s fault, our family would not be dead if they hadn''t gone out to drink at a party. It was fine before as you weren''t driving and took cabs, but now that you have a car, if you still don''t stop, one day, I might lose you as well," Alice let out while looking down. Ryder hugged her firmly. "I promise that you won''t lose me. Even the god of death can''t separate me from you," Ryder said. Suddenly, he saw a scene of something similar. He was hugging a woman and said the same thing. Surprisingly, he recognized the woman. The woman looked like the Goddess of Nature, whose statue Ryder had seen in the Dark Elves Ancestral Temple. The woman that Ryder had found to look just like Alice. ___________________________________ The End (JK) IMPORTANT AUTHOR NOTE: From now on, there is going to be a change in release schedule that will take place from today. 167 Chapter 163: The Gods are Corrupt, FBI "I will never forgive you if you leave me. No drinking from now on!" Alice told Ryder, bringing him out of his daze. "I won''t give you any opportunity to complain," Ryder said to her, while he kept his arms wrapped around her. "Hmm," Alice whimpered before she freed herself from Ryder''s embrace. "Soo... Should I order food from outside?" Ryder asked with a confused look on his face. "There''s no need. Go and rest," Alice let out as she turned back. "There''s one more thing that I need to tell you. I suddenly got a business call today. I need to go to Washington tomorrow to attend a meeting. I won''t be back for 2-3 days," Ryder told her abruptly. "You''re going away?" Alice asked as she looked back at him. "Yeah, for a few days. I have a flight early in the morning. I need to attend this meeting to ensure the smooth operation of my business. It''s just for a few days. I''ll be right back before you even realize that I''m missing," Ryder comforted her. Alice didn''t answer, but she nodded her head. "Thanks. If this deal went well, many of my problems would be solved," Ryder smilingly said. "I will pray for your good luck," Alice said to Ryder. "The gods are corrupt. There''s no need to pray to them for me," Ryder let out without even realizing what he was saying. It was as if these words came out of his mouth out of nowhere. They sounded familiar, though, like he had said the same words before. "Don''t talk bad!" Alice scolded Ryder as she glared at him. "Ah, I was joking. Thank you for praying for me. I''ll be in my room," Ryder replied before he hurriedly walked back to his room. He laid on his bed as he held his head. "Am I going crazy? What the heck is happening with me? Current when touching that girl and words coming out of my mouth? These strange illusions and dreams... Just what is happening?" Ryder muttered as he looked at the roof. "Janus, are you the one that''s messing with me? You need to cut it out!" Ryder exclaimed as he thought that it was Janus doing these strange things. He was the only mysterious thing that had the power to do anything, according to him. \u003cJanus is not involved with what you''re going through, but Janus can''t stop that either\u003e Janus answered Ryder. "Am I going crazy then?" Ryder asked again. \u003cNo\u003e Janus answered Ryder again, refuting his assumption. "Why is that happening then?" Ryder asked him. \u003cThat''s for you to find out. If I tell you, everything will go wrong\u003e \u003cYou don''t need to worry about it. You will not lose anything. It''s just that the process is much faster than I expected as you found the Bracelet of Immortality, which was unexpected. It''s good, but it would be uncomfortable and confusing for you. There''s no need to worry. I won''t let any harm come to you, as long as I am here. Never again\u003e Ryder wondered what Janus was saying. He was like a powerful system according to Ryder that could do anything, but Janus'' words didn''t make sense most of the time. "It''s fine as long as I don''t become like an NPC. I can handle these strange things if they happen once in a while, but it would not be good if they become common occurrences. I don''t want people to think of me as crazy," Ryder let out as he sat up. He turned on the Air Conditioner and took off his clothes. He changed to more comfortable clothes. He brought his phone outside and started reading any news he could find about the organization that was stealing the dead bodies. He wanted to see if the government authorities found any clue about them. "Nothing. The dead bodies keep going missing from different corners of the country, and no one knows what''s happening. Just what is the FBI doing? It''s been quite some time since these things started," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He did not find any clue about them. ***** Far away from Ryder and the city he stayed in, there was another city. It was the new city that had become the new capital of the country. The city was filled with tall buildings. One of these tall buildings was the FBI headquarters that housed the senior agents of the FBI that were not out on the field at the moment. A woman was sitting on a chair before her computer, looking at something on the screen in a decent-sized room. The woman looked like she was in her late 20s. Her dark hair matched with the black coat that she was wearing. There was a knock on the door. "Come in," the woman said. The door opened. It was a man who was dressed in a similar manner. He had an ID card on his chest, which had FBI written on it. "Riya, Come quick. There''s a briefing on the missing bodies'' case in a few minutes. Captain will be there soon," the man said before he closed the door and left. Riya closed the laptop and stood up as she left her room and walked to the briefing room. The briefing room was on the same floor but still far away from her room as her room was on the south of the building while the briefing room was on the other side. After some time, she reached the room. She opened the door and found it to be almost full. She and the captain were the only two people that were not here yet. "Ahmm, are you going to enter or not?" A man''s voice came from behind. Riya looked back only to find a red-haired guy standing there. "Ah, Captain. Sorry," Riya apologized as she entered the room and took her seat. The man walked inside and stood at the other end of the table. He opened his laptop and connected it to the projector. "Ok, guys, so there is news that I have for you guys. You already know that we have been dealing with the missing bodies'' case for quite some time. Our teams are spread out in most of the country where the cases of missing bodies have been discovered," The Red-haired guy said. 168 Chapter 164: Same Destination Everyone silently nodded their heads. "I have an update about that. We finally discovered something about them which might help us in our investigation," the Captain added. "We have arrested one of the people that was involved in stealing the bodies. He destroyed his phone before he was arrested, but we did manage to capture him alive. This information is extremely classified, and no one other than a few in our bureau knows about it. We have already interrogated him, and I want to brief you on what we found out from him," he added. The others were already focused, but they were even more focused now. This was pretty exciting for them, as this meant that they finally had some progress on the case. The Red-Haired Man tapped a key on the keyboard of his laptop. An image started showing up on the white board in front of them. "This guy is called Trey Masterson. He also has a nickname which is Number 23. He claimed that this is how he was addressed to by the people that were above him," the Red-Haired Man said as he pointed towards the image of the man. "He said that he didn''t know much about the organization and that he only followed the commands he received from the people that he claimed to be the ones that were the core members of the organization behind it." "So, he is like a disposable pawn of their organization?" Riya asked the captain as she raised her hand. "Yes and no. He was a pawn that didn''t know anything significant about the organization, but he was not disposable. Arresting him wasn''t useless. He had seen the faces of the core Members that we believe can lead us to the ones behind this racket. We have the sketches of three people that he had seen that were involved in this. We also have some more information," The Captain said. "We found out that there is a meeting held in Washington between the Core Members that he saw and the pawns like him. He also gave us the location of that place. Even though we don''t know if there will be another meeting or when it will be held, I still need a team to go to Washington to keep an eye on it. It might take a week or a month, but there should be a meeting again as long as they don''t realize that we have number 23. It might even be as soon as tomorrow. Every second is of importance. This is our biggest opportunity to catch them," He added. Riya raised her hand again. "Yes? What doubts do you have?" the Red-Haired Guy asked as he pointed towards Riya. "Captain Max. How much of the team are you willing to send there? It''s not certain that they will still hold a meeting there, and they would soon realize that their man is missing. This might be a waste of resources if we send too many people. Also, why aren''t our men already present there assigned for this task?" Riya asked. Another man raised his hand. He was the person that had reminded Riya of the Meeting. "Yes, Jacob?" The Red-Haired Man pointed towards the guy. "Captain, have you already decided on a team, or is it voluntary? Also, are you coming with us as well?" Jacob asked the Captain. "I have already decided on a team." The Captain tapped another key on his keyboard, and four names appeared on the board. "The ones that I selected are Jacob Mastiff, Riya Fernandez, Milana Sanderson, and Ray Quinn," the Captain said. "Also, I won''t be coming. I am going on another lead with a different team. You guys need to remain in contact with me after you reach there, though," He added. "Oh, right. Ray will be your leader for this mission. The tickets are already booked. You will leave tomorrow morning," he added. "Yes, Sir." "That''s it for today. The others can get back to work. The ones I have named can leave early to pack their stuff," the Captain said before he disconnected his laptop and left **** Ryder packed some of his stuff in a bag before he kept the bag in his storage space. "The fuck, How could I forget that I have a bomb in one of my storage slots," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he saw the bag that had the bomb in one of his storage slots after he placed his clothing bag in a different slot. "Well, it might come in handy someday," he muttered as he shook his head and closed the screen. "I do need to deal with the bodies, though. Might as well throw them outside with the bomb if I ever use that." He stood up and left his room. It was already night as he entered the kitchen. "I was just about to call you. The dinner is ready," Alice said as she glanced back at Ryder. "I know that you''re always on time," Ryder said as he smiled and sat on a chair. "Have you packed your stuff for tomorrow? I can help you if you haven''t," Alice asked Ryder. "I''m more self behaved then you give me credit for. I packed everything," Ryder replied to her. The dinner was served. They both had dinner together before Alice said that she would move in with her friend for a few days as she didn''t want to live alone in this house. Ryder agreed to her and told her that she needed to call him if she faced any problem. He would handle everything for her. Alice agreed as a beautiful smile covered her face. After a peaceful dinner, Ryder walked back to his room. He laid on his bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. "Time to get the third orb," He muttered. "Take me to Divinity!" he used the command. Ryder opened his eyes to the world of Divinity. He was inside the Cave of Protection. It had started to get bright outside. 169 Chapter 165: Against the Guardian "Let''s go, Rale. We don''t have time to waste. I want to deal with it before night," Ryder told Rale, who was standing at the mouth of the cave, looking outside. "Your Highness," Rale greeted Ryder. Everyone stood up as well. They all left the cave and entered the core region of the Valley of Wandering Souls. "Your Highness, When we find the Guardian of the Valley, I would suggest you to stay back. You will get harmed. The Guardian would be very strong. It''s impossible to kill it, but I can hold it back. It would all go to waste if he managed to harm you," Rale told Ryder. "Don''t worry about me. Killing me is more difficult than killing you at the moment. I''m not bragging when I say that even Grand Duke Orisis can''t kill me," Ryder chuckled as he tapped on Rale''s shoulder. "But I would let you deal with the guardian. I only need that orb in his hand. Throw that orb towards me, and then you can hold him back." "I will take that orb for you, I promise," Rale promised Ryder. They faced many specters along the way, which were growing stronger. No matter how much Ryder attacked, he wasn''t able to harm them. His strength had reached its limit on this Valley. The opponents that they faced were way stronger than the ones he could hurt. Rale and the others handled the specters with ease, though. Ryder had already known how wide the gap between Rale and him was, but Rale''s team was just as strong. He had known that Rale was stronger than Duke Devilia. Even when Ryder was over level 150, he wasn''t able to harm a dragon, but Devilia killed another dragon, which seemed to be hundreds of times stronger than the dragon that had killed him in the previous timeline. Rale, on the other hand, was even stronger than Devilia after he unsealed his power. He could only imagine how strong he was. Level thousand was the least that Ryder considered Rale to be. He was quite glad to have someone like Rale to be his subordinate. He was like the most OP character in the game at the moment, but this only meant that the old enemies were not his enemies anymore. He was way above their league. He was in an entirely different league altogether, but he also knew that being in a powerful league meant facing powerful enemies. He also knew that it was not his own power. He wanted to find the Bracelet Fragments the fastest he could so that he could strengthen himself. The two fragments that he had found were enough to make him almost an immortal, but that still wasn''t enough for him. He didn''t want to die and revive, but he wanted to be strong enough to kill his enemies without dying. They had only traveled for 2 hours before they heard a loud roar. "Understood Captain! We won''t let them harm the Prince!" the men let out loud. They walked in the direction that roar was coming from. The number of spirits they faced kept increasing. Now they were seeing hundreds of specters every ten meters, but Rale was still able to deal with them without unsealing his power After some time, they finally saw the Guardian of the Valley of Wandering Souls. The Guardian of the Valley was similar to the Guardian of the Lightning Valley that Ryder had controlled to force the Dark Elf King to surrender. It was also a giant, but it seemed to be made of wood. The Guardian of Valley of Wandering Soul was like a giant Wooden Golem that had a humanoid shape. The Guardian of the Valley also had two giant horns on his head. There was a necklace on the neck of the Guardian of the valley, which had a tiny orb tier to it. "There is the orb!" Ryder pointed towards the orb near the Guardian''s neck. The Guardian looked towards them. He roared loudly. A screeching sound came out of its mouth. Thousands of Spectres from all over the valley rushed towards Ryder and his team to attack them. "Take care of his highness. I''m going for the necklace!" Rale let out as he unsealed his powers. His wings appeared behind his back. He flew towards the guardian like lightning. Rale was about to reach near the Guardian when a barrier appeared around the Guardian. Rale punched out. His fist struck the barrier, shattering it instantly, but that''s when he saw the hand of the guardian coming towards him. He flew to the side, dodging his hand, and again started flying towards the neck of the guardian. The Guardian stared at Rale. Rale felt as if there was a binding force that was trying to take control of his body. "My body is to protect the Royal Blood! I will never let someone like you control me!" Rale roared as an energy burst was released from his body, breaking the restriction around him. He shot out towards the neck of the guardian and tore off the orb, which he threw towards Ryder. Ryder reached out his hand to catch the orb, but he saw another specter coming towards the orb. He knew that if he stayed there, the specter would get to the orb. He brought out his Scythe and started running towards the orb. Ryder and the specter, both were moving towards the orb. Ryder was slightly faster as he managed to grab the orb, but he also saw the Spectre coming towards him. It was too late to dodge. He changed the scythe to a shield and placed it between him and the specters. He was tossed back like a broken kite as he crashed on a tree. He felt his HP going down by leaps and bounds before it could reach Zero; he used the Ruler of Nature to heal himself. His Hp was again full. He breathed in relief. His men had also dealt with the specters in the nearby region and surrounded him again. "Your Highness, please do not do this again. It puts you in danger and decreases our ability to protect you," One of the members of Rale''s team requested Ryder. He was relieved as he didn''t know how he would have answered if something had happened to Ryder. "Leave this place! I will keep him back and leave after you are out!" Rale let out loud. Ryder didn''t hear his words as he was looking at the notification. 170 Chapter 166: Third Fragmen \u003cThird fragment of Bracelet of Immortality found\u003e \u003cFragment of Wind found\u003e [Bracelet of Immortality: Second Seal is broken] [Skill Received: Ruler of Wind] [+10 Level ] "Ruler of Wind?" Ryder muttered as he glanced at the notification. "Your Highness, we need to leave," The guard reminded Ryder, who was in a daze. Ryder closed the screen. "Yeah, let''s leave this place. We are done here," Ryder said as he stood up. He left the place under the heavy Protection of his team, which kept dealing with the specters. ''The Level Rankings are updated every 24 hours. I think I can imagine how shocked people will be after they find out my jump in ten levels in a day,'' Ryder thought as he left the place. They kept advancing towards the exit as fast as they could. Soon, they left the core region of the Valley of Wandering Souls. Ryder and his team reached the place where they had fought the Vampire General. The Frozen Pond was melted entirely, and the water seemed to be crystal clear now. They traveled for hours and left the inner region as well. Soon after, they were outside the Valley of Wandering Souls. They all stopped after they stepped out of the Valley. It was said that the Spectres and the Guardian couldn''t leave the Valley. Now, all they needed to do was wait for Rale to come out. Then they would be able to leave the Undead Region. Ryder stayed back as he opened the screen again to read the description of the Skill that he had received after the third seal was unlocked. He opened the description of Ruler of Wind to see if it was as useful as Ruler of Time and Nature or not. \u003cRuler of Wind: Wind is everywhere. It is what allows people to breathe, yet it can make them die. It can be soothing, and it can be terrifying. Not only humans but all the species depend on it. The one that controls Wind has the potential to control the surroundings and to reach higher than the heaven\u003e \u003cActive Skill: Blessed by Wind\u003e \u003cBlessed by Wind\u003e \u003cSkill 1: Flying\u003e \u003cSkill 2: Locked (Level not enough)\u003e \u003cSkill 3: Locked (Level not enough)\u003e ''It''s a set of 3 skills as well?'' He let out in surprise. He clicked on flying to see if it actually meant the same as what he was thinking. He hoped that it was the same. If he received the ability to fly, it would be amazing, especially since he would be able to use that in the real world as well. \u003cFlying: Provides the holder Ability to fly When using Flying, one can touch the skies and fly like the wind\u003e \u003c(Warning: Flying can''t be used beyond the current limit)\u003e \u003cCurrent limit: Flying can only be used for 55 minutes in a day\u003e "Ability to fly, huh, let me try," Ryder muttered as he used the Flying. He started rising in the air, but his control was weak. He was a bit shaky, but he was able to fly. "I need some practice," Ryder muttered as he stopped using flying and landed on the ground. The others were looking towards the Valley, so no one saw him fly. Time kept passing slowly, and it was already evening. Ryder was starting to get worried. It was late, and Rale was still not there yet. He wondered if something had gone wrong, but he saw someone coming out of the Valley of Wandering Souls. It was Rale. His body was covered in blood, which seemed like his own. He was injured. "Rale, are you fine?" Ryder ran up to Rale and supported him. "You should''ve seen the condition of that guardian," Rale joked as he smiled. "Let''s get you inside the hut. You need to rest," Ryder said as he carried Rale to the small hut nearby. He made him lie down on a mattress that he carried with him in his storage space. "Are you really fine?" Ryder asked Rale again as he saw that the bleeding wasn''t stopping. "I''m fine, Your Highness. I just underestimated the Guardian. His strength increased so much after you guys left. He was probably angry. I did handle him, though. As for my wounds, don''t worry about it. I would be fine by the morning. It''s just taking some time. Once the healing kicks in, I''ll be healed in a few hours," Rale comforted Ryder. "Thank you for everything," Ryder thanked Rale. He was feeling so glad to have Rale. He had already started considering Rale like his brother. "Rest now. There''s no need to worry about anything else. The mission is completed," Ryder told Rale as he held his hand. Rale nodded his head as he closed his eyes. Ryder sat there for an hour to make sure that nothing was going wrong, but after making sure that Rale had started healing, he stood up. "You guys need to protect Rale tonight. Keep an eye on the surroundings so that nothing unexpected happens," Ryder told the others before he disappeared from before them. The others had already become accustomed to seeing that. They didn''t know that Ryder had logged out. Ryder woke up in the real world. He took off the Divinity glasses and kept them in his inventory. It was 7 Am in the morning. He sat up and entered the shower. He came out and got dressed before he left his room. He wondered if Alice was sleeping. "Alice? I''m leaving," He called out once before he left the house. Ryder didn''t take his own car to the airport; instead, he booked a cab. The cab dropped him off at the nearest Airport. He went through the checking and other related stuff, and soon, he was sitting on the business class seat of the plane that was going to Washington. The flight was as comfortable as it could be. There was no disturbance, and everything passed peacefully. No one talked in the business class. Ryder simply slept in the flight. The flight stopped at the Bright Sun Airport in Washington. He stepped out of the plane. Just a few minutes ago, another plane had arrived at the same airport from a different direction. It was the plane that was carrying the FBI agents that were here to deal with the missing bodies'' case. As Ryder was in the airport, leaving towards the exit, he passed by Riya and the other agents, not knowing that their final destination was the same. 171 Chapter 167: Under the FBI radar The black SUVs were already waiting outside for the FBI agents. Ryder, on the other hand, had booked a cab as well. He didn''t go to his destination, though. He had already known that the meeting was tomorrow, so he told the driver to take him to a hotel that was near his destination. The FBI agents, on the other hand, went straight towards the Northeast Walter flyover. They had booked a room in a building nearby where they could keep an eye on the flyover. The Northeast Walter Flyover was an abandoned flyover of the state that was not used anymore. No one used the flyover anymore, which made it easier for the Agents to see if something strange was going on there or not. They entered the building they had rooms in. They had arranged for two rooms. One for the guys and one for the girls. Both of these rooms had a window that was facing towards their target. "Captain worked fast. It feels like he found out everything about this place already. He arranged everything for us. All we need to do is keep an eye and rest. This will be like a vacation in a way if they don''t show up," Jacob commented as he entered the room. The room was fully furnished and had everything they could ever need. "This is not a vacation. This is our duty. We need to be alert every moment. Think of it as the enemy can appear any second, and you will miss it if you laze around," Ray told Jacob. "The girls are in different rooms. They will keep an eye on the target as well, but I understand that we can''t slack off either. We can do it in turns. You watch for 2 hours, and then I''ll keep an eye for 2 hours. We will get rest, and it will be more effective as well," Jacob suggested. "We''ll do it on a 4-hour schedule. 2 hours will be insufficient for someone to rest," Ray replied. Jacob agreed to that. They played Rock-Paper-Scissors to decide who would go first. Ray was defeated, so he went to keep an eye. Even though he was the leader, this was not a difficult situation. He didn''t want to command anyone unless the enemy actually appeared. ***** Ryder also arrived at a nearby place. He had found a hotel and booked a room there. As the nearest hotel he found was only a small hotel, even the most expensive room in the hotel was cheap. The room didn''t have many things. There was only a bed and some furniture inside. There was a room service, though. After checking the room out, Ryder left the hotel and walked towards the Northeast Walter Flyover. It took him 20 minutes of walking to get there on foot. He stayed away from that place initially and just checked things out to see if there was someone there or not. The Northeast Walter Flyover was an abandoned Flyover that was made around fifty years ago. It was abandoned now for some reason, and a new Flyover was made some distance away from this place, which was used for transport. "Someone is approaching!" Ray told Jacob as he saw Ryder walking closer to the flyover. Jacob walked towards Ray and took the second set of binoculars to see. "Do you think he will be from that mysterious organization? He doesn''t look like a bad guy," Jacob responded. "Do you think bad guys have a board hung on their neck, which says that they are a bad guy?" Ray let out as he rolled his eyes. Riya was in a different room watching Ryder as well. "If the captain was right about this place, we might catch them. I see someone approaching our target. It might be a recon mission from that organization. If they are doing that, the meeting should be soon," Riya let out as she kept her focus on Ryder. "I remember seeing that guy at the airport. It''s strange, indeed. Should I trail him?" Milana asked Riya. She wanted to take a second opinion. "The guys must have seen him as well. Let''s go discuss with them," she added as she lowered her binoculars. Riya and Milana left their room and entered the rooms of Ray and Jacob. "Did you notice that guy as well?" Riya inquired as she entered the room. She saw Ray and Jacob looking out the window. "Yeah. That man is suspicious. Let me discuss it with the Captain. Jacob, you keep an eye on him," Ray let out as he walked back and brought his phone out. He called the Captain and told him what was happening here. "No, don''t do anything to that guy. I don''t want him to get suspicious. We would lose the big fishes if we go after the small fishes," The Captain answered. "Just stay alert. The next few days are going to be the most crucial for us. I''ll alert the authorities to stay ready to roll out." "Understood," Ray nodded his head before he disconnected the call. "Don''t do anything. The captain told us to stay put. We can''t spoil everything. This might be our best chance to catch them all," Ray explained to everyone else. They all agreed. They just kept watching over Ryder to see what he was doing. Ryder, on the other hand, was still casually walking. He didn''t stop by the Flyover thought and continued walking as he walked past it. "He didn''t stop there. Were we wrong?" Milana inquired as she looked back. "No, He was being careful. Everything will become clear soon," Riya answered. Ryder continued walking and went to the supermarket that was ahead. He purchased something to eat and walked back on the same path. "He''s coming back with groceries. I guess we were just too worked up," Milana shook her head as she saw Ryder going back with a grocery bag in his hand after an hour. Riya still had a suspicious look on her face. Ryder walked back to the hotel and placed the bag on the bed. "The entrance was there. I guess there''s an underground passage where the meeting takes place. I should''ve expected that. I don''t know why I thought that they would actually have it under the flyover in the open," Ryder shook his head as he brought out an apple from the bag and started eating it. "The real fun will begin tomorrow. I hope I will be able to get some answers," Ryder muttered as he looked towards the window. 172 Chapter 168: Two Number 23? The day passed away in silence, but Ryder knew that it was the silence before the storm for him. He needed to go to the meeting of potential criminals who would most probably have weapons. He had also carried two guns with him to this place, which were in his storage space. He brought them out and made sure that they were full and ready to fire at a moment''s notice. "I should buy some heavy-duty weapons for the future as well. It''s not feasible to have two guns only," Ryder muttered as he opened the system store and went to the weapons section. He had some Origin Points left on him even after he paid the loan that he had taken from Janus. "Should I spend them on a weapon?" he wondered as he looked at a gun in the store. "Fuck it; I''m doing it. I can always earn more Origin Points," Ryder muttered as he bought the gun. It was a machine gun that had a specialty of auto-reload. The Reload did take 5 seconds, though, but he didn''t need to do anything. "Alright. I only need to capture the boss for my questions. It doesn''t matter if others die in the process. The boss is what matters," Ryder let out as he aimed the gun towards the wall, trying to practice the cool pose. It was the afternoon of the next day¡ªthe day when the meeting was supposed to take place. The meeting was in the evening; thus, Ryder waited. He wanted to be the last person to get there since he didn''t want anyone to escape. **** "Something''s happening. People are going behind the Flyover. So far, I have seen 25 people going there. That''s it; we''ve hit the Bullseye. It''s a meeting!" Jacob let out with a bright grin on his face as he saw many people assembling near the flyover and going behind it. Ray brought out his phone to inform the Captain. The captain also seemed excited at the news. He told Ray what to do next. "Wait here. Let them all arrive. After that, we will surround that place. Also, I''m going undercover¡ªCaptain''s orders. I''ll send you a signal after the meeting begins. You can surround the place then," Ray told his team before he changed his dress to the one that was given him by the captain. He also wore a peculiar mask to hide his face. "What are you doing?" Jacob asked Ray. "As I said, I am going undercover. These are the clothes that we recovered from Number 23. I''m going to pretend to be him to enter the place. I''ll send you a signal after everyone is there. You guys can inform the captain about that and surround the place. We can''t let anyone escape this time," Ray answered as he glanced back at Jacob. "This is going to be dangerous. Are you sure? There should be better ways to go around this," Milana told Ray in concern. He wore black gloves before he left the room. He walked out of the building and walked over to the gathering of people. "So that''s where they were going," Ray muttered as he walked behind the Flyover. There was now an opening on the ground. Two men were standing around it. They were checking people before they went underground. "Name?" The man asked Ray as he reached the entrance. "Number 23," Ray answered in a heavy tone as he showed him a coin. He was allowed inside. As Ray entered the underground, he got a full view of the situation. The underground was like a big hall where tons of people were standing. Some were wearing masks while some were not hiding their faces in the least. He recognized one of the men standing in the front. He was wearing a gray robe. Ray had seen the sketch of this man, which was shown to him by the captain. He was said to be one of the high members of this organization. People kept arriving in that place. The meeting hasn''t started yet. It was 7 in the evening when Ryder arrived at this place. He was also wearing a mask. He saw people wearing the mask going to the entrance. The last person entered the underground hallway when he reached there. The entrance was also closed. **** Ray was standing inside the underground hallway. They had announced the start of the meeting, which meant that everyone was there. Ray pressed a button inside his clothes to notify his team. Ray''s team was still inside the room when they got the notification. They instantly informed the captain and asked for backup. The captain informed them that the cops and the special ops team were on standby. They will be there in two minutes. "Let''s roll out guys. Time to capture some bad guys," Jacob let out as he put the binoculars down. He was already wearing the bulletproof jacket, which had the FBI written on it in bold letters. They moved out of the room and walked outside. **** The guard asked Ryder for his name as Ryder reached there. "Number 23," Ryder replied in a heavy tone. The guard couldn''t help but frown. He had seen another number 23 enter who even showed him the proof of identification. He was suspicious of Ryder. "Can you show me the coin?" he asked as he pointed his gun towards Ryder. "Sigh, I knew it wouldn''t be this simple," Ryder let out with a wry smile as a gun appeared in his empty hand out of thin air. Two shots were fired at the same time. One of them hit Ryder in the heart while the other shot hit the guard in the forehead. The guard fell down to the ground with his eyes wide open. Both of their guns had a silencer which controlled the noise of the shot that was fired. Ryder, on the other hand, was holding his chest. He was sitting on his knees as he coughed out a mouthful of blood. His wound soon healed before he stood up. "This would be so good if this ability also decreased my pain perception," Ryder muttered as he looked at his blood-covered clothes. "Anyway, it looks like there is some more pain in my destiny tonight," he let out as he opened the underground entrance. Ryder entered inside the underground hallway. 173 Chapter 169: Surrounded Ryder entered the underground hallway and closed the opening. Ryder has covered his body with a large oversized coat hiding his bloodied clothes. He stood behind the crowd glancing at people, trying to get an understanding of the situation to see who the leader was. The leader of this small gathering was named Okala. He was one of the core members of the organization, according to the FBI information that Ray was given. Okala was a thin and weak-looking man who had no hair over his head, but his beard was long and white. He looked like he was in his 70s from his skin. He wasn''t hiding his face, which made everyone see it clearly. "I smell blood," Okala let out as he glanced at the people present in the room. Ryder didn''t stay behind, though. He subtly continued walking forth since he had realized that Okala was probably the one in charge here since he was standing at the front, and everyone was looking at him. Ryder was amidst the crowd moving forward when Okala spoke another sentence, which alerted everyone. "There is an uninvited guest with us here today. Please step outside so that we can talk," Okala let out as he realized that there was one extra person here than the ones that should be here. He didn''t know that amongst the infiltrators, one was from the FBI while the other was Ryder, whom he had invited. **** Something massive was happening outside, as well. Over ten armored vehicles arrived near the flyover, and over 50 cop cars arrived in the cop cars. The cops were prepared with bulletproof vests and guns while the Special Ops guys looked even more prepared with their heavy weapons. The leader of the cops and the leader of the special ops team shook hands with Riya and asked her for an update about the situation. After getting updates, they commanded their men to follow after them as they moved toward the back of the flyover with their guns aimed at the front, ready to fire. As Riya and the others reached behind the Flyover, the first thing they saw was a dead body. Riya couldn''t help but frown as she saw the body. "Cheh, these criminals can''t even assemble peacefully. They shot one of their own," The Police Captain let out as he shook his head. They commanded their men to surround the entrance. Their initial plan was to tell the people that were inside to surrender as Ray had already conveyed the information that this was the only way to get out. **** "Since you have come to our meeting, there''s no need to be shy anymore. Come out and let''s have a chat," Okala said as he glanced at the masked members. "Everyone, our guest, is a little shy. Can I ask the masked members to take their mask off?" Okala said with a subtle smile on his face. ''Well, I guess that was all for sneaking in,'' Ryder thought. One of the masked people inside the hall pulled out a gun and pointed it towards Okala. "This is it for your dark syndicate. No one will move, or I''ll blow his head off," Ray declared as he aimed his gun at Okala. "So you are our guest. Don''t worry. No one will move. Why don''t you come forth and tell me who you are?" Okala didn''t look scared. He looked more casual as if he wasn''t worried Ray was about to move forward when Riya opened the entrance and made the announcement. "The FBI has surrounded this place. Step outside with your hands above your head, or we would be forced to enter. You have 1 minute to step outside!" Riya declared using a loudspeaker. The cops and the special ops agents were ready to enter at a moment''s notice. "Now, you know who I am? There are hundreds of agents outside. If you don''t follow my commands and surrender, you would be killed. There is no escape," Ray declared. Ryder, on the other hand, had a wry smile on his face. He wanted to take Okala with him to get his answers, but the news that he was surrounded by the FBI shocked him. Leaving this place was not difficult for him, but leaving this place while keeping Okala alive was more difficult. "I''m sorry, but I don''t think the FBI can arrest me with the strength that they have," Okala shook his head as his smile disappeared. The ground below, Ray started shaking, which made him lose his balance, but he still stayed standing. One of the men present there utilized this opportunity as he jumped towards Ray in front of the gun. Ray fired a shot that penetrated the forehead of the men that had jumped towards him, but more people jumped over him. It seemed as if they didn''t care for whatever happened to them. The strangest thing was that the person that was shot in the forehead was still standing. It was as if he wasn''t hurt. The man was previously wearing a cloak and a mask which hid his face, but now the mask had fallen. Ryder saw the face of the men, which looked as pale as the dead body. There was no shine in his eyes. In fact, it didn''t seem like he was even breathing. Ray was captured, and his gun was taken. "Guys, Please get ready for battle. It''s time to fight for the dark glory," Okala commanded the members that were in the hallway. The people there brought out their guns as commanded. Only now did Ryder saw how heavily armed people were. Each of them was holding two guns. ''That man... was he an undead?'' Ryder wondered as he glanced at the pale man whose head was penetrated. There was a big hole in his head, but no blood was coming out of it. There were 20 people in the hall that were wearing the same grey mask. Ryder wondered if all of them were like this person. ''This world is turning out to be too creepy,'' he thought as he looked towards Okala. The FBI raid and now the Undeads? Ryder''s whole plan was turned upside down today. Ryder continued walking towards Okala slowly. "Are you the person I talked to on the phone?" Okala asked as he saw Ryder coming towards him. "I must say, I was genuinely fooled. If I hadn''t found out that number 23 was caught, I would never have realized that I gave someone else the information." He added. 174 Chapter 170: Trapped "I''m not from the FBI, and I''m not here to harm you. I just wanted to ask a few questions and leave. It would be good if you come with me," Ryder told Okala as he gave up on hiding. He had already failed many times, and he realized that today was not a good day for him even to try this infiltration game. He was not good at it, or the destiny didn''t want him to succeed. He was now going to use brute force. "Fine. I will answer your question, but only after you help me take care of the FBI," Okala told Ryder. "If you knew that your member was caught by the FBI, why did you still have a meeting here? Since you confidently came here, I don''t believe that you didn''t plan something," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Clever. I did plan something. For them, and for you," Okala gave a burst of creepy laughter before he raised his hand. Five people aimed their weapon towards Ryder. ***** Out on the land, Riya had finished counting to 60, but no one had stepped out. "We''ll have to do it the hard way. Be careful, though. One of our agents is inside. Don''t shoot the person who is wearing black shoes with red laces," Jacob reminded the others. They were about to barge inside while shooting when things started changing. A bullet came out of nowhere and penetrated the head of one of the special ops agents. Another bullet came, taking another life. "Take cover. There are snipers here. This was a trap!" The Special Ops captain let out as he hid behind a wall. The other agents also took cover. "We underestimated them. It was not a trap by us for them. It was a trap from them for us. Those bastards!" Jacob cursed. "Let''s barge inside and kill those bastards! Let''s see how their sniper will shoot us underground," A cop suggested. "We can''t make decisions in a hurry. We were planning to get in by throwing tear gas inside and then barging inside while shooting, but even if we did that, it would not benefit us anymore with the snipers. We need more back-up," Riya let out as she called the captain to inform him of the situation. She suddenly heard the sound of a bullet being fired. She looked to her side and saw that it was a special ops guy who had shot a man that was coming towards them with a weapon. The man didn''t fall down to the ground, though. The cops also started shooting at the man, but it didn''t seem like there was any effect. It was kind the man was a zombie or an undead The undead man raised the machine gun to fire, but that''s when a grenade landed below his feet and blew him to smithereens. It was another special ops agent that had thrown the grenade. "Just what the heck was that thing?!" he exclaimed. Riya and the others were also having difficulty understanding what was happening. The captain told them that he was sending helicopters for them and more back-up agents to go through the buildings to find the snipers. The cops and the special ops captain had also informed their higher-ups. The situation grew even more severe as over 29 people, just like the previous undead guy, came shooting towards them. Most of the bullets were stopped by the bulletproof vests, while some managed to hit the exposed areas and killed them. **** "There''s no benefit in pointing a gun at me," Ryder let out as he raised his hand. A machine gun appeared in his hand out of nowhere. He started firing recklessly, killing almost anyone and everyone that came into his sight. He missed Okala intentionally, though. Blood kept flowing like rivers as people kept dying. Ray was lying on the ground, and he was safe. He saw a person shooting the others. He realized that this person was probably not one of them from his exchange with Okala, but he was curious about who he was then and why he was in the enemy''s den. Ryder killed almost everyone in the room, even the ones that were standing near the entrance to fire at the ones that tried to enter, but he was also shot many times. Around 20 bullets had managed to penetrate his chest while another five passed through his forehead. His hand and his legs were also in a similarly bad condition. He fell down to the ground as blood kept flowing out of his body. "Sigh, you killed all my pawns," Okala muttered as he looked at the dead people in the room. Only the ones that had a grey mask were still standing despite being shot multiple times. There were 20 people in grey masks standing at the moment, excluding the undead whose mask had fallen off when he took down Ray. Other than them, only Ray and Okala were alive. "We can probably use your body, I guess. Since you took so many men from us, let me use you to the fullest," Okala chuckled as he licked his lips while looking at Ryder. ***** The situation outside was much worse. Tens of bodies were lying on the ground. Most of them belonged to the cops, while some of them belonged to the special ops agents. The Three FBI agents were still alive, though. They had realized that these grey masked people were difficult to kill. They would just not die no matter what they did unless their bodies were blown to smithereens using grenades. "If this keeps going on, we would die!" The Special Ops leader Francis said as he saw his men die. *grr grr grr* They heard a loud sound suddenly. They looked towards the sky and saw tens of military helicopters flying towards them. The helicopters soon landed before them. Everyone entered the helicopters. While four helicopters flew above the entrance of the underground hallway to keep an eye on the ones that came out, the other two focused on killing the grey masked men. The other helicopters flew in the surroundings to keep an eye to find the snipers. "They brought helicopters as well. I guess it was expected. I want to see the fireworks," Okala muttered as he picked up Ryder in his arms. One of the grey masked men pointed a gun on Ray''s head. Okala told him to follow his commands, or his brain will be blown up by Okala''s men. Okala and his 21 men walked towards the exit. 175 Chapter 171: Mission to kill The first one to walk outside was Ray with a grey masked man pointing his gun at him. "Don''t shoot. That''s our agent!" Jacob announced, making sure that everyone got the information. More men walked outside, and lastly, Okala came out. He looked towards a helicopter that was farthest from him with a grin on his face. A rocket was fired out of a nearby building that managed to strike a helicopter. The helicopter was destroyed and crashed on the ground. "Kekeke, There it is," Okala chuckled. "This... we were wrong. These are not an organ trafficking syndicate. They are full-blown terrorists. This case should''ve been given to ATS," Milana muttered blankly. "The missiles, these special humans who looked like bio-enhanced humans that just don''t die, snipers, the courage to attack the FBI and special ops. They are not normal criminals," Riya replied. Riya took a loudspeaker and made a bold declaration. "Surrender while you still can! Soon, this place will be surrounded by tens of thousands of our men! Release our guy, and we can still take you in without violence! If you don''t stop, you will die along with your men! You can''t oppose the authorities!" Okala looked towards that helicopter. "Are you talking about this young man? Sorry, but I am not giving him back. And don''t worry about our lives... We will live while you will all die," Okala said as he smiled. Another rocket was fired from an unknown direction that hit another helicopter. "They are here..." Okala muttered as he looked to his south. There were tens of military helicopters coming towards them from that direction. "The backup is here, and more is on the way. Our people are searching the nearby buildings to find the snipers and his other men. We will get those bastards," Jacob told Riya as he glanced at the helicopters coming towards them. "Shoot us if you dare. Let''s see how much the FBI wants to arrest us," Okala said as he smiled. He started walking away with his men surrounding him. Ray was also forced to walk with them at gunpoint. Ryder had started to heal. His wounds were healed, but his clothes were still bloodied, hiding the fact that his wounds had healed. Ryder was wondering if he should wait and watch or do something about it right now. It would be good if Okala escaped with him. Then, he would be able to force Okala down without worrying about the FBI. He was still wondering when he heard Janus''s voice. \u003cNew Mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Kill all the snipers and the hidden terrorists in next 20 minutes and save the FBI agent standing near you\u003e \u003cHost has been given the ability to track the snipers and assassins for the next 30 minutes to help with the mission\u003e \u003cHost has been given perfect aim\u003e \u003cRewards for completing the mission: Host will get Exp worth +5 Levels in Real World\u003e \u003cReward: Instant teleportation talisman to bring you and one more person to the last place you slept in\u003e \u003cPunishment for Failure: Host will become the most wanted criminal in the country on the FBI list\u003e ''Sigh, I guess Janus made the decision for me. I can''t waste the opportunity I am given with the free gun,'' Ryder thought. He finally moved his body as he jumped out of Okala''s hands and kicked his chest, making him fall back on the ground with a stunned look on his face. He brought the machine gun out of his storage space and started shooting the grey-robed men like crazy, but he could see that it only stunned them for a few seconds before they started moving, which is why he specially targeted the guns in their hands with his machine gun. His bullets kept destroying the guns one after another. He destroyed the guns of all grey masked men except the one who was aiming his gun at Ray. That grey masked man changed the direction of his gun from Ray to Ryder to shoot him, but that was the opportunity Ryder was waiting for. He brought out a single handed gun and fired a shot. His bullet managed to hit the dead center of the Grey masked man''s gun, destroying it. ***** Ryder''s action had stunned everyone from the cops to the FBI. They had assumed that Ryder was with Okala, who was injured, and that''s why Okala was carrying him, but now they were wondering if their assumption was wrong. Ray, on the other hand, was stunned about a different thing. He had already known that Ryder was not with Okala, but what shocked him was that he had personally seen Ryder being penetrated by hundreds of bullets. He couldn''t believe that Ryder was still alive. Was this because he was like those grey masked men? Was he a bio experiment gone wrong? Was that why he hated Okala and his organization and wanted to destroy them? He had so many questions in his mind. This whole mission had turned to a mess. The FBI, Special Ops, and the Cops had stopped firing. They were all watching Ryder trying to understand what he was doing. Ryder was about to turn back to look towards the buildings when he was shot in the head by a bullet that was fired by a sniper. He dropped down to his knees and fell down to the ground. Okala had stood up by now, but he couldn''t help but look at Ryder with great interest. He could see that Ryder was different compared to his grey-robed men, but he couldn''t understand how he was alive after being shot by so many bullets. Ryder''s head was once again healed, but he didn''t stand up. He placed the machine gun and the guns back in the storage space and brought out the Sniper Gun. With a wide grin on his face, he stood up. He looked in the direction when the bullet entered his head. He could see a green mask that highlighted the Sniper. Ryder aimed the gun towards the Sniper. His perfect aim helped him with the aiming. In a millisecond, the focus of his point was on the forehead of the Sniper. The Sniper was looking like he had seen a ghost as he saw Ryder standing after being shot. He still aimed again to shoot Ryder, but Ryder shot first. The bullet penetrated the Sniper''s head before he could even fire his shot. Okala was looking at Ryder like he had seen a ghost. 176 Chapter 172: I have won Okala couldn''t see what Ryder was seeing, but he was sure that one of his Snipers was in the direction Ryder fired in. Okala couldn''t believe that Ryder was able to find his snipers Riya and the others also looked at everything with wide eyes. Ryder didn''t stop and kept shooting the snipers and the other terrorists that had the RPG Launcher. In less than 2 minutes, Ryder had killed over 20 snipers. "What the hell are you looking at! Capture him!" Okala ordered his Masked Men, furiously. Ryder had managed to finish off all the assassins, and the other criminals that were standing at a distance, and half of his mission was already completed. Now the only thing that was last was to save Ray, which could only be done after all the threats were removed from this place so that Ray could freely go to his people. The only threats that still remain here that were stopping that from happening were the grey-robed men. Ryder already had a plan in his mind to deal with them, though. He moved towards Okala, dodging the attacks of the Grey Robed Men. He caught Oakla by his neck and pulled him towards the entrance of the underground hall. Ryder threw Okala down the stairs into the underground Hall. The Grey robed men ran towards Ryder to attack him. One of the Grey Robed Men kicked towards Ryder''s chest, but Ryder moved his feet to block the feet of the man. He had already realized that his physical strength was more than these men. The only specialty that they had was that they didn''t die after being shot, but according to strength, he didn''t find them special. He caught the clothes of the man and threw him down the stairs into the underground hall. One by one, the Grey Robed Men kept attacking Ryder trying to take him down, but Ryder kept dealing with them the same way¡ª by throwing them down the stairs into the underground hall. After everyone was thrown down, Ryder glanced back towards Ray. Ryder''s face was still covered by his mask. "You are free now. Go back to your team; you are safe. Also, move as far away from this place as you can. Sit on the helicopter and go in the air away from this place. You might not want to be here with what''s about to happen," he said in a heavy tone before he stepped down the stairs and closed the opening. The Helicopter that had Riya and the other agents in them landed on the Ground near Ray. "Are you safe?" Riya asked Ray. Ray nodded his head. "Everybody! Get in the helicopter now!" Ray commanded everyone. Even though everyone was confused, they entered the helicopter. Ray told the pilot to create some distance from this place and move a little back. ***** Ryder was in the underground hallway. "Who are you? How did you not die after being shot?" Okala asked Ryder as he glared at him. "Do you think you can deal with my men? You can''t harm them. We will be in a stalemate, and we will all be captured. Don''t think that the FBI will let you roam free because you helped them. Listen to me! We can still change that and escape!" Okala let out as he tried to convince Ryder to help him. "Don''t worry. We won''t be in a stalemate. I have already won," Ryder muttered as he heard the voice of Janus claiming that he had finished his mission. Ryder brought out something from his inventory and placed that on the ground before he started walking towards Okala. It was a bag. The same bag that had the time bomb which he had taken from the amusement park when he saved the others and prevented the blast from happening. He slowly walked towards Okala as he perfectly knew how much time there was before the blast occurred. He kept beating the grey-robed men that jumped towards him to attack him and remove them from his way. Soon, he was standing near Okala. He placed his hand on Okala''s neck and brought out a talisman from his storage that he had received as the reward of this mission. The talisman activated, and Ryder and Okala disappeared from that place. A minute had passed after they left. The Grey robed men were standing blankly, looking everywhere. Suddenly, a loud blast happened that blew them all to smithereens before it moved to the outside. Ray and the others were still in the helicopter, wondering what was about to happen when they heard a loud blast. The ground burst apart, and the abandoned Flyover that was just above that place was destroyed. The whole event was a terrific sight to watch. Soon, the whole land was covered in rubble. Fortunately, it was an abandoned flyover and an empty place, which was even more empty after what had happened before; otherwise, many lives would have been lost. The impact of the blast was so powerful that even though the helicopters were flying further away from that place, they were still forced back and almost lost balance because of the mighty wind blast that occurred simultaneously. After a lot of effort, the pilots managed to control the helicopters. Ray was looking at the location of the blast blankly. "D-did he sacrifice himself to kill those bastards?" Ray was feeling sad. Not because he wasn''t able to catch Okala, but because the person that saved his life was dead. Ray couldn''t even see the face of his savior or say thanks to him for saving his life. "Is it over? Are they all dead? We lost so many of our people only to fail in the end," Milana sighed as she saw the cloud of dust clear up. They were able to see the ruins of the site once again. "That''s because we underestimated the organization. They were not a group of thieves, but a group of terrorists who performed human experiments. Didn''t you see how we couldn''t kill those people no matter how many times we shot them? This mission was a failure before it even started," Riya replied as she shook her head. "Take the helicopter back on the ground," Ray commanded the pilot. "Lock the area down. No one should be allowed to leave this area. There might be some criminals still hiding in nearby buildings," Ray commanded the men. 177 Chapter 173: The Uprising Ray was a leader now. It was like this whole event had given him a wake-up call. His team''s life and the mission was his responsibility more than it was of his team. He was also influenced by his fleeting emotions because of his savior''s death. "Riya, give me my phone," He told Riya. He had left his phone back before he had gone undercover. Riya returned the phone. Ray first called the captain to give him the update about the events that unfolded here, and he also told him to send more people so that they could search for the bodies of the ones that died in the blast if their bodies were still intact. ***** Some distance away from the location of the blast was a small hotel where Ryder''s room was booked. He appeared in the room with Okala because of the effects of the talisman. "Sigh, it''s not home, but it''s the next best thing," Ryder muttered as he glanced around the room. "See, I told you that I already won. You want to see something?" Ryder chuckled as he pointed towards the window. Okala looked out and saw a big cloud of smoke in the sky at a distance. He looked at Ryder in confusion, not understanding what he was trying to show him. "That''s from the blast that happened in the underground hall. Your men are probably blown to smithereens now. It''s over for you," Ryder met out as he looked at Okala. "You are not a normal human. Who are you?" Okala asked in a grave tone. "I''m a god that controls your life and death. I can give you life if you answer my questions honestly, or I can give you a painful death if you lie to me," Ryder said with a subtle smile on his face. Ryder brought a handcuff out of his pocket and placed them on the man''s hand. "Sit on the bed. If you screamed even once or if you tried to do anything funny, then you will see a second blast up close and personal. This time, I won''t take you with me, though," Ryder warned the old man. He brought his phone out of his storage and unlocked it. He went to the gallery and opened the picture of his parents. "What do you know about these two people?" Ryder asked the old man as he showed him the image. "I don''t know anything about them. I haven''t even seen them before. Are you looking for them?" the old man asked. "So you don''t know them, but that doesn''t mean that your boss won''t. Tell me more about your organization. Who controls it? When did your organization become active for the first time?" Ryder asked the man. "I am not going to answer your question. I am more scared of Master than I am of you," Okala declared as he refused to talk. The man shook his head, refusing to give up even though he looked somewhat concerned. Ryder sighed as he shook his head. He waved his hand as he brought an item outside. It was a syringe that looked like the ones doctors used. Ryder stepped forth and forced the man down before he stabbed the needle in the man''s chest and inserted the liquid in the body of the man. Ryder moved back after doing what he needed. Okala''s body started trembling as if he was suffering through a seizure. After three minutes, the old man turned silent. His body stopped moving. His eyes were blank, but they were open. It was as if he was intoxicated and couldn''t think for himself or move his body. "Answer my question. What is your name?" Ryder asked the man. "My name is Okala," the man replied blankly. "What is the organization you work for called?" Ryder asked Okala. "It''s called The Uprising," Okala answered. "How long has it been since your organization became active?" Ryder inquired. "I don''t know. I don''t have memories from more than ten years ago. The last thing I remember was waking up ten years ago and meeting Captain Darksoul. The organization was active at that time," Okala explained. ''If it was activated ten years ago, then it was active at the time of the accident as well,'' Ryder thought as he looked down. The death of his parents happened in the last ten years. "Who is this, Captain Darksoul? Is he the leader of your organization?" Ryder asked Okala. "No, he''s not our master. Captain Darksoul is one of the Seven Great Generals of Master," Okala answered. "Are the Seven Great Generals, the second in commands in the Organisation?" Ryder asked. ''Yes," Okala answered Ryder''s questions blankly. "Where is the headquarters of your organization?" Ryder inquired. "It''s in..." Okala was about to speak when a small blast happened in his brain, killing him in an instant. "No, no, no.... it can''t be happening!" Ryder exclaimed as he ran towards Okala, but it was too late. Okala was dead. There was a hole in his head. Ryder used his time Rewind to go 1 minute back in time to prevent the man from dying. Instead of asking the same question, he asked about the secret of the thing in his head so that he could find a clue of preventing him from dying while still asking the question, but it was still the same. It ended with a hole in his head as the chip activated as soon as the man thought about talking about the chip. "Those bastards! They did something to him to prevent him from leaking any significant information! I will kill you, bastards!" Ryder roared in anger. He was upset at having to lose his only lead that he worked so hard to get. He was so close to the answers about the organization. He believed that as long as he found the core of the organization, he would be able to get answers, but now it was all over. He was furious when he heard a knock on the door. "Sir, are you alright?" the person outside asked. "I am fine," Ryder let out as he started taking off his bloodied clothes. He placed the bloodied clothes back in his storage "Sir, can you open the door?" the person outside asked. It was the hotel staff who was concerned after hearing Ryder''s scream. He also placed the bedsheets and the body of the men in his storage and made sure that there was no blood anywhere. "Don''t disturb me! I''m going for a shower." Ryder told them not to disturb him before he walked into the shower. His body was still covered in blood. He wanted to shower and clean himself. The hotel staff was even more concerned as the door wasn''t opened. They walked back to inform the Manager about it. 178 Chapter 174: Terrorists Ryder spent his time inside the shower, properly cleaning his body and trying to calm his mind. The cold water fell over his body, giving him a refreshing feeling. Even though his anger was still at its peak, he was calmer now. He stepped out of the shower with only a towel wrapped around his waist. There was once again a knock on the door. "Sir, Open the door. I am the manager of this place. Please let me make sure that you are safe and that everything''s fine." The manager was standing outside, knocking on the door. Even though he had a master key, he hadn''t used that. Ryder walked towards the door in his towel, without taking time to wear more clothes. He opened the door and instantly started scolding them. "What the fuck is wrong with you guys! Can''t you let a guest bathe in peace? Is this the service of this hotel! Do I need to give a written letter to you guys so that you let me shower in peace? This is the worst!" "S-sorry Sir. One of our staff said that he heard a scream. We thought that you might be in danger. We were just trying to make sure that you are safe. We would leave now. Sorry for the disturbance,'' the Manager apologized to Ryder before he left with the other staff. Ryder shook his head before he walked back to his room. "Sigh, this whole thing was a big mess. I got nothing and lost so many things. If I look at the silver lining, it''s only that I managed to take off some bastard like them off the street," Ryder muttered as he sat on the bed. It was a good thing that had the ticket booked for the afternoon of the next day. He realized that since he got to this city, his sim wasn''t working. There was still a long time in flight, though. He stood up and picked up a different bed sheet that was kept in the wardrobe and placed that on the bed before he laid on it, lost in thought. **** While Ryder was comfortably lying on his bed, the whole city of Washington was chaotic. The news about what happened spread to everyone. The media had reached the site of the blast. The Search work of the authorities was still going on. Almost every news channel was showing the same news as this was a big thing. There had been many years since there was a blast like that. The number of agents and the attack helicopters standing there was proving how dangerous the situation was. Everyone knew that the situation was probably worse than they were able to imagine. The Captain of the FBI had told Ray over the phone to handle the situation and to give an excuse to the media to silence them. They had decided not to tell them that it was related to the missing body case. Alice was having a sleepover with Estonia. They were together watching the news at the moment. Alice called Ryder to ask him if he was alright or not, but her call wasn''t getting connected. It was as if Ryder was in a place that was not getting signals. **** Ray was giving information to the media about what had happened. There were a lot of mikes placed before him. "Let me start by introducing myself. I am from the FBI and the incharge of the operation that just took place here. I''ll start with the good news first. There were no innocent citizens that were harmed here. Now that we cleared that, let me explain what happened in brief." "We got some information that terrorists were hiding there. It was an operation to catch the terrorists; unfortunately, we weren''t able to catch them alive. All the terrorists are dead, and we didn''t manage to catch them alive," Ray explained. "Sir, What are the chances of more terrorists hiding throughout the city? Do you have more information regarding that, and can you share that with us?" A reporter asked. "You guys can rest assured. We are here to protect you in any situation, just like we did today. No terrorist will be able to harm this country, thank you," Ray let out before he finished the briefing. He deflected the question subtly while answering in his own way. He didn''t take any more questions and walked back. "Ray, they managed to clear the place. We discovered no bodies intact, but we did find lots of pieces of bodies. The blast did a number of them," Jacob told Ray as he saw him coming towards him. Ray couldn''t help but sigh. This meant that one of the pieces belonged to his savior, who couldn''t even receive a proper burial now. "Collect them all. We would need them for the forensics," Ray replied as he nodded his head. He walked towards Riya, who was talking with the Special Ops captain and the police chief who had arrived there. "Did you find anyone?" Ray asked them. "No. We searched every place that had a direct view of this flyover, but there''s no suspicious person there. We did find the dead bodies of the snipers, though, which is strange. You remember the masked man who fired shots randomly with his Sniper Gun? Apparently, he managed to hit every sniper in the dead center of their forehead and no shot was a miss," "The number of shots that he fired, that''s exactly the number of bodies that we found," Riya explained as he looked towards the area of carnage trying to remember the figure of the masked person shooting with his Sniper gun like it was a toy. "Such a scary aim. That man would be a national treasure if he were in the army," The Special Ops Captain commented. He remembered how easy that man had made it look when he was watching from his helicopter. "Well, he saved all of us... including me. I wish I could thank that man personally. His sacrifice saved so many lives and killed the enemies of the country," Ray muttered. "Aren''t you exaggerating? The enemies would be caught anyway even if he wasn''t here. The whole police force of this state was about to surround them. We would''ve taken them down even without his help," The Police Chief commented. Ray glanced at the Chief and didn''t respond. Only he knew that the enemy had probably planned for everything. 179 Chapter 175: Recognized He saw how Okala didn''t look even the little bit worried after more back-up arrived. The bio warriors, on the other hand, were impossible to kill without blasting their bodies to smithereens. He could only imagine how much destruction it would have caused if Ryder wasn''t here. That night, an important meeting took place between all the captains of the FBI and the higher-ups regarding the information that they had received, which was even more shocking when they mixed the facts that there were people there who couldn''t die even after being shot multiple times. All of them doubted that the people were the results of bio experiments most probably. The threat level of this mysterious organization was elevated to the national level threat from now on. ***** The night passed away in the silence, unlike the loud beginning that it had faced. It was morning as Ryder left the room and checked out of the hotel. He went to the nearby restaurant to get something to eat. As he ate in the restaurant, he booked a cab. By the time he finished the breakfast, the cab was waiting outside for him. Ryder paid his bill before he left the restaurant. He walked to the cab and told the driver to take him to the airport. The driver dropped Ryder off at the airport. There was still some time in the flight, so Ryder waited in the premium lounge. There was a black SUV that was also coming towards the Airport. It was carrying Ray and his teammates who were told to go to a different location. Everything Important was already dealt with, and the non Important stuff didn''t need for him to be there. They got out of the car and picked their luggage before they entered the airport. Ryder looked at his wristwatch and noticed that it was finally the time of his flight. He stood up and left the lounge before he started walking towards his destination. Ryder walked through the airport, toward the terminal. He entered the plane and found his way to the business class section of the plane and walked to his seat. He had booked the return flight from a different airline as it suited his timeline more. The interior of this plane was different as the business class had sets of two seats, unlike the single-seat arrangement of the previous airline, and this time, a person was already sitting on the neighboring seat that was attached to Ryder''s seat. Ryder recognized that person which stunned him. He tried his best to control his emotions, though not to seem strange. The person that was sitting beside him was Ray from the FBI. The same person that had saved him. Ryder sat on his seat and didn''t look towards Ray. He closed his eyes and started resting. Even though Ryder didn''t look in the direction of Ray, Ray was looking towards him. He recognized Ryder as the person whom they had seen before. They had misunderstood him as the target while he was only there to go to the supermarket, according to them. "It''s strange that he came at the same time as us, appeared near our target location, and is leaving at the same time. That''s some creepy coincidence," Milana whispered to Riya, who was sitting beside her as she looked towards Ryder. Riya was also looking at him. Ray, on the other hand, realized that Ryder seemed to be awfully similar to the man that saved him. He wondered if that was a coincidence as well. Ryder didn''t look like he was injured in the least. It would be impossible for him to survive the blast and escape if he was there, but the person that saved Ray had already done many things that he thought to be impossible. Ray was starting to doubt if there was a way that the person who saved him had escaped and was sitting beside him now. "Excuse me, can I ask you something?" Ray tapped on the shoulder of Ryder. Ryder didn''t react and pretended to be sleeping, but Ray didn''t stop. He wanted to hear Ryder''s voice to see if there were any similarities between his voice and the person who saved him. Ryder opened his eyes and glanced toward Ray with a confused look on his face. "Yes?" Ryder asked in the most casual voice. Ray found some similarities between Ryder''s voice and the voice of the person that saved him. But there was a difference as well. The last voice was heavy while this voice was light. He did realize that it was possible for Ryder to be using a heavy voice intentionally to protect himself last time. Another thing that he noticed was that there was a slight burn mark on Ryder''s hand, which seemed like something he had received many years ago. Even though Ray didn''t look carefully last time, he felt like he saw something like that in his savior''s hand as well. Ryder knew that it was possible for them to doubt him. Still, there was no way for them to arrest him or blame him as the whole world would consider them an idiot if they claimed that a person had managed to survive that explosion and managed to escape, but he still tried not to give anything out. "Thank you for saving me," Ray let out, hoping to see even a flicker of change in Ryder''s expressions. "Save you? Are you someone who benefitted from me donating money in the past? You don''t need to thank me for that," Ryder smilingly replied. "For saving my life yesterday," Ray clarified, still keeping his eyes on Ryder''s face. "Ugh... are you mistaken? I don''t understand how my sleeping all day in the hotel room can save your life. You don''t seem drunk, but it''s possible. Did you drink this morning?" Ryder asked in confusion. " You''re right. Maybe I was mistaken. Sorry for disturbing you," Ray shook his head, not finding anything strange in Ryder''s reaction. ''I don''t see any reason to doubt him. My experience claims that he doesn''t know anything about it, but my senses are telling me not to believe him. He is clearly lying. My senses have rarely been wrong. Is he really the same person?That mark on his hand¡­'' Ray wondered. Ryder didn''t talk anymore and again closed his eyes as he started resting and ignoring Ray. 180 Chapter 176: Hades is a cheater? The flight took off and soon landed on its destination. Ryder left the plane. He walked out of the airport and got a cab to drive him home. Ray and the others left the airport together and got in the car that was waiting outside for them. The SUV started driving them towards the hotel they were arranged to stay in. Ray brought out a phone and called someone. "I need you to find the details about the man that was sitting beside me on the plane. Get me everything about that man from his birth to the current day." Ray commanded someone before he disconnected the call. "Are you also suspicious of that person?" Riya asked Ray as she heard his call. Ray didn''t react to her and didn''t say what he was actually thinking. **** The cab dropped Ryder off at his house. He paid for the trip and walked back to his home. The door was closed, but he had taken the spare key. He opened the door and entered the house. The house was completely empty. He brought his phone out of his pocket and called Alice. "Hey, I''m back home," "Yeah, I''m fine. Wait, why do you sound worried?" "Calm down; I was far away from the blast location. Washington is pretty big, you know," "No, As I said, I''m perfectly fine. Should I come to take you back, or is your friend going to drop you here?" "She will? Alright. I''ll order some food in the meantime." Ryder disconnected the call and ordered some food before he walked back to his room and started resting on his bed. He was glad to finally get some signals after getting back to the city, but he was still confused about why he wasn''t getting signals when he was in Washington. This shouldn''t be the case. He called the network company to register a complaint regarding it. The Customer Care guy apologized to Ryder for the inconvenience that he faced before he registered his complaint. He also assured Ryder that they would inform Ryder when they find the problem. Ryder disconnected the call and walked to the hall and turned on the TV to see if the news about the Washington Blast was airing or if the government hid them. It was quite a Chaotic situation, after all. As he watched the tv, he couldn''t help but chuckle. "So they didn''t try to cover up the news, but they did decide to lie. Not a bad strategy. It''s not a full-on lie either. Those people were the enemy of the country after all," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. While he was watching the news, he noticed a headline flash for a brief second before it was changed with another headline. The headline that Ryder noticed talked something about Hades and the Necrosis Corporation. He didn''t have time to read much else. There were many articles about him on the net, but the one on top was what attracted Ryder''s attention as its headline was something that made Ryder furious. "Hades, the number one player of Divinity or the biggest cheater?" He found the headline to be less of a question and more of an insult. He tapped on the headline to read the content of the article. "Those who play the World''s first and massively popular Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Game, Divinity, must already know the name of Hades. The mysterious player that was the first one to pass the Novice Village, Hades, was already considered a top player, but his recent achievements have created doubts in the mind of the users..." "... Hades jumped from level 47 to level 57 in a single day..." "... the other players doubt that he is cheating and that Necrosis Corporation is letting him cheat because of his special identity..." "... some claim that he''s the son of a big politician while others claim that he''s the son of a Military General, There are also some claims that Hades is the son of one of the big shots of Necrosis Corporation..." "... The allegations of cheating are very serious this time. Allegedly, Necrosis Corporation has received Millions of email asking them to ban Hades from cheating..." "... We tried to get the response of the Necrosis Corporation, but so far, no one had replied to us. What do you guys think about the whole thing? Is this true that Hades is cheating? Or is this an unlikely misunderstanding? Tell us your opinions in the comments." Ryder finished reading the article. "Those stupid, idiotic bastards. There''s no cheating involved. Go keep crying," Ryder muttered as he shook his head at the stupidity. He knew that there was no way for Necrosis Corporation to ban him for such a stupid reason like an accusation, and he was even more sure that they wouldn''t find anything that proves that he ever cheated. He realized that they would probably wait for a little before claiming that his level up was because of a Special Quest that he had received at the start of the game. He continued reading more articles to see if he missed anything, but he didn''t find anything new. He placed the phone down and continued watching the news. He was watching the news when he heard the doorbell ring. He stood up and walked to the door. The pizza delivery guy was standing outside with Ryder''s order. "Thank you," Ryder thanked the delivery guy as he took his order. He had already paid in advance, including the tip for the delivery guy. Ryder walked back to his room and closed the door. He had only taken a few steps when he heard the doorbell ring again. He turned back and opened the door once more. Alice was standing at the door this time. "You came at the right time. The pizza just came. Anyway, Why is your friend standing back there? She didn''t come into the house last time either. Didn''t you tell her that I won''t eat her?" Ryder asked as he glanced back towards Estonia that was standing near her car. "She''s just shy meeting strangers. She is waiting for me to get inside, I think," Alice replied. "Call her inside. She helped you so much. The least I can do is share some pizza. I ordered three of them. They would just go to waste," Ryder told her. Alice chuckled as she shook her head. "It''s tough, but it''s possible if we add pizza to the mix. She loves them. Let me try convincing her." Alice walked back towards Estonia. Ryder could see her talking to Estonia. After some back and forth, he saw them walking towards him. 181 Chapter 177: Jameson "Estonia, let me introduce you guys. You''ve already seen him before; he''s the most important person to me in the whole world. Brother, this is Estonia, my old friend and one of my best friends." Alice introduced Estonia and Ryder. "Hello, Estonia. Thanks for helping Alice," Ryder let out as he smiled. "Please come inside. I heard that you girls were coming, so I ordered extra pizza for you guys." He walked inside the hall and moved to the hall that acted as their dining room as well. Ryder placed the boxes of pizza on the table. Alice and Estonia entered the hall. They sat on the chairs and started eating. The Tv was still on, and the news was changed. It was now talking about Divinity and the accusation on the Necrosis Corporation of partiality because of Hades. Alice glanced towards Ryder to see his reaction. She already knew that Ryder used the name Hades in Divinity, but she wasn''t sure if anyone else knew about this. She did believe Ryder, though. She believed that he didn''t cheat and that this was a misunderstanding. "Hades, huh. Amazingly, he''s on tv already. Would you believe it if I tell you that I met that guy? His Character looks somewhat similar to your brother, but there were some differences. What a coincidence that his modified Avatar looks like a real person. I wonder if there is someone in the game whose Avatar looks like my real-world look," Estonia muttered as she shook her head. Ryder looked at her with a surprised look on his face. "You met him?" He asked her. "Yeah, I went on a quest with him in a dungeon. I found him to be somewhat arrogant at the start, but by that end, I realized that he was not a bad person. He was definitely pretty strong, though," Estonia replied. ''So she was one of the people that Shu found. Such a coincidence, having such a link between us in the game and meeting in the real world,'' Ryder thought as he shook his head. "He was arrogant?" Alice asked Estonia in curiosity as she subtly glanced at Ryder. "He definitely seemed to be arrogant at the start. I asked him to sell me his staff, but he refused even after I offered to pay him more money," Estonia replied. "Do you think that he cheated?" Ryder changed the topic as he looked towards the tv. "I am not sure. It does look like something that shouldn''t be possible generally. Such a big power difference between the first and the second rank makes it even more suspicious. He or someone related to him is probably someone in a very high position of power to make it possible," Estonia answered. "Maybe," Ryder muttered as he smiled. ***** The FBI agent Ray was sitting in his room when he got a mail from someone. "Good. They worked fast," Ray muttered as he opened the mail that contained information related to Ryder. He started going through the content. "Registered a company, but it''s not started yet. Just what is he planning? A single game developer who couldn''t afford a decent lifestyle suddenly earned so much. Although it seems like luck, something just doesn''t add up. There is definitely something suspicious about him," "Oh, he does have some more records. He''s going to sue the police?" Ray couldn''t help but chuckle as he read that. "Well, I wonder how it will turn out." He moved over to Ryder''s information and found out something that made him frown. "Dream corporation''s personal lawyer is handling this case? Why? How is he related to a giant like the Dream Corporation?" "Something is definitely not sitting right. It''s like he suddenly changed one day and became someone different entirely who had everything in control. We don''t have a big lead on that organization, but if he is actually the one that fought against that mysterious organization, he can help us find them. I need to convince him at all cost," Ray muttered as he clenched his fist. He closed his laptop and fell into deep thought to come up with a plan on how to deal with this matter. He realized that no matter what he did, Ryder wouldn''t accept that he was involved. Even if Ray promised him to keep his silence and not tell anyone that Ryder was his informant, Ryder would still not believe him. "Bullets didn''t affect that person. If someone shot him and he healed, it would prove that he was that person, but I can''t do that. It would be against our ethics, and it would be wrong if he weren''t able to heal. I would just be hurting an innocent. Sigh, what can I do to deal with this?" Ray muttered as he held his head with his hands. He thought for a long time, but he couldn''t come up with a concrete plan. He called the same number again. "I got the information that you sent me. Can you try to find more? Go in as detail as you can about the last one month of his life. Every person that he has a link to and everyone that he met. You can take a day or two to collect the data, but try to be fast," Ray let out before he disconnected the call. There was suddenly a knock on the door. "Come inside," Ray let out, already knowing who it was. Riya, Jacob, and Milana walked inside. "Did you get the information about our next mission?" Riya asked Ray. They were told that they needed to come to this place by the higher-ups, but they weren''t given any information. All they were told was that Ray would get the information when they get here and that he would brief them. "Yeah, I got that as well. Our mission this time involves someone called Jameson. He is involved in many businesses, but in the city, he is known as the owner of an Amusement Park. He will be our target this time," Ray explained. "Why him? We are in the team that''s handling that mysterious organization. Is this Jameson involved with that organization?" Jacob inquired, with a confused look on his face. "There isn''t a direct link between the organization and Jameson, but we did find an indirect link. Since we don''t have any main lead this time, We''ll be investigating that indirect link," Ray explained. 182 Chapter 178: The Uprising "What''s that indirect link?" Riya asked Ray as she sat down on a chair nearby. She was kept out of the loop on this one, but she understood the protocol. Jacob sat on the bed beside Ray while Milana also sat on a chair. "You remember that person we caught? We had received two clues from him. He didn''t know anything other than that. First clue was the major clue, which was the information about the meeting place and the sketches of a few of their men. The first lead is dead already after what happened. The second lead is Jameson, which we are going to investigate." "That person gave us a few sketches of people. After scanning the system with that data related to the men''s sketch, we found one photo belonging to one of them," "In that photo, the suspect is shown to be standing beside Jameson, who is at what seemed like a club. That''s why I said that it''s an indirect link. It''s possible for Jameson to know that man, but it can be a coincidence that he met and talked to a stranger at a club. That is what he will claim even if he is related to that organization. The picture that we found is not enough to arrest Jameson either. We will be going to his house to interrogate him about this and get his testimony," Ray let out. "What''s the benefit in that? As you claim, he will just lie about that to us. We can still do it in an illegal way. Kidnap him and force him to answer. You just need to get Captain''s permission," Jacob suggested. "We can''t do that with Jameson. I already talked about all the possible things that we can do with Captain, and going directly to interrogate is the solution we came up with," Ray replied. "I get it. So you want to bait him? Did the captain already get permission to tap his phone?" Riya asked, seemingly understanding the situation. "Yes. With what happened in Washington, this mysterious organization is raised in threat level to Alpha. It was pretty easy to get the permission even at such a distant link. The higher-ups are worried as well. They will do anything to capture this Mysterious Organization, which we named BTerror," Ray declared. "BTerror? Was that the best they could come up with?" Jacob let out with a wry smile on his face. "It''s the short form of Bio-Enhanced Terror Group," Ray explained. "Anyway, let me explain the plan in clear terms. We will go to his house to interrogate him about this link, while we will begin tapping his calls. If he is actually involved in this, there is over a ninety percent chance that he will call someone, and we will get our answers and another lead," Ray let out as he opened his laptop again. He opened the image of Jameson from the report and showed everyone. "This is our target. Tomorrow, we will begin with our plan," Ray declared. **** Ryder and the others finished eating, and Estonia left. Ryder stood up and entered his room. "This trip was a failure, but now that I''m back, I can get back to the things that I needed to do. I had to delay meeting with Jameson, but not anymore. Tomorrow, I will do it. I also need him to call Stanner back to the city, if possible. My mission depends on him now," Ryder muttered as he looked at Jameson''s address on his phone. ''I need to be careful, though. I can''t let my eagerness to finish my mission have me make a mistake. Killing a millionaire in his house is much more serious than killing a criminal in private,'' he thought. He decided that he wouldn''t get his car anywhere near Jameson''s house and sneak inside without getting caught in cameras. Even though he would need to purchase some items from the store, his safety was number one. **** Far away from Ryder''s city, there existed an isolated Island. There were many luxurious private ships around the island, all of which belonged to the owner of the Island. The edge of the island was surrounded by forest from all corners, but the center portion was mostly clear. There was a huge mansion at the center of the island that looked to be even bigger than a palace of a king. The Mansion was surrounded in mist, and the sky above the island was surrounded by dark clouds. The mansion was also entirely black in color. There was a big hall inside the mansion, and there was a throne placed at one end of the hall. A person was sitting on that throne. There were seven more people inside the hall. "So, they are all dead?" The person on the throne asked. "Yes, master," One of the seven people replied. "Tell me, Darksoul. Was your plan worth it? You claimed something for me, but it seems like a complete failure. What do you have to say about that?" The person on the throne inquired. "This was the failure of my leadership. I don''t entirely know what happened, but they shouldn''t have died just like that. Something definitely interfered with my plan. But I take full responsibility. I should''ve sent more powerful people with them. I overestimated the lower level member," One of the seven replied. He was called Darksoul in the Organisation. Darksoul was the person Okala told Ryder about. He was one of the Seven Generals of The Uprising, but his real identity in the outside world was different. Darksoul had a very powerful position on the outside that gave him a lot of influence in the outside world. "I want what you promised. I don''t care if you succeeded or failed. I want what I want, and you know that. If you fail, you also know what will happen to you," the Person on the throne replied. "I won''t fail," DarkSoul dropped down to one knee and placed one of his hands on his chest as he promised the person on the throne. He stood up and left the hall. **** Ryder finished his dinner and got on his bed, ready to dive into the world of Virtual Reality. He wore the Divinity Glasses. "Take me to Divinity," he let out. He soon found himself in the world of Divinity inside the small hut. He glanced back and noticed that Rale was sleeping. The other people were still standing guard. They saluted Ryder as soon as they saw him. 183 Chapter 179: Damaged Vitality "How is his condition now?" Ryder asked one of the men as he walked toward Rale. "The wounds of Captain have healed. He fell asleep a few hours ago. He is resting now," the men replied. "Let him rest. We will leave after he wakes up," Ryder muttered as he sat beside Rale, waiting for him to wake up. He was glad that Rale was healed, though. A few hours passed away as they waited in silence. Rale opened his eyes as his sleep was broken. He looked around, only to find Ryder sitting beside him. "Your Highness," Rale greeted Ryder. "How are you feeling, Rale?" Ryder inquired. "I am fine. I just fell asleep. I apologize for that," Rale replied. He stood up and stretched his arms, and jumped a few times to test his body. "Yup, perfectly fine," Rale added. "Good. Let''s leave then. We are done in the Undead Region, but we still need to get to the portal before we are able to truly go back home," Ryder stood up. They left the house. Rale reached out his hand towards Ryder, hoping for him to hold on so that they could fly. "Let me fly on my own for some time. I haven''t flown for quite some time. I might be a little rusty," Ryder said to Rale as he started rising in the air. "You can fly?" Not only Rale but everyone present there was surprised. "Yeah, but as I said, I''m rusty, so you''d need to adjust your speed sometimes. Let''s go now," Ryder let out as he started flying forward. Rale and the others also started flying. Ryder was not proficient in flying, and it was evident in his flying pattern. Sometimes he flew up and then other times, he suddenly came down. It seemed like he was flying in a zigzag motion, trying to find the perfect balance. After flying for over ten minutes, he started getting the hang of flying. His control was improving, and now he was able to fly much better. He flew for slightly over fifty minutes before he slowed down. "That''s it for me today. I won''t slow you down anymore. Rale, hold my hand and carry me," Ryder said to Rale as he reached out his hand. Rale caught his hand and started carrying Ryder with him. They increased speed and continued flying forward. As they flew, they tried to avoid cities and people as much as possible, which seemed to be working. Ryder wasn''t sure if it was a coincidence or great luck, but they didn''t face any trouble along the way and reached the point of the portal with ease. Ryder brought the portal key out of his storage and raised it high in the air. A portal appeared before him. He and the others entered the portal and appeared inside the Royal Palace of the Demon Realm. He closed the portal after everyone was in the palace. He and the others left the underground and went to the higher floors. ''Rale, You''re coming with me. I need you to see a physician," Ryder told Rale. "We can''t... They will start asking how I got injured. It would be better if we don''t let anyone know what we just did," Rale said, shaking his head. He didn''t want to bring suspicion over Ryder. "Don''t worry about that. We can claim that you were hurt in training because you held back to test your limits. The physician won''t ask too many questions," Ryder replied as he held Rale''s hand and took him to a certain place. The Royal Palace did have a physician in case of emergencies. The physician spent most of his day in his room, studying as there were no health emergencies in the palace. Ryder took Rale to the room of the physician and knocked on the door. "Who is it?" the physician asked from inside. "It is I, Prince Hades. Open the door," Ryder replied in a stern tone. The door was instantly opened. "Your Highness, Please forgive me. I never expected that it would be you. You should''ve sent a servant to call me if you needed me." The Physician replied with a smile on his face. An old man was standing before Ryder, in a grey coat that seemed like a lab coat. There was a tiny horn on the forehead of the man. This man was the Royal Physician of the Palace that only had one job to do, which was to heal the people of the Royal Palace. "Don''t waste time. This is an emergency. Rale was hurt during the training. Even though he has healed, I still want you to check him. I want you to examine him to see if there is anything wrong or not," Ryder told the demon physician. "Ah, please. Master Rale, please come inside. Lie on the bed," the Physician told Rale as he stepped aside. Rale walked inside and laid on the bed that was on one side of the room. Ryder also entered the room and stood behind. The Physician started checking the body. "You were right. There is evidence of damage even though the wounds have healed. His vitality is somewhat damaged. I can''t even imagine how you are dealing with the pain without letting it show on your face," The Physician let out after he finished the checkup. "Pain?" Ryder asked with a stunned look on his face. "Yeah, Master Rales Vitality is damaged. Even though his vitality will recover in a day or so, he would be in extreme pain until then. I would never have guessed looking at his face. Master Rale is a strong demon who probably doesn''t want anyone to see the pain on his face," The physician told Ryder before he started looking at Rale. "You can''t be like that, Master Rale. Sometimes it''s good to tell others when you''re in pain." "I want you to heal him instantly! It doesn''t matter what it takes! I don''t want Rale to be in pain for even a second more!" Ryder commanded as he walked closer to Rale. "I know you don''t want to worry me, but you can''t go around hiding things from me. If you do this again, no one would be worse than me," Ryder said to Rale with a stern look on his face. "You understand?" "Yes, Your Highness," Rale replied with an apologetic look on his face. The doctor walked to the shelf on the side and brought some things out. 184 Chapter 180: Dukes Birthday The Physician came back with three vials and a bowl. Each of those vials contained the pills of different colors. He placed the bowl on a table and put one pill from each vial into the bowl. He started crushing each of those pills into the powder inside the bowl. He again walked back to another room and came back with a glass of water and a spoon. He spilled the water inside the bowl and started mixing the water and the three colored powder with a spoon. The colors started mixing, and the water started changing color. In the end, the water became a grey colored liquid. "Your Highness, this is the medicine for sleep and to relieve pain. It will end his pain, but it would also put him to sleep. He would sleep while his body counters the side effect of lack of life force. He would wake up after a few days after his body heals," The Physician said. "Is there no way to do it other than putting him to sleep?" Ryder asked the physician. He knew that Rale might not agree to it. "There is no other way," The Physician answered, shaking his head. "Alright. Let me give it to him then," Ryder muttered as he stepped forth and picked up the glass. He walked back to Rale. "Here, drink this," Ryder muttered as he gave Rale the glass. "What is that?" Rale asked as he took the glass from his hand. "It is medicine. It will ease your pain and help you rest in comfort," Ryder replied to Rale. He conveniently hid the information that it would put him to sleep for a few days as he knew Rale. Rale would never take things that would make him incapable of saving Ryder when the situation arrives, and if he had to sleep for a few days, he definitely wouldn''t do it since he would be concerned for his safety in case of the unlikely scenario where this place was attacked by the enemy. Ryder knew that Rale was too serious and considered far unlikely things, but Ryder also knew that this place was safe. No enemy would just appear out of the palace and start attacking it without them getting any information. Rale looked at the glass and smelled it. "It smells like someone placed the sleeping pill in it along with other ingredients," Rale said to Ryder. Ryder was quite surprised by Rale''s sense of smell and knowledge. He didn''t expect that Rale would immediately recognize it. He had no choice now but to tell the truth. "Yeah. This medicine also has some ingredients like the sleeping powder. It just won''t work without it. You would sleep for some time, but it would be fine. You will wake up soon, and when you wake up, all the pain will be over," Ryder said with a calming smile on his face. "I can''t drink it. It is my responsibility to protect you and this palace. I can''t sleep just because I suffer from measly pain. I am fine," Rale replied. "I don''t want to order you to do anything, but you need to drink it. I will be perfectly safe while you sleep. I won''t even leave the Palace. Don''t worry about anything and just sleep," Ryder said to Rale. "If you don''t listen to my request, then I would be forced to order you to drink. Just drink it," he added. Rale looked unwilling, but he still raised the glass and drank it in one sip. He could feel his eyes turning heavy. He was starting to feel sleepy. Ryder held his shoulders and helped him lie down on the bed. "You can''t leave the Palace," Rale said to Ryder before he fell asleep. "Sigh, I won''t leave it. Just rest and wake up soon," Ryder said to Rale, who had fallen asleep. The Physician walked forth and placed his hand over Rale''s chest. "It''s working," The Physician told Ryder. "Good. Keep an eye on him and make sure that he isn''t in pain. I''ll send some servants and some men to guard this place." Ryder knew that Rale needed to be near the Physician in this condition. He walked out of the room and went to find his personal maid, Miku. Ryder was walking in the long corridor towards the hall when he found Miku there. "Miku." "Your Highness, You are back," Miku exclaimed in surprise. "Yeah, I just came back today. Anyway, I need you to arrange some maids in the room of our Royal Physician. Also, assign the best men from our royal army before that room. Rale is slightly sick. He is sleeping there. I don''t want anything to go wrong," Ryder told Miku. "Master Rale is sick?" Miku inquired with a concerned look on her face. "He was given medicine. He''s just sleeping now. He will be fine after he wakes up, but I still want you to place our best maids and guards there," Ryder said. "I will get it done," Miku responded before she started walking away. Ryder continued walking towards the hall. He reached the hall and sat on the throne. "I did promise him that I won''t leave the palace, but now that I think about it, I do need to go out to hunt. I can''t waste my time in Divinity," Ryder muttered as he placed his hand on his chin. "Should I go with other guards?" he muttered in confusion as he struggled to come to a decision. "Oh, fuck. I just remembered that High Duke Oris'' birthday celebration is tomorrow," Ryder let out with a stunned look on his face. "What excuse will I give him for Rale not being able to come?" Ryder had utterly forgotten about the birthday invitation of High Duke Oris, but he suddenly remembered it and started getting worried about it. He couldn''t let anyone find out that he left the Demon Realm with Rale, and he needed to hide what actually happened and why Rale was missing from High Dukes. He needed to come up with a good excuse. He couldn''t tell them that Rale was sick or that he was injured while fighting. All the High Dukes knew Rale''s true strength. They wouldn''t believe it. **** While Ryder was worrying about the Birthday Celebration, there was someone else who was worrying at the moment. Far away from the Demon Realm, Vampire General Viden''s daughter was sitting in her palace, worrying about her father. It had been so long, but her father hadn''t returned. She was starting to feel like something was wrong. "Should I go to his Majesty about this?" She muttered as she looked towards the gate. 185 Chapter 181: Vampire King found ou No matter how much she tried to calm herself down, she couldn''t succeed. She had a bad feeling that was overwhelming her. Her heart was beating fast as she kept looking at the door. Her father had gone after the mysterious people inside one of the most dangerous places of the Undead Region, and he wasn''t back after so much time had passed. She didn''t even get a message from his father. She was worried that something might have happened to him. She couldn''t take it anymore. She decided to convey this information to the Vampire King. The girl stood up and called for a butler to arrange a link to the Vampire King''s Palace. The Vampire King was one of the Two Strongest beings in the Undead Region. He was said to be as strong as the High Dukes of the Demon Realm, but that was only an estimate. No one knew what the reality was as those people didn''t fight. The Vampire General was the friend of the Vampire King who had supported him for a long time. There was a link established between both of their places in case one of them needed to talk to another. The Palace Butler knew about this and helped the girl set up the link so that she could talk to the Vampire King. They used a special object to establish the connection. It was a large mirror that needed Viden to place his blood over the mirror to contact the Vampire King, but since the girl was his daughter, her blood also had the same function. The girl stood before the mirror and bit her finger before she stepped forth and made a strange symbol on the mirror. Her father had taught her the way in case of an emergency. **** The Vampire King was a name that was known by everyone in the undead region. He was one of the Two Great Kings of the Undead Region on the same level as the Lich King. He was someone that everyone was afraid to offend. No one took his name outside in fear. Even though the Vampire King had such a scary image on the outside, when it came to actual looks, it was quite different. After seeing his scary reputation, most people that heard about him would think that he would be an old scary looking man with incredible power, but the reality was quite different. The Vampire King looked very young. He looked like he was in his early thirties. The Vampire King had a muscular body. His nails were blood red in color and looked as sharp as the wolf''s claws. He was wearing long black pants that somehow matched his intimidating personality because of the design. He also wore what seemed like a black overcoat with long standing collars, which exposed his chest completely. There was also a necklace around his neck, which had a big red crystal inside it near his chest. The Vampire King had short silver hair that only came down to his shoulders behind his back. His eyes were blood-red, which seemed like the eyes of a hungry wolf. The Vampire King was sitting on his throne, looking at a paper in his hand. He was going through the paper with full interest when he felt something. He placed the paper back in his storage space and clapped his hands once. A beautiful mirror was lying in his room. The Mirror started floating, and it flew out of the room and toward the Vampire King. The Mirror entered the Royal Hall, where the Vampire King was sitting alone. The Mirror stopped before him. "What does Viden want now?" The Vampire King muttered as he looked at the mirror. He bit his finger and placed his blood on the mirror. "Speak, Viden, what happened now?" The Vampire King said as soon as the connection was established, but he was surprised to see a girl before the mirror. "Halia? What are you doing? This Mirror is not a toy! It''s for your father to use in case of emergency!" The Vampire King was furious to realize that it was Vampire General Viden''s daughter, who was using the mirror. He thought that she was playing with it. "I apologize Your Majesty, but this is an absolute emergency. I believe that my father is in danger!" Halia let out as she dropped down to her knees before the mirror with tears in her eyes. "What is happening?" The Vampire King asked her with a frown on his face. Halia''s expressions gave him a feeling that things were really serious. He couldn''t understand who could be the one putting Viden''s life in danger. Had the Lich King started harassing his men? There were not many people in the Undead Region who were stronger than Viden, so the number of people who could threaten him was limited. Halia started telling the Vampire King everything that happened. She talked about how one of her escorts went missing and how she called her father to help her. She also talked about the information that they received about some mysterious people that were pretending to be Royal Vampires. In the end, she talked about her Father sending her back to the Palace and going to the Valley of Wandering Souls alone to catch those impersonators. "It has been so long since he left, and he isn''t back. There is no message from him either. I worry about his safety. Please do something and save my father," She requested the Vampire King. "Mysterious impersonators?" The Vampire King muttered as he fell in deep thoughts. "Alright. I''ll see it. You can go and rest," he told Halia before he closed the link. The Vampire King stood up from his throne. "I wonder who became so daring to impersonate the Royals. Whoever you are, I will find you, and I will make you regret your decision," The Vampire King let out before he started walking towards the door. "Your Majesty, are you going somewhere?" Someone asked as soon as the Vampire King stepped out of the hall. "Yeah, take care of the things here in my absence," Vampire King replied before he stepped out of the Palace and started flying towards the Valley of Wandering Souls. It didn''t take him long to get there. Soon, Vampire King was standing before the entrance of the Valley of Wandering Souls. He noticed the blood drops on the ground that had dried up by now. "This blood... Demons?" He muttered with a frown on his face. 186 Chapter 182: Vampire King in Demon Realm? The Vampire King noticed the blood outside the Valley of Wandering Soul, which had fallen when the injured Rale had come out of the valley. He recognized that blood color as the blood of the Demons, which made him frown. "The Demons were here?" he muttered in confusion. He could see that the blood belonged to Demons, but he couldn''t determine when this blood had fallen here since the Demon Blood dried up really fast. It was possible that it fell here years ago and it was also possible that it fell a few days ago. Vampire King stepped inside the Valley of Wandering Souls. As soon as he stepped inside, thousands of Spectres came flying towards him. The Spectres were more attracted to the Undeads, which was why they had targeted Vampire General Viden more than they targeted Ryder and the others. Still, even amongst the Undeads, the specters preferred the powerful Undeads more. That was why the Vampire King attracted more specters than even the Vampire General had ever managed to draw, but with a single wave of his hand, Vampire King destroyed them all. "Annoying Insects," Vampire King muttered as he started walking ahead. Vampire King continued ahead and reached inside the Inner Region of the Valley of Wandering Souls. He stood near the frozen lake that had now melted. There was a deep frown on his head as he watched the lake. "Sigh looks like the ones that were trapped here have escaped. Tough luck, I told those guys not to trap them here. Now they will suffer," The Vampire King muttered as he shook his head. "Whatever, nothing to do with me," He let out before he continued walking ahead. Vampire King soon entered the core region of the Valley of Wandering Souls. Along the way, he didn''t see Vampire General Viden, but that was because no remains of him were left behind. Even though Viden was killed in the Inner Region of the Valley, he was entirely consumed. Also, his blood was not left behind as the specters consumed every blood drop that had fallen out of Vampire General. Specters ate everyone they got the opportunity to eat, but they only consumed the blood of the ones from the undead species. The blood of the Demons wasn''t even touched. If it were a demon, their blood wouldn''t be consumed, but since it was a Vampire General from the Undead Species, nothing was left behind. Vampire King had entered the core region of the Valley of Wandering Souls, and he soon found the Guardian of the Valley. The Guardian of the Valley was sitting on the ground. It seemed to be upset. "What? How is this possible? Where is his gem?" Vampire King exclaimed in surprise as he noticed that the Guardian of the Valley didn''t have the gem it always kept close to it. "How can someone manage to take the gem and escape? This shouldn''t be possible!" He let out with a frown. He also noticed that the blood on the ground belonged to Demons. "So Demons were the ones that fought it. From what I believe, they were here specifically for that gem. For them to successfully leave, they must have sent a High Duke here. This makes sense. Viden can''t defeat that High Dukes. If he faced them, it''s quite possible that he was either killed or captured," Vampire King muttered as he looked around. He turned back and started to leave. "Looks like I would need to go to the Demon Realm. If they captured him, I would save him, and if they killed him, I would see who killed him," Vampire King declared in a stern tone Vampire King stepped out of the Valley of Wandering Souls and started flying back towards his Palace. ***** Ryder was sitting on the throne, trying to find a good excuse when Miku walked into the hall. "Is it arranged?" he asked her as he raised his head. "I have arranged for the maids and the guards," Miku replied. "Good. Also, check up on him every hour to see if everything is fine or not," Ryder told her. Miku nodded her head. "Anyway, Did something new happen after I left? Do I need to know about anything?" Ryder asked her. "There is one thing. High Duke Oris'' daughter had come to remind you about his Birthday. I told her that you were resting. She left without saying anything," Miku replied to Ryder. "Yeah, I remembered about that. It''s tomorrow, isn''t it?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, It''s tomorrow," Miku replied as she nodded her head. "I''ll attend that. Anything else of significance?" Ryder inquired. "Yes, Your Highness. You have received invitations from all of the Dukes to visit their Palace and their territory," Miku explained. "An invitation to visit their palace? Why would I do that?" Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Let''s just ignore those." "You can''t do that, Your Highness. The invitations are public, and everyone knows that you have been invited. If you didn''t go, they would feel insulted before their people. It would also spoil Your Highness'' reputation before the citizens that hadn''t attended the Coronation Ceremony." "It''s an opportunity for you to meet the citizens that weren''t able to come here for the ceremony and the ones that haven''t seen your face. It would be good practice to let them see their Prince, or they would think that you don''t care for them," Miku explained the intricacies behind the invitation to Ryder. "Sigh, It is so complicated. Whatever, I''ll visit their place. Make a schedule for me and place the visits on it. After Rale wakes up, I would visit the land of all out Dukes and meet my people," Ryder declared as he placed one of his feet over another. "Anything else?" He asked. "Nothing Major other than that," Miku shook her head. "Good. Everything''s going smoothly. It would be great if it can continue like that. This land needs to grow as well, though. I noticed that there were many problems with this place, especially with the corrupt officials of small regions like the village of Miyali. I need to understand the intricacies of this place so that I am able to make decent changes to improve people''s lives," Ryder muttered. "Is there a library here?" he asked Miku. "Yes. There is a library in the palace," Miku replied. "Good. Take me there," Ryder said as he stood up. 187 Chapter 183: Royal Commanded Miku took Ryder to the Library of the Royal Palace. She also showed him around the library and helped him choose the best books when it came to the hierarchy of the Demon Realm. By the time Miku stopped choosing the book, Ryder had realized that there were over 50 books in her hand. He couldn''t help but smile wryly at the impossible thought of reading the books. Miku placed all the 50 books on the table. "Ahh, Is this all?" Ryder asked her. "Not really. This is the most basic stuff that I chose to help you get the most basic idea. After reading the basics, you can start with the complex stuff about the inner workings of everything," Miku replied. "50 books of basics? Really?" Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. "Forget it. I don''t have that much time to read. Bring me a blank paper and a pen along with a map of Demon Realm," Ryder told her, shaking his head. He realized that it was much difficult to gain in-depth knowledge from books without attaining a skill related to it because he lacked the time. He decided to only learn the basics of the basics with the help of Miku. Miku walked away while Ryder sat on the chair near the books. He casually opened one of the books and saw some strange symbols that he didn''t understand. He closed the book and started to wait for Miku to come back. Miku came back after some time with a few blank papers, a pen, and a map of the Demon Realm. She gave the map to Ryder and placed the papers and the pen on the table. "Alright. Move the books to the side," Ryder told her as he started unfolding the map, which was way bigger than he had expected. Even though the map was compressed, it was still bigger than Ryder. Miku picked up the books and placed them on another table while Ryder placed the unfolded map on the table before him. He picked up the paper and the pen. He wrote the word ''king'' on the top of the paper. "Alright. We''ll start with the king. The highest in the hierarchy is, of course, the king who possesses all the powers. I know about that. What comes after the king? Who has a higher position? A prince or a High Duke?" Ryder asked Miku. "A High Duke and a Royal Prince are said to have a similar position. Both of them are important for the Empire." Ryder drew two lines from the word of King that he wrote on the paper. One of the lines went southeast while the other line went Southwest. He wrote Prince at the end of the southwest line and High Duke at the end of the other line. "High Dukes don''t have any land. They are like great elders of the Kingdom who are assigned to keep the kingdom safe. They don''t have to worry about the land. Also, High Dukes have the power to kill anyone in the kingdom who they believe is putting the kingdom in danger, except people from the royal lineage." "Interesting, So High Dukes can kill Dukes if they think they have a valid reason, and they can''t be punished," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. "Yes. They don''t have land or anything, but they hold more power and authority than Dukes. If they want, they can also take the Dukedom of a Duke in control. Also, High Dukes are authorized to hold their own army. Their Armies are just like our Royal Army, but while the Royal Army is only assigned to protect the Royals in the Royal City and the borders of our Kingdom, the armies of the High Dukes are responsible for keeping peace in the land outside the Royal City." Miku kept talking about the High Duke''s powers, which sometimes surprised Ryder, especially the army thing. " There''s also one more thing. Even though High Dukes are allowed to hold Personal Armies, their army needs to be smaller than the Royal Army. They can only have twenty percent of the people in their army when compared to the Royal Army." "That''s good. I guess they did put some thought into it," Ryder muttered as he heard the second part. Ryder made another line below the High Duke. "The Dukes should be after the High Dukes in the hierarchy," Ryder muttered as he wrote Dukes at the end of the line. "Yes, I''ll talk about the hierarchy of the High Duke side first. After that, I''ll talk about the hierarchy on your side," Miku nodded her head. "Dukes are lower in position than High Dukes. They are assigned to rule over small portions of land called dukedom," Miku replied. "I understand that. We have the same thing back home. They are like managers that handle the land for the King since the King can''t personally take care of every portion of the land," Ryder muttered. "Yes, they are responsible for keeping the populace happy in their dukedom and convey to the higher-ups if their dukedom lacks anything or if there is any problem," "They can also hold a small army, but their Armies can only be 5 percent of a High Duke''s army in size. They can kill anyone in their Dukedom that is lower than them in the hierarchy as long as they feel a threat to the peace and the prosperity of the land." Ryder nodded his head. "After that comes marquis who handles the smaller portions of the Dukedom. They are lower than the Dukes. They can''t hold armies. The Dukes assign their armies to help the Marquis and keep peace in the land," Miku kept talking about them and the ones lower in the hierarchy for the next hour. "And lastly, Village heads. They are assigned to handle the villages. They are selected from the villagers. Some villages are weak, and they have weak village heads as well. I heard that some of our village heads are only as strong as the three-year-olds in our Royal City," Miku let out. "Three-year-olds?" Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face as he remembered how proud he was after defeating a village head when he first arrived in the Demon Realm. "Now we get to your side of the spectrum," Miku let out. "You, as the Crown Prince, have the authority to command the Royal army to do anything other than declaring war on anyone. You would need the majority permission of High Dukes for that, or you can use the Royal Command to force them to agree," Miku explained. 188 Chapter 184: Wierd Powers of a Prince "I heard about the thing that I can''t declare war without their permission, but what about the Royal Command? I didn''t hear about that before," Ryder asked in confusion. "Royal Command is something that the Crown Prince can use only once in his lifetime. In the absence of the King, the Crown Prince has the special privilege to use the Royal Command. As the Royal Command, the command would be as valid as the command from a King." " Even if you use the Royal Command to declare war on the others, everyone would have to follow. You can even command for the death of a High Duke. Since the Royal Command is like the command from the king himself, the other High Dukes must do it. Maybe they didn''t tell you because this is a dangerous command that they don''t want you to use lightly," Miku explained. "Interesting," Ryder muttered as he placed his hand on his chin. "Anyway, You can command the Royal Army, and you can use the Royal Command to force the High Dukes and the others to do anything. You also have other powers as a prince. You can also marry any woman in the whole kingdom. It doesn''t matter who that woman is. As long as the woman is not a High Duke, you can marry anyone," Miku added. Ryder looked at her weirdly as he heard this privilege. "That is a weird power," Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face. "As a prince, you can only use this forced marriage only once as well, but once you become the King, you can use this privilege as many times as you want," Miku replied. "What else?" Ryder inquired, changing the topic. "You can also take the Royal Army to search the palace of any Duke. Although you can''t command for the death of any Duke without a valid reason, you can search their house, and if you find something illegal or anything, you can use that to give them the death penalty for conspiracy," Miku said. She kept talking about his powers as a prince. Some of them were weird, according to Ryder, that he didn''t think he would use them, while the other powers were interesting that he was glad to know about. After talking for over half an hour, Miku finished explaining about the powers of a prince. "After the Royal Family, the one that has the most power is the Commander of the Royal Army." "I thought so. Rale deserves to be there," Ryder nodded in appreciation. "Yeah, in the overall hierarchy, Master Rale is between the Dukes and the High Dukes. His authority is closer to the High Dukes, though. He can kill anyone he believes might be harmful to the Royals. Even if it''s a Duke that harms you even a little, Master Rale has the authority to decapitate them," Miku replied. "That''s good to know," Ryder nodded his head. Ryder noticed that Devilia''s Duchy was one of the closest Dukedoms to him. After finishing up, Ryder stood up and stretched his arms. He was tired after sitting for the whole day. "We''re making a schedule to visit the lands of all the Dukes, right? Place Devilia''s name at the top. I want to visit her land first. She was the one that helped me get here. I want to start the trip from her land after Rale wakes up," Ryder told Miku. "Yes, Your Highness." Miku nodded her head. "Also, Thanks for the help. Now I know better. Good work," He said as he rubbed Miku''s head. Miku lowered her head which had turned red. Ryder placed the map and the paper in his storage. "It''s late already. I am going to my room now. Good Night," Ryder told her as he started walking towards his room. ***** Ryder entered his room and locked the door. He opened the log out screen of the game and logged out. Ryder woke up in the real world and took the glasses off. Just as he sat up, his phone started ringing. He picked up the phone and noticed that it was an unknown number. He picked up the call, but he didn''t say anything. "Ah, hello. Am I talking to Mr. Ryder?" "Yeah, Who is this?" "I am speaking from the Police Department. We wanted to inform you that our commissioner wants to talk to you. Will you be able to come to the police station today?" Ryder couldn''t help but frown as he wondered about the words. The Police Commissioner wanted to talk to him? He had so much power, couldn''t he just send a few cops to take him to the station? He was still wondering when he realized what it was all about. ''It should be about me filing a lawsuit. They are trying to be humble because they want to convey their sincerity and tell me to settle outside the court,'' he thought. "I would love to talk to your commissioner, but I am busy today. I won''t be able to come. Maybe tomorrow," Ryder let out. The officer who was talking to Ryder was surprised at how casually Ryder rejected the polite offer of the commissioner of Police. "Uh... Can you think again?" he asked. "I already told you that I''m busy today. I have a big deal, and if I don''t attend it, I''ll lose money. Unless your commissioner is willing to pay me millions of dollars that I''ll lose, tell him to wait till tomorrow. I would have been able to arrange something if you guys had informed me before, but on such a short notice, I can''t do anything. I can''t change my busy schedule," Ryder replied. "Ah, alright. I''ll convey your message," The person on the other side of the call replied. "Yeah," Ryder let out as he disconnected the call. "I have to deal with Jameson today. I''m not going to delay that for you," Ryder muttered as he stood up. He walked into the shower. After coming out of the Shower, Ryder got ready. He picked up the car key and left his room. He looked at the clock, and it was already time for Alice to leave. "Alice, Want me to drop you, or is your friend coming again?" Ryder asked Alice as he stepped out of the room. 189 Chapter 185: Awkward Situation "Estonia is already outside. I am leaving. Breakfast is on the table. Bye," Alice said as she ran outside in a hurry with her bag. Ryder walked to the dining table and started eating breakfast. He was somewhat surprised at how different this version of the timeline was. In the last timeline, he didn''t meet Alice''s friend. She didn''t take her to University either. Although he didn''t know why, he understood that something he did must have changed the timeline, and he was correct. It was indeed something that he did, which caused this. What Ryder didn''t know was that when he had killed the first person to complete his mission, he had not only changed the destiny of one person, but he had changed the destiny of many more. That single mission was enough to alter the destiny of many; one of them was Estonia. As Ryder killed the criminal in the alleyway, he saved the girl that the man was trying to force, but he also saved a man. What he didn''t know was that in the next few days, that man had killed another guy in the last timeline. The person that the man had killed was the father of Estonia. After her father''s death, Estonia dropped her plans to transfer into the university of Dreamers as she didn''t want to have anything to do with the city anymore. This was why Ryder didn''t see Estonia in the last timeline. In this timeline, however, that didn''t happen, and Estonia''s father was alive. She came to the city and transferred to the University of Dreamers. She met her old friend Alice, and that''s how Ryder was seeing her now. Even though he knew that it was because of him that the timeline was changed, but he didn''t understand precisely how, and it was unclear if he was ever going to understand or not. It was just a fleeting thought to him that passed away. He finished the breakfast before he stood up and left the house after locking the door. Ryder sat in his car and opened the location of Jameson''s house on his map. With the help of GPS, he located the area of Jameson, but he didn''t take his car in that area. He stopped his car in the parking of a mall just outside that area and left the car. Ryder walked towards the area, which was almost empty since it was a gated community, and not many people that stayed at home left the house at this time of the day in this place. Still, he saw a few people taking a walk. Ryder had worn the mask of BirdMan to hide his face before entering that area. The birdman mask covered the top half of his face, and he had also worn a hoodie to hide his hair. Ryder stood behind a house, waiting for those people to walk inside their house. After some time, the men walked inside the house, and Ryder began advancing ahead. He could see the mansion of Jameson, which had armed guards standing at the entrance. He didn''t want to attract their attention, so he went behind the mansion where no security was there. The Mansion was surrounded by tall walls from all four sides, and there was only one entrance, which was from the front where guards were standing. The walls were around five meters tall and had a smooth texture that didn''t have any place to grip. The walls also had electric wires on the top of the walls, all around to give it an additional layer of security. There was also a camera behind the mansion, but it was a government CCTV which no one looked at for days until a crime was committed. Ryder still acted carefully. He had not only worn a good, but he also changed his clothes to the ones he didn''t often use. He also got some items from the system store. One of the items was a weird pill called the Spider Human pill, which gave him strength and the powers of a spider. Ryder found it quite similar to the powers that another famous comics superhero had received. He swallowed the pill. The pill started taking effect, and in less than 5 seconds, he could feel himself filled with power. His vision was sharper. He looked at his fingers and saw some sticky substance. He placed his hand on the wall and realized that he was able to make his fingers stick on the wall. He started climbing up the wall using his fingers. He reached the top of the wall and stopped just before reaching the electric wire. He didn''t let his body touch the wire. Instead of moving ahead, he positioned his body for a jump. The pill had also given him the athletic ability, which helped him do acrobatics. Ryder jumped over the wire and landed on the other side of the wall, unfortunately, as he landed there, he fell above a person that was standing on the ground near the wall. Ryder crashed on the person. As he realized what was happening, he was already lying above a person. His mask was still on his face, but as he opened his eyes, he saw the face of the person. It was a girl who was looking at him in shock. The woman looked like she was in her late twenties. Ryder was so surprised at falling over a girl that he didn''t notice where his hands were. His left hand was above the right hand of the girl, whereas his right hand was on something soft and spongy. He could feel that his fingers were submerged in the softness. He lowered his gaze and realized that his hand was on the chest of the girl. Ryder tried to free his hand, but he couldn''t. His hand was stuck on her clothes while his other hand was stuck on her hand, which he couldn''t free. He was shocked and lost control of his abilities that he received because of the pill. He tried moving his hand up, but he wasn''t able to. It was like his abilities were messing up. "Aa..." The girl was about to open her mouth to scream for help as she wasn''t able to push Ryder aside either. 190 Chapter 186: A sudden kiss Ryder had no choice but to close her mouth. Since he couldn''t free his hands, he moved his head forward and closed her lips with his lips while he tried to gain back control of his abilities. After a few more seconds, he was able to retract the ability of his hand, and his hand was again freed. He released her lips and closed them with his hand instantly. "Mmm... mmm," The girl kept trying to say something, but Ryder didn''t let her speak. He also noticed a girl nearby. He assumed that this girl was probably a guard here. "It''s not the time for you to talk. Good Night," Ryder muttered as he placed his finger under the left ear of the girl and moved it in a weird motion. A small cracking noise appeared, which was barely audible unless someone was trying to listen very carefully in an environment with a pin drop silence. The girl''s eyes closed as she lost her consciousness. This was a skill that Ryder had learned from the lower martial art manual. It was something that could make a person unconscious for a few hours. After making the girl lose consciousness, Ryder removed his hand from her mouth. He noticed her red lips and couldn''t help but shake his head. "I am sorry for the sudden kiss. I had no choice," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he got off of her and stood up. "Let''s just move you to the side," He let out as he stepped forth and picked the woman up on his arm in a princess carry. The woman was very lightweight. He couldn''t help but notice that. ''You don''t look so light looking at certain things, and still, you are lighter than me," Ryder shook his head as he moved the girl to the corner of the property and went behind the bushes. He left her on the ground in a place where no one would notice her. Ryder walked out of the bushes after placing the girl there and walked to the gun that the girl had dropped. It was a beautiful pistol that had an eagle insignia on it. He checked it and found it to be fully loaded. He placed the gun inside his belt on his back and covered it with his shirt as he continued walking ahead. Instead of going towards the front where he believed to find guards, he decided to go through the window to the highest floor. He still had the spider human powers that he used to stick to the wall. He started climbing up. The mansion had three floors. The third floor was the place he was targeting. Ryder climbed to the third floor and landed on the balcony. He could see the guards on the ground towards the front, but the guards were not looking up. He tried opening the window door, hoping that it would be unlocked, but he found it to be locked. He couldn''t help but sigh. He opened the store of the system and brought a sticker. The item he got was called an unlock sticker. It was said to unlock any door or window it was placed on. This sticker was a one-time use item, and it couldn''t be used again. According to the description that Ryder had read, after being used once, the sticker would lose its abilities. Ryder placed the sticker on the window. As soon as the sticker was placed over the window, it started shining. The window lock was opened. Ryder was easily able to open the window. The window was opened, and Ryder entered inside the house before he closed the window. A few seconds after Ryder had entered the house, a black SUV stopped outside the mansion. Ryder couldn''t see that since he had already entered. Four people stepped out of the car. Two of them were guys, while the other two were girls. It was the team of FBI that had come to initiate the first part of their plan. They had come to interrogate Jameson to make him know that they were after him, hoping that he would make a mistake after that. Ray was talking to the guards outside the house. Ryder was standing on the third floor of the house. He was looking around to find Jameson, but this place was mostly empty. He had seen Jameson''s image on the internet, and he believed that he could recognize him at first sight. Ryder walked through the floor and checked the rooms, but he didn''t find Jameson. In the next five minutes, he had checked all the rooms on that floor except one. He was walking towards the last room. The last room was the place where Jameson was in. Jameson was sleeping on the bed when he was woken up by a call. He picked up the call that was from his security head. "They say they are from the FBI? Have you checked their credentials?" "Alright. Bring them inside. I''ll be right down." Jameson disconnected the call. He got off the bed and started getting dressed. Ryder reached the last room. The room door was already unlocked. Ryder sneakily pushed the door open, and he was able to see a person looking in the mirror as he wore his shorts. ''There he is,'' Ryder muttered as he recognized the guy as Jameson. He stepped inside the room and walked towards Jameson without making as much noise. "Hello, Mr. Jameson," Ryder muttered when he was only three steps away from Jameson. Jameson turned back, shocked at the voice. He noticed Ryder standing there. "Who are you! How did you get in here! Secu..." Jameson was about to call for security, but he stopped as Ryder brought his gun out. As soon as Jameson saw the gun, he stopped. He didn''t scream anymore, and he didn''t try to move. "You don''t know what you''re doing. You can still leave, and I''ll forget this ever happened," Jameson let out in a calm tone. "There are tens of armed men downstairs. One mistake can result in your death." "That should be what I say. One mistake can result in your death, so just listen to me. As for your armed guards, I couldn''t care less about them," Ryder replied. "Do as I say and I''ll leave." "What do you want?" Jameson inquired. "I don''t want many things. All I want is for you to call a person and help me with some things," Ryder let out with a subtle smile on his face. 191 Chapter 187: Pasher "Who do you want me to call?" Jameson inquired with a frown on his face. "I''m sure you know of Pasher Stan. He''s a big builder nowadays, and he has invested in a lot of your shares lately. Unfortunately, he doesn''t live in this city. I want him in this city. Make that happen, and nothing bad would happen to you," Ryder replied with a full-on serious look on his face. "Pasher? Do you have any enmity with him? Don''t you know that it would have been easier to go to his place than breaking in here and having me invite him here," Jameson let out with a weird look on his face. "I don''t know his personal life. All I know is that he lives on the other end of the country. For me, it''s easier to have you call him than to go in search of him. There''s not even any guarantee that he would be in his home if I go there," Ryder let out. '' I need him in this city so that I can kill him before the Ghost of Stanner to fulfill his revenge and finish my quest,'' He thought, but he didn''t let it show on his face. "Call him and have him come here. If you can''t make that happen, then I have no need to keep you alive," Ryder declared. "Fine. I''ll call him here. Can I pick my phone up?" Jameson asked Ryder. "You can, but the call needs to be on speaker. I want to listen to every word," Ryder let out. "I''m not taking any risk here. If there''s anything even the slightest bit suspicious, I''ll shoot your brains out," Ryder added. Jameson nodded his head, but he didn''t look as scared as an average person would. He was relatively calm as if he had been in dangerous situations before, and he knew how to behave. He walked to the bed and picked his phone up. He called a number right before Ryder''s eyes. He also turned on the speakers. Ryder could hear the ringing. "Hey Jameson, what''s up? How did you call me today?" Ryder heard a deep sounding voice through the phone, which kind of matched the image of Pasher he had in mind. "I have some things to talk to you about. They can''t be talked over on the phone, but I can''t leave the city either for reasons. Can you take a flight here? It''s really important," Jameson replied. "Is this about that project we talked about? I was wondering why you were delaying it. Are there problems?" Pasher inquired. He didn''t agree straight away. "Don''t talk about that on the phone. I''ll tell you everything when you get here." Jameson responded. "I can''t come, man. I''m in India at the moment. I came here for business. I can''t just leave. This whole week is really important for me. How about we talk on a satellite phone? No one can hear us, and it would be safe, too," Pasher suggested. Ryder was disappointed as he heard the response. Pasher wasn''t in the country either. Let alone the other end of the country; he was on the other end of the world. "Whatever you''re dealing with can''t be more important. I''m telling you that if you don''t come here soon, we might both go bankrupt. Just listen to me and stop creating trouble for me. Just make an excuse to delay whatever deal you''re having there or send someone else. You being here is most important!" Jameson let out in annoyance. "You sound really serious. Did someone get caught? Is that why I didn''t hear any news of the bla..." As soon as Pasher started speaking about that, Jameson was visibly uncomfortable. "Shut up, man! I told you to come here and not talk on the phone!" Jameson cut Pasher off. "Alright. I''ll see what I can do. The best I can do is leave India tomorrow and get to the states," Pasher realized that he couldn''t talk about that on the phone and agreed to come back as an apology. "I''ll delay my stuff here. Sigh, I will be really angry if it''s a false alarm, and I lose my contract in India because of you, though." Pasher disconnected the call. "Are you satisfied now? He will be coming to this city. He will be here the day after tomorrow," Jameson replied as he placed the phone back on the bed. "That delays my plan. I guess I would have to stay with you for two days," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "I knew that you might say that. You want him here, and you won''t leave me alone before he''s here, but can you really keep me in my room for two days without anyone being suspicious? I have many meetings today and tomorrow," Jameson replied. "You can leave your number behind. I''ll call you when Pasher gets here." Ryder looked at Jameson weirdly, not understanding if he was joking or being serious. "Either you''re joking, or you''re a special kind of genius. How I handle whatever comes next is on me. You just need to stay here and listen to me for the next two days if you don''t want to die," Ryder told Jameson. ***** On the ground floor of Jameson''s Mansion, the FBI team was waiting with Jameson''s security team head. "It has been over ten minutes. Is he coming or not? We have more important things to do," Riya said to the Security Head as she looked at her watch. "We are here to ask him some questions, but I can''t help but find him guilty of something because he''s hiding. Is he really that afraid of the FBI?" Jacob chimed in. "Let''s wait more. We are in someone else''s house, and there might be reasons. It''s only ten minutes," Ray let out, telling his teammates to stay calm. He wasn''t worried. If Jameson was already scared, then it was even better. It would be good if he were already calling someone since they had already begun recording his calls. Their mission today wasn''t to seriously interrogate but to scare Jameson and to make him take a wrong step. If they could do this by sitting on the couch, then there was nothing wrong with it. **** Jameson was in his room, waiting. He hadn''t informed Ryder about the FBI''s arrival here since he was waiting for them to create a commotion that would need him to go out. As soon as he was out of Ryder''s reach, everything was to be fine. 192 Chapter 188: Experimen "I remember Pasher was talking about something before you cut him off. I can''t help but wonder if he was talking about blowing up the amusement park, was he?" Ryder asked Jameson. "That would have come in the news for sure." Jameson had looked calm most of the time. Even when Ryder had shown him the gun, he still hadn''t looked anxious, but it was suddenly different. As soon as Ryder mentioned the blowing up of the amusement park, Jameson became anxious. A deep frown appeared on his face as he glanced at Ryder. "What are you talking about?" He asked, acting ignorantly. Even though he wanted to ask how Ryder knew it, he didn''t do it since that would prove that it was the truth. He wanted to deny it completely, and the best way to do that was to not even acknowledge it. "Of course you know what I''m talking about. I know about it as well. I killed the guy who you sent to set things up, too," Ryder chuckled. "What did you think happened to him? Did you think that he escaped with whatever money you gave him?" "You killed him?" Jameson inquired, as a frown covered his face. "Yeah, I think I shot him two times, or maybe it was one, I don''t remember how many times I shot him," Ryder muttered as he placed his finger on his chin. "I''m sure you''re curious. You want to know why I did that, don''t you?" Ryder inquired as he chuckled. "Don''t worry; it was not to stop whatever plan you were hatching. I just happened to be present in that park that day. That bastard hit me while walking and didn''t even apologize. I took him to a corner and beat the shit out of him, but before I could shoot him, he started blabbering. He talked about how his bag had a bomb, and if I killed him, the whole place would be blown up." Ryder started using his bluff to make up a story. "I dealt with the bomb and, after that, interrogated him. After getting my answers, I shot him. Not a big deal," Ryder said casually. "He told me about the person who sent him to blow up the place and guess who that person was?" Ryder inquired as he enjoyed the deepening frown on Jameson''s face. Jameson heard Ryder''s question, but he already knew what Ryder was trying to make him say. He wondered if Ryder had a recorder, and he was an agent sent to take his confession. He refused to say anything. "What happened? Cat got your tongue? Anyway, I guess I''ll have to be the one who tells you. He said your name. Now I have a question. Why were you going to blow up your own property?" Ryder asked with an interested smile on his face Jameson just stood before him and didn''t say anything. Ryder sighed to himself. "I guess you don''t take me seriously anymore," Ryder muttered. The reason he wanted another gun was because the second gun was already set up with a silencer that made no notice when one was shot. Jameson was still not saying anything, and he was just looking at Ryder. He was really doubtful that Ryder was from the FBI and that he was undercover acting to be a criminal. He thought that the FBI had somehow caught the person he had sent to blow up the park, and they decided to enact this plan to get a confession out of him. The timing of the arrival of the FBI team and Ryder matched as well. He also believed that they talked about Pasher and made him call him just to throw him off so that he wouldn''t think too deeply when Ryder asked other questions. He also believed that Ryder wouldn''t shoot him. "I''m asking you one last time. Are you going to answer me or not?" Ryder inquired with a stern look on his face. Jameson still didn''t open his mouth. Ryder abruptly brought his hand forward with him and asked once again. Jameson still didn''t answer, but this time Ryder straight away shot the foot of Jameson. The bullet penetrated Jameson''s foot, making him scream like a pig. He dropped down to the ground and roared as loud as he could, but Ryder didn''t stop him and stayed there with a subtle smile on his face. "Hearing your scream gives me pleasure. Don''t know why, though. I must really hate you for not answering," Ryder chuckled. "Is that the best you can scream?!" Ryder thundered, not keeping his voice low. Jameson looked at him in shock. His eyes were blood red, and his face was pale because of the pain, but he was more shocked that Ryder hadn''t tried to keep him silent. Why wasn''t he worried for his men to come here? What was happening here? Didn''t he use a silencer because he wanted to keep the noise down, why was he not keeping his voice down then? "What Jameson didn''t know was that the gun Ryder was using was the one he had taken from the same person that Jameson had sent to blow up the amusement park. As for the silencer, that was just something that Ryder used as a decoy just to see this confused look on Jameson''s face. He had already warded the room by using an item from the system. It was the same item that he had used in the office of the Dean of the University of Dreamers when he went there to beat him. This was a precaution, and the item wasn''t much expensive either. After using it, it was impossible for any sound to leave this room. "You can scream as much as you want, but your guards won''t come here. As for a reason, I''ll leave that up to your guess," Ryder replied. "On another note, if you don''t answer me, your other leg will be gone as well. I''m not joking. You don''t know the psychopath you have come to face with. Answer me, or we can have a small experiment. Do you want to hear the experiment? It''s the same one I had with the guy you sent to blow up the park." "I''ll count to three, and if you don''t start answering, I''ll shoot your other leg, and then I''ll tell you about the experiment," Ryder added. 193 Chapter 189: Furious Agents "1..." Ryder started the count. "You bastard! My men will soon be here. I''ll see how you survive!" Jameson roared. The pain was evident on his face. "They won''t come even if you scream all day long. Also, 2..." Ryder let out. "I wi..." Jameson started speaking, but without letting him complete, Ryder shot his other leg as well. ''That''s for putting Alice''s life in danger,'' Ryder thought. Jameson started crying even louder. His eyes were covered in tears. "Aaaa, You bastard! You will go to hell! I was about to start speaking, yet you shot me!" he let out as he held his legs. "Oh, you were trying to answer me. Sorry, I thought you were going to repeat the same thing about not answering me. My bad," Ryder responded, but he didn''t mean it. "Anyway, now that we have already come here, let me tell you about the same experiment. The experiment is to see what hurts a person more. Being kicked between the legs or being shot between the legs. Are you going to answer me, or should I count to three again?" Ryder inquired. The name of the count itself was enough to send Jameson into a frenzy. He was already sweating as tears kept falling from his eyes. He couldn''t help but wonder how a dignified person like him had come down to this bad condition. "I will tell you! No counting! I will tell you everything you want to know!" Jameson declared. "Well, that''s no fun. Fine though. I can experiment with someone else. Start speaking," Ryder said as he sighed. "Tell me why you tried to blow up your own Amusement park," He added. "Because of Pasher!" Jameson declared. "Because of Pasher? I know that he is involved after hearing your conversation, but the main question is how he is involved," Ryder inquired. "We had a deal. He wanted to build a five-star hotel on the land. If we broke the park, he would be able to make the hotel, but he came up with a better idea. It was to blow up the amusement park, claim the insurance and then do the creation of the hotel in the land," Jameson declared. "Well, that was anticlimactic. I thought it was because of some evil plan or some sad history of the villain that made him hate kids having fun, but it was just for a fraud? Sigh, I''m disappointed in you," Ryder sighed as he let out. "That''s all we wanted. He had invested heavily in my company, so my profit was also his profit. I couldn''t deny him when he suggested this plan either," Jameson answered. "What about Estonia? Why did you want to kill her?" Ryder asked again. "Estonia?" Jameson was once again shocked as he heard the question. He couldn''t understand how Ryder knew about all these things. He was about to reply when his head started spinning. He had begun to feel weak. His legs had lost a lot of blood, and he wasn''t able to see clearly. "He''s unconscious. I should''ve practiced moderation when shooting him. Now I can''t do anything but wait," Ryder let out in annoyance as he brought out the spray that he had saved from last time he had used on the Dean of the University of Dreamers. It was a spray that was able to heal any wound, but it had a side effect. If it was used on a man, it made them impotent, and if it was used on women, it made them unable to have a child in the future. Since Jameson was not a friend, Ryder didn''t care if he was made impotent. Ryder stepped forth and sprayed on both of Jameson''s legs. Jameson''s legs started healing, and the bleeding stopped. In less than a few minutes, Jameson''s legs were healed. Ryder picked Jameson up and placed him on the bed. He also sat on the bed. He casually picked up Jameson''s phone that was lying on the bed. The phone was locked, but Ryder easily handled the lock. He used the fingerprint of Jameson to unlock the phone. As soon as the phone was unlocked, Ryder opened the contacts of Jameson. He opened Pasher''s number. He also brought out his phone and saved the number in his phone. He placed his phone back and started going through the contacts of Jameson to see if there was something of value in there. He hadn''t even scrolled once when a message arrived on Jameson''s phone. Ryder opened the message and started reading it. "Boss, The FBI team is waiting for you. They are getting impatient. They are asking how long it would be before you come. What should I tell them?" Ryder couldn''t help but be stunned as he read the message. "FBI? What are they doing here? It would be troublesome if they came to meet Jameson," Ryder muttered. "I can reverse time, but that wouldn''t be useful. Since the FBI is here, I need to save that for an emergency." He started typing a message. "Tell them that I''m not feeling well and that I have fallen asleep. Have them come another time. I won''t meet anyone today." Ryder sent the message. ***** Daga was the security head of Jameson. He had just sent a message to Jameson to ask about his arrival and only after a few seconds, he got a message back. He read the message and nodded his head. He walked towards the team of the FBI that was sitting on the couch, waiting. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I have received the information from the Head Maid that the Master is sleeping. He also has a slight fever. I don''t think that he would be able to meet you today. I sincerely apologize. Please come again some other time," Daga told Ray and others. "We can''t leave without seeing Jameson. I wouldn''t disturb him too much, but we can''t leave without getting what we need. We have already shown you the investigation warrant, and we have to finish it today. We have already waited enough here. Either call him down, or we''ll go find him ourselves," Ray declared as he stood up. He was finally annoyed and feeling disrespected. Not for himself, but for the organization he worked for. "Don''t think you can treat us this way! We are not here to ask him for any favor, it''s an official FBI matter, and we have already waited long enough. That''s enough time," Riya also chimed in. 194 Chapter 190: Surrounded? "You can either call him down, or we can seal this whole mansion and arrest your master. Don''t think we don''t have the authority to do it. We are in full authority here," Jacob declared as he pointed his finger at Daga. "Are you trying to threaten me? I have worked in law enforcement for 21 years, and I know some things. You can''t force your way in. You have an interrogation warrant, but you don''t have the search warrant to search the house. If you try to do anything inside this mansion, that would be illegal, and we will be well within our rights as the security of this mansion to gun you down," Daga responded without backing off. He was loyal to Jameson, and he was willing to do anything to make sure that his command was followed. Daga was already in a bulletproof vest, and he was carrying a heavy gun, which already made him look intimidating to the agents. "As for the Interrogation Warrant, you can give that to me, and it''s for our boss to decide if he is available or not. If for certain health-related reasons, he''s not available, then you can''t force him as well. You can place non-compliance on him, but that will be handled in the court of law. That''s all I''ll say for now. I''m not going to wake my feverish master for you. I must ask you to leave our place," Daga said as he gestured for them to leave. "You a...." Jacob was instantly angry as he pulled out his gun and pointed his gun towards Daga, but as soon as his gun was pulled out, all the security guards of the mansion also pulled out their guns and aimed that at Ray and others. "Little guy, don''t give us any reason to shoot. You know as well as I that it would be legal and self-defense. We have cameras right above us. It''s clear that you pulled out the gun first. Silently leave, or you won''t be capable of leaving!" Daga let out. There was a frown on his face as he glared at Jacob. "Jacob, let''s go," Ray told Jacob as he started walking towards the exit without creating any commotion. "But..." Jacob wanted to say something, but Riya placed a hand on his shoulder. "Listen to him. Let''s leave," She said as she started walking towards the exit as well. "Hmph," Jacob snorted as he glared at Daga before he lowered his gun and left the mansion with Milana. Jacob got into the car after Riya and Ray. "We had all the authority there. They can''t stop us! We didn''t have to leave!" Jacob said to Ray. "Now, it looks like we were scared!" "It was a tactical retreat. They wouldn''t allow us to meet Jameson, and the four of us couldn''t do anything. We need the Chief''s permission to do anything. Let me consult him first," Ray said to Jacob as he sighed. "Riya, you opened the server to see if Jameson had called anyone in the last half an hour or not. I want to hear the recording if he called anyone," Ray told Riya. Riya nodded her head and opened the laptop. "Is that so, Alright. Check if he had called anyone or not. If he hadn''t, then he''s not worried about it yet. In that case, you have full authority to surround their place. I''m sending backup. I''ll also get you a search warrant. It would be even better if we could arrest him for non-compliance. It doesn''t matter much if we ask him questions in his home or in a cell since both would work the same to agitate him," the Chief told Ray. "I understand. We''re checking the recordings now. I''ll keep you updated," Ray said before he disconnected the call. Ray looked back at Riya, who was wearing a headphone and listening to something. "Anything?" Ray asked her as he tapped her shoulder. Riya took off her headphones. "Yeah, Jameson talked to two people in the last half an hour. One of them was his Head of Security, who told him of our arrival," Riya replied. She disconnected the headphones and played the recording for everyone to hear. Ray couldn''t help but place his hands on his chin as he heard the first recording. It was nothing serious and just a message being conveyed about their arrival. "He doesn''t sound worried after hearing about our arrival. He also talked about coming down, and I didn''t feel like he was lying. What happened after that call, which made him not come down?" Ray muttered with a frown on his face. "Alright. Who was the second person he talked to?" Ray asked Riya. "He called a person called Pasha Stan after a few minutes from the first call. I searched about him, and he is the owner of a construction company. Pasher is also a shareholder in Jameson''s business." Riya answered to Ray. "Alright. Play that recording," Ray told her. Riya tapped a few keys on the keyboard and started playing the second call. All of them heard the recordings, and they were all left confused after the recording was finished. "What is this all about? It sounds like something did happen. What was this talk about going bankrupt," Milana inquired in confusion. "We got it, but it wasn''t clear. You guys heard it, right? Pasher was talking about something about news before he was cut off. He had said bla; I think he was trying to say blast. It might be something related to uprising. We need to get him in. We are going with plan b. We are arresting him and taking him to a cell. Let me inform the chief and have the backup fast," He said as he picked up his phone and called the chief again. He conveyed everything they found out and suggested some things. He disconnected the call after he got all the permissions. "Are we getting the backup?" Riya asked Ray as she saw him disconnect the call. "Yeah, they''ll be here in twenty minutes. Milana, keep an eye on the place to make sure that no one leaves. Riya, Jacob, wear the safety measures. It might be a big day," Ray let out as he stood up and started wearing the bulletproof vest. The others also started getting ready for a confrontation. "We''ll get that bastard and that security head," Jacob muttered as he checked his guns to make sure that they were ready for what might be ahead. 195 Chapter 191: Mission to attack FBI Ryder picked up the phone once again after a few seconds and messaged the security head asking for the details. He wanted to know if the FBI was gone or not. He was hoping to get a message like last time, but instead of getting a message, he got a call directly. Ryder looked at the number of Daga and started frowning. If he picked up the call, Daga would instantly recognize that he''s not Jameson from his voice, and if he didn''t pick up, he would definitely be suspicious. "Looks like I have no choice but to take a loan from the system," He muttered as he smiled wryly. "I will also need a few more items." "Hey Janus, I would like another Origin Points loan from you," Ryder asked Janus. Janus agreed and gave him Origin Points on loan. Ryder opened the Store of the System and started scrolling down. He had seen an item before, and he wanted to get that along with a few others that he believed to be useful here. "There it is," He muttered as he found what he was looking for. \u003cName: Voice Modification Pill\u003e \u003cDescription: Exchange your voice with the first person you touch after eating the pill\u003e \u003cWarning: Effects last for a day\u003e Ryder clicked on the pill and purchased it. He scrolled once again and bought a few other items. The call was disconnected, but the phone started ringing again. "Wait a minute, dude," Ryder muttered in annoyance as he closed the store. He placed the pill in his mouth and swallowed it instantly. He touched Jameson, that was lying on the bed. As soon as he touched Jameson, he could feel something change in his throat. "Testing." He tried talking, and a smile appeared on his face as his voice sounded exactly like Jameson. He picked up the call of Daga. "Speak," Ryder said as soon as he picked up the call. "Ah, right, sir. I have sent the agents outside, but I don''t think they would stay out for long. They might try to get the search warrant to come inside the house. What do you want us to do?" Daga asked Ryder. "Explain in detail what you did? Why would they come back if you sent them properly and invited them another day?" Ryder asked with a frown on his face. "Did something serious happen?" Daga started talking about the conflict and how it ended with both sides getting serious. Ryder couldn''t help but facepalm himself. ''You idiot! If I had to offend them, why would I tell you to tell them that I was sick? Of course, they''ll come back. You literally insulted them,'' Ryder thought as he frowned, but he didn''t say that out loud. "I''ll call you back. Let me think for some time," Ryder let out as he disconnected the call. "Should I take him and leave while I have the chance?" Ryder wondered as he glanced at Jameson. "I should be able to leave while carrying him. That''s it. That''s what I''ll do. As long as I have him, I can get Pasher anywhere," Ryder muttered as he clenched his fist. He had already come to a conclusion. He was about to go ahead and pick up Jameson, but that''s when he heard Janus'' voice. \u003cHost has been assigned an Urgent Mission\u003e \u003cMission: Kill the FBI agent with a red bracelet in their hand\u003e \u003cMission Reward: The Loan would be forgiven\u003e \u003cMission Reward: Hundred Origin Points\u003e \u003cMission Reward: The Mask of Anonymity\u003e \u003cPunishment for Failure: Someone close to you will die in next five days\u003e \u003cTime limit: One day\u003e "Killing an FBI agent? Now, why the heck would I do that? Do you have any enmity with him?" Ryder asked Janus. "I don''t have any enmity or friendship with Mortals," Janus replied in a proud tone. "Whatever, can you at least tell me why that person needs to die? They shouldn''t be related to anything, and it''s the first time you''ve given a Mission to kill someone that is not a bad guy," Ryde asked with a frown. "Unless... that agent is a bad guy!" "I get it! He must be the bad guy!" Ryder came to a conclusion, mostly for the comfort of his state of mind. He didn''t know if he was close to reality or not, but that''s what he believed. "Even if I agreed to kill him, it''s going to be impossible, isn''t it? Unless I go out guns blazing and use my Ruler of Nature to stay alive, but they might recognize me from last time then. I''ll be linked to the Uprising and Jameson too. He might come on the TV and Pasher won''t come then. I don''t want to get that banner on me either. At least give me that Sniper Gun and the perfect aim again," Ryder asked Janus He believed that if he had the abilities that Janus gave him last time, he would easily kill the person from some nearby building. He would even be able to escape easily, but from the front, it would be troublesome. Janus didn''t reply. "Whatever. I guess I''ll just have to do it myself, full-on Rambo style," Ryder muttered as he raised his gun. "I''ll attack first, instead of waiting," Ryder let out as he looked towards the door. He believed that the agents should still be outside. He needed to leave and then kill them from outside so that he doesn''t involve Jameson or himself in it. He placed the mask of BirdMan back and wore the full face mask of One Attack man since he needed to hide every trail. He was also wearing gloves. He covered every part of his body and made sure that not even a little of his skin was showing. He picked up the phone and called Daga again. "No matter what happens, don''t let them enter the mansion if they try to," Ryder told Daga. "Also, make sure that no one disturbs me on my floor. I want true peace. I really have a headache." Daga agreed and promised that he wouldn''t let anyone enter the mansion. Ryder disconnected the call. He walked out of the room of Jameson and closed the door as he placed a sticker on it. ************************************ Author''s Note: Sorry for the interruption, but just wanted to inform you that this novel is also a part of the Win Win event. If any of you want, you can buy any Privilege of this novel and it would be a Massive support. Even the 1 coin privilege helps. 196 Chapter 192: You? Other than him, no one was able to open the door from inside or from outside. Also, the inside was sealed so that no voice could come out either. Ryder was carefree now as he walked towards the window. "Should I try flying? I can use other abilities of the bracelet in the real world, so flying should be possible too," Ryder muttered as he stood near the window. He jumped out of the window and started flying. He was able to fly, but he knew that he could only fly for less than an hour in a day. So he didn''t waste it. He looked around and saw a black SUV outside, which he believed to belong to the FBI. He flew toward the SUV and landed behind a tree that was near the black SUV. "Time to get to work," He muttered as he brought out a gun and tucked in the back and covered it with his shirt as he walked towards the car. He stopped before the window and knocked on the door. The window was dark from the outside, but it was transparent from the inside. The people inside the SUV could see him. Ray and the others saw a man in a full face mask and started frowning. Ray gestured for Jacob to open the door while being careful. He also brought his gun out and aimed it towards the door to shoot the man if he tried to do anything. Jacob opened the door carefully. As soon as the door was opened, Ryder was able to see inside. He saw Jacob dressed in SWAT gear along with others. He also noticed Ray and recognized him as the person he had saved before. "Who are you? Why are you hiding your face in public?" Jacob asked Ryder. "I am looking for the One Attack Man Fan Club. Can you tell me the directions?" Ryder asked as he lowered the pitch of his voice. His voice was still Jameson''s voice, so he wanted to make it hard to distinguish. He also tried to see the hands of the people, but he didn''t find any bracelets in their hands. He looked to the side and saw the girls sitting there, and by the grace of luck, he saw a bracelet in the hand on one of the girls that matched the one he was looking for. ''She should be the one I''m looking for,'' Ryder thought. "Sorry, we don''t know anything. Ask someone else," Jacob let out. He was about to close the door when he saw Ryder''s hand moving behind his back. "Stop moving your hand, or we will shoot! Get your hands above your head where I can see it!" Ray thundered as he saw Ryder''s hand going towards his back. "Sorry, can''t do," Ryder let out as he pulled out a gun. As soon as Ray saw the gun, he instantly shot. He had already aimed. His bullet penetrated Ryder''s head, but not before Ryder fired a shot. Surprisingly, his aim was also good. It shot the girl that was wearing the bracelet. The girl dropped instantly while Ryder dropped down to the ground. "No, No, No! Riya, Fuck!" Ray let out in worry as he turned back and saw that Riya was shot. "How is it that you''re still breathing?" Ray let out with a frown on his face as he noticed that Riya was still breathing perfectly fine despite being shot in the middle of the forehead. He checked her nerves, and that seemed fine as well. "Geez, there is no way out is there," Riya let out as she sat up as if nothing was wrong. There was a big hole in her forehead that wasn''t healing; still, she was sitting. Milana backed off in fear, but she couldn''t move too far away from Riya since she was in a car. Riya touched the hole in her forehead and sighed. "It''s going to be so hard to convince them to heal this for me. That idiot just had to shoot my head," Riya let out in annoyance. "I guess this Infiltration is over. Being shot in the forehead before the other agents is game over. I can''t even fake an excuse of miracle after waking up if we even go to the hospital. The only way to still keep this going is to kill you all. If no one saw me ''dying'', then Riya would still be a living agent of the FBI," Riya let out as she grinned. She raised her hand and gripped the neck of Milana, who was near her as she started choking her. "You''re from the BioTerror! Release Milana this instant!" Ray let out as he shot a bullet in Riya''s head as well. He kept firing and emptied his gun, but Riya didn''t fall down. Jacob''s hands were shaking as he saw a scene that he couldn''t believe. Someone he thought to be a close friend was a Bio Enhanced person, and she was the enemy! He also emptied his gun, trying to kill Riya to free Milana, but it didn''t work either. "You can shoot all you want. One repair cost the same. It doesn''t matter if there is one hole or fifty," Riya let out as she chuckled. There were more than five holes in her forehead. She looked so creepy that a normal person would be easily scared, but Ray and Jacob were more concerned about Milana. Seeing that the bullets weren''t working, Ray and Jacob decided to jump over Riya and use physical strength to free Milana. It didn''t matter how much they tried; they weren''t able to free Milana. Riya was just too strong. Milana was killed right before their eyes, and they weren''t able to free her. "I''ll save the leader for the last. Let me deal with my friend first," Riya said as she freed the dead body of Milana and gripped the neck of Jacob. "So you''re from the Uprising. I shouldn''t have doubted him. That organization is much bigger than I expected if they even sent someone in the FBI and they weren''t found out. Really Interesting," Riya was trying to kill Jacob when she and the others heard a voice. They all looked back and saw the person in the mask of One Attack Man standing behind them. The man entered the car and caught Riya by the throat as he pulled her out of the car. Jacob was freed as Riya was pulled out of the car. Riya crashed on the ground. 197 Chapter 193: Joining the Enemy? "I thought I was done, and I had killed you, but it won''t be over before you''re truly dead. Bullets don''t seem to work on you. Let me just cut you up then," Ryder muttered as he walked towards the girl lying on the ground. "His back... Is he the same person that helped us deal with the Bio Terrorists in Washington? He seems to have hostility from that organization and a lot of knowledge. No wonder he was able to find out the reality of Riya while we weren''t," Ray muttered as he recognized the back of the man before him. Another thing that proved to him that Ryder was the same person was that he hadn''t died either, just like that person wasn''t dying. Also, he was against Riya, who was probably from that evil organization. Ray was over ninety-nine percent sure that the person before him was the same person that helped him before, and he was over seventy percent sure that the person was Ryder. "Ahu, ahu," Jacob was coughing heavily as his neck was finally freed, and he was able to breathe. His heartbeat was fast, but it was getting normal as his neck was freed. "Is that really the one who helped you before? I can''t believe it. How did he survive that blast?" Jacob asked as he looked out of the car. He was having a hard time believing Ray''s theory. " I have no idea. There are so many things that don''t make sense, but they happen. That should be one of those mysteries. Every day, I''m finding my general knowledge of the world being shattered," Ray replied as he shook his head. He had realized that this world was a complicated place, and there was nothing that was unbelievable here. "Should we help him?" Jacob inquired as he looked at Ray. "Let''s just watch. I don''t think he seems to be worried," Ray replied. **** While Ray and Jacob were talking, Ryder was walking towards the girl with a sword in his hand that he had taken out from his storage. " It would''ve been much better if you were the one to attack me first as I would be able to get some experience, but that''s already impossible since I had to pull you out. I''m pretty annoyed at you," Ryder let out as he walked forth. "You''re the person that was in Washington, aren''t you? Who are you? Why are you trying to become an obstruction for Uprising? Did they not give you what you want? Tell me why you went rogue after they helped you evolve!" Riya let out loud. Her voice was so loud that it reached Ray as well. The girl believed that Ryder was one of them since he had a similar ability. She thought that he got the powers the same way as she got her abilities, and if he was still opposing Uprising and trying to destroy them, then he was a rogue, but that was only her assumption. She didn''t know that she was entirely wrong. To Ray and Jacob, this assumption sounded like a confession from her. They thought that she was talking about some secret. Ray believed even more and more that Ryder was part of some secret experiment, and now he had decided to fight against that evil organization by using their own powers. In Ray''s mind, Ryder was a Rogue hero, fighting the evil sound in the quest for some kind of revenge. "What the heck are you talking about? All I want is to kill you. Just die silently!" Ryder let out as he ran towards her and swung his sword towards her neck. He wanted to destroy her beyond repair. Just as his sword was about to land on her neck, Riya raised her hand and caught his sword with her bare hands. "Hmm?" Ryder looked weirdly at her hand, wondering how it wasn''t cut. Even though the sword was something that he bought from a normal store, it was still a sharp sword. "You can''t kill me, and I can''t kill you. You still have time. Join us," Riya said as she reached out her left hand to shake Ryder''s hand. "You''ll get many treasures if you join us." "That does sound good," Ryder replied as he reached out his hand and held her hand. "This can''t be!" Ray let out with a look of disbelief on his face. "When is the backup getting here? We might need to fight the both of them," Jacob said with a look of sadness on his face. He believed that Ryder had actually joined up with Riya. "They should be here soon," Ray said as he shook his head, frowning. Ryder was holding the hands of Riya, but he used that to pull her closer as he kicked her face. His boot landed on Riya''s face and made her fall down. His sword was freed from her grip. He raised her and smashed her on the ground. Cracks developed on the ground, and Riya''s head was smashed on it. "I don''t care for any organization, but I do need you for something," Ryder said as he gripped her neck and started running away with her. Riya struggled to free herself, but she couldn''t. "Wait," Ray called out as he ran after him, but he saw Ryder turning in a corner. As he reached there, he saw that it was completely empty. There was no one there. **** While Ray was looking around on the streets, Ryder was in the sky. He had already landed on the balcony of Jameson''s Mansion. He was holding Riya in a chokehold while he used his other hand to close her mouth. He entered the mansion and walked into Jameson''s room as he closed the door. He freed her inside the room. "Now, you can scream all you want," he let out as he smiled. "I''ll kill you!" Riya let out as she ran forward to attack Ryder. "Thunder," Ryder let out casually. "Aaaaa!" Riya screamed like crazy. As soon as the word escaped his lips, Riya was electrocuted. She screamed out loud as she dropped to her knees. ''The items are really fun to use. I might get addicted to buying things from the system store,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. 198 Chapter 194: The headquarters Riya was electrocuted because of another item that he bought before he stepped out of the mansion to kill her. It was another sticker. The person he placed this sticker on was electrocuted every time he said the word ''Thunder''. "I know that you don''t die, but I have many ways to kill you that you can''t even think of. I would have already killed you to complete my mission, but since you''re from Uprising, I want to use you to get some answers. Answer my questions, and I''ll let you go. Don''t answer me, and I''ll keep torturing you," Ryder told her. "The decision is yours." "First answer this. Do you have any chip in your brain that will kill you if you start answering me? It shouldn''t be useful since you''re still alive after being shot in the head a few times. Your brain is already blasted off. Still, tell me if you can answer without dying or not," Ryder asked her. "I can answer," The girl replied. "But I won''t answer." "That''s all I needed to know. As for how I get the answers out of you, leave that to me," Ryder said as he smiled. "Where is the headquarters of Uprising?" He asked the girl. "Ask that question in hell!" the girl let out as she suddenly attacked once more. "Thunder," Ryder muttered once more. Before she could touch him, she fell down on the ground as she groaned in pain. "You bastard! What kind of Dark Magic is this!" the girl roared furiously. "A magician never reveals his secrets, but you, on the other hand, need to reveal your secret. I can do this all day. Thunder," "Aaaa," The girl wriggled on the ground in pain as if her soul was burning with each electrification. "I''ll tell you! It''s in R...." The girl was about to speak, but her eyes when blank as soon as she started talking. White fog started coming out of her mouth as she stopped moving. \u003cMission Complete\u003e \u003cLoan of the host is forgiven\u003e \u003cHundred Origin Points added\u003e \u003cMask of Anonymity is given\u003e "She''s dead? Those guys really have some unique methods to kill the ones that are about to expose their secrets. The people that can die have the brain chip like thing, and the people that can''t die have something weird altogether. It seems impossible to find about them from small fries," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He stepped forth and started checking the clothes of Riya to see if divine useful was on her or not. He didn''t find anything useful. She didn''t have a phone, either. "A literal waste of time. At least I didn''t have to make the agents my enemy. They saw what I''m not on the enemy''s side. Also, this matter will keep them busy. They don''t try to get involved in Jameson''s interrogation since the matter of Uprising should be more important for them," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "He''s still unconscious. How long is he going to take?" Ryder wondered as he sighed. In the meantime, he opened his inventory to check the Mask of Anonymity that he had received. He didn''t know what it was, but it sounded somewhat intriguing. "A mask to impersonate the people that I killed? Incredible! With this, I can impersonate anyone that I killed¡ªeven the girls. My body size and my clothes will also change accordingly. Seems pretty useful for disguise," Ryder muttered as he saw the description. "Now, I don''t need to worry about keeping him alive anymore. I can kill him and take his place," Ryder muttered as he glanced at Jameson. "But first, I need my answers." He stretched his arms and started waiting for Jameson to wake up. **** Outside the mansion of Jameson, the backup teams had arrived in heavily armored vehicles. They were all dressed in their proper protective gear as they stepped out. "Jacob, you talk to them. Let me talk to Captain and tell him everything," Ray told Jacob as he saw the backup. Ray started talking to the Captain of their team. "Yes Sir, Riya was bio-enhanced as well. She didn''t die when he shot her in the head. We also shot her many times. She was definitely a spy." "Yes." "Yes." "No, Sir, I don''t know about that. The man disappeared with Riya. I don''t know where he went or what he will do to her. But I believe that he will probably find a way to kill her." "Yeah, Milana is dead. She instantly died." "Alright." "Yeah, I think the same." "Right." "Yes, we will continue our mission. We are taking Jameson in." Ray disconnected the call. He walked towards the guys that had arrived as a backup. "Jacob, I''ll need you to go back in the car. You need to accompany the body of Milana to the hospital for the further process," Ray told Jacob. "Are we not raiding this place?" Jacob inquired. "We are, but you won''t be. I need someone to take the body of Milana. She was our teammate. It would only be natural that one of us would go with her," Ray replied. "Alright. I''ll listen to you," Jacob agreed. **** Ryder was sitting in the room of Jameson, waiting for him to wake up, and he finally did. "Good. You''re finally up," Ryder said as he smiled. "Tell me about Estonia. Why did you want to kill her? That''s the only question I have left. We''ll be done after that, and we can both relax," Ryder told him. "I don''t know. Pasher requested me to help him kill the girl, and I did it," Jameson replied. He was also curious as to why Ryder was sounding like him, but he just saw that it was his hallucination. "Are you really telling the truth?" Ryder inquired. "Yes," Jameson replied. "Damn. I thought that you were the evil boss, but that''s Pasher. Fine, it''ll be over with his death. I need him for more important matters after all," Ryder muttered. He was continuing when he heard the gunshots. Even though this room prevented the voices inside from leaving, it didn''t stop the outside noise. "Looks like this matter didn''t divert their attention," Ryder muttered. Jameson''s phone started ringing. Ryder picked up the call. "Master, The place is under attack. The Swat us here as well, I think. We''ll do our best to stop them, but you should get out from the back," Daga explained amidst the sound of gunshots. 199 Chapter 195: Celebration "Don''t worry about them. Just stop them for five minutes. After five minutes, let them in. Allow them to come up as well," Ryder said as he disconnected the call. "What is happening?" Jameson asked with a frown. "Your death," Ryder let out as he shot Jameson with the gun he had taken from the girl. The bullet passed through Jameson''s head, killing him instantly. Since he was wearing the gloves, his fingerprints were not on the gun. He placed the gun in Jameson''s hands and left him lying dead in the bed, making it seem as if he had killed himself in fear of getting caught. Ryder stood up and left the room. He opened the window and flew outside. As he left the place, he looked in the bushes where he left the girl and found it empty. "As expected, she woke up. Whatever, I don''t care anymore. I''m done," Ryder muttered as he continued moving. He landed in an empty place and changed his clothes and took off his mask. He sent the old clothes back in his storage and wore the new ones, clearing every proof that he was somehow involved. His shoes were different, as well. He walked closer to the mall and entered in his car. He drove it away and got back home. Ryder entered his house and went to his room as he dropped down to his bed, tired. Since Alice wasn''t back yet, he also decided to order a pizza for himself. He closed his eyes and just rested on the bed, calmly. After twenty minutes, he heard a knock on the door. He stood up and walked to the door. He collected the pizza and walked back to his room. After he ate the pizza, he again dropped on the bed as he closed his eyes. He just wanted to sleep while he could. The day was too chaotic, and after it, this peace and silence seemed heavenly. "Janus, Do you have a wife?" Ryder muttered out of nowhere. "No," Janus replied. "A lover?" Ryder inquired "No," Janus repeated the same answer. "You don''t have a crush on Maia, do you?" Ryder asked. "No," Janus answered. "Good. I hate that one. If you ever decide to marry her, you''ll never have my blessing," Ryder replied. "I can''t marry her," Janus replied. "Why not? You can definitely marry her, but I won''t tell you to marry her," Ryder added. Ryder started feeling more sleepy with each passing second. "You''re a good guy, Janus. You''re sometimes an A**hole, but your good. Thank you for giving me life. Thank you for changing my life. Thank you..." Ryder fell asleep. "Thank you for giving me life... Thank you for changing my life," Janus repeated the same word. Janus didn''t say anything else and just went silent. Ryder slept like a baby in the silence of the house. In the evening, Alice also came home. She checked on Ryder and noticed that he was asleep. She silently left his room and went back to her room. The dinner was already prepared. He had dinner and walked back to his room. He laid in his bed as he wore the Divinity Glasses and got ready to Dive in. "Take me to Divinity," He muttered. He found himself back into the world of Divinity. He left his room and saw Miku standing there with clothes in her hand. "What happened?" Ryder inquired with a frown. "I brought you clothes to wear on the birthday celebration of the High Dukes," Miku said as she gave Ryder the clothes. "I''ll be right out," Ryder told her as he stepped inside the room. He wore the clothes that she gave. He also wrote the items that were given to the High Dukes during the coronation. He wore the Royal Crown, the Boots of Wind Blessing, and the robe. He was looking like a proper Royal, and the crown only made him look more dignified. He stepped out of his room, dressed like a king. "Is Rale up?" Ryder inquired. "No, Master Rale is still sleeping," Miku answered as she shook her head. "Alright. I''ll take the others from the Royal Guards and you with me. How many people can I bring?" Ryder inquired. "As a prince, you can bring as many people as you want, but it would be good to keep the number low. I believe that five people in your entourage should be enough. If Master Rale was up, then only he would be enough," Miku said. "It''s fine. Let him sleep. I''ll handle it without him. What''s the worst that can happen? It''s a birthday celebration, after all. Call Dale and tell him to bring three of the best people from the Royal Guards. We''re going soon," Ryder told Miku. "I''ll be in the hall waiting." Miku bowed her head in respect as she left to call Dale and the others. **** Ryder was sitting in the Hall when Miku came back with Dale and three other Royal Guards that had gone into the Undead Region with Ryder. "Alright, guys, let me remind you. Rale got hurt fighting me because he was not using his full strength in fear of harming me, and he was injured. As for our small trips, no one will talk about them," Ryder reminded his people. "Yes, Your Highness," They all placed their hands near their chest and bowed their head. "Good. Come after me. We''re going to High Duke Orisis''s birthday celebration," Ryder said as he started walking towards the exit. The others followed after him. They left the palace. "That one is his Palace, right?" Ryder asked as he pointed towards one of the palaces. "Yes. That''s the one," Miku reminded him. "Alright. Also, Miku, can you fly, or do you want me to help you?" Ryder asked Miku. Two beautiful wings appeared behind Miku''s back. "I can fly," Miku said with a smile on her face. "Alright." Ryder started flying towards the palace on the right. Miku and the others flew after him. They all landed before the Palace of High Duke Orisis. "Long Live the Prince." As soon as Ryder landed there, all the guards dropped down to their knees as they greeted Ryder since he was the Royal Prince. The door of the Palace was opened. "Stand," Ryder told them as he started walking towards the entrance. He entered the Palace with his men. 200 Chapter 196: Dangerous Ryder entered the beautiful palace of High Duke Oris and walked through the Red Carpet. He was being escorted by one of the maids when a woman came to him in a hurry. The woman was wearing a long white dress that perfectly covered her body, highlighting her figure. There was something wrapped in her waist that seemed like a Golden belt, but it seemed to match the style. Ryder recognized that girl as Felina. She was the girl that he had seen before. She was High Duke Oris'' daughter who had come to the Palace before to give him the invitation. "Your Highness, You''re here. I apologize for not being there to escort you. I thought that you would come after the others in the afternoon, but you''re the earliest," the girl told Ryder as she greeted him. "If I had known, I would be waiting outside," she added. "Don''t worry about this. I just wanted to greet High Duke Oris as soon as I can," Ryder said with a subtle smile on his face. "Where is he?" He asked Felina. "He''s still getting ready. I''ll take you to him," Felina replied. "It''s fine. Let him get ready," Ryder responded as he shook his head. "How about I show you the Palace in the meantime?" Felina suggested. "Sure. If there''s an interesting place here, I would love to see it," Ryder replied. Felina started escorting him and took him to a beautiful crystal garden. It was amazing as the ground seemed to be a big crystal that was purple in color. There were various crystal flowers coming out of the ground. "Interesting," Ryder muttered as he walked in the crystal garden. ''How did Divinity Developers come up with this idea? It''s indeed pretty,'' Ryder thought as he walked closer to a light green crystal flower. "Your Highness, Stop." He was about to touch the Crystal when Dale stopped him. "Your Highness, you would be injured if you touch them," Miku reminded Ryder as she pointed towards the Crystal. "These should be Red Crystal Flowers. They are only door looking, but they can be deadly if someone touches them." Ryder glanced back at Felina, wondering why she didn''t inform him that this place was so dangerous, but then again, he was a prince; maybe she thought that he knew. Felina, on the other hand, started clapping. "Amazing. Your Highness is indeed knowledgeable. He was able to recognize that these are not the Red Crystal Flowers, and thus he went ahead to touch them. I expected nothing less," Felina said with a smile on her face. Miku and Dale looked at her in confusion. "Only my Father and Master Rale had ever been able to recognize it correctly before. Now there''s a third name in that list," Felina said as she started walking ahead. She touched the Red Crystal Flower with a beautiful smile on her face. "That''s right. I recognized it, but I can only praise you for being alert for my safety. Keep it up," Ryder took the credit for his ignorance while telling Miku and the others to keep protecting him in the future. He didn''t want them to think that he knew anything and let him die. That would just waste one day for him. Ryder also reached out his hand to touch the flower. It had a smooth texture, and as soon as he touched it, he could feel something. It was as if his happiness was increasing somehow. He removed his hand. He could feel that this was like some kind of drug flower that had the person who touched it the feeling of ecstasy. Touching for some time was fine, but if he touched for a long time, he might get drunk just from it. "Thinking about it, May I ask if Master Rale won''t be here? It''s unusual for him to not be with Your Highness," Filana asked Ryder. "He''s back in the palace. He won''t come today. He''s a little unhealthy," Ryder replied as if it was a fact. "It''s not serious, but I forced him to rest. He should be fine after a good rest, according to the Physician." "Oh, Ok," Filana nodded her head. "Let me show you another great place then," Filana let out as she started walking towards the exit of the garden. As they were walking in the corridor, Filana saw another person. It was a maid that was walking towards them. "You''re here? Is father ready now?" She asked. "Yes. Master should be in the Great Hall now," the maid replied. "Oh, Good." Filana nodded her head. "Your Highness, Father, is ready. Do you wish to meet him now or continue the trip?" she asked Ryder. "I came here for High Duke Oris, that''s the main thing," Ryder replied in short. ''Alright. Understood," Filana nodded her head. She changed her direction and escorted Ryder and his team to the Great Hall. Ryder was brought inside the Great Hall of the Palace, which was almost as big as the Great Hall of Ryder''s Palace. It seemed only a little bit smaller. There were many seats placed all around the Hall in circles, making it seem like the seats were arranged as if a big round table was between them. Four of the Seats were bigger in size than the others, and one was even bigger than the four. Ryder assumed that the biggest one must be for the Royal Prince, that was himself. The other four were for the High Dukes. High Duke Oris was sitting on one of those chairs when he suddenly noticed Ryder. He stood up with a smile on his face. "You are here. If I had known about this, I would''ve told the others to come in the morning as well. Filana, Did you write the wrong time in the invitation?" High Duke Oris looked at Filana as if her mistake made Ryder come here before time. "It''s not that. I was just getting bored at the Palace. Also, it doesn''t matter if I''m early," Ryder responded as he walked closer to the High Duke. "Anyway, Congratulations on your Birthday, High Duke Oris. I wish you a long and prosperous life so that you can keep our people safe with me," Ryder let out as he congratulated the High Duke while keeping his Princely dignity. "Thank you," High Duke Oris responded. "Please have a seat. The others should be here soon," he told Ryder. Ryder nodded his head as he walked over to the biggest throne in the room and sat on it. Even though he wanted to respect the High Duke, he needed to give respect to his position as a Prince too, or it might return as a trouble for him in the future. Miku and the others stood behind him as they were part of his entourage. High Duke Oris sat on the chair next to him. A maid came and served the wine for them. Ryder took his first sip when he got the question that he was expecting. "Rale didn''t come with you? Is that guy neglecting his duties?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown. "He''s back in the palace, and I commanded him to stay here. If he comes, then that would be neglecting his duties, but as long as he''s in the Palace, he''s following my orders," Ryder replied casually as he took another sip. "I don''t understand. He shouldn''t leave your side when you''re outside the palace. It could be dangerous for you and for our Empire if something happened to you while you''re outside. Why would you tell him to stay back?" Ryder inquired. "Because he wasn''t healthy. We were sparring as a practice. While I was serious, he was not attacking me seriously since he was worried about harming me. He ended up getting injured. I told him to rest back home. He wasn''t willing, but he can''t refuse the commands, and I won''t let him leave injured," Ryder replied as he casually smiled. High Duke Oris was about to follow up with another question when Ryder changed the topic. "I only see 26 seats. Have you only invited High Dukes and Dukes?" Ryder inquired. "Yeah, those are the only ones I invited today. I couldn''t invite Marquis since there needs to be a proper hierarchy," High Duke Oris replied. "Oh, understood." Soon, people started arriving. The ones that were arriving were Dukes. All the Dukes greeted Ryder and Oris as they arrived. They started taking their seats, and they were served wines as well. Devilia also arrived. She was wearing a beautiful green dress. "Greetings, Your Highness," She greeted Ryder. She also greeted Oris. "Devilia, You''re looking as beautiful as always. It''s good to meet you again," Ryder replied as he smiled. He talked to her a little more before she went back to her seat. Soon, all the Dukes were there. The other High Dukes were still not there. 201 Chapter 197: Assaul "Since you''re all here, I wanted to tell you all something. I got the letters from all of you, inviting me to your Duchy for a visit. I have accepted all the invitations. Soon, I''ll start the visits. The orders of the visit might be random or according to the letter that I saw first. I will inform you all of the time when it''s decided. You guys can finish the preparation accordingly." "I would also prefer to talk to the people of your Dukedom directly. Something like I did during the Coronation. I want to see and give my message to my citizens. You guys can arrange for an event like that," Ryder replied. "Great, We would arrange everything, Your Highness," All the Dukes replied. "Good. I''ll also send some kind of message to the other Nine Dukes that couldn''t be here for some reason. You can also inform them if any of you lives near their place. Anyway, the Twenty-Six of you can start preparation after going back since the visit will be very soon," Ryder nodded his head. "That''s enough about my matters. Since it''s High Duke Oris'' birthday, I..." Ryder was speaking about something when there was an announcement of the arrival of a High Duke. Ryder glanced towards the entrance of the Hall, and after some time, an older man walked inside with a younger boy. The young boy looked like he was in his early twenties. Ryder recognized the older man as the strongest High Duke of the Demon Realm, High Duke Manga. He still remembered how High Duke Magna tried to kill him the first time when he found out that he was from the Blood Demon Species, but he calmed down after the others intervened. That was before his official coronation when Ryder was just an unknown boy who came here to prove that he was a disciple of their King, but now he was a Prince. his position was equal to a High Duke in the Hierarchy. His position was, in a way, even higher since he was able to use the Royal Command once as a prince, using that he could command the High Dukes to do anything. He didn''t feel like he would need that, though. He wasn''t going to wage war on the Death Domain or the Undead Region since he also liked peace. "Old Man Oris, congratulations on another successful year," High Duke Manga let out as soon as he entered the Great Hall. "Greetings to the Prince," He also greeted Ryder. "Greetings to you as well, High Duke Magna. Who is this young boy with you?" Ryder inquired. He was finding it weird that he was claiming a boy that seemed to be the same age as him like this, but because of his position, he was allowed to act like an older man. "This is my kid. Introduce yourself, little boy," High Duke Magna looked at the young boy and said. "Greetings, Your Highness. I''m Namag," The boy let out as he placed his hand on his chest and bowed his head lightly. The Demon Realm followed the hierarchy correctly. It was really important to them in most cases. "Oh, Your Son. Nice. He does look like you," Ryder let out as he smiled. "Take a seat," He told Magna. Magna walked to the seat that was on the other side of Ryder and sat on it. A chair was placed for Namag behind his father''s seat since his position was lower than Dukes and the High Dukes. He wasn''t yet allowed to sit beside them in the round chair formation. His seat and the seat of the other Important people that were lower in importance than Dukes were sitting behind the one that brought them. High Duke Magna had just seated when he was served the Wine. He took his first sip when another announcement was made of the arrival of another High Duke. It was the High Duke that was in the third-ranking according to strength amongst High Dukes. That was a common perception, though. Since the High Duke hadn''t fought in a long time, no one knew how strong they actually were. It was also a rumor that High Duke Oris had a possibility of being stronger than High Duke Magna. The Third High Duke was called High Duke Mila. She was a beautiful High Duke that looked really young. She was coming with another girl who looked like she was 18-19 years old. High Duke Mila and the other girl stopped before Ryder and greeted him before they gave the birthday wishes to High Duke Oris. "Who is this young girl? Is she your kid as well?" Ryder inquired. Despite High Duke Mila looking super young, Ryder knew that she was probably as old as Oris and Magna. It was possible that she brought her daughter just like High Duke Magna brought his son. "Not really. I don''t have a kid. I haven''t even found a man, so the kid seems impossible," Mila chucked as she heard Ryder''s assumption. "This is my Niece, Liasi. She is the daughter of my sister," She informed Ryder. "Oh, I understand. Have a seat," Ryde responded as he nodded his head. High Duke Mila wasn''t even seated when another announcement of a High Duke''s arrival was made. Ryder already knew who it was since there was only one High Duke that was left. It was the High Duke Eston, the Fourth High Duke. High Duke Eston seemed like a middle-aged man who was very intellectual. Ryder had a good impression of Eston. Ryder watched High Duke Eston coming with a young boy as well. The boy looked like he was 19-20 years old. The boy''s hair color was the same as the hair of High Duke Eston. He had light Green hair that came down to his shoulders. ''What is with all the High Dukes bringing a kid with them? Now all four of them have a kid with them here, whereas the Dukes came alone. Is this a tradition I don''t know about?'' Ryder thought with a frown. "Greetings, Your Highness," High Duke Eston greeted Ryder. The young boy also gave the same greetings as he placed his hand near his heart and bowed his head. "Happy birthday, old man." "Happy Birthday, Uncle Oris." After greeting Ryder, they wished Oris for his birthday. "Greetings to you two as well. High Duke Eston, aren''t you going to introduce me to this young man?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at High Duke Eston. "This is my young boy, Nosam," High Duke Eston introduced his son. "Oh, nice. Have a seat as well," Ryder responded to them. They walked over to the seats as well and sat down. Finally, everyone was there. There were four High Dukes and Thirty-five Dukes in the Demon Realm. Except for nine Dukes that had to refuse the celebration invitation for some important matter related to their Duchy, everyone else was here. One of the nine Dukes that wasn''t here was Duke Wuxin Orisis, who was commonly referred to as Duke Wuxin. He was the Duke that had doubted Ryder''s identity as the disciple of the King of Demon Realm and tried to take the Moon Scythe from him, but that only resulted in him getting poorly injured at that time. Ryder wondered if the nine actually had some matter or were they just not willing to come. Still, Ryder had got the invitation from all the Dukes to visit their Duchy, and the nine were amongst them as well. "Why is Rale not here?" High Duke Magna inquired as he noticed the absence of Rale. High Duke Oris gave the explanation that Ryder had given him. Before High Duke Magna could follow up with another statement, High Duke Oris commanded the beginning of the celebration. Floating tables appeared before them, and the servants started serving the food and even more wine. ***** Far away from the Demon Realm existed the Undead Region. One of the two strongest beings of the Undead Region was the Vampire King. He was furious as he had found the existence of Demon Blood in the Valley of Wandering Souls, where Vampire General Viden had gone missing. He doubted the Demons, and now he was arranging to go to the Demon Realm. "My King, are you really going to go alone? That place is dangerous. Please take our men with you. We can also talk with the forces of Death Domain if you wish to assault the Undead Region." Vampire King was looking at a paper talisman in his hand when he heard a voice from behind him. 202 Chapter 198: Vampire King in the Demon Realm "I''m not going there for a war. I''m going to get the answers. If they are to blame, I will do what I see fit. I won''t try to wage a full-on war with their High Dukes. I know what I''m going to do," The Vampire King let out as he looked at the paper talisman in his hand. The person behind him could feel the murderous tone in his voice. Just as he was about to reply, the Vampire King disappeared. The Vampire King appeared in an empty field, filled with sand in the middle of nowhere, but he knew that he was in the Demon Realm. He could feel a different kind of aura in this land. He started flying ahead. ***** Back in the Royal Palace of the High Duke, everyone was still in the mood of celebration. Even Ryder was enjoying the food and the vine. He believed that the food was just Virtual, and the taste was all because of the Divinity Glasses, but he still liked it. After an hour, people finished eating, but their drinking continued. "So guys, I think it''s the time to continue the tradition. It would be the first time His Highness will see it," High Duke Mila said with a beautiful smile on her face. Ryder looked at her in confusion, wondering what she was talking about. High Duke Oris noticed Ryder''s confusion and started explaining. "There''s a tradition that whenever there''s a birthday celebration of a High Duke, all High Duke''s bring one person who is young and is their closest relative. In most cases, they bring the kids," High Duke Oris said as he explained. He was about to continue his explanation, but his words were cut off by High Duke Mila, who finished the rest of the words. "The kids battle, and the winner gets one reward from all the High Dukes," High Duke Mila explained in short. High Duke Oris looked at her with a wry smile on his face. "Hey, don''t look at me like that. What was I supposed to do? You were going so slow that I couldn''t help but finish it fast," High Duke Mila said as she smiled innocently. "Hey Mila, It''s his birthday, you''re being a bad guest," High Duke Eston chimed in jokingly. "Interesting. Who won last time?" Ryder asked them. "Last time, it was Eston''s birthday. The winner that time was Magna''s Son, Namag," High Duke Oris explained. Magna looked somewhat proud as Oris said this. "Interesting. The competition sounds fun. Where will it be held?" Ryder inquired. He knew that the Kids of High Dukes would be really explosive since their levels would be pretty high, unlike Ryder. Since it was a battle between them, it would definitely be destructive, and it would need a special arena or something like that. "Right here," High Duke Mila said as she pointed towards the front. ''Isn''t this too small? Also, this great hall would be damaged,'' Ryder thought, but he didn''t say that. Since they wanted to have it here, there must be a reason. They must have some precautions ready for that scenario. "The pattern of battle is already decided. The first battle will be between Felina and Liasi. The second battle will be between Namag and Nosam," High Duke Magna declared. All of the High Dukes nodded their heads. "Felina, your turn to show your strength before His Highness," High Duke Oris said as he glanced at Felina, who was standing behind him. "Liasi, finally, it''s time for you to show your growth," High Duke Mila said as she chuckled. Both the girls stepped forth into the arena. High Duke Magna brought out a box that had a strange pattern carved on it and placed that on the ground. The box started shining as soon as it touched the ground. Suddenly, a barrier surrounded the ring and separated the girls from the High Dukes and the Dukes. ''So that''s what it is. This barrier will protect the people watching, and it will also restrict the damage to the great hall,'' Ryder thought as he nodded his head. Both the girls took their position opposite to each other. "Your Highness, please give your command to start the battle," High Duke Oris told Ryder. "Start the battle," Ryder declared. As soon as his words were heard by the girls inside, they started moving. Their speed was so fast that it surprised Ryder. He knew that they were stronger, but it seemed like the difference was too big. He had also tried to use the All-Seer, but despite that, he wasn''t able to see anything about them. Their status bar was just a big question mark. All it showed was their names that too, because Ryder had already known it. Felina appeared before Liasi and punched in the direction of her chest. Liasi punched back. Both of their fists collided. Even though the barrier made it impossible for Ryder to feel anything, just from the impact, he was able to see how powerful the attacks were. Both of the girls flew back and crashed on the barrier. They stood up again. Felina started attacking Liasi with her skills. Her skill seemed like a more powerful version of Ryder''s Shadow Ball. It was not only more powerful, but she was also able to cast ten shadow balls at once. The Shadow Balls flew towards Liasi like the bullets of a gun. Liasi made a sword using her skill. The sword was purely made of golden light. She used that sword to cut off the Shadow Balls. As soon as the Shadow Balls touched the sword of light, they were cut off in half. All the Shadow Balls were handled with ease. "Amazing. Liasi learned your special skill, Sword of Golden Light? This would indeed increase her strength," High Duke Eston said with praise. "Yeah. She didn''t know it last time as far as I know. She is definitely stronger than last time, but so should be everyone else," High Duke Magna said, not looking impressed. "Last time Namag fought Liasi in the first battle and won," High Duke Oris informed Ryder. "Is this Liasi''s strongest skill?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila. Mila simply smiled as she replied, "She knows a lot more tricks." "Felina looks pretty confident. If it''s Liasi''s best skill, I believe Felina would be able to handle it. She seems like she has something prepared as well," Ryder muttered as he noticed Felina''s expression. Felina raised her hand in the sky as a ball of black light appeared above her hand. The ball started changing shape and took the form of a black sword that seemed to be pitch black in color. "No way. How could she learn your Sword of Darkness at such a young age," High Duke Mila asked with a frown on her face. "You know that Sword of Darkness has no restriction about age. Also, Felina is quite talented when it comes to learning things from this old man," High Duke Oris replied as he smiled. Ryder looked at the battle with great interest. Liasi flew towards Felina as she thrust her sword towards her shoulder. ''''They are not targeting vitals. It''s good that they know that it''s a friendly battle,'' Ryder thought as he praised Liasi for not losing herself. Felina held her Sword of Dark Light and moved it in front of her chest to block the sword of Liasi. As soon as Liasi''s sword clashed with Felina''s sword, it''s light started to dim. It was as if the golden light was being corrupted by the darkness of the Black sword. Liasi didn''t put all her focus in the sword as she punched towards Felina''s face with her left hand, but before her fist could land, a kick landed on her stomach that threw her back. Liasi flew back like an arrow and crashed on the barrier once more as she landed on the ground. "It''s over!" High Duke Oris claimed as he smiled. High Duke Mila couldn''t help but sigh as she shook her head. High Duke Magna picked up the small square box once again, and the barrier disappeared. "It''s over?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at High Duke Oris. "Yes. There are a few rules made for this battle. Firstly, if one of the contenders touches the barrier twice, they are defeated. If a person falls down on the ground twice, they are defeated. Also, if no person is defeated in the first five minutes of the battle, then all the High Dukes will vote to select the winner based on their performance in the five minutes of the battle," High Duke Oris explained. "Oh," Ryder muttered as he understood what it meant. ''It was quite short. I thought it would be a long and fierce fight,'' Ryder thought as he shook his head. 203 Chapter 199: Revastan Felina walked back. Liasi also stood up and walked back. "Good performance, both of you," Ryder praised them as he smiled. They both thanked him before they walked to their place. "Time for a men''s battle now," High Duke Magna let out as he glanced back at his son. Namag stepped forth and entered the ring. High Duke Eston''s son, Nosam, also stepped forth and entered the arena. High Duke Magna placed the box down again. The barrier once again surrounded them. Both the guys took their position on the opposite ends of the arena. "You can start the battle," Ryder let out as he saw them getting ready. As soon as the words left his mouth, Nosam raised his head and split into two. The two parts once again divided into two each. They kept splitting until there were sixteen Nosam standing in the ring. "Clones?" Ryder muttered with a frown on his face as he saw the sixteen versions of High Duke Eston''s son. ''These guys have some really amazing skills. If they were monsters, I would definitely hunt them to take the skills using skill absorption,'' Ryder thought as he looked at Nosam. Nomag was moving ahead to attack, but he was suddenly confused as he saw sixteen Nosam. "I guess your boy learned some new tricks as well," High Duke Magna said to High Duke Eston. "He sure did. The boy had a good mind for growth. The only thing that he lacks is the decision making abilities in tense situations. If he can handle that, he has a high chance of winning. On the other hand, if he fumbled there, he would lose," High Duke Eston replied with an honest observation. "He would lose even if he did everything that you wish him to do. It is impossible to win against true strength," High Duke Magna said in a solemn tone. Nomag attacked one of the sixteen Nosam who he believed to be the real one. Nosam flew back like a broken kite and crashed on the barrier. Nomag soon realized that it was the fake one when the version that had hit the barrier disappeared. The fifteen other Nosams had surrounded Nomag from all around. "This will be the end," All fifteen Nosam said at the same time as they started running towards Nomag. "Flame of Destruction," Nomag let out loud as he punched the ground with his fist, using all the force he could. Ryder felt the ground shake as soon as Nomag''s punch landed on the ground. What happened next was even more terrifying. He saw the whole barrier filled with fire. There was nothing that could be seen inside the barrier. Ryder couldn''t see what was happening inside. After a few minutes, the fire disappeared, and the scene inside became visible to all of them. There was only one Nosam left inside the barrier. All the fake versions were destroyed in that attack. The one that was left was also lying on the ground. Nosam stood up with shaking steps, but just as he stood up, he saw Nomag standing before him. Nomag gripped his neck and threw him back. Nosam crashed on the barrier. "That''s second. Nomag won," High Duke Magna said as he picked up the small box. The barrier disappeared. Nomag walked back to his father. Nosam also followed behind "You fumbled. After falling on the ground, you forgot what to do next. You still need to work on your critical thinking," High Duke Eston told his son, shaking his head. "It was a good battle. Our Demon Realm has a lot of talent. I''m happy. Your performance was good," Ryder let out as he looked at the boys. The boys thanked Ryder. They walked behind their fathers. Only one of them had their head held high, though. "I thought the battles would take a long time, but It was really fast. I guess soon we will know the winner. Since it''s going to be the final battle and you guys are giving the awards to the winner, as a Prince, I can''t fall behind. I will also reward the winner. Do your best," Ryder said as he looked back at Felina and Nomag. Even though he was acting neutral, he preferred Felina to win. Even though he believed that Nomag was a talented individual, Felina was someone he knew from before. Also, It was High Duke Oris'' birthday. The victory of his daughter would definitely make him happy. "Go on. Let''s get it done with," High Duke Magna said as he looked back at Nomag. "Best of luck for your final battle. Try your best," High Duke Oris told his daughter. Nomag and Felina walked into the ring. High Duke Magna put down the small box on the ground once again. A barrier again surrounded the both of them. The barrier seemed like it was made of glass. That''s what Ryder felt. It seemed like some kind of damage absorbing glass that appeared near the box from the storage space of High Duke Magna. It was definitely a treasure, according to Ryder. "Should we start?" High Duke Oris asked Ryder, who seemed like he was suddenly more focused on the barrier. "Oh, Right. It''s going to be the last fight. Give it your best. You can start at the count of three. Till then, you can prepare," Ryder told them before he started the count. "One..." Both of them got into the opposite side of the field as they got ready to use their skills instantly when the fight started. "Two..." "Three..." At the count of three, Felina brought out the Sword of Darkness as she flew towards Nomag. ''Is she making the same mistake?'' Ryder wondered as she saw her flying at Nomag with her sword. "Flame of Destruction!" Nomag let out loud as he packed his fist and punched the ground. Ryder once again felt the ground shake. Another wave of fire filled the barrier, making it difficult for them to see what was happening inside. After a few seconds, the fire disappeared. Ryder was able to see inside, but the scene was different than last time. Both of them were still standing inside the ring, and none of them was injured. Felina wasn''t even harmed in the least against all expectations of Ryder. Ryder noticed that the Sword of Darkness was stabbed into the ground before Felina. "She even learned the barrier of the sword? Interesting," High Duke Magna muttered. "Hahaha, yeah. As I said, she''s very talented when it comes to learning my skills. Your son is very talented, as well. His progress is really fast since the last time I saw him," High Duke Magna said. Felina pulled out her sword from the ground and once again started flying towards Nomag. "You want to fight with strength, very well!" Nomag let out as a red sword of Fire appeared in his hand. ''They all have a sword related skills from what I see, and all their abilities are different,'' Ryder thought as he saw the sword of Fire in Nomag''s hand. Felina reached near Nomag and attacked with her sword. Both of their swords clashed, creating a wind blast. The Darkness of Felina''s sword tried to corrupt the flames of Nomag''s sword, whereas the Fire of Nomag''s sword burned the darkness of Felina''s sword. ''Their swords seem to counter each other. I guess they are a reflection of Magna and Oris," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. The Battle of Sword continued, and both sides seemed to be on almost equal footing. Nomag seemed slightly stronger. Even though very slightly, Felina was being pushed back. Felina tapped the ground with her right foot twice in quick succession as she muttered, "Bindings," Tens of vines came out from the ground and wrapped Nomag''s hands and legs. They stood him from moving. No matter how much he tried, he wasn''t able to live even an inch. His hands were, and his legs were trapped in their position. "How could she know Bindings?" High Duke Eston exclaimed in shock. High Duke Mia also looked at the Battle with a stunned expression as well. "I guess this battle''s conclusion is already clear. Felina will win," She muttered. "We will have a new winner this time." High Duke Oris was smiling while High Duke Magna had a frown on his face. Nomag''s face was facing them while Felina''s back was facing them. High Duke Magna noticed Nomag''s eyes changing colors. "No, Nomag! Don''t use that! You haven''t mastered that yet!" High Duke Magna suddenly called out, but it didn''t seem like Nomag was able to hear. It was also possible that he ignored the words since he believed that he could do it successfully. "Revastan!" Nomag let out softly. Even though he said the words in a low voice, almost everyone managed to hear it. All their faces lost color. "Felina, get down on the ground now!" High Duke Oris screamed loudly. 204 Chapter 200: Clash with the Vampire King As soon as Felina heard the scream of High Duke Oris, she got alert. She instantly dropped down to the ground. Just as she laid down on the ground, thousands of dark red needles came out of Nomag''s body and flew in every direction, all around him. The needles were faster than lightning as they struck the barrier. Cracks started developing on the barrier, but instantly, another round of needles came. The barrier broke, and the needles spread everywhere. Since it was an attack of Nomag that was at a much higher level than High Duke Magna had assumed the battles to have, the barrier was broken instantly. If he knew that Nomag would use the skill he told him to not use before mastering it, then he would have used a stronger barrier, but he only used the one that he thought to be most appropriate. The barrier was broken, and the needles were flying everywhere, but the Dukes weren''t worried about themselves since this attack was from a kid. Even though it was a strong attack, Nomag wasn''t able to bring out its full powers. They were easily able to protect themselves against these Needles by simply dodging, but there was one person that couldn''t stop the needle. Ryder knew that he would be badly hurt if the needle hit them. Just as the Needle got near him, High Duke Magna jumped to his left and pushed Ryder. Both High Duke Magna and Ryder fell down on the ground as the Needle passed, missing Ryder. High Duke Magna knew that if something happened to Ryder because of his son, then his son would definitely be executed. He needed to save Ryder at all costs. Ryder was the Prince, and his death was going to be a big matter, and he wouldn''t be able to save his son in case of a mishap. Since Ryder was still holding the Wine glass in his hand, as soon as he fell down, the glass broke in his hand. The glass stabbed his skin and made him bleed. Ryder''s hand started bleeding. "Your Highness, are you alright?" High Duke Oris let out as he helped Ryder up. "Yeah, it''s nothing. I am perfectly fine," Ryder let out as he noticed that his hand had healed because of his nature of healing, but the blood was still left on his hand. Just as he was about to wipe the blood, a terrifying aura filled the place. Ryder could feel the atmosphere getting cold. He even forgot to wipe his hand, which was covered in his blood. The High Dukes started looking towards the entrance of the Great Hall in full seriousness. "We have guests; it seems," High Duke Mila muttered. After a few seconds, they saw a person step inside the Great Hall. It was a man who looked like he was in his thirties. The man had a muscular body. His nails were blood red in color and looked as sharp as the wolf''s claws. There was also a necklace around his neck, which had a big red crystal inside it near his chest. The Person had short silver hair that only came down to his shoulders behind his back. His eyes were blood-red, which seemed like the eyes of a hungry wolf. "Vampire King, I don''t remember sending you an invitation to my birthday. It''s fine, though. We welcome all guests. Since you''re here, how about, you have a drink?" High Duke Oris joked as he saw Vampire King coming in uninvited. "I don''t think you brought your army here. So this doesn''t seem like an invasion. What brought you here?" High Duke Magna let out with a frown. He was more straight on point. While the High Dukes were talking to him, they noticed that his focus was not on them. The Vampire King was gazing at Ryder. More specifically, he was looking at Ryder''s hand. "It''s the same blood I found there. It smells the same. You were there!" The Vampire King let out as a powerful aura appeared around him. He was the King of Vampires, and he had a particular link with blood. He could recognize the smell of the blood as long as it was not inside someone''s body. When the blood was inside the body, it was surrounded by the force of life, which prevented his senses, but when a person was bleeding, or the blood was outside, he could smell that. He had smelled the blood in the Valley of Wandering Souls and found Ryder''s floor to match the blood there. "Vampire King, I don''t think your intentions are right. You can''t talk to our Crown Prince like that!" High Duke Milana chided the Vampire King. "I am here to take my men back! Where is Viden! Give him back, and I''ll leave" Vampire King ignored her words and asked Ryder in a loud tone. ''Crap, he knows. How is this possible? We made sure that no one knew about us there,'' Ryder thought with a frown when he suddenly noticed the dried blood on his hand that had instantly dried. ''Fuck, it''s the blood! He must''ve gotten a smell of the blood! How can I be so careless!'' Ryder scolded himself in his mind, but on his face, he kept a calm expression. "You must be the Vampire King. I''m the Crown Prince of the Demon Realm. If you can tell me who this Viden is, I might be able to help you find him in the Demon Realm if he''s here," Ryder let out in a normal tone. No guilt was visible on his face. "I came here alone, not to fight, but to take Viden back! Give him to me if he''s alive. Otherwise, I''d be forced to believe that you have killed him!" Vampire King once again let out. "What the heck are you talking about! Why would we know the whereabouts of your men!" High Duke Elton let out, shaking his head. "All of you can lie, but I know that one or more High Dukes came to the Undead Region with him! You guys entered the Valley of Wandering Soul and took the gem of the Guardian of the Valley, but I don''t care about the gem. Give me Viden that you kidnapped, and I will leave, otherwise..." The Vampire King declared, but before he could finish, High Duke Magna cut him off. "Vampire King! Don''t forget that this is not your Undead Region! This is the Demon Realm! Don''t ever try to threaten us or the result won''t be good!" High Duke Magna let out furiously. "All of you are the same. I thought that the Death Domain was bad for using our people like weapons, but you guys are just the same. I feel disgusted just being in this dirty place. I will ask once again. Will you tell me where Viden is, or have you killed him already?" Vampire King asked Ryder in a stern tone. "You..." High Duke Magna was about to say something when Ryder stopped him. "There is no benefit in getting angry. Let me talk to him," Ryder told Magna before he started looking at the Vampire King. "As I said before, there must be a misunderstanding. I don''t think any of us have left the Demon Realm. I have been here for a long time. Also, I don''t think any of us have time to go to the Undead Region. As for the gems, Our Demon Realm has tons of gems. Why would we go to take yours? There are already so many matters for us to handle. Whatever misunderstanding there is between us, let us handle it through talks. If you need any help to find your men, the Demon Realm will be willing to help you," Ryder said as he took a single step forth. "You hypocrite!" The Vampire King thundered as he lost his calm after seeing Ryder talk like an innocent person even after he knew that Ryder had been to the Undead Region. He disappeared from his position and appeared before Ryder as he reached out his hand towards Ryder''s neck. "Where do you think you are!" High Duke Magna said as he moved like lightning and held the hand of the Vampire King that was reaching out towards Ryder and threw him away. The Vampire King crashed on the wall. The wall of the Great Hall was broken as Vampire King flew outside. "Mila, take His Highness and the others away. He might be injured if he stays here. We''ll handle the Vampire King," High Duke Oris let out as he cracked his knuckles. "You don''t need to get involved. I am enough for him," High Duke Magna let out in annoyance. "We can finish it fast if it''s the two of us. Also, don''t underestimate the enemy," High Duke Oris said as he smiled. "Your Highness, let''s leave," High Duke Mika said as she reached out her hand. "You won''t leave! You are the main culprit! I won''t leave before I kill you!" The Vampire King roared as he flew back inside the Great Hall. 205 Chapter 201: Changing the future "Get out of here; we will deal with him!" High Duke Oris told Ryder as he glanced back. High Duke Magna was still keeping an eye on the Vampire King. He was alert to prevent the Vampire King if he tried attacking. "It''s all because of the blood. I''ll just undo that then," Ryder let out as he shook his head while refusing to leave. He knew that the battle would only escalate if he left, which would only make the relationship between both our realms even more troublesome. If he left, then the things would deescalate very fast. Whatever happened from that point onwards will only result in the Neutral Undead Region hating the Demon Realm even more. That would mean that the Death Domain would get another ally, increasing their strength. It would simply make them stronger. "I can only go back for a short time and only once a day. Hopefully, I would be able to change the outcome," Ryder muttered as he glanced at the Vampire King. "Is there really nothing that we can do to stop the fighting?" He asked the Vampire King just to be sure. "You Shameless bastard!" The vampire King thundered as he moved so fast that it seemed like he disappeared. High Duke Magna also moved simultaneously. "Goodbye," Ryder muttered as he instantly used his Ruler of Time and went back in time. He was only able to use it once a day, and he decided to use it now. **** Ryder found himself back in time. The battle between the son of High Duke Magna, Nomag, and the son of High Duke Eston, Nosam, was taking place. Both of them were inside the barrier, and the fight has just begun. Ryder looked at his hand, and the glass of wine was still there. He breathed a sigh of relief, but he knew that the trouble was still not over. The Vampire King was probably on his way. The battle was soon ever, and the outcome was the same as last time. Nomag has won the battle once more. High Duke Magna picked up the box and deactivated the barriers. Nomag and Nosam stepped out. Nomag walked back to his father. Nosam also followed behind "You fumbled. After falling on the ground, you forgot what to do next. You still need to work on your critical thinking," High Duke Eston told his son, shaking his head. "That was a good battle. Good work," Ryder complimented them. "Let''s start the final battle then. Finish it fast," High Duke Magna told everyone. He called out his son while High Duke Oris called out his daughter. "Wait a minute!" Both of them started walking towards the ring, but Ryder stopped them. Both of them stopped as they turned back to look at him. Everyone else in the room also looked at him. He was going to do everything he could to change the future, which began with Nomag using a skill that he hadn''t mastered when he was in a desperate situation. High Duke Magna and High Duke Oris looked at Ryder in confusion, not understanding why he was talking about that now, but High Duke Oris went with the flow. "His Highness is right. This is a battle to test your strength and your skills, and if you start using skills that you haven''t learned, then it fails the motive. Also, it can be dangerous for everyone," High Duke Oris said. "We understand," Nomag and Felina replied as they nodded their heads. "Good. You can go ahead then," Ryder nodded his head. Nosam and Felina entered the ring, and High Duke Magna activated the barrier. "Miku, can you keep this glass back? I''m done drinking," Ryder let out as he gave the wine glass to Miku. He didn''t want to hold it in his hand in case the same thing happened once again. If they fought and even if Nomag used that skill, as long as Magna saved him like last time, there would be no injury, and his blood wouldn''t leak. "You can start the battle," Ryder told the contestants. The battle began, and it was just as intense as it was the last time. Nomag and Felina give it their best. While everyone else was watching it with great interest, for Ryder, it was basically a repeat telecast. Still, he kept his focus on the battle. The battle was between the Sword of Darkness and the sword of flames. Everything was happening the same way. The Battle of Sword continued, and both sides seemed to be on almost equal footing. Nomag seemed slightly stronger. Even though very little, Felina was being pushed back. Felina tapped the ground with her right foot twice in quick succession as she muttered, "Bindings," ''Here it comes. That moment is best,'' Ryder thought as he watched Felina use the bindings again. Tens of vines came out from the ground and wrapped Nomag''s hands and legs. They stopped him from moving. No matter how much he tried, he wasn''t able to live even an inch. His hands were tied, and his legs were trapped in their position. "How could she know Bindings?" High Duke Eston exclaimed in shock just like last time. Ryder couldn''t help but shake his head. He looked towards Mila, knowing that she would say something now. High Duke Mila also looked at the Battle with a stunned expression as well. "I guess this battle''s conclusion is already clear. Felina will win," She muttered. "We will have a new winner this time." High Duke Oris was smiling while High Duke Magna had a frown on his face. Nomag''s face was facing them while Felina''s back was facing them. High Duke Magna noticed Nomag''s eyes changing colors. "He just doesn''t understand. At Least I don''t have a glass now," Ryder let out as he shook his head. As long as everything else happens the same way, I''ll be fine, and Vampire King won''t see my blood. "No, Nomag! Don''t use that! You haven''t mastered that yet!" High Duke Magna suddenly called out, but it didn''t seem like Nomag was able to hear. It was also possible that he ignored the words since he believed that he could do it successfully. "Revastan!" Nomag let out softly. "Felina, get down on the ground!" High Duke Oris called out to warn Felina. Ryder could have warned her before, but he wanted everything to happen like before so that his plans could progress the way he wanted. Felina heard the words of High Duke Oris and immediately dropped to the ground. What happened next also followed the same pattern as the last time. Thousands of needles came out of Nomag''s body and hit the barrier. The barrier was broken, and the needles advanced towards Ryder. High Duke Magna jumped again to save Ryder. Ryder fell down on the ground once more as a Needle passed from his close proximity. Fortunately, he wasn''t harmed. There was no bleeding either since he wasn''t holding the glass. They helped Ryder stand up and asked if he was fine. Ryder smiled as he replied that he was perfectly fine. High Duke Magna was about to scold his son to make Ryder feel that he didn''t need to punish Nomag anymore, but before he could say anything, Ryder spoke. "Looks like we have a guest here," Ryder let out as he glanced at the door. He had said what High Duke Oris had said in the last timeline, before he could say that in this timeline, just to make him seem more knowledgeable. After a few seconds, they all saw the Vampire King entering the great hall. "Vampire King, I don''t remember sending you an invitation to my birthday. It''s fine, though. We welcome all guests. Since you''re here, how about, you have a drink?" High Duke Oris joked as he saw Vampire King coming in uninvited. "I don''t think you brought your army here. So this doesn''t seem like an invasion. What brought you here?" High Duke Magna let out with a frown. He was more straight on point this time as well. Ryder was more comfortable this time since he knew that the Vampire King wouldn''t know about him being there in the Undead Region. He could only doubt, but he wouldn''t be able to confirm. As long as there was doubt, Ryder knew that he had an opportunity to handle things peacefully. As long as there was no fight, everything was fine. While the High Dukes were talking to the Vampire King, they noticed that his focus was not on them. 206 Chapter 202: Curse of the Vampire King The Vampire King was looking in the direction of Ryder, which once again stunned him. He wondered why the Vampire King looked at him every time he entered the great hall. Did he have a big sticker on his forehead titled ''killer''? ''Did he again find out? How could it be?'' Ryder frowned, but he suddenly felt as if the Vampire King was not looking towards him, but he was looking behind Ryder. Ryder glanced back and saw Dale. Dale was a part of the Royal army. He was one of the strongest members of the Royal Army. He was only slightly weaker than the Dukes. He worked under Rale, and he was also a part of the team that went with Ryder to the Undead Region. Ryder couldn''t help but sigh in disappointment as he noticed the small mark near Dale''s shoulder. It seemed as if one of the needles had managed to graze his skin. Ryder also noticed some blood on Dale''s clothes. Dale was bleeding a little. Ryder finally understood what had happened. He wanted to curse out loud, but he kept his silence. What Ryder didn''t know was that this same thing had happened in the past as well. Dale was injured in the previous timeline, too, and he was bleeding then as well. Since Dale was standing in the back, Ryder hadn''t noticed that light injuries of his in the previous timeline. In the last time, he was more concerned about other things, and Dale hadn''t said anything about being injured either, probably because the injuries were light. The Vampire King had also placed more focus on Ryder since he was wearing a crown, and his blood had also matched the blood he found there. So he also ignored Dale in the last timeline. Dale was an unorthodox factor here that has given the whole game away. "Where is Viden?" Vampire King asked in a grim tone. He only had one question in his mind that he wanted the answer to. Ryder knew how it was going to go, but since he wasn''t caught yet, he could still act like the neutral party. He still had the hopes of making things better if he played his cards right. "You must be the Vampire King. I''m the Prince of the Demon Realm. May I ask what brought you here and who this Viden is?" Ryder asked innocently as if it was the first time he was hearing that name in his lifetime. The look on his face was so sincere that no one would have doubted that he was lying. "Viden is my general whom you treacherous Demons have kidnapped! Give him back to me," Vampire King roared in anger as he released his murderous aura that filled the great hall entirely. "Who are you calling treacherous! What would we do with your General? I thought you came here as a guest, but you''re just here to Slander us, aren''t you?" High Duke Magna let out as he glared at the Vampire King. "Let''s just hear his concerns. If the concerns of the Vampire King are valid, We can address it," Ryder replied as he shook his head. All the High Dukes had already surrounded Ryder to keep him secure. "You! Tell me where my General is!" Vampire King said in a low tone as he glanced at Viden. His red eyes turned even redder as a light flashed through his eyes. "He..." Ryder was about to say something, but his words were cut off by Dale, who seemed as if he was under some kind of hypnosis. " We killed him in the Valley of Wandering Souls," Dale replied. "Dale! What the hell are you speaking! Stop Spouting nonsense!" Ryder thundered as he glared at Dale, but he noticed the daze on Rale''s face. "This seems like the Vampire King''s skill interrogation. It won''t work on anyone that is as strong as a Duke, but this skill can affect the weaker people," High Duke Oris let out as he kept his eyes on the Vampire King. "I heard that it could force people to answer their questions honestly. It is a pretty useful skill, but how why the heck is he saying about killing his men? Did one of the Royal guards actually sneak inside the Undead Region?" High Duke Magna let out with a suspicious look on his face. High Duke Oris also looked uncertain. "That proves it. Who ordered the killing of Viden?" The Vampire King inquired as he again used the same skill. "His Highness ordered his death," Dale replied. "So you guys actually killed him. I had a sliver of hope that he would be alive, and now that''s crushed too. All of it just reeks of the dirt on demons," Vampire King let out in disgust. "The Demons have stayed away from our business in the past, but after getting a Prince on the throne, it looks like your ambitions are growing rapidly. You don''t even think twice before sneakily into our land and killing our people," Vampire King added as he shook his head. He opened his mouth once more as if he was going to say something, but he didn''t say anything. Instead, he disappeared as he appeared before Ryder and reached out his hand towards Ryder''s neck, but his hand was caught by High Duke Magna, who gripped his hand firmly and threw him away. The Vampire King flew back as he crashed on the wall. The wall broke as the Vampire King flew outside. "We can''t let you attack the Prince just with that," High Duke Magna let out as he glanced towards the wall. "As for what happened with the matters about you sneaking inside the Undead Region without informing us, we''ll have a lengthy conversation about that later. For now, you need to get out of here. Mila, take everyone away. I''ll handle the Vampire King," High Duke Magna said. "I''m staying behind with you. Everyone else, leave," High Duke Oris added. "I don''t need you. I can handle him alone," High Duke Magna said in annoyance. "I know, but two is always better than one. We can finish it fast," High Duke Oris replied. "I thought I would improve it, but it''s even worse now. The Vampire King still hates us, and the High Dukes also start to lose faith in me," Ryder clenched his fist. "Let''s leave," High Duke Mila told Ryder as she saw him standing in a daze. "No one is going everywhere. Today will be the day of slaughter! I will kill the one that ordered for my people''s execution and slaughter everyone that stands in my way!" The Vampire King thundered as he entered the great hall once again. "You overestimate yourself!" High Duke Magna said as he disappeared from his position and appeared near the Vampire King as he formed a flame sword. The sword seemed just like the one that his son had formed during the battle with Felina. The only difference was that this sword seemed bigger and brighter. It also seemed more powerful. The level difference clearly played a significant role in the strength of this sword. High Duke Magna swung his sword towards the neck of the Vampire King that seemed shocked at the speed of the High Duke. Before the Vampire King could move, the sword cut his head off. The head of the Vampire King fell on the ground, but the High Duke didn''t seem happy. High Duke Magna looked back towards High Duke Oris and called out, "It''s a fake. Protect the Prince!" High Duke Oris also realized that and noticed the air move behind him. The Hand of the Vampire King was coming towards his back to pull his heart out, but High Duke Oris reacted fast. "Bindings!" he let out as he tapped the ground. Thousands of thick vines came out of the ground and caught the hand of the Vampire King. The other vines caught the body of the Vampire King. High Duke Oris looked back and saw the blood-crazed smile on the face of the Vampire King. "Mila! Get alert!" High Duke Oris let out, feeling that something was wrong. Mila noticed the Vampire King behind her and punched him. The Vampire King flew back like an arrow and crashed on the wall. High Duke Mila followed after him to smash him some more, but she heard High Duke Oris and High Duke Magna''s scream. "You idiot! That''s a decoy! Don''t follow it!" The other High Dukes let out as they started running towards Ryder, but they were certainly too late. The real Vampire King appeared before Ryder and stabbed his palm inside Ryder''s chest. The Vampire King pulled out the heart. \u003cMassive Damage Received\u003e \u003cHP losing Rapidly\u003e \u003cThe user has received the Deadly Curse of the Vampire King\u003e \u003cHP Critical\u003e \u003c5% HP left\u003e \u003cThe Curse of the Vampire King activated\u003e \u003cNo HP left\u003e 207 Chapter 203: Calling Dracula Everything turned black. There was no sound and nothing else. It lasted for what seemed like an eternity before Ryder was able to feel his hands and legs. He opened his eyes, which were blurry initially, but they soon became clear as he saw the roof. He looked to his left and noticed the familiar table. "I''m back in my room? Is this a game over? Why wasn''t there an announcement of that?" Ryder muttered as he sat up. He picked up his phone that was lying on the table and looked at the time. "What the heck? I''m in the past?" Ryder exclaimed as he frowned. "That shouldn''t be possible unless I died, and even then, I should be healed instantly because of the Nature Healing!" Ryder let out as he got off the bed. "Janus, can you explain? Did this freaking game again kill me in real life mysteriously?" Ryder said with an annoyed look on his face as he looked at his chest that seemed perfectly fine, but it was somewhat itchy. He took off the shirt and saw a strange black-winged creature mark on his chest. The Mark was disappearing slowly as if it was being wiped. He felt a burning sensation as well, but that was not too painful. "Janus, Answer me," Ryder inquired again. \u003cDing... A main-mission has been issued to the main host\u003e \u003cHave the Vampire King thank you without telling a single lie\u003e \u003cRewards for completion: Good relationship with the Vampire Clan\u003e \u003cReward for completion: 200 Origin Points\u003e \u003cPunishment for failure: You will be stuck in an infinite time loop\u003e \u003cTime limit: Unlimited\u003e \u003cNote: Until the mission is completed, you will stay in the time loop\u003e Ryder just stood there blankly as he looked at the empty air before him. "The heck is with this. You''re not answering me, and now I''m in a time loop? I thought we were cool. Why are you fuckin me again?" Ryder wanted to cry, but no tears came out. He understood the meaning of the time loop. It meant that this same day would keep repeating until he finished the mission, which might take a long time, considering the fact that he wasn''t supposed to lie. "How can I even have him thank me without lying. I killed his men, and he''s here for fucking revenge. That dude will rip me to shreds if I don''t lie. And if I tell a single lie before him, it would probably end up with me dying. This is a freaking mess!" Ryder let out as he walked back and forth with a concerned look on his face. "Was it you who took me back in time to start this quest? My healing should''ve healed me over eight times, at least," Ryder asked again, hoping for an answer from Janus. \u003cJanus did nothing of that sort. It was because the host''s soul had died. The Bracelet took you back in time\u003e Janus answered Ryder in an emotionless tone. \u003cDid you really guess it? I couldn''t tell you anything related to this for certain reasons, but maybe it has started now\u003e Janus'' voice contained a little bit of hope. "I do understand everything now. This is not just a game. This is much more than a game... this is a crappy game! It destroys souls! Those fucking bastards released this bugged game to the public, and the freaking IMC certified it for safety. They are all corrupt! This game is faulty and not safe at all!" Ryder cursed out loud as he smashed his fist on the wall. \u003cThat...ah... Do the mission, and don''t think too much. One day you might come at the answer\u003e Even Janus seemed stumped for words as he replied. "Hey, tell me more about the time loop, at least," Ryder let out, but Janus didn''t reply. Ryder asked again and again, but he didn''t get a reply. "Should I tell Shu to stop playing it? I can revive, but he can''t. If this game is really that dangerous, then he might die as well," Ryder muttered as he thought for a while. "He wouldn''t believe me though. I can''t just tell him that I died, and that''s why I know." ''I guess I''ll see how it goes. Probably I died because of that Curse thing. I''m already treading in a strange territory in the game that wasn''t available last time for players. It might be because I came in contact with the final boss level Character and died by his hands, which caused this bug for me,'' Ryder thought as he walked back to his bed and sat down. He could see the pizza box nearby, so it was after he had eaten, but he still felt a little bit hungry. Alice wasn''t home at this time, either. He again ordered a pizza before he started thinking about a way to solve the problem. How could he make the Vampire King to thank him when he was coming there for revenge, all while not telling a single lie. "Well, I don''t have anything. Not a single idea. It seems impossible!" Ryder held his head after he couldn''t come to an answer even after thinking for a long time. "Should I call someone from the deity phone that can help me talk to Mythical People? The last time I got advice from the bread boy, that was good. I can talk to someone good this time that would have an expertise in this field," Ryder muttered. He ultimately decided on doing it since he didn''t have a better idea. Ryder brought out the deity phone and used some origin points to credit it before he started going through contacts. "There it is. I can call Dracula. He seems like someone who can give me an accurate answer. He was also a Vampire according to the myths. He was pretty powerful too. He should be the best person to talk to," Ryder muttered as he looked at the name of Dracula. Ryder tapped on the call icon. His call was connected, and Ryder was able to hear the caller tune, but he instantly got the phone away from his ears since the caller tune seemed like it was the sound of thousands of bats screaming. "What do you want?" Ryder heard a heavy voice from the other side. He instantly brought the phone close to his ears. "Hey, Am I speaking to Dracula?" Ryder inquired. He had never imagined that he would ever say this line in his lifetime, but since Ryder had met Janus, all of the weird things were happening. "Yeah, what do you want? Hurry, I don''t have all day to waste on the phone," Dracula said. "Right. I had a problem, and I was hoping that you can help me find an answer," Ryder started explaining. "So, there''s a powerful Vampire. He''s like the king of Vampires in this land. I entered his land sneakily to take something that belongs to me. His General found us, and I had to kill him. Now the Vampire King has found out blood there, and he has linked the killers to our kingdom. He is on our way here for revenge. I don''t want there to be a fight between our kingdoms. I also need him to thank me, but I can''t tell a single lie. What is the best way to solve this problem, according to you?" Ryder inquired in a serious tone. "Simple. Have someone shoot a Garlic Arrow in his chest. Go there while he''s weak, acting like a passer-by. Take the arrow off. He''ll probably thank you. You won''t have to say anything," Dracula replied without taking even a second to think about it. "That''s a good idea, but I''m not sure if garlic is effective on him. He''s a different kind of Vampire that isn''t hurt by garlic," Ryder replied. "Strange. Alright then. When he''s resting inside a building during the day, have that building destroyed. He will be hurt by sunlight. Give him an umbrella to save him while his skin is burning, and he''ll thank you," Dracula again replied casually. "You''re definitely joking. Are you sure that you''re the real Dracula? It''s not a scam by Janus, is it?" Ryder asked with a suspicious look on his face. The Dracula he heard about was a serious entity who was the most fierce, but the guy he was talking to sounded like he was a troller. "Look, kid. I''m not going to show you my id card here. It''s your choice if you want to believe me or not," Dracula let out in an annoyed tone. "Alright, forget what I said. Also, he isn''t affected by sunlight either. Can you tell me of a different plan?" Ryder inquired as he shook his head. 208 Chapter 204: Night Visi "You said that you were talking about a Vampire, but no matter how much I think about it, he doesn''t sound like a vampire at all. Anyway, you definitely need to do something that will make him thank you. The most effective way is to save his life somehow or be creative in other ways. That''s the only thing I can say," The Dracula replied. Ryder was about to say something when he heard a beeping sound. "Hello, Hello?" Ryder let out, but he didn''t get a response. He looked at the screen of the phone, and the call was disconnected. "I don''t have any balance left, but I think I get what he was trying to say. There is no way someone as powerful as him would just come to say thanks to me for no reason. I need to do something that would make him thank me. The problem still remains. What can I do? He''s just too powerful. He wouldn''t need me to save his life," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "He''s definitely more powerful, and he can keep himself safe. Only a High Duke can face him. Should I tell a High Duke to disguise and attack him? No, that would be easily found out. Vampire King knows his strength, and he would know who else here is as strong as him. I can''t use High Dukes. I''d need to think outside the box," Ryder muttered. Just as he was thinking, he heard a knock on the door. He stepped out of the room and collected the pizza before he stepped inside the room. He was walking back to his room when he heard another knock. He opened the door once again. It was Alice this time. She stepped inside the house. "You came at the right time. If you were just a little late, I would''ve eaten the pizza I ordered. Get changed fast, and we''ll share it," Ryder told Alice as he stepped inside his room. Alice nodded her head as she walked back to her room. She changed her dress and wore a comfy t-shirt and a blue skirt before she came out and entered Ryder''s room. They shared the pizza as Ryder talked about how her day was. They talked while eating the cheese-filled pizza. After finishing it, Alice left his room and went back. Ryder also laid down on the bed as he looked at the time. "I''ll enter Divinity right now. I need to set some things up," Ryder muttered as he picked up the Divinity Glasses. He wore the glasses and muttered, "Take me to Divinity." Ryder woke up in the Royal Room of his Palace. It was midnight in the world of Divinity when Ryder woke up there. He got off the bed and opened the door as he stepped out. Some maids were standing outside his room. "Go and wake up, Miku. Tell her to come to my room," Ryder told the maids before he stepped inside the room. He picked up a paper and a pen that was on the table as he started thinking about the best plan, but for that, he needed to know the weakness of the Vampire King. In the meantime, he continued looking at the blank paper. "He should be flying, so I can''t make a trap on the ground and save him from that. That''s out the window. I need a trap in the air that would make things difficult for him. I need to be the hero of the story and his savior. We need something that can trouble the Vampire King," Ryder muttered as he wrote the word ''trouble'' on the paper. Soon, there was a knock on the door. "If it''s Miku, you can come inside. The for is open," Ryder said as he looked towards the door. Miku opened the door and stepped inside. She looked somewhat hesitant. She was wearing a beautiful white nightgown. She was sleeping when she was informed that the Prince called for her. She didn''t even change the dress as she ran here. "Ah, You called me," She said in a low voice. "Yeah, I need you right now," Ryder replied casually as he looked at her. Miku clenched the corner of her clothes as her face turned red. "Come, sit near me," Ryder told her. Miku''s face was as red as it could get. She was misunderstanding Ryder and thinking that he called her to take care of her at night. She walked closer to him slowly and sat near him. Her shoulders touched Ryder''s shoulders. "Alright. Let''s start," Ryder muttered as he looked at her. Miku closed her eyes as she waited for him to do something, but Ryder didn''t do anything. Instead, he asked a question. "Do you know what the curse of the Vampire King is?" Ryder asked with a frown. Miku abruptly opened her eyes as she looked at him. "Y-you called me to ask me questions?" She asked. "Yeah. The question is really important," Ryder replied. "Do you know what it is?" Miku calmed down her head as she took a deep breath. " Ah, yeah. I heard about it. It''s like a myth about the Vampire King. It says that if the Vampire King crushes someone''s heart with his hand, that person gets the curse of the Vampire King. That person not only dies, but even his Soul is destroyed," Miku replied. ''Even the soul is destroyed? That kind of makes sense. If my soul was destroyed in the game, then the healing wouldn''t work, and Time Ruler was activated. So that''s what Janus was talking about,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "That''s good to know. Do you know the weakness of the Vampire King?" Ryder asked her again. "I don''t know about that," Miku replied as she shook her head. "Alright. Get Dale here. We''re going out," Ryder told Miku as he stood up. Miku also got up and left the room. She came back with Dale. "Follow after me. We''re going out," Ryder told Dale as soon as he came. He started walking towards the exit. "Your Highness, if we''re leaving, we would need to bring more guards. It might be dangerous outside," Dale suggested. "It''s fine. I''m not going to any dangerous place," Ryder replied. He left the Royal Palace and wore his Royal Crown before he started flying in a certain direction. Dale and Miku also started following after him. They were a little surprised as they saw Ryder stopping before the palace of High Duke Oris. The guards that were guarding the Palace of High Duke Oris got down to the ground as they greeted Ryder. "I need to meet the High Duke. Someone escort me to the meeting hall and call him there," Ryder told the guards. "Ah, yes, Your Highness," the Head Guard told Ryder as he escorted Ryder and his team inside. The other guards that were standing outside the palace started talking amongst themselves after Ryder entered inside. "The Prince came here so late, and he looked worried. It must be a serious matter," one of the guards said. "I think that there''s going to be a war. He must''ve gotten some secret information. That can be the only urgent matter," Another guard replied. Most of the guards agreed to that as they found that more believable. "There''s going to be another war after so long. I thought the peace would last for a little longer," One of the guards said. **** Ryder was escorted inside the Great Hall, where the event had taken place in the morning of the previous timeline. "Please wait here. I''ll inform Master of your arrival," the guard said as he left Ryder inside the Great Hall. Ryder walked to the throne in the Great Hall and sat on it. "Your Highness, May I ask what the matter is? You were talking about the Vampire King. Is there a problem? Is the Demon Realm going to be under attack?" Miku asked Ryder. "The Vampire King? It can''t be! Did he find out about the..." "Silence! I don''t want to hear a single word about that from your mouth," Ryder scolded Dale and stopped him from finishing his sentence. He had already decided that he wouldn''t bring Dale anywhere where the Vampire King might arrive as that would be like bringing the witness of the murder before the Jury. "You will understand everything soon. Don''t speak a work in between my conversation with the High Duke," Ryder let out as he shook his head. After some time, the door of the Great Hall was opened, and the High Duke entered the Hall. "Greetings, Your Highness. What brought you here at this time of night?" High Duke Oris inquired. He walked to Ryder and greeted him. "Well, the matter is really important. By the way, since it''s already over midnight, let me just wish you first," Ryder told the High Duke. "Happy Birthday." "Thank you. So, what''s the matter?" High Duke Oris inquired. 209 Chapter 205: The beginning "I''m here to talk to you about something that can affect our relationship with the Undead Region. I have received some information that the Vampire King is coming to our Demon Realm. I need to know about him, so I can come up with a strategy to deal with him," Ryder told High Duke Oris. "He''s coming here? Why?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown on his face. "I have a friend who is in the Undead Region. He is my spy there. He gave me this information. Apparently, one of the Vampire King''s close men has gone missing, and he found the Demon Blood there. I believe that someone intentionally left the Demon Blood there to create this misunderstanding. It should be the people of the Death Domain that want to win the support from the Undead Region," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "According to my information, the Vampire King will come here tomorrow. I want to know more about him so I can talk to him more effectively," Ryder told the High Duke. "This is a serious matter. How trustworthy are your sources?" High Duke Oris asked Ryder. "As trustworthy as me," Ryder replied in short. "I need to inform the other High Dukes. They should know about this as well," The High Duke said, shaking his head. "I agree. They need to know about it, but not now. Let''s keep this matter between us now," Ryder responded as he stopped High Duke Oris. "I don''t want to waste too much time in discussion. First, I need my answers. After you clarify some things, you can tell them. We need to utilize the time we have. It''s not about the battle as the battle is an easy matter, but the biggest problem would be the Undead Region that had stayed neutral. We can''t push them closer to the Death Domain," he added. "Alright. We can come up with the plan ourselves. I believe that we should be honest and tell him that we didn''t do this. Even he shouldn''t be so stupid not to see this ploy," High Duke Oris said. Ryder shook his head. "That idea is what I thought as well, but we can''t leave the small possibility behind that he might not be ready to believe us. That''s why I want to know what you know about him. What''s the weakness of the Vampire King?" Ryder asked the High Duke. "His weakness? I haven''t fought him before, so I don''t know his weakness, but I heard that the Vampires hate loud noises. It might be effective on the Vampire King as well. I personally believe that if it comes to that point, we should just fight him. Using any method that will affect him would spoil the relationship enough already," High Duke Oris said. "I don''t want the weakness to defeat him. I need it to improve the relationship," Ryder said as he smiled lightly. "Using his weakness to improve our relationship?" High Duke Oris asked with a frown on his face. High Duke Oris started stroking his beard hair as he thought about it. "Interesting. That idea might work if it''s executed successfully. I like your thinking," High Duke Oris let out as he nodded his head. "Of Course. This is what we need. The only problem is the execution. I need something that will genuinely trouble the Vampire King. The High Noise thing is useful, but how to execute this?" Ryder muttered as he frowned. "Do we have something that can make a loud noise that might hurt the Vampires?" Ryder asked the High Duke. "Yeah, I think we have something like that. Every year, we have a celebration, and the citizens of the kingdom use the Frikers to celebrate. We can use that," High Duke Oris told Ryder. "What''s Frikers?" Ryder inquired. High Duke Oris waved his hand, and a flute-like object appeared before him. He gave the red flute-like item to Ryder. "This is a friker," He said to Ryder. Ryder looked at the flute-like thing and brought it closer to his mouth as he blew inside it. *Screech* A loud screeching sound came out of the flute that was so loud that it filled up the whole palace and woke up most of the people that were still sleeping. Even Felina had woken up. She stepped out of her room and asked the maids what that sound was. The maid told her that she didn''t know, but it sounded like it came from the Great Hall. She told the maid to follow her as she started walking towards the Great Hall. **** Ryder looked at the flute and nodded his head. "If loud sounds hurt them, then this should be effective. I like this. The Vampire King would be here by the afternoon. We need to be ready by then," Ryder said as he gave the flute back. Ryder knew the time when the Vampire King entered the great hall. Using that time, he guessed the time when the Vampire King entered the Kingdom, but he didn''t know the direction he would be coming from. The only way to catch the Vampire King outside the High Duke''s palace was when he was near the palace. Ryder deducted a few minutes from the exact time and told the High Duke the time when the citizens needed to blow up the flute-like thing at once. He also told him that they couldn''t tell the citizens what was actually happening. He told the High Duke to use the excuse that this was the wish of the Prince that everyone plays Friker at the same time to celebrate High Duke Oris'' birthday. That way, he could act innocent after saving the Vampire King. Since he couldn''t lie, he needed to have someone else talk to him at that time; he also decided who that person would be. The timing and the execution was the most important thing. Since he didn''t know anything about the direction and about the Vampire King''s weaknesses, he was treating it like a test to get knowledge for the next try. Still, he was trying to give it his all, hoping that he would succeed in the first try. In the next hour, he and High Duke Oris talked more about the plan before they finalized it. "Yeah, that should be perfect. We''ll go with that. You can go tell the other High Dukes now," Ryder said to the High Duke before he stood up and left the Great Hall. He noticed Felina standing outside. She was probably listening to them. He smiled at her as he left. Miku and Dale followed after Ryder as they left the palace of High Duke Oris. Ryder flew back to his Palace and went to his great hall. He sat on the throne as he looked at Dale and Miku, who was standing before him. "Dale, go and bring everyone who came with me to the Undead Region," Ryder told Dale in a grim tone. "Yes, your Highness," Dale nodded his head before he left to bring his teammates. "Your Highness, Is the Vampire King really going to attack us? Did you actually kill his people there?" Miku asked Ryder. She had already guessed most of the things from what Ryder told the High Duke. She already knew that Ryder went to the Death Domain with Rale and the others. After that point, it was easy to guess. It was what he said before High Duke Oris. "Don''t ask the question you don''t need the answers to," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "Also, you can''t come with me tomorrow. You need to stay behind. Get another maid to accompany me tomorrow," Ryder told her. "D-did I do something wrong?" Miku asked with a concerned look on her face as she clenched the corners of her dress. "You did nothing wrong. It''s just that I can''t bring anyone who knows about my secrets. The Vampire King has a skill that can force you to tell all secrets about me. It won''t work on me because of my Crown, but it can easily work on you. It would be problematic if you started spilling everything before the Vampire King and the other High Dukes. Just for one day, you need to stay away from me in the palace," Ryder told her. "I understand. I''ll arrange for the best maid to follow you," Miku said, but there was a disappointment which was evident on her face. Dale returned with the guards as well. Ryder told the guards the same thing that they needed to stay in the palace in their rooms all day tomorrow. He also told them to arrange for a different set of guards for him for one day. The whole night, Ryder prepared for the day. 210 Chapter 206: The Outcome The night passed away, and it was day soon. Ryder left the palace with a new maid and a different set of guards. He flew towards the Palace of High Duke Oris. He was wearing all the artifacts that the High Dukes had given him. He especially wore the Royal Prince since it was something that protected him from the skills that could affect his mind. He entered the Palace of High Duke Oris. Unlike the last time, this time, all the High Dukes were there already. The Dukes were still not there, but they weren''t told about this either. This secret was only told to the ones that were capable of resisting the skill of the Vampire King. As Ryder entered the Great Hall, he was able to hear the words of High Duke Magna. "I still doubt if his source is believable or not. If it''s true, we should just meet force with force. We are going at it like we actually did something wrong," High Duke Magna said. Just then, he saw Ryder entering the great hall. The High Dukes greeted Ryder. " It''s good to see that all of you are here," Ryder said as he nodded his head. He glanced towards High Duke Oris and inquired, "Is everything ready?" "Yeah, Everyone''s ready for that. All the citizens are informed about the order to play the Friker at the right time. They will play it thinking that it''s for the celebration of my birthday," High Duke Oris said. "I thought the day was going to be a day of happiness and celebrating, but the Vampire King just had to infiltrate today. Such bad luck," High Duke Mila let out in annoyance. "I am so angry that I would beat the crap out of him if you allow us to fight." "It''s not the time to let the personal feelings affect us. It''s the perfect opportunity to win the support of the Undead Region. It would be a step forward towards the dominant position against the Death Domain if we can utilize this place and establish a good relationship," Ryder explained. Even though it was mostly an excuse, it was not a lie to say that it was a part of his goals as well. The Dukes started arriving as time passed. After everyone was here, Ryder began talking to all of them. He didn''t tell them the thing about the Vampire King, but he did repeat what he said last time about his visit to their region. The celebration started since there was still some time in the arrival of the Vampire King, and Ryder didn''t want to spoil the birthday of High Duke Oris too much. The food and the wine were served, and everyone started enjoying the party. After the party finished, the High Dukes looked at each other as if they were contemplating something. "I know what you''re thinking. Is it about the ceremony to select the best kid out of the four, right? Since there is time, you want to finish that tradition right now," Ryder told the High Dukes as he glanced at them. "I do know about it, and you guys can have that, but there needs to be a change this time. There will be only two battles. The final battle needs to wait until this whole thing with the Vampire King ends," Ryder told them. "We only have enough time for two battles." "Alright," All the High Dukes agreed. Since they had all come to an agreement, the battles began. The first battle was a win for Felina and the Second Battle was the win for Nomag just like last time. Since Ryder knew that the Vampire King appeared at the end of the third battle, he could already expect the Vampire King was nearing him. "It should be the time for his arrival. Let''s go out to see," Ryder let out as he stood up. He started walking towards the balcony of the High Duke''s Palace with the other High Dukes. A big crowd of demons was standing outside the palace with their Frikers since it was what they were informed. As soon as Ryder appeared on the Balcony with the High Dukes, he looked around and noticed something flying towards them at high speed. He held the hand of High Duke Oris and raised it in the hand. "Everyone, please congratulate the High Duke on his birthday! Make it loud enough for the whole Kingdom to listen! It''s the birthday of our Guardian after all!" Ryder let out loud. The Demons started cheering as they started playing the flute-like objects in their hands. Ryder saw the Vampire King flying towards them. He also noticed the changes in his expressions as soon as the screeching sound filled the atmosphere. Ryder was hoping for him to fall down, but it seemed less effective than he thought. It just seemed like the Vampire King was a little bit annoyed, but he didn''t seem to be getting hurt or injured with the sound. Ryder realized that this was not the weakness of the Vampire King. Ryder already knew that there was a possibility of this happening since he was generalizing the Vampires. In contrast, the Vampire King should have been in a different category of his own. Since the Vampire King''s strength is more than the others, his weakness should be less than the normal Vampires too. Ryder shook his head as he started talking to the High Dukes. "The plan is a failure. Forget what happened. Don''t show or say that you knew about his arrival. Talk as if you''re hearing about his words for the first time," Ryder said to them in a low voice. The Vampire King stopped before Ryder and the High Dukes as he floated before them. "You have the Crown. You should be the Prince, and they should be the High Dukes! Tell me where my general is!" Vampire King thundered. All the Demons turned silent as they looked towards the balcony in confusion. ''I can''t lie, or I would get the same ending, which would result in me going to the time loop. I can''t let him attack either, or it would be the same. Time to put my brain to work,'' Ryder thought while on the outside, he pretended to be surprised to see the Vampire King here. "You must be the Vampire King. Come on inside. We can talk inside," Ryder said as he deflected the question while he started walking inside. High Duke Oris and the others kept an eye on the Vampire King as they escorted him inside. They went back to the Great Hall, where it all ended last time. Ryder sat on the main seat as he told the maids to arrange another seat for the Vampire King. "I''m not here to sit! I''m here for answers. Where is my general?" The Vampire King responded. "Which General are you talking about?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at the Vampire King while he kept sitting on the throne. "The General that you took from the Undead Region when you entered the Valley of Wandering Souls to steal the gem of the Guardian! Tell me where he is!" The Vampire King let out loud as he spread his murderous aura. The High Dukes also released a bit of their aura to protect Ryder from Vampire King''s chilling aura as they stood near him. "Vampire King, Since you are from the Undead Region, I''m treating you as a guest. Don''t go overboard, though. This is the Demon Realm. Please control your anger and talk like normal people," Ryder let out without looking the least bit worried. He was going to project the image of a powerful leader this time while using vague words to try to change the story. "As for the man you might be talking about, Let me clarify it the best I can. We haven''t kidnapped your man, and we have no man of yours in our custody. You should reconsider your information. It might be the work of an enemy to put you against us," Ryder let out in a suggestive time. It was not a lie since he used the words in a manner as if he was suggesting a possibility, but he didn''t say that it was what happened. "Someone else like the Death Domain? You think that I will believe that when I already saw the Demon Blood there?" The Vampire King inquired in a sarcastic tone. "Well, let me try to find an answer to that. You came at just the right time. All the Dukes of the Demon realm are here. Almost all of them, at least. Listen carefully to their answers," Ryder said to the Vampire King. He started looking at the Dukes. "Everyone, Tell me, how many Demons go missing in your Duchy every day," Ryder inquired as he glanced at the Dukes. 211 Chapter 207: Time Loop Broken "I might not have the accurate numbers, but I believe that over a thousand demons went missing in my land this year from what I hear. Since our population is so high, most people don''t even care when someone disappears. There have also been instances when demons kill each other and bury them while keeping it a secret. So, there can be many reasons for them to go missing," The Second Duke explained to Ryder since he was sitting closest to Ryder amongst all the Dukes. "The number can only be higher in my duchy since it''s the most populated in the Realm. I don''t know about this year, but last year, around Twenty thousand demons went missing. I know the exact number since I had this curiosity at that point in time, and I told my people to get the answer to this," Another Duke replied. One after another, all the Dukes gave a number. There was one constant, though. All of them talked about people going missing in their Duchy. None of them said that there was no one that went missing. The Vampire King didn''t interrupt any of them while they were talking, but he was getting impatient. "See? There are thousands of Demons that go missing here every year. It''s not impossible for someone to kidnap the demons and use them to place the blame on us. It might be the Death Domain," Ryder let out with a thoughtful look on his face. "They have the benefit and the Strength to do something like this. What do you think?" Ryder inquired. The Vampire King was finally confused as he heard it this way. He knew that there was also a possibility of that. He looked towards Ryder as his gaze became more intense. He was using his skill to get the truth out of him. "That Skill won''t work on me. You might be forgetting who I am," Ryder replied casually. If it was a normal situation, he would have just pretended to be affected by his skill and lied that he was innocent, but since he couldn''t lie, deflecting was the better option. "Look, I know how bad it can be to lose a close person. Even though I haven''t lost a person close to me, I can still imagine how bad I would feel if a friend or something working for me went missing. Believe me, I am here for you. I don''t want to spoil the relationship between the two realms. I can help you if you want, but if you don''t trust us, then things can only get worse. I don''t want us to have it fight as the Death Domain will be the only one that benefits from it," Ryder replied as he shook his head. The Vampire King frowned as he looked around the room as if he was trying to see if he could ask someone else his questions since he wasn''t getting anything from Ryder. He looked at a Duke and used his Skill. "You think..." High Duke Magna was furious as he saw the Vampire King using his skills on the Dukes so arrogantly. The Vampire King had used the skill, but he didn''t ask the question. Instead, he raised both his hands as he cast an additional spell that filled the whole room. The High Dukes didn''t react since they knew that Ryder didn''t want them to act, and they could see that it was just a modification of that truth spell which he had used. It just meant that he could ask questions in more confidence, and he could believe faster. "Is the Prince scheming against me?! Tell me about it if anyone knows!" The Vampire King declared. Ryder was pretty confident that no one was going to say anything since the only two people that knew that he had killed the Vampire General were the people that traveled with him to the Demon Realm, and none of them were here at the moment. Even though Ryder was confident, his confidence was soon shattered as he heard someone speaking. It was a female voice that had started speaking, and it made his expressions turn grave. "His Highness did scheme against you. He knew that you were coming for revenge because your general was killed, and he also planned to have you injured with extreme sound. It was so that he could save you and get close to you to win your friendship." Ryder didn''t even need to look back to see who was talking since he knew that it was Felina. He knew that he had failed, and it was impossible to convince the Vampire King now. What happened next was the same as last time. It was like a repeat telecast. The battle started, and Ryder got the curse of the Vampire King as he died. Ryder woke up again in his room. "Failed again, but now I know what I could do to solve it. Without Felina there, everything can work. It seemed like we were able to convince the Vampire King," Ryder muttered as he recounted what happened. He followed the timeline closely to the last one and did everything the same way. The only difference was that he didn''t play the Friker in the palace of the High Duke, which resulted in Felina not waking up. When he left the room, Felina was not there. The morning also progressed the same way, but Ryder again changed one thing. He didn''t let the battles between the kids of High Dukes commence. There was not even a single round. Instead, he told them to leave this place and stay out of their sight until they were called for. He suggested them to stay in the garden of High Duke Oris since that was more of an isolated place. Even though the High Dukes didn''t understand it, they did as he said and sent the kids away. Since they saved some time this time because of no battles, they went to the Balcony and gave a proper speech. Ryder talked about how the High Duke was important to the Demon Realm and how he had helped Ryder. He also praised other High Dukes. The Other High Dukes also said a few words as they congratulated High Duke Oris. The crowd was told to play the Frikers since Ryder wanted to follow the timeline to the closest other than the few things that he changed to modify the upcoming events. Ultimately, they were in the same situation as last time. "Is the Prince scheming against me?! Tell me about it if anyone knows!" The Vampire King asked again. None of the Demons in the room said anything this time. The ones that knew about anything were not here, and the High Dukes weren''t affected by this skill since they were too strong to be affected by such skills. "You need to listen to me and believe me. Whatever I said to you today, there was not a single lie in that," Ryder declared. Since everything he said was in the form of assumption, he didn''t actually lie about anything, and this was the truth. "So, you don''t have my General here?" The Vampire King asked Ryder. "No, we don''t have your general. We don''t have anyone from the Undead Region here as far as I know, other than you," Ryder replied. "I want to search the Undead Region," The Vampire King said. "Sure, you can search the Realm. We treat you as our guest. We can even give you a nice room to stay while you stay here," The Vampire King replied. "Thanks for the offer, but I would like to stay free. I hope that none of your people will interfere in my search, though," The Vampire King said. ''He said thanks. That should count,'' Ryder thought as he eagerly waited for the system''s announcement. \u003cMission Completed: The Vampire King said thanks\u003e \u003cTime Loop is broken\u003e \u003cRewards Given, but since the thanks was not a thanks of friendship, some of the rewards might not be as described\u003e Ryder started hearing Janus'' announcement. Even though some of these things were not as he hoped, the mission was over, and that made him extremely happy, but he kept his expressions neutral. ''I can lie now,'' he thought. "Not at all. Feel free to search. We have a lot of respect for you, and we also want to bring the Undead Region And the Demon Realm closer. You can treat that as a token of trust," Ryder replied. Till now, Ryder was using a friendly tone, but his tone suddenly changed and became more serious as he continued. "You just need to keep one thing in mind, though. As much as I want the friendship, the safety of my people is above all else. If you harmed even a single demon while you''re here, I wouldn''t mind waging a war on anyone!" Ryder declared. 212 Chapter 208: The Tragedy of the Pas Ryder''s words were Successful in igniting the fire in the Dukes'' hearts. Even the High Dukes couldn''t help but praise Ryder''s words in their mind, which showed the dignity of the ruler of the Demon Realm. That''s what they expected. High Duke Magna had already prepared himself to warn the Vampire King since he expected that Ryder wouldn''t say anything, but he was pleasantly surprised to see Ryder react and get serious. "Also, Someone will need to stay close to you so that we can make sure that you don''t harm our citizens and don''t scheme against us. We can''t let anyone stay in our region, especially not someone as strong as you. I trust you, but I have a responsibility for my people as well. Think of that person as your escort. They won''t interfere with anything that you do. They will just keep a watch on you while you do whatever you want." " Do you accept that offer? I''m sure you can understand my plight. You''re also a leader of your people. I''m sure you can''t let a demon roam in your land without governance," Ryder told the Vampire King. The Vampire King nodded his head, but he didn''t say anything. Ryder looked back at the High Dukes before he came to a decision. "High Duke Eston, I might need to trouble you to accompany our guest. Do you mind?" Ryder inquired. "Not at all. In fact, I would love to accompany him. I have been fascinated by the culture of the Undead Region. I might be able to broaden my horizons if I stay with him," High Duke Eston responded with a smile on his face. "Good. You can stay near him then," Ryder said to the High Duke. The Vampire King didn''t say anything else as he turned back and left. He flew outside the Palace of High Duke. "I''ll see you guys later. Enjoy the celebration," High Duke Eston said as he followed after the Vampire King. ''He wouldn''t harm any demon''s, but he will keep searching. As long as he doesn''t use his skills on the ones that know about this and as long as none of us bleed before him, it should be fine. I have finished the mission, but I can''t relax. I should just leave this area and begin touring the Dukes'' Lands since I believe that he would spend his time searching here. Better stay away from this place,'' Ryder thought. "Should we send him alone, or would it be better if two people were to keep an eye on him?" Ryder inquired as he looked towards the exit after High Duke Eston left. "Eston''s going to be fine. He''s pretty strong. He might even be stronger than people expect," High Duke Mila replied as she smiled. "That''s good then. Anyway, since the problem is solved, we can begin the competition that you guys were talking about," Ryder said to them. Since it was more like a tradition, Ryder knew that he needed to have that be finished. After some time, Felina and the others came back to the great hall. The battles began, and the events followed as last time¡ªthe final battle once again between Felina and Nomag. Before the starting of the battle, Ryder once again told Nomag not to use any skills that could endanger others; the only difference was that he was more specific this time. Ryder said the name of the skill and straight away told Nomag that the use of that skill was banned unless he could prove before everyone else that he had mastered it. High Duke Magna was quite shocked at Ryder''s knowledge. He hadn''t expected Ryder to know that his son had started learning it, let alone the fact that he had comprehended a little of that skill already. Ultimately, it was decided that Nomag wouldn''t use that skill. The battle began, and Nomag followed the rule as described this time. Since the specific skill was banned, he didn''t use that skill. The match ended with Felina''s victory, but Ryder knew that in real life battle conditions, the winner would''ve been Nomag. There was no banning in real life, and he knew that Nomag''s half mastered skill was enough to wound Felina seriously. Even though that was what he believed the real-life battle to go, it was a fact that Felina had won in this battle, no matter the disadvantage of Nomag. The High Dukes praised both of them for their amazing battle before they started giving them their rewards. In this timeline, Ryder hadn''t declared that he would award anyone, but he still had both of them rewarded. The rewards were just jewelry that was precious in the Demon Realm only. On the outside, this jewelry had no value, and it had no buffs either. Even though he should''ve rewarded only the winner, he gave the reward to Nomag as well since he was the one that gave him the handicap. After the battle ended, the party resumed again. It was the time of a ball. Music started playing in the great hall, but the Dukes and the High Dukes weren''t dancing. The dancers were the professional demons that were invited to perform. Surprisingly, the dance they were performing had a lot of similarities with the ballroom dance that he had experienced in the Modern World. He had also learned ballroom dancing for the prom of college since it was the theme. As the music started playing, Ryder felt like dancing as well. He was happy that he was out of the Time Loop, but there was another reason for his desire to dance. He wanted to partner up with Devilia, who was looking at the dancers. He could see that she wanted to dance, as well. He also wanted to use this opportunity as a thanks for her help. Ryder stood up, and it attracted the attention of everyone. People stopped looking at the dancers and started looking at Ryder. The dancers and the music also stopped since everyone felt like something was wrong. While the Great Hall had pin-drop silence, Ryder started walking ahead. His footsteps were clear. Even Devilia was looking at Ryder, but she was surprised as she saw him coming towards her. Ryder stopped before Devilia as he looked in her eyes. Devilia also stood up. "Miss Devilia, would you like to have a dance with me?" Ryder let out as he reached out his hand. "I..." Devilia''s mouth opened and closed constantly as she struggled to say anything. She hadn''t expected this to happen, and she was having a hard time responding. High Dukes also were shocked, but they started smiling. "Looks like His Highness has started to take an interest in women," High Duke Mila chuckled. Since the Hall was silent, these words were heard by everyone, which made the atmosphere awkward for Ryder. "It''s a casual dance to celebrate the good day," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. "Why did the music stop? Start playing," Ryder let out. The music started playing again. "Is that a yes or a no?" Ryder inquired as he saw Devilia not responding. He was about to lower his hand, but Devilia held his hand. "I would love to have a casual dance with his highness to celebrate this good day," Devilia replied, using Ryder''s own words. Ryder took her to the center and started the ballroom dance with her. The other dancers moved to the side to allow them space. While Ryder danced with Devilia, he couldn''t help but feel the happiness. He remembered the time of Prom in his college. He had learned the Prom Dance with a friend so that he could dance with the girl he liked. He had also invited the girl for the prom, and she had said yes. That day was going to be the best day of his life. A day of happiness that hasn''t appeared since his parents left the world, leaving his heart filled with sadness. The Day of Happiness turned into a day of sadness, though. The girl that had agreed to enter the Prom with him had come to the prom, but not like he expected. She was holding the hand of another man. She walked past Ryder, who was standing at the entrance waiting for her without even glancing at him. Ryder had a Flower bouquet in his hand, which he threw to the side as he left the place. "What are you thinking? You look sad," Devilia said as she looked in Ryder''s eyes. "Nothing. I just remembered something from the past," Ryder replied as he shook his head. Since the music was playing now, they could talk without letting others hear them. "You look really beautiful today," Ryder complimented Devilia. "Don''t I look beautiful on other days?" Devilia inquired with an amused smile on her face. "You look beautiful always, but you look super cute today," Ryder replied as he smiled. 213 Chapter 209: Suspicious Miku "I''ll take that compliment," Devilia responded as she continued moving to the music while she closed in the distance between Ryder and her. "Hoho, Young ones really know how to have a good time," High Duke Oris let out as he chuckled while he kept watching Ryder and Devilia with a smile on his face. "You talk as if we are old. You might be old, but I''m still a young maiden," High Duke Mila replied as she laughed. " We''re the oldest people in the room," High Duke Oris responded as he shook his head. "Come with me, old man. Let me get you to move your old bones then," High Duke Mila stood up as she extended her hand to High Duke Oris. "You can''t be serious," High Duke Oris replied with a smile on his face. "Come on, don''t be shy. Didn''t you hear the Prince? It''s like something that friends do. It must be like a tradition from his land. Let''s give him company by taking part in that tradition," High Duke Mila insisted. "Hahaha, fine then, Let''s give them company then," High Duke Oris held her hand as he stood up. They walked up to Ryder and continued dancing to the music. "Cheh, They are like children. They don''t even care about the dignity of High Dukes," High Duke Magna muttered as he snorted as if he didn''t like the High Dukes dancing before the Dukes, but he didn''t say anything. "This dress looks good on you. Who chose it?" Devilia inquired as she looked at the clothes of Ryder. "Miku chose this dress for me for this occasion. She''s back in the palace," Ryder responded as he smiled. "Oh, the Royal Head Maid. She does have a nice sense of fashion, but let me give you a bit of advice," Devilia said. She brought her face close to Ryder''s ears and whispered something in his ears. "Be careful around her. Don''t trust her too much," She told Ryder. Ryder heard her words and grew even more confused. It seemed as if Devilia was suspicious of Miku, but he didn''t understand why she was suspicious. "Why?" He asked Devilia. "You don''t know her background?" Devilia inquired as she looked at him. "Her background? I didn''t investigate. What''s her background?" Ryder asked again. " You remember the Duke that tried to take your Scythe when I first introduced you to the High Dukes?" Devilia inquired. "Yeah, he was the first Duke if I''m not wrong. The strongest one amongst the Dukes," Ryder let out as he nodded his head. "He was badly injured after that, and I haven''t seen him since then. He didn''t come today either." " Miku is his sister," Devilia answered Ryder. "She''s the sister of a Duke? Why is she working as a maid in the Royal Palace then? Also, how did High Duke Oris allow her to work for me in that case?" Ryder inquired in a low voice, with a frown on his face. "Alright. I''ll be careful," Ryder replied as he nodded his head. "So, when exactly are you coming to visit my place?" Devilia asked Ryder. "Your place is the first on my list. Since the Vampire King is already here, I''ll have to rush some things. I''ll probably be there the day after tomorrow," Ryder replied. "Good. I''ll prepare for the Grand Welcome," Devilia said as she smiled. "There''s no need for a grand welcome. I''ve already been there," Ryder responded. Devilia licked her lips as she brought her face closer to Ryder''s ears again. "You were there as a young boy who was too shy to even change before me, but now you''ll be there as the Prince of the whole realm. It''s not just for me, but for the whole land. There needs to be a grand welcome. The People of my land have been eager to see the new Prince, and it can be an opportunity to give them a glance before the main speech from the palace," Devilia said to Ryder. "Suit yourself," Ryder nodded his head. "Well, I think someone is looking at me with jealousy. I guess the others want the opportunity to dance with the Prince too. I''ll take a rest. Enjoy the evening," Devilia let out as she released Ryder and walked back to her seat. Ryder wondered who she was talking about as he looked back and noticed that Felina was looking in his direction. As soon as his gaze met hers, she started looking away. "I hope it won''t be too inappropriate," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "Come On, guys, why are you all not dancing? This is a day of celebration. It''s the birthday of our High Duke Oris. Come on, everyone, stand up and enjoy the evening," Ryde let out as he glanced at everyone. "Use this as a bonding experience to improve your relationship with your fellow Dukes." There were Twenty-five Dukes in the hall, and twelve of them were guys. The Dukes started getting up and former pairs to dance. Now, thirteen pairs were dancing while the music played. This looked like a proper ballroom dance now. Ryder went back to the seats. "High Duke Magna, why are you not celebrating?" Ryder asked as he saw High Duke Magna sitting with his eyes closed. "I''m not joining this," High Duke Magna responded without opening his eyes. "Come on. Don''t be shy. Come, let''s dance. The old man seems to be tired already," High Duke Mila appeared near Magna and started telling him to dance with her. High Duke Oris sat back on his seat. "Take her up on the offer. It does feel better. It''s kind of like an exercise. Just try it, once," High Duke Oris said to Magna. "I''m not taking part in this. Leave me alone," High Duke Magna responded as he refused to budge. "Hmph, you''re such a killjoy," High Duke Mila let out as she rolled her eyes. "My Prince, How about you dance with me?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder. Ryder was about to go ask Felina, but he had stopped since he saw Magna sitting alone, and now he was asked to dance Mila. "Alright," He agreed to the offer. He held High Duke Mila''s hands and started walking with her to the center. 214 Chapter 210: Fooled by a fake High Duke Mila was one of the most powerful beings in the Demon Realm, but she didn''t look like that. She looked like a girl that was only slightly over 18, but Ryder knew that it was just her looks. She was probably way older, but he knew that she hadn''t gotten married yet, which was surprising since she was the only High Duke that wasn''t married. There were quite a few Dukes that were single, but amongst the High Dukes, she was the only one who was still single. Mila had hair that was a lighter shade of red. Her hair was short and only came down to her shoulders, but they suited her looks. She also had two horns coming out of her head, but that didn''t affect her beauty in Ryder''s eyes. He had also seen her wings last time when she was leaving, but those wings were not visible at this time. Ryder placed one of his hands on her back, and the other hand held her hand as they began dancing. "You dance really well. Not just you, but others too. It''s difficult to imagine that you guys don''t dance on occasions like this. Why did you guys learn the dance then?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila. "It''s a part of the basic training on the Noble households. It''s just something that everyone needs to learn even though it has no use the same," High Duke Mila explained. "Oh. I understand it now. We also had to learn some useless things where I was born. Anyway, I have a question. Can I ask you if you don''t mind? It might be somewhat personal," Ryder asked Mila. "Personal? Are you going to ask me about my breast size? I heard in a book when I was young that males are more interested in it, but I haven''t had anyone ask me that yet," High Duke Mila responded with a curious look on her face. "Ah, that''s not it. Anyway, I can already guess why no one asked that to you. That would just be looking for death. Anyway, my question is, why haven''t you married yet. All the other High Dukes are still married, but from what I heard, you''re the only one amongst them who''s still single," Ryder inquired. "Why? Is there anything wrong with being single?" High Duke Mila inquired with an amused smile on her face. "There is nothing wrong with that. I was just curious," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "I want to live a single life. I don''t feel the need of a man in my life, so why should I care," High Duke Mila replied as she smiled. Ryder and Mila talked more as they continued dancing. After some time, they separated and walked back. "I guess I have one more dance left in me. Felina, would you like to dance with me?" Ryder asked Felina since she was the one who was left. The day passed away in the celebration as the drinking resumed after the dancing. When it was night, everyone started leaving. Ryder went back to his Royal Palace, and he was greeted by Miku. "How did it go?" Miku inquired as Ryder entered the Palace. "I will prepare for that," Miku nodded her head. Ryder went back to his room and closed the door as he logged out of the game. He woke up in the real world. It was already late in the day. It was the afternoon when Ryder woke up. He took a nice shower before he got dressed in proper clothing. He had purchased a satellite that didn''t leave any trace of the call behind. He had taken the number of Pasher from the phone of Jameson. He wanted to call Pasher using that while using Jameson''s voice to bring him closer to his death. Pasher was the father of the Spirit that was living in his office building. He had a mission to finish, which was to kill Pasher to help fulfill the revenge wish of the Spirit. He called Pasher using his satellite phone. "Who''s this?" Pasher inquired as he picked up the phone. "It''s Jameson. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, I''m using this satellite phone," Ryder responded in Jameson''s voice. "What the fuck, I just landed in your city and heard that you were dead. How the fuck are you still alive?" Pasher inquired in a concerned tone. "I''ll tell you everything personally later. I''m hiding in an old building at the moment. I''ll send you the address. Come to meet me. We need to solve this problem. The feds will soon find out that the body they found isn''t mine. They will reach you too if we don''t deal with this. Come fast, I''ll be waiting," Ryder let out as he disconnected the call. He sent the address of the building that was near the place where the spirit was staying. He knew that Pasher wouldn''t come if he invited him to the exact building since he knew that it was a haunted place, that''s why he invited him to a nearby place. Once Pasher got there, it was easy after that. Ryder took the keys of his car and stepped out of his home. He sat in his Whirlwind and started the car, which started driving away. He stopped the car near a fast food restaurant and ate something before he left and went to the building where everything was about to take place. What he didn''t know was that there was someone who was tracking his movement. There was a tracker placed under his car, which tracked his every movement. It was unclear who put that tracker there. The FBI was already on the trail of Pasher since Jameson was dead, and his last conversation was with Pasher, where they talked about some strange things which aroused their suspicions. They had started tapping his call. They also heard his latest call and got even more confused. Their tests had confirmed that the body they found was of Jameson. Who was this new Jameson? Were they really fooled by a fake? **** Ryder reached his building and parked the car underground before he stepped out of the car. He didn''t go to the higher floors and walked out as he stood near the entrance of that building while he kept an eye on the meeting place that was right before him. 215 Chapter 211: Tranquelized Ryder kept an eye on the road as he waited for Pasher. He didn''t want to miss him when he came. Since he was getting bored, he brought out his phone and started to go through the news while he regularly kept looking at the meeting point. While he was going through the news, he came across something that talked about the raid of the feds near his area in which a businessman called Jameson was found dead. He didn''t read anything unusual, and the article said that it was ruled out as a suicide. There was other news related to the Dream Corporation. It was said that the Dream Corporation was in talks with the government for a bug militarisation deal. They were en route to become the biggest profiteer if the deal succeeded. There was also news about murders of prominent celebrities. The report stated that in the last Twenty-Four hours, three celebrities were killed. After he finished the article, he closed it and searched his username on the internet to see what people were talking about him nowadays, and if the cheating claim was still going on or not. The top result was about the reply of Necrosis Corporation against the claims of cheating. "So they did reply," Ryder muttered as he saw the headline. With great interest, he clicked on the article and started reading it. The Article talked about the whole backlash and the claims of cheating, and then it mentioned the reply from Necrosis Corporation. The Spokesperson outright dismissed the concerns and claimed that it was impossible to cheat in the game and how far a person could reach was totally dependent on the tasks and the missions that the player got. They said that there were thousands of special quests hidden in the world of Divinity and that it was up to the players about how far they could reach. "The reply is what I expected. That''s how Necrosis had always been. They pride themselves on the creation of Divinity, and they would dismiss any claims of cheating. That''s good too since I''m not cheating, technically," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. Only Twenty minutes had passed since Ryder got here when he saw a luxurious car stop before the nearby abandoned building that Ryder had invited Pasher to. A man dressed in black stepped out of the car. Ryder recognized that man as Pasher Stan, who was the son of the spirit that was residing in Ryder''s building. Pasher got out of the car and couldn''t help but glance towards Ryder''s building that used to be his father''s. He still remembered the day when he had to kill his father for his love. He thought that it would be the end of it as he gave the property papers to the father of the girl that he loved. Shockingly, After a few days, he was informed that the girl''s father had died in that building mysteriously. The girl also died mysteriously inside the building. He was quite surprised when he was sent the coordinates by Ryder since the place he invited Pasher to was near that haunted building. He glanced at the building once before he stopped looking, and he entered the second abandoned building where he was invited to. He had already inquired about this building, and after making sure that no mishaps had happened here, he agreed to come here to meet Jameson since, after the previous incident, he had started to believe in ghosts and stuff. The man did bring two guards that were carrying assault rifles for his Security. They entered the building with Pasher. Ryder looked around, and after finding that no one was here, he started walking towards the building as well. This region mostly contained abandoned buildings, so there were no cameras here, which gave him an additional sense of security, but he still wore a mask. The mask he wore this time was once again different. He didn''t repeat the masks since he didn''t want anyone to link him with previous incidents. The mask he wore this time was once again of a famous comic book character, which has become even more popular after the movies were made on it. It was the mask of Stainless-steel Man. His character was supposed to be a billionaire that created amazing tech, which included a stainless-steel suit that made him a superhero. Ryder entered the building after Pasher. He had told Pasher to meet him on the third floor, so he knew where to find that guy. **** "Jameson, where are you?" Pasher called out as he stepped on the third floor, but he didn''t get a response. "Are you here?" He asked again. "I''m here," Ryder let out in Pasher''s voice as he stood behind him. Pasher''s guards turned back and aimed their guns at Ryder. "You''re not him. Who are you? How dare you fool me with his voice!" Pasher let out in anger as he glared at Ryder. "Can''t you recognize me?" Ryder inquired as he chuckled. "I''m Man, Stainless-Steel Man," Ryder replied with a joke as he raised his hand. "Don''t shoot me if you don''t want to die. I''m giving the both of you a chance to leave. You will survive," Ryder told the guards, but the guards didn''t budge. Ryder shook his head in disappointment. "I was joking with my name, but I didn''t joke about your deaths. Since you''ve already decided, then so be it," Ryder let out as he sighed. He was about to bring his guns out when he heard the sound of footsteps. He and Pasher looked towards the stairs and saw people dressed in bulletproof vests running up with guns in their hand, which they aimed at Ryder and the others. Ryder could see the FBI written on their vests. "Why do you guys always appear whenever I try to do something. Can''t you let me do God''s work of wiping the sinners?" Ryder let out in annoyance. Just as Ryder finished speaking, he saw another two men come up the stairs. They were Ray and Jacob, the guys that he had met and helped before. "We apologize, but that''s our duty. We need to make sure that the people are brought to justice," Ray told Ryder. "Don''t worry; we won''t harm you. Just don''t move and let us do our jobs. Also, I promise that we won''t put any charges on you. We will just ask some questions about the things that you know which can help us get to the bio-terrorists," he added as he especially told Ryder. "I''m sorry, but just like other times, I''m in a hurry. Let me get Pasher. If you try to interfere, then you know what can happen," Ryder told them as he refused to stay back. Pasher, on the other hand, was ready to surrender. He knew that he would be free since the feds hadn''t found him doing anything illegal, and Jameson was probably actually dead before they got to him. So he wasn''t in any danger. "We hope that you have the same ability as them, and you won''t die even after anyone shoots you. Also, you have helped us on many occasions, so I won''t try to kill you either, but I need you to cooperate with us. If you don''t, then we will be forced to shoot you," Ray told Ryder. " You can heal yourself against bullets, but some of our guys have tranquilizers instead of bullets. You won''t die, but you won''t heal either when you go to sleep. It''s on you if you want to come with us unconscious or while you''re still fully conscious," he warned against. ''Tranquilizers? I didn''t think about this, but he might be right. Tranquilizers aren''t deadly poisons that will kill me. The Healing might only heal the external wound and poisons. I might actually be in danger here,'' Ryder thought as he frowned behind his mask. "What made you think that tranquilizers work on us when even bullets can''t? Do you think that the creepy scientists that he experimented on us wouldn''t have thought about this? I''ll tell you right away. You can try attacking me, and I won''t be the good guy anymore. All of you will be wiped out right here and right now. Let me leave with Pasher. It''s for the better of the world," Ryder let out as he bluffed. He tried to fool them. Even though the chances of them leaving were less, he was trying. The plan didn''t work as a tranquilizer was shot and his Ryder''s legs. "I''m sorry, but thousands of lives depend on it. We can''t let anything go wrong. Catching those guys is really important, and we need your help with that. We''re ready to put our lives on the line for that," Ray muttered as he sighed. "You bastards," Ryder exclaimed weakly as he fell down on the ground. 216 Chapter 212: The Revenge Ryder dropped to the ground as he was inflicted with the tranquilizer. His vision started to get blurry. "I''m... not... risking..." Ryder muttered as he used the time-reversal since he didn''t want to test if his healing worked against tranquilizers or not since if it didn''t, then he would be in deep trouble. He traveled back by around five minutes when he was about to step on the third floor. This time, he didn''t go straight there, though. He opened the system store and purchased an item which he believed to help him. It was another sticker. He stepped on the third floor and placed that sticker on the wall. He hid in the background behind a pillar and didn''t begin a conversation this time. "Jameson, are you here or not?" Pasher called out again, but no one responded. "Is he not here anymore?" Pasher muttered, but just then, they heard the footsteps on the stairs. They looked back and saw the federal agents in bulletproof vests coming to them. Everything happened like last time, but the agents aimed their weapons at Pasher this time. Ryder brought out another sticker from his pocket and placed that on the pillar. As soon as the second sticker was placed on the pillar, an invisible one started filling up the room. It was a gas that was impossible to smell too. The only way for someone to escape being affected by it was by putting their hand on the second sticker, which was before Ryder. Ryder placed his hand on the wall as he watched the feds handcuffing the people. The gas was extremely effective as, by the time people realized that something was wrong; it was already too late. Everyone lost consciousness as they fell asleep, including Ray and Jacob. Ryder walked up to them and took some of the guns, which he kept in storage, believing that they would come handy in the future. After that, he picked up Pasher in his arms before he started walking towards the exit. He was careful walking towards the exit since he knew that their car would be there, and there was also a possibility of more agents being there, so he left through the window and went to his building. He had to break a window of his building to enter without going through the main door, but he found it to be worth it since this was better for him. As soon as Ryder entered with the body of Pasher, the Ghost appeared before him. "You killed him?" The Ghost asked as he looked at Ryder. Ryder realized that the Ghost was probably a misunderstanding, but he couldn''t see any happiness on the ghost''s face, still. "He''s still alive. Let''s go to the higher floors first," Ryder told the spirit since it was unsafe to stay in the ground floor. He walked to the highest floor. Ryder stopped on the top floor as he placed Pasher on the ground. He looked towards the Spirit. "You don''t look happy that your revenge is about to be over. Have you changed your mind? I can understand that it''s not easy to kill your child or watch him die no matter what crime they committed," Ryder let out as he sighed. The Spirit that looked like it belonged to a young boy looked at Ryder as it sighed. "You know, all these years, I have been thinking of revenge and killing this treacherous son of mine, but now that he''s before me, I can''t bring myself up to have him killed. He''s the last of my bloodline in this world," The Spirit muttered as it sighed. "I know that it''s tough, but you must remember, a person like him is better off dead. I''m not saying it just because he killed you, but because I know more about him than you do. This guy was about to have an amusement park blown up. Thousands of people would have died, and that number would have included a lot of children too," Ryder explained to the spirit. "He was about to kill more innocent people?" The Spirit asked. "Yeah, If I weren''t there, people would have died already. It''s on you if you want to kill him personally, but if you don''t, I''ll be the one killing it. Decide for yourself," Ryder let out as he looked at the unconscious Pasher. "I will do it," the Spirit told Ryder as it came to a decision. It started moving closer to Pasher. Pasher started moving as the effects of the sleeping gas started to wear off. Pasher slowly opened his eyes, but his mind was still not fully active yet. "Daddy?" Pasher muttered as if he had still not registered what was happening. The spirit of Stanner felt a burst of emotions as he saw his son calling him Daddy like he used to call him since the beginning. It was also the first word that Pasher had spoken when he was a child. This single word was enough to bring up so many memories. The memories of him taking his son to the school for the first time, his son growing up, and many more. "He''s not that young and innocent kid anymore," Ryder reminded Stanner. After some time, Pasher was finally back to his normal. He saw Stanner, and his face turned white as he moved back hurriedly. "How! You can''t be alive! Ghost!" Pasher screamed as he hit up against the wall. Stanner remembered that he was dead, and he was also dead because of his child that had killed him with his own hand. He flew towards him again as he placed his hand around Pasher''s throat. "D-don''t kill me! I''m your son! You can''t kill me!" Pasher had lost his mind as he saw the Spirit of his father that he had killed. His eyes were filled with tears while his face was pale as he apologized. "You''re not my son. No son of mine would kill his father and then try to kill innocent children," Stanner let out as he shook his head. He continued tightening his grip. Pasher had started to have difficulty in breathing. He begged again and again, but Stanner ignored him as he closed his eyes and continued strangling his son like his son had strangled him. Pasher kept struggling to free himself, but he wasn''t successful in it. His body kept getting weaker as his breathing stopped ultimately. After a few seconds, Pasher''s eyes closed. He stopped struggling, and that was his end. In two days, two rich businessmen had died, and Ryder played a role in their death. "You did what was necessary. It might feel bad for some time, but you finished the enmity. Let all the hatred from your heart die down so that you can become a new person. \u003cMission Finished Successfully\u003e \u003cHelped the Spirit get its revenge\u003e \u003cReceived the faith of the Spirit. It will become your Servant\u003e The Spirit looked towards Ryder. "I feel something that I haven''t felt ever before. Is this what they called true peace?" The Spirit muttered as it asked Ryder. "Thank you for helping me. I feel like I would have lost myself and killed so many people if I hadn''t met you. You are really like an angel that came in my life to bring me to the right path. Please let me serve you while you stay on this earth to bring prosperity and happiness to people," The Spirit told Ryder without waiting for his response. "I accept your offer," Ryder replied to the spirit. \u003cMaster-Servant link established between you and the spirit\u003e \u003cBenefit: The Spirit will follow all your orders will full faith\u003e \u003cBenefit: You can take the Spirit anywhere with you\u003e \u003cBenefit: The Spirit can''t betray you ever\u003e Ryder kept the body of Pasher in his storage ring since he didn''t want to leave any proof behind as he was sure that the agents must''ve woken up by now, and he didn''t want them to see the body if they decide to check this building. "You can leave this building now and see the outside world, but you can''t leave the two hundred meter proximity of me. Let''s get out of here now. I believe that it would be better for you to leave this place now," Ryder told the Spirit as he got ready to leave. Since the spirit was his servant now, it was better to keep it close as that was more helpful. The Spirit nodded its head as it started following Ryder towards the exit. Ryder and the spirit went to the parking lot. Ryder got into the car and got it out of the building, but he had to press break as soon as the car got out. "Fuck," He exclaimed out loud. 217 Chapter 213: Arrested As Ryder got his car out of the parking, he saw tens of cop cars outside, lining up and blocking the road. There were also a few black SUVs there. He also noticed the guns that were being pointed at him. Ryder had already changed the clothes when he was in the building, and he had taken off the Mask as he got out of the car. Ray and the other Feds were also standing before the cars, looking towards the Whirlwind of Ryder. Ryder stepped out of the car with an innocent look on his face. "May I help you guys?" Ryder asked the men after stepping out. He had a confused look on his face, which was trying to make it seem like he had no idea what was happening. "Wait, I think I recognize you. You''re the person that I met on the flight who was asking me strange questions," Ryder let out as he pretended to recognize Ray. He had met Ray many times, and only one of those times was in his real face. He had met him on the plane on their flight back. "Yeah, we met before. Quite a few times, I believe," Ray let out with a knowing smile on his face. "Why are you guys blocking the road for me?" Ryder inquired. "Because we need you to come with us. I believe that only you can help us. We also need to ask you some questions related to a case?" Ray asked Ryder. "What case? I don''t think I can help you with anything. Can you leave the car to the side? I have more matters to attend to," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "Someone we were looking for has been kidnapped. We had a tracking on that guy''s phone. The last location it showed was the building you just came out of. We know that it''s a building you owned, but you just coming out of that building just when we were about to enter is really suspicious. We need you to come with us. Please cooperate with us and place your hands on the bonnet of your car," Ray told Ryder. The other cops were still pointing their guns at Ryder. " That sounds awfully lot like you guys are going to arrest me. This is so stupid. Is this what you guys use the tax money for? To harass innocent people right before their buildings?" Ryder let out in annoyance as he walked to the bonnet of the car. "It''s not an arrest. We just need to cuff you and take you to the station to ask some questions. There won''t be any charges," Ray comforted Ryder. Jacob walked closer to Ryder and cuffed his hands. Ryder didn''t resist since that would just make things worse. They took Ryder to the black SUV and made him sit on the backseat of the car. "Some of you stay behind and keep an eye on him. I''m going inside to see if anyone else is inside," Ray told Jacob and the other agents before he started walking towards the buildings with the rest. Ray and the others searched the whole building of Ryder, but he didn''t find anyone inside. There was no sign of Pasher or his phone. "Someone used this to come inside. It might be Ryder who came through this window after kidnapping Pasher, but the main question remains. Where is the body? The phone''s signal also disappeared," Ray muttered as he frowned while looking at the broken window. After searching the whole place, he came out. **** Ryder was sitting on the backseat of the car, cursing his stupidity. He took the unconscious Pasher, but didn''t throw away his phone. He had no idea that his phone was being tracked. Fortunately, Ryder had left his own phone in his car when he had gone to kidnap Pasher, so it was impossible for anyone to link him to the kidnapping. As for Pasher''s location from his phone, that thing was useless without anybody. As long as Ryder didn''t say anything to get him in trouble, he was safe. Also, he was somewhat happy. All his missions were now completed except the one about finding the Ancient Cultivation Family. Now, he didn''t have any killing mission, and he could live the life of a model citizen as long as someone didn''t try to die from his hands by creating schemes around him. ''The Birthday celebration of that girl is near. As long as I get any clue about the cultivation family and find them, all my missions will be done. Also, I need to grind with Shu for that quest. That''s in a few days too. I just hope they don''t keep me in arrest for too long,'' ''I should be able to call Shu to see if he can get me out faster, but I doubt he would be able to. We are talking about the feds, not the normal cops. Still, informing him is better,'' Ryder thought as he looked at his pockets where his phone was, but he couldn''t pick the phone since his hands were cuffed behind his back. "Can I call my friends and family to let them know that I''m arrested?" Ryder asked Jacob, who was sitting beside him. Jacob shook his hand as he refused. "You can do nothing before we get to the station,'' he replied. "You know that it''s my right to call," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face. " We''ll give you your right when we get to the station," Jacob replied as he shook his head. Ray came back to the car and entered it as he sat on the other side of Ryder. "Did you find the body of anything?" Jacob asked Ray. "There''s no body inside. Also, the signals from the phone have stopped. It''s as if the phone suddenly went off the grid," Ray informed Jacob. "Probably it''s turned off," Jacob replied. "The others will be behind taking the fingerprints and trying to find the body, but I doubt we will find anything significant. Anyway, let''s go back. The others can deal with the search. We already got what we wanted in a way," Ray let out as he glanced at Ryder. "You got the wrong person. I don''t even know what you all are talking about and what happened, but I have nothing to do with anything. I was in the building that I legally own, checking the work that it''s going through for my office. It''s not a crime as far as I know," Ryder told Ray in annoyance. " We will give our side and hear your side after we go back, but let me just tell you, I know that you''re not the enemy and that you''re trying to help us, so we won''t do anything to harm you. All we want is some cooperation between us so that we can work toward the same goal more effectively. We will talk more later," Ray replied to Ryder as he closed his eyes. The car started driving away from Ryder''s building. Throughout the hour-long drive, no one said anything. The car stopped before a beautiful building that was fully covered in glass. Ray and Jacob stepped out of the car with Ryder. There was another car behind their car, which had more agents. "Isn''t this a commercial building? I thought you would take me to a prison or something," Ryder let out with a frown. " It''s probably an unofficial arrest, isn''t it?" "Not at all. We have full permission to arrest anyone it takes to solve the case. As for bringing you to a commercial building, it''s not commercial anymore. We have booked the top floor of the building for our official work. This is the temporary headquarter for us," Ray told Ryder as he brought him inside the building. They took him to the lift, which took them to the top floor. On the top floor, they placed him in one of the rooms and locked the door from the outside as they left, but not before taking his phone with them. They did tell Ryder that they will be back soon. They also removed his handcuffs. The room had a table at the center and a few chairs around it. It seemed like an interrogation room. It wasn''t fully closed, though. There was a window in the back as well. Ryder looked towards the window while he sat on the chair as he frowned. ''It''s so easy to escape from here for me, but that would just be painting a big target on my back,'' Ryder thought as he shook his head. He looked around the room and noticed that there was a small camera too, which was almost invisible as it was embedded in the wall. He sat on the chair like an innocent boy as he started singing an old song. Only ten minutes had passed when Ray and Jacob entered the room. They sat before Ryder as they looked at him. 218 Chapter 214: Illegal "If you''re going to keep me here for long, you need to let me call a friend," Ryder told Ray as he sighed. "After we finish our question, you can call anyone. We can''t let the higher-ups interfere in the question, and I already know how High your reach is. I won''t let the Dream Corporation pull strings to interrupt this," Ray let out as he shook his head and refused to let Ryder call. He already knew that Ryder had a link to the Dream Corporation. The Dream Corporation''s private lawyer was handling the lawsuit on the city police for Ryder, which meant that his reach within the Dream Corp was pretty high. He didn''t want to take the risk at the moment before he was done with his interrogation. "What does the Dream Corporation have to do with me? You guys are seriously making a mistake. I''m not the one you''re looking for," Ryder replied in annoyance. He still didn''t know that he had the highest reach within the Dream Corporation. The Owner of the Dream Corporation was Shu, who was like a brother to him. Why Shu was able to roam so freely without being recognized also showed the power of the Dream Corporation. They kept Shu''s image from leaking. Shu''s image was not available on the internet. No one had his image, and no one was allowed to capture his image either. Only the higher-ups within the Dream Corporation and the High-level People within the society that met him knew how he looked like. His name on the documents was not Shu, either. Shu''s full name on the documents and everywhere was Schumacher Phillip Maxwell. He used the short form of his name when introducing himself, which was Shu. Even the Feds didn''t have any image of Shu in their database. This was clear to indicate the standing of Dream Corporation within the country. The Dream Corporation was one of the biggest organizations in the whole world. While the others of other organizations didn''t mind their name and image getting out in the open and didn''t make any effort to keep it a secret, Shu was different. Shu wanted his privacy, and he didn''t want people to know who he was as he believed that the people that knew about his real identity would be the ones he would never be able to trust completely when it came to friendship since he would always have that lingering doubt that they came close to him for his wealth. That''s why, despite being rich, he didn''t have any real friends until the day he met Ryder when he sneaked outside to buy the game called Divinity. That was the day when the owner of one of the biggest organizations in the world got close to the person that was soon going to become a terrifying existence that shook the whole world and even the worlds beyond. "That''s not the point of focus here. The faster we finish with this, the faster we can be done," Ray told Ryder. "Fine. Ask your questions," Ryder responded as he agreed to answer, but the answers weren''t going to be the honest ones. He already had a story in his mind and a plan to prove that he wasn''t the culprit. "Do you accept that you were that masked person that helped us before by killing the BioTerror members?" Ray asked Ryder. "What masked man? I have no idea what you''re talking about. I thought this was about some kidnapping, as you said before. How did you bring me in the whatever masked man and savior story?" Ryder asked as he acted ignorantly. "Say yes or no, were you the masked man?" Ray asked again. "No," Ryder replied straight away. "Looks like we would need to do it the hard way. I wanted to do it respectfully, but the fate of the world depends on the truth, so I''ll do what I have to. Jacob, call them inside," Ray let out as he sighed. Ryder frowned as he glanced at them, wondering what it was about. ''Are they going to torture me? I swear to god that I''ll kill them all if they try to do anything like that,'' Ryder thought as he clenched his fist. The door opened, and a person in black clothes came inside with two briefcases. He placed both the briefcase on the table and opened the first one. It had some weird stuff that gave Ryder an odd feeling. The other briefcase was also opened, which seemed to have a machine inside. ''It''s a freaking lie detector test. These bastards,'' Ryder frowned as he saw the machine. "We are going to perform a short lie detector test on you. Just be honest, and we''ll believe whatever you say," Ray told Ryder with a calm look on his face. "You need the order from the court to perform that on me. Can I see that order?" Ryder asked Ray as he frowned. He didn''t want to go through it at any cost. "We will show you the orders later. Just cooperate for now," Ray said as he shook his head. The black-clothed man started preparing the lie detector machine. He placed some of the wires on Ryder''s chest. Another wire had a clip attached to it, which he put over Ryder''s forefinger. "It''s ready," The black-clothed man told Ray. "Alright. You can leave. We''ll handle the rest," Ray told the man. The man nodded his left as he left. Jacob brought the machine before him. Since the briefcase was opened and now the back was facing him, Ryder wasn''t able to see the machine inside or the screen. Ray and Jacob could see the screen only. "Alright. We are going to ask you the questions now. Answer as honestly as you can," Ray told Ryder. Ryder didn''t respond as he continued frowning. "What is your name?" Ray asked. "I''m not going to answer. This test is illegal. I''m a respectable citizen of this country, and I pay my taxes. I''m not going to say anything. This is all illegal," Ryder let out in a loud tone as he refused to answer. Ray couldn''t help but sigh as he placed his hand on his forehead. "Alright. Jacob, stay here. I''ll be back in ten minutes," Ray said as he stood up and left the room. Jacob sat before Ryder, keeping an eye on him. Ryder was trying to find an opportunity to use the system to get something useful while Ray was not inside. He started to pretend as if he was playing piano in the air with his finger and occasionally kept tapping in the air. While Jacob couldn''t see it, there was a semi-transparent screen opened before Ryder that only he could see or touch. Ryder was in the system store, trying to see if there was something that could help him in this situation, but he didn''t find anything that was useful here. All he could see were stuff that would put him in trouble in the end. Ray entered the room with a paper in his hand. Ryder closed the screen and sat straight. "Here, the orders that you were looking for," Ray let out as he showed the court permission to Ryder. Ryder read through the documents and sighed. ''The feds really have a lot of power. They got the permission so fast,'' Ryder thought as he gave the paper back. "It''s fully legal now. Just answer us. As long as you didn''t commit any crime, you have nothing to worry about. As for the crimes that you committed, we already know about that, and you won''t be in trouble for that if you decide to help us," Ray told Ryder. "So, are you going to help us and accept that you were the masked man, or are you going to go through the test?" Ray asked. Ryder didn''t reply. "Fine. We''ll go through the test. Answer me. What is your name?" Ray asked the first question as a test. "I''m Ryder," Ryder replied. "Is Ryder Flynn your real name?" Ray asked Ryder. "Yes. As far as I know," Ryder responded. "What were you doing inside the building where you came out of," Ray asked Ryder. "I looked at the walls. That is my building, and I gave the contract for its renovation. I checked the walls and other stuff to see how the work was going on," Ryder replied. He didn''t tell the whole truth and the main thing he was seeing, but he didn''t lie either. After killing Pasher, he did see the building and noticed the work. "Do you know who Pasher Stan is?" Ray asked Ryder. 219 Chapter 215: Interrogation Ryder didn''t open his mouth, and he didn''t reply. "Answer me," Ray let out again. "Yes, I know him," Ryder answered as he told the truth. "How do you know him?" Ray further inquired as he smiled. He believed that he was getting close to the truth since Ryder had already accepted knowing Pasher. " The building you saw me coming out of is something that I own, as I already told you. It belonged to someone called Stanner Stan before. I did a search on the net and found the son of Stanner Stan," Ryder replied. Ray looked towards the screen of the machine and nodded his head. "Alright. Did you meet Pasher Stan today?" Ray asked again. Ryder was trying to find his way through without lying by trying to tell the vague truth, but there was no way around it anymore. He knew that even if he escaped one question, he wasn''t able to escape by being vague for a long time. He needed to fool the lie detector test to be successful. He knew that the test used the irregular heartbeat to detect the lies, so first, he needed to keep his heartbeat calm. "I didn''t meet Pasher today," Ryder replied after a while. Ray looked at the screen and nodded his head. "Alright. You didn''t meet him today, so you might not be the one that kidnapped him, but that doesn''t exonerate you," Ray let out as he shook his head. "Did you see anyone else inside your building?" Ray asked again. "I didn''t see anyone," Ryder replied as he smiled. He was someone happy to know that it was working. "Were you the masked man that saved me in Washington?" Ray asked Ryder. "No, I was not the one you''re talking about," Ryder replied with a confident look on his face. "Do you know anything about the Bio-terrorists that were involved in the encounter in Washington?" Ray inquired. "No," Ryder responded again as he tried to keep his heartbeat steady. "Have you killed the girl that you kidnapped yesterday?" Ray let out as he asked about Riya. "No, I don''t even know what girl you''re talking about," Ryder replied. "Do you know about the plan of the BioTerror?" Ray asked. "No," Ryder answered. Ray again looked at the screen and nodded his head. "Do you know where we can find more members of BioTerror?" Ray inquired. "No," Ryder answered again. Ray continued asking the questions and Ryder kept replying while keeping his heart steady. "Alright. I have only two more questions," Ray muttered. " Will you ever help the enemies of the country and the innocent people?" Rey asked Ryder. "Never," Ryder replied. "Last question. Will you help us against Bioterror? We can give you anything you want if you help us. Will you reconsider cooperating with us, or will you do it alone?" Ray asked again. "I don''t know what you''re talking about," Ryder answered. "I guess we really were wrong. I apologize for bringing you here, and I would like to thank you for your cooperation. You can leave now. Our man is standing outside. He''ll escort you back to your car," Ray said as he looked at Ryder apologetically. "I told you you were wrong. At Least you know when to accept the wrong," Ryder let out in annoyance as he stood up and left the room. An agent took Ryder to their black car and escorted him to the building where Ryder''s car was. Ryder sat in the car and drove it back home. **** Ray and Jacob were still sitting in the room when Ryder left the room. "You were right. It did work," Jacob muttered as he opened the briefcase again. "Looking at his answers and his lies, he is indeed the person that helped us," he added as he looked at the screen and the paper where he marked the answers. "Of Course, I was right. I knew it from the beginning. He is definitely the person that helped us, and he wants to keep his identity hidden. I wouldn''t blame him. This is something that anyone would be afraid to take part in when they have the abilities like him. He might be afraid of many things that the government will do to him," Ray muttered as he shook his head. " His answers about not knowing the plans of Bio-terror were right. His answer about not knowing their location was right, too, also about having no contacts with them or any member related to them. I guess we can''t use him to get to them. We must wait to find a clue about them or for him to find a clue about them," Jacob let out as he looked at the papers in his hand. "Keep tracking Ryder. I want someone to keep an eye on him whenever he goes out. An agent needs to be on his trail permanently," Ray told Jacob. "Should we really not tell the chief about Ryder? We shouldn''t keep this thing hidden from him," Jacob asked Ray. Ray shook his head as he took the papers from Jacob. "Now is not the time. We can''t take any risk that might burn the bridges between us," Ray replied to Jacob as he looked at the papers. "Also, Riya is dead. I did expect that, though. I did not expect that he killed Pasher so fast. His answer was a lie about that. I guess we lost a trail there as well," He added as he sighed. "What should we do next? We don''t have any other trail other than Ryder," Jacob inquired. "We haven''t been able to catch Pasher either. We can''t stay in this city without an excuse, and if we put an agent on Ryder''s trail, Chief will definitely find out about it and ask us," he added with a concerned look on his face. "I know about that. That''s why I''m not going to use one of our own. I''ll take outside help. Someone that is the best of the best. A person that can keep an eye on him from the shadows without getting in the path of danger," Ray replied as he looked towards the window. "Who? You''re not talking about her, are you?" Jacob inquired as he frowned. "She''s the only one that can do it. I need to call her," Ray muttered as he looked at the screen of his phone. "Are you really going to put your family in danger? And do you think she will help you after what you did?" Jacob asked Ray. "Come on; You''re making it sound like I did something bad. I just got a little angry and told her to get out of the house that I own. It wasn''t something that bad. That''s only because she was hacking my official stuff for fun," Ray replied with a wry smile on his face. " You say that it''s not bad, but have you talked to her after that day?" Jacob asked, frowning. "I didn''t get the opportunity to talk to her. You know that just the next day we went to Washington and then we came here. She will help me if I convince her. Even though it wasn''t my fault, I''ll apologize to her as well," Ray let out with a wry smile on his face. " I guess that would be good if she agrees. She is the best in that field. She''s even better than most of our agents. I always wonder why she didn''t join any federal agency. Her talents mostly go to waste. She would be able to put them to good use if she was working with us in the FBI," Jacob muttered as he looked at Ray with a questioning gaze on his face. "Who knows what goes through the mind of that girl. I asked her multiple times, but she never gave me a reason. I guess she just doesn''t want to work under anyone," Ray let out with a wry smile on his face. He called the number and placed the phone near his ears. "You talk in privacy. I''ll be outside, putting this back," Jacob let out as he picked up the briefcases and walked out of the room. "Hello, Rin?" Ray said as soon as the call was connected. **** The black SUV stopped before Ryder''s building. Ryder stepped out of the car and left. Ryder''s car was just at the entrance of the building. He stepped in the car and started the engine. "That was a happening day. I didn''t expect I would be out so soon, though," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Anyway, how was your first day out?" He asked the spirit of Stanner that had stayed near Ryder all this time. "I''m glad that they didn''t harm you," The Spirit replied to Ryder. The car raced through the streets of the city as it moved in the direction of Ryder''s home. 220 Chapter 216: Suggestion or Threat? "Oh, right. I totally forgot about that. Yesterday, I promised to meet the Police Chief. I guess there''s one more meeting with the authorities," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he made a U-turn and went towards the Police Station. He parked the car before the station and entered the station. He walked to a cop and told him that he was invited to meet the Chief. The Cop recognized Ryder and escorted him to the room of the station chief. The cop told Ryder to wait outside as he opened the door and entered the room. He informed the Police Chief of Ryder''s arrival. After a few minutes, he came out of the room. "You can go inside," The Cop told Ryder. Ryder entered the room. He saw a man sitting on the chair behind a table. The man was wearing a dress that highlighted his position as the Police Chief. The man looked like he was in his late thirties. He had a clean face and short black hair. "Have a seat," He told Ryder as he pointed towards the chair. Ryder stepped forth and sat on the chair. " I was expecting you yesterday, but I was told that you were busy," The Chief said with an expressionless face as he opened a drawer and pulled out a paper. "Yeah, I had a meeting planned," Ryder replied. "That''s alright. I guess we can''t expect you to come whenever we want. We can only force criminals to the stations," the Chief replied. "Anyway, I''m Mak Donner. I''m the one handling all the cops that keep this place safe," The Police Chief let out as he reached out his hand to shake Ryder''s hand. "Ryder, Ryder Flynn," Ryder let out as he reached out his hand as well and shook the hands of Mak. "So, Mr. Ryder. I found out that you have sued my department. May I ask why you would do that?" Mak asked Ryder. "Because your department violated the rights of my sister and participated in an injustice. They arrested my sister for no reason and without any research. Even if they arrested my sister, they let the other person go that was involved in that argument. It shows a clear partiality just because my sister didn''t show her backing." Ryder answered the Police Chief. "As for the last thing, it''s even bigger. The cops didn''t allow my sister to call and inform me while they locked her up behind bars. That''s the major violation of her rights. I also have more things, but that should be left for when we meet in the court of law," he added with a casual look on his face. "So you sued us for Twenty Million Dollars?" Mak inquired as he frowned. "I don''t have any idea how much I sued you for. I left that for my lawyer, but he did say something along those lines," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "This is not about the mistake, but corruption and blaming an innocent. I''m sorry, but I''ll go forth with the lawsuit. It''s not for me, but for my sister. As for the money, I''m sure the city will be able to come up with the money. It''s not like you guys are a private organization that soon fork out of your pockets," Ryder let out as he refused the offer. "I''m not taking back the lawsuit. I want to, and I will win this. The money that we receive from you guys will go to the girl that was affected by your blunder. Alice will get all the money, and she will become a millionaire, thanks to you guys," Ryder replied as he smiled innocently. "So you don''t want to cooperate. Does money matter more to you than your security?" Mak asked Ryder. "Mr. Mak, You should choose your words wisely. If I didn''t know any better, I would have thought that you were threatening me just now," Ryder replied with a subtle smile on his face. "Of course, I wouldn''t threaten you. I''m here to protect the citizens, and you come under them, but if you take the money from our department, we wouldn''t have enough funds to take care of all our citizens. It would be a real shame if something happened to you because the department didn''t have enough funding to maintain our personnel and keep the city safe. It would be best if you thought again," The Police Chief again told Ryder. "I told you what I wanted to say. I don''t think I will have anything else to add. The decision is yours. I won''t force you to take back the lawsuit, but I would tell you to be a little considerate," He added. "I also told you what I wanted to say. I have thought about it. I''m not taking back the lawsuit. If you don''t have anything else to talk about, I will take my leave," Ryder let out as he smiled. He stood up, and just as he turned back, he heard the voice of the Police Chief. "I hope you won''t regret your decision," Mak said. "Since you have given me such nice advice, let me give you some advice as well. If you or anyone from the police department tried to hurt my family or me, then you will definitely regret your decision. Take it however you want. Don''t try to test me. I''m not the person that will be afraid of your hidden threats, and I won''t be the one who will stay silent. I hope you won''t try to test my limits," Ryder said without looking back. He walked towards the door and left the room. Ryder stepped out of the police station and entered his car. "That guy really called me here to threaten me. That son of a..." Ryder started cursing as he sat in the car. "I''m not worried about me, but I do worry about Alice. She doesn''t have the healing or anything like that, but I can''t backtrack now either. Should I do something to increase the protection around Alice?" He muttered as he started the car and drove it back to his house. He was going back to his home, but he stopped the car along the way as he looked ahead. Right ahead, he saw what seemed like a body, just lying in the middle of the road. This road was empty at the moment too. Ryder frowned as he stepped out of the car and walked towards the body that was bleeding on the ground. The body was lying face down on the ground. He tilted the body to the side, but he was stunned to find a gun in the hand of the body that it was suddenly pointing towards Ryder. The person before him wasn''t dead or injured, and he was simply pretending to be hurt. The man''s goal was to hijack a car, but the people had become more clever now, and they didn''t stop the cat for a stranger. He felt like the possibility of getting the cat was higher if a driver came out of his car and stepped closer to him. " Don''t move, or you''ll die," the man let out as he aimed the gun at Ryder. "Oh, that''s your car? I guess I''m quite lucky today. Quick, give me the keys," The man told Ryder. "Are you seriously robbing me in the open? Although it''s evening, but still. Aren''t you afraid?" Ryder inquired as he sighed. "Afraid of what? The cops? They don''t petrol this place, and by the time you will complain, and they get here, I''ll be long gone," The man told Ryder. "Not the cops. I was asking, aren''t you afraid of dying?" Ryder asked as he shook his head. "Dying? Who will kill me? You? Hmph, stop wasting my time, you pipsqueak. Give me the keys and your wallet," the man thundered as he glared at Ryder. "Stanner? Does this guy love pretending to be dead? How about you make him dead for real? Scums like this need to die," Ryder told Stanner. Stanner moved his hand towards the man''s throat, but his hands passed through the man and couldn''t touch him. "I-i can''t touch him," Stanner told Ryder after he tried again. "Maybe it''s because I''m not a cursed spirit anymore, and I got my revenge. I am at peace. I can''t touch anyone or harm them." "Sigh, that sucks. I guess I''ll do it myself then," Ryder let out as he sighed. "You bastard! Who are you talking to? Are you trying to scare me in the name of a ghost? Don''t be oversmart, or you won''t even know how you died," The Man warned Ryder. 221 Chapter 217: Plan Leaked? "Alright. I''ll give you the keys," Ryder said as he moved his right hand towards his pocket, but with his left hand, he was operating the system screen to get his items outside. With his right hand, he got the keys of his car out, and he extended his hand towards the Man. The man reached out his hand as well, to take the key. His focus was attracted by Ryder''s right hand, and he didn''t notice a gun appear in Ryder''s left hand. Ryder pointed his gun towards the man''s hand and fired a shot. The bullet passed through the hand of the man and made his gun drop. The man screamed out loud like a baby as he held his wounded hand. "See you in hell," Ryder told the man as he aimed the gun towards the man''s hand and fired. The bullet left the gun and penetrated the head of the man at a lightning-fast speed. The man''s forehead started bleeding as a big hole was left behind. The man fell down on the ground on his knees and fell down. Ryder stepped forth and out the body and the gun in his storage. He turned back and started to walk towards the car. Ryder entered the car and started it again. "So, you can''t touch anyone now?" Ryder asked the Spirit as he drove the car ahead while keeping his eyes on the road. "I can''t," The Spirit replied as it shook its head. '' I was thinking that I got a good weapon to kill my enemies if I needed to, but I guess that''s not possible anymore. At Least he''s still good for spying,'' Ryder thought as he tried to look at the positive side. He got the car back home and entered his house. He spent the rest of the day in peace at home with Alice. They had dinner and a little conversation about their days. Ryder lied about his day since he couldn''t say that he was bagged by the FBI. After the dinner, Ryder went back to his room. He sat on his bed as he wore the Divinity Glasses and entered the world of Divinity. Ryder woke up in the World of Divinity and left his room and met up with Miku. "Is Rale up?" he asked Miku. "Master Rale is not up yet," Miku replied to Ryder as she shook her head. "Is something wrong? I thought he would be up in a day, but the physician did say that it might take longer. Let''s just see him," Ryder told Miku as he started walking towards the room of the Physician. As Ryder got there, he saw quite a lot of maids and guards standing outside the room just as he had ordered. Ryder entered the room of the physician and saw Rale. Rale was up, and he was sitting on the bed. The Physician was checking Rale''s hand. "Your Highness," Rale greeted Ryder as he saw him enter the room. His words alerted the Physician as well, who also looked back. "Your Highness, you came at the right time. Master Rale just woke up," the Physician told Ryder as soon as he saw him. "I am perfectly fine," Rale responded. "Is he really?" Ryder asked the physician. "Yes. All his vitals are normal now. Master Rale is perfectly fine now," The Physician told Ryder with a smile on his face. "That''s good. Rale, come with me. I need to tell you about something," Ryder told Rale as he gestured for him to follow him. Ryder left the room. Miku and Rale followed after him. "You guys can go back. There''s no need to guard this room anymore," Ryder told the guards and the maids before he started walking away. Ryder, Rale, and Miku walked through the Corridor as Ryder explained to Rale about the events that have happened while Take was asleep. He talked about the arrival of the Vampire King and the fact that the Vampire King was staying in the capital while he was trying to find his people. He also told Rale that they were leaving the capital today to get to the Duke''s palaces. "Your Highness, I think we should not leave the capital. Also, we should not allow the Vampire King to stay here," Rale told Ryder with a concerned look on his face. "I know about that second part. I shouldn''t allow him to stay here as it just means that we''re not clear, and he can find some things, but I have taken precautions. Nothing would happen. Why do you say that we shouldn''t leave the capital, though?" Ryder inquired with a frown on his face. "Because it''s not safe. The Vampire King is here. It''s good that you have one High Duke keeping an eye on him, but it''s still risky. It would be troublesome if the Vampire King found out that you left the Capital and if he tried to harm you outside the capital since the other High Dukes won''t be there. If you want to leave, then I suggest that we take one of the High Dukes with us," Rale suggested with a serious look on his face. "Two High Dukes will stay in the capital so that they can protect the Royal Palace if the Vampire King tries to break in after we leave. One of them can be with us, and the last one will be with the Vampire King. Even if the Vampire King somehow lost High Duke Eston and managed to leave him behind, the High Duke that''s with us can take care of the Vampire King. I would prefer not to fight unless it''s to save you since you said that if we bleed, the Vampire King will know," he added. "That''s a good suggestion. I agree with that. I''ll ask one of the High Dukes to come with me," Ryder nodded his head as he agreed. "Yeah, Master Rale''s idea is really good," Miku also complimented. "I think I''ll leave High Duke Oris and High Duke Magna to take care of the capital. High Duke Eston is on Vampire King''s trail, so I''ll take High Duke Mila. I guess I would meet to drop my idea to leave today, though. I will only affect my affinity with High Duke Mila if I just commanded her to leave with me now. I need to give her time. I''ll inform her that we''ll leave tomorrow," Ryder said as he smiled. "Rale, come with me. Miku, you prepare the things for our departure. We''ll leave tomorrow," Ryder told Miku before he left with Rale. Ryder left the Royal Palace and flew towards High Duke Mila''s palace. He entered the royal palace as the guards escorted him. Ryder expected that he would be taken to the Great Hall and told to wait there, but instead, he was taken to the library where the guard said High Duke Mila spent most of the time. Ryder found it quite weird initially about how he was led straight to the High Duke. Generally, the guards informed the High Dukes first while they let the person of authority rest respectfully. He couldn''t help but ask the female guard about it. "Are you really not going to inform High Duke Mila about my arrival first?" Ryder asked the guard. "These are the High Duke''s orders. She told me to bring you straight to her when you came. She said that there was no need to inform her as long as she was not in her bedroom," the guard replied. " Hmm," Ryder nodded his head. "You can go in, Your Highness," The guard told Ryder as she stopped outside the entrance of the library. Ryder pushed the door of the library open and entered the library with Rale to meet high duke mila. As he entered, he saw Mila sitting on a chair with a red book on her hand. "Oh, you came. So, when are we leaving?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder as she noticed him coming in. She also stood up and greeted him. "Leaving where?" Ryder asked as he frowned while he sat down before her and gestured for her to sit as well. He wondered if she knew about his intentions. She shouldn''t be able to read his mind, and the plan was made just now. There was no way someone could have leaked it. "Of course, I''m talking about leaving the capital. Aren''t you here to invite me to accompany you on the journey? So, when are we leaving?" High Duke Mila asked as she smiled. " How do you know about that," Ryder inquired as he maintained his calm. He didn''t let his surprise show on his face. This was not how he expected this meeting to go at all, but he couldn''t let himself look overly shocked. 222 Chapter 218: Identity Problems "Of course, I would know about it. I would have to be an idiot to know that you will invite me. I know that you''re leaving the capital to go to the territories of the Dukes. I also know that the Vampire King is in the kingdom, and it would be unsafe for you to leave the capital alone, and Rale would not allow you to take the risk. I have known how cautious Rale is. His first suggestion would be to take someone who could keep you even more safe against the Vampire King," High Duke Mila replied as she smiled. She couldn''t help but glance at Rale as she said it, but Rale didn''t react and kept his expression neutral. Ryder on the head was nodding his head in praise. "That''s interesting. You''re pretty clever to guess that much from a little bit of information. Still, how did you know that I would invite you and not the High Dukes who are considered to be stronger?" Ryder asked again with an amused smile on his face. " That part was even easier. It''s easy to guess what His Highness will do and who he will choose to accompany him when the choice is between two old men or a beauty," High Duke Mila said with a cheeky smile on her face. Ryder shook his head as he smiled wryly. "Are you saying that I chose you for your looks," Ryder let out as he frowned. "Not exactly, but that should be one of the factors, I believe. The second reason should be that the stronger High Dukes need to stay in the capital to keep the place safe," High Duke Mila replied with a serious expression as she placed the book in her hand on the table before her. "Well, you''re right on both accounts, I guess. A female company is definitely better than a male one on long journeys," Ryder replied as he smiled. He was really amazed that the clever thinking of High Duke Mila "Anyway, If I knew that you were ready to leave, I would have made plans to leave today, but I have delayed them already. We will leave tomorrow morning," he told High Duke Mila. "I understand," High Duke Mila replied as she smiled. "Great. I''ll take my leave then," Ryder said as he stood up and left the library. They stepped out of the Palace of High Duke Mila and started flying back to the Royal Palace. "Rale, Do you know of a good hunting ground with somewhat weak monsters? I have noticed that it has been a few days since I hunted and increased my strength. I would like to resume, or my progress will be stalled," Ryder told Rale while they were mid-air. "The Royal Palace has a special hunting space with His Majesty made for hunting, but I don''t think we can use that. There are no weak monsters there. Almost all monsters here are at least on the same level as the Royal Guards, and from what you told me, I can''t harm the beasts or killing them won''t benefit you," Rale replied as he shook his head. "That''s true. I can''t hunt monsters that strong," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "The Other High Dukes also have a personal hunting space and the Spatial tunnels connecting to that place, but the monsters there aren''t weak either. I think we can hunt in the forests of Dukes. Those forests have some young monsters that are not too strong," Rale suggested as he landed before the Royal Palace. They entered the Palace. "Those places do have weaker monsters. At Least Devilia''s forest had monsters I hunted. The problem is that I can''t go there unofficially today to hunt when I''m going there tomorrow officially. Is there no other place?" Ryder inquired. " I do have an idea if we don''t want to go to the places of Dukes. We can go to the Human Realm for a short trip. I heard that the place is filled with weak Monsters. The last time we went there for the thing called the Dungeon Exploration, it helped Your Highness. We can go there again," Rale replied. "That did help. Alright. Let''s take a short trip there. We can spend twenty hours here since I don''t have to lea... I mean sleep tonight," Ryder replied as he nodded his head. He had already decided that he would spend the night in the game and then the day too. He had taken the nutrition pull to keep him nourished during his gaming. He didn''t need to do anything significant in the real world tomorrow, so he was fine spending the night here. "Alright. We''re leaving now. Just the two of us," Ryder told Rale as he started walking towards the underground room, which has all the spatial tunnels, which led to various realms. Ryder didn''t tell Miku that he was leaving this time since Miku was somewhere preparing for their journey, and he didn''t want to wait for something so minor, but he did tell a maid to inform Miku that he was going to sleep in his room. Ryder entered the secret underground place and opened the Spatial tunnel, which led to the human realm. Ryder and Rale entered the Spatial Tunnel together and appeared in a dense forest. "This place is different. Why are we not in the empty lands where the dragon rests like the last two times?" Ryder asked Rale with a frown. "That''s because the Spatial Tunnel changes the exit location in the human realm after four travels. We traveled four times by going back and forth, so that tunnel exit was changed. That''s what I know, at least. Even I''m not sure why it happens, but this is it," Rale said. "Oh, it is good then. Even if the location of the exit is exposed, people can''t know about it since the tunnel changes location, so it''s pretty good. At Least from the safety point of view," Ryder muttered. "Let''s leave and see where we are," Ryder said as he started to leave the forest with Rale. ''Now that I think about it, only a few people know what Hades looks like in the game. The team that was with Shu should be the only one. Since they don''t yet allow recording of the gameplay or live telecast yet, no one else knows about me.'' '' I didn''t think about this before, but I''m going to become a big target when those things start since some tech-savvy person might actually find my true face and looks. The Changes I made were only minor on the face sides, and the height and other stuff is the same.'' '' In the world with a population in billions, there can be millions of people that will have a face with similar body dimensions that can make themselves look like me with minor changes on their faces at the time of creating character, so the looks of my character is not a proof that Hades is Ryder, but still, I should be more careful and take some more caution. I need to confuse them even more.'' Ryder thought as he was walking in the forest and thinking about his popularity in the future when he becomes famous is the game and in the real world for different reasons. He knew that he needed to be serious now and take precautions against those things. '' The best thing I can do is confuse everyone so that no one knows what I look like. If I appear before someone with one face and in front of others with a different face, it will be impossible to recognize me. If I''m not wrong, there is an item like this in the game. Something that an unknown player had received during the year when I died.'' '' It was a normal grade item and didn''t show up in treasure rankings, but some people noticed this and the company came forward and told everyone about this item. If I get that item, I can claim that I got that at the start of the game, and I kept changing my fave every time. Even the ones that saw me before will believe it. This thing will be easily handled, and only Shu will know, but he won''t betray me. I think I should go for that item since I''m here. That thing should be near that dungeon too. I''ll get two birds with one stone,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. ''But first, I need to know where I am.'' 223 Chapter 219: Windsor City ''If I''m not wrong, the Dungeon should be in the Tiara Kingdom. That dungeon is a low-level dungeon in difficulty, and a team of level 40+ players can clear it after putting in some effort. Fortunately, that dungeon isn''t going to be discovered for a long time. It''s at the bottom of the Dark Valley and just getting there alone is difficult for normal players at this time,'' ''In the previous timeline, that Dungeon was discovered by a member of a low-level guild after approximately three years from today. It was the same year I died. While the main players of our guild were focusing on higher-level dungeons, we sent our low-level team to this dungeon. They and many other teams went to clear that Dungeon and to take the treasures,'' ''Even though I was amongst the top 10 players of my guild, the strength difference between each rank was too big. The guild master was much stronger than me. This was to be expected, though. I was not that big on strength at that time. I was better than most, but not the real peak player. I was just one of the top players of the third rank guild. If I were to look at the overall and counted the first tank and the second rank guild which was filled with real powerhouses, my strength wouldn''t even put me in top thirty at that time,'' '' Even though a lot of teams went there to clear the high-level dungeon with our guild, it was ultimately cleared by the mysterious Darkness. Even though Darkness cleared the high-level Dungeon, there was someone else that got the most popularity. It was the simultaneous Low-Level Dungeon Raid where a mysterious item had appeared. It was an unknown thief that had managed to take the final treasure from that dungeon. No one knew what that artifact was, but after some time, it was discovered that it was a disguise artifact and a super rare item that could even keep itself hidden from the treasure ranking list,'' ''Last time, that thief went and took that artifact, but this time, it will be me. I have traveled back in time, and I won''t let the treasures get out of my hands. This will be a timeline where I won''t be a good player. This will be a timeline where I will be the God Player,'' Ryder thought. They stepped out of the fires and saw a small village nearby. The village seemed to have only a few houses. Ryder and Rale entered the village. They saw only a few people in the open. One of the people outside was an old man who was standing near a well. Ryder walked closer to the old man. The old man was pulling out a bucket of water from the well. " Old Man, Can you tell me the name of this village and the kingdom we are in at the moment?" Ryder asked the old man. The Old man placed the bucket of water on the ground before he looked at Ryder with an annoyed look on his face. "Tiara Kingdom? Are we really that lucky to get to our destination so fast?" Ryder let out as he smiled. "Sorry, Old Man. We have been traveling for a long time, and some thieves stole our belongings, including our map. We just wanted to be sure if we were in our Kingdom or a different kingdom after walking for so long," Ryder answered. The Old Man nodded his head as he smiled. "That makes sense, I guess. You are in Shenxu Village right now," the old man replied. "Oh, We are on the other side of the kingdom. We''ll still have to travel for a few hours, I guess," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "Thanks, old man. Can you also tell us the direction of the Windsor City as well? We are trying to get there," He added. "Windsor City? You''re quite far away from the Windsor City. It''s in that direction, but you it is on the other end of the kingdom. It would take you days if you were to walk there. I''m going to the nearby city to get some supplies from the village soon. If you want, you can come with me. You might be able to find a carriage to take you to the Windsor City in the nearby city. What do you say?" The Old Man asked. \u003cThe Old Man offered to escort you to the city\u003e \u003cWill You accept?\u003e \u003cY/N\u003e Ryder tapped no as he shook his head. "Thanks for the offer, old man, but we would prefer to walk there," He said as he started walking towards the North. Soon, Ryder left the village. \u003cYou have rejected the kind offer of the Village Head\u003e \u003cAffinity with the people of the kingdom decreased by ten percent\u003e "Sigh, what is this happening. That old man made me lose my affinity with the people of this kingdom. That''s stupid. Whatever, it''s not like I need the affinity anyways," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He started flying towards the North. Ryder flew for just a little over an hour before he felt like he reached his limit. After that, he had Rale carry him since he couldn''t fly at all during the day now. Rale took Ryder throughout the journey. Soon, Rale reached Windsor City. It was the city that was on the northernmost end of the Kingdom, and it was also the capital because it was the city that was the farthest from any other neighboring kingdom. On the North of this City was the Dark Cliff, and on the other three sides were the vast land of the kingdom. The Kingdom was ruled by the Royal Windsor Family. The Windsor Family was said to be the Family that doted on the Adventures the most. They respected the Adventures and treated them fairly well. In Fact, in the previous timeline, It was said that a player had managed to make the Windsor Princess fall in love with them. The player was the Vice Guild Leader of the Second Rank Guild. He had the support of the princess, which helped them establish the proper foothold of their guild inside the Windsor Kingdom. Ryder knew that if he needed, he could make the Princess fall for him this time, and that was his plan, but he didn''t bother about it at the moment. He had more important things to worry about. He left that matter for later after he got the mask. He had already promised Shu that he would be the Guild Master of Shu''s Guild and give the position for the Vice Guild Master to Shu. Since he was already going to establish a guild, it was better to take out a page from the book of the Second Rank Guild of the last timeline and use the Princess to form connections. Ryder and Rale landed in the capital city of the Tiara Kingdom, which was called the Windsor City. As he landed in the Kingdom, he saw a few players that were roaming on the streets. Ryder also walked on the streets with Rale as he looked around the marketplace to see why there were so many adventures here. So many Players shouldn''t be here at once. There must be a reason for them being here. Ryder was walking on the streets when he noticed a small shop that was selling beautifully crafted masks. He went to the stall and picked up a mask. "How much is this mask worth?" Ryder asked the stall owner. The Stall Owner showed Ryder three fingers. "Three Gold Coins?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "Three Bronze Coins," The Stall Owner replied. " Oh, That''s good. Give me three of them," Ryder said as he gave a silver coin to the stall owner and picked up three masks which he kept in his storage. "Keep the rest." "Thanks, Young man," The Man smiled as he nodded his head. "Can I ask you something? I am new to the city, and I can''t help but wonder why there are so many adventures here. Did something happen?" He asked the Stall Owner. "Oh, I heard that there is a dungeon nearby. All the adventures are here because they want to clear that Dungeon. At least, that''s what the word on the street is," the Stall Owner said. "Oh, The Dungeon, huh," Ryder muttered as he placed his hand on the chin. ''This doesn''t make sense. There is only one dungeon in this city. The Dungeon of Dark Cliff. Did they really discover that? This shouldn''t be possible. This happened three years later in the last timeline.'' 224 Chapter 220: Enemy of the Kingdom '' Is this because of my traveling back in time? Is the future and the destinies of this game is changing because of me as well?'' He thought as he frowned. He ultimately shook his hand as he thanked the Stall Owner for the information. Ryder started walking away from the Stall. After he got to some distance, he covered his face with a mask that he had purchased just now. "They already know about the Dungeon, so the adventures here should be the ones that just got here. The ones that got here before should already be on their way to the Dungeons," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He started walking towards the Dark Cliff directly, which was on the other side of the city in the north. Ryder reached near the Dark Cliff, but he noticed that there were hundreds of guards surrounding the path to the Dark Cliff. " Why would the king interfere like this?" Ryder muttered as he frowned. "Should we just kill all of them?" Rale suggested to Ryder. "It''s not necessary. We can just go back and fly above their head," Ryder let out as he shook his head. He turned back, but just then, he heard a notification. \u003c The guards have noticed you\u003e \u003c Because of the decreased affinity, the guards doubt your intentions\u003e Ryder smiled wryly as he shook his head. "I guess they won''t let me go," Ryder muttered, but he still tried leaving. As soon as he took the first step, he heard a shout from behind, "Stop!" Ryder turned back and looked at them. "Do you need something?" he asked. "I saw you coming this way, but you started leaving after seeing us. You seem suspicious," The guard said. "I find him suspicious as well. It''s something that just doesn''t make me trust him," another guard said. "What are you doing here?" the guard asked Ryder. " I was going to the dungeon. I saw you guys, and I remember that I forgot something behind in the city," Ryder explained. "Bye guys," He said as he started leaving. "Stop you bastard! How dare you leave without properly explaining!" The guards started shouting as Ryder began to leave. " Silence! How dare you speak to his Highness like that!" Rale thundered as his eyes turned darker. A terrifying aura escaped from his body. The aura came like a tsunami that made all the guards fly back and crash on the ground. \u003c Warning: You hurt the guards of the city\u003e \u003c Relationship with the people of the city has gone down to zero\u003e \u003cYou have become the enemy of the Tiara Kingdom\u003e \u003cYou have received the title: " Enemy of Tiara"\u003e \u003c No person here will give you a mission anymore, and people will be scared to come close to you\u003e "Whatever, Go fuck yourself. I''m going to see what you can do by decreasing my favorability with the people of this kingdom. If I can''t establish the guild in this kingdom, then I''ll establish that in another place. If I can''t even do that, I''ll fricking destroy the kingdom and establish my guild there. This game is broken so let me break it even more," Ryder let out in anger as he started walking ahead. " Rale, you were right. There''s no need for us to take any other way. There''s no one that can stop us in this place anyway," Ryder muttered as he started walking ahead. He reached near the guards, but he didn''t pass through. "I already got the punishment for not even attacking by Maya. Might as well do something," Ryder let out as he kicked the guard that had stopped him from peacefully leaving. \u003cYou have attacked the guard again\u003e \u003cFavorability with the kingdom is zero. It can''t be decreased\u003e \u003cUser received a title: Biggest Enemy of the Kingdom\u003e \u003cTitle: Biggest Enemy of the Kingdom\u003e \u003cDescription: Tiara Kingdom is a peaceful kingdom that has never been in conflict with any kingdom. All kingdoms have a favorable opinion of the kingdom. By attacking the guards again, you disrespected the authority of the King once again. By disrespecting the king again, you have become the Biggest Enemy of the Kingdom\u003e \u003cEffects: All people of the kingdom will hold hostility towards you\u003e \u003c Effects: Normal people of the kingdom will also fear you\u003e \u003cEffects: You won''t gain negative points for theft committed in this kingdom because if this title\u003e ''Why would I steal anything from this kingdom anyway. This title is useless, but whatever. This kingdom only has one useful thing, and that is the dungeon, and after today, it won''t have that either. I was hoping to establish the guild here because this place was the most peaceful kingdom after the starting kingdom, but whatever,'' Ryder thought as he ignored the notifications from the game and continued walking towards the cliff. Soon, he reached the end of the cliff and looked down. He could see many people climbing down the cliff since the dungeon was at the bottom. "I was right. The players are already here. Oh, would you look at that? He''s here too," Ryder muttered as he clenched his fist. He had noticed a person. It was the same person that had schemed against Ryder. He had the healing potion, but he lied and made Ryder sacrifice himself by fighting the dragon, whereas that person just drank the potion and collected the rewards. " I didn''t know you at this point in the game in the last timeline either as we met after a year in the guild. You became a guild member and a friend. We fought so many monsters together, but you bastard, you threw that all away at the last moment. I''ll show you what it means to be killed by a guildmate," Ryder muttered as he looked at the face of that person. " Rale, I can''t fly anymore. Can you carry me ahead? Let them walk like the insects they are. We''ll go ahead," Ryder told Rale as he glanced back. Rale nodded his head as he reached out a hand. Ryder caught the hand of Rale. Rale started flying, but just as they took to the air, Ryder heard Janus'' voice. \u003cDing... A new mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Make the Princess of the Tiara Kingdom fall in love with you\u003e \u003cTime Limit: One month\u003e \u003cRewards: 200 Origin Points\u003e \u003cPunishment for failure: None\u003e ''A new mission? It matches with what I wanted to do before, but it seems impossible now. I already got the title of Enemy of the Kingdom. It''s impossible for me to even get close to the Princess, let alone make her fall for me. It''s fine, though. Although I will lose the origin points rewards, but at least this one won''t have a punishment,'' Ryder thought as he shook his head. Rale and Ryder flew above everyone else as they ignored the depths of the cliff and the other players that were climbing down the cliff. "If I''m not wrong, that dungeon should be in this area. That''s how far it was from the cliff. Get down there," Ryder told Rale as he pointed towards a certain point in the cliff. Ryder and Rale landed on the ground where Ryder had pointed. That location was right in the middle of a dense forest. "It should be around here. This dungeon is also an underground dungeon. This was why it should''ve been difficult for them to find it so fast," Ryder muttered as he started walking around, trying to find the entrance of the tomb. "There it is," Ryder said as he saw the stairs going downstairs at what seemed like the giant mouth of a lion. "Let''s enter," He told Rale as he stepped on the stairs and brought out the Moon Scythe. Ryder and Rale went down the stairs and found themselves in a hallway that had three paths that lead in three different directions. "The left one should be the one that leads to the mask," Ryder muttered as he chose the left path. He started walking ahead and soon reached a door. There were two stone statues that were standing on both sides of the door. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder let out as he swung his Scythe and cut both the statues in one strike. There were two keys inside the statues that he discovered after the statues were broken to pieces. \u003cDiscovered the keys of the door\u003e '' Just like I heard. Last time, while people were wondering how to open the doors, the statues started attacking them. After everyone defeated the statues, they found the keys inside. These keys were then used to open the entrance. So far, it''s the same. No one has entered the dungeon either. Or maybe the one that found the dungeon and entered, chose the wrong path, and died instantly,'' Ryder thought. 225 Chapter 221: The Kingdoms Dungeon Ryder picked up the keys, inserted them in the keyhole, and swung them to unlock the door, but the door didn''t open up. "Strange. That''s what I heard unlocked it last time. Could it be that something else had to be done too which the person who opened the door hid from others? Or is it that I made a mistake by destroying the statues before they were activated and started attacking?" Ryder frowned as he looked at the door that wasn''t unlocked. No matter what he tried, he wasn''t able to push it to open. "Is there a problem with the door?" Rale asked Ryder as he saw him frowning. "Yeah, it''s not opening from the keys," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He started looking around the broken pieces of the statue to see if there was something hidden there which he had missed accidentally. *Thump* Suddenly, Ryder heard a loud sound. He turned back only to find that the door wasn''t obstructing their path anymore. It was open. It was better to say that the door was smashed to pieces, and the obstruction was removed from its roots by using fill strength. "Problem solved," Rale said as he gave a cheeky smile. "Well, that was an option as well, I guess. You''re definitely too strong for a low difficulty dungeon," Ryder chuckled as he stood up and started walking ahead and entered a big room. There was no door in the room, though. "Don''t do anything. Whatever little bit of experience it may be, I still need it. Let me handle the problems now," Ryder told Rale as he took a step forward. As soon as he took a step forward, he got a notification from the game. \u003c Dark Wing Wolves have locked in on you\u003e \u003cYour speed will be restricted by ten percent\u003e "As expected, it''s the Dark Wolves that will come here this time. I already know all there is to know about it. Here comes the first one," Ryder said as he smiled. "Flame Blast!" He raised his hand above his hand and used a spell. A giant ball of fierce flames appeared above his hand that shot up towards the roof. Ryder didn''t even look up as he heard a big pained scream. \u003cKilled a Dark Wing Wolf\u003e "One down, five more to go," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He looked behind and pointed his hand towards Rale. Rale could already feel a Dark Wing Wolf appearing behind him, but he didn''t move as he was confident that he wouldn''t be harmed, and he didn''t want to disturb Ryder''s aim. Ryder shot out a fireball that passed my Rale. It missed Rale by just a few inches as it hit the Dark Wing Wolf that was behind him. If his aim was a little off, then he could have got Rale accidentally, but even that wouldn''t be harmful to Rale as Ryder''s strength and the level was too weak even to injure him. "Rale, close your eyes," Ryder said to Rale. Rale complied as he closed his eyes. Ryder was looking at Rale, and just when he saw Rale close his eyes, he pointed his palm towards the ground. "Sandstorm!" Ryder cast another spell. A sandstorm appeared in the room and covered the whole room, which smashed everything in the rook to pieces. Rale was too strong, so he wasn''t affected as Ryder had expected. Ryder was at the core of the sandstorm, so he wasn''t affected either. \u003cKilled a Dark Winged Wolf\u003e \u003cKilled a Dark Winged Wolf\u003e \u003cKilled a Dark Winged Wolf\u003e \u003cKilled a Dark Winged Wolf\u003e Ultimately, the sandstorm stopped. The entire floor of the room was covered now. "They''re all dead. The entrance of the next portion should be opening soon," Ryder muttered as he started walking ahead. Ryder and Rale reached the front wall and a door shaped opening opened in the wall. They stepped into another long hallway that had lamps on both sides of the hallway that brightened up the path. Ryder and Rale walked to the end of the hallway and saw a wall that was blocking their path. Rale was about to smash through the wall too, but Ryder stopped him. "Don''t do anything. This place should be near the core of the dungeon. If you break it, the dungeon might fall down," Ryder said as he stopped Take. "This wall won''t affect the dungeon. I can see that it''s not the support. We can break it," Rale replied as he shook his head. "There''s no need to take the risk, though. What I''m here to get is really important. Also, it''s not difficult to pass through this wall. I know how to do it," Ryder said to Rale as he stepped closer to the wall. He placed his palm on the wall. As soon as his palm touched the wall, some words appeared on the wall. Ryder read the words on the wall, which seemed to be a question. "The King''s weapon was broken, yet he won. The sword was broken, yet he slashed. The Shield was broken, yet he defended. How?" "Easy, he slaughtered the Enemies with his pure strength like His Majesty would do," Rale said to Ryder. "That''s what strong kings from our kingdom will do. This question is related to this kingdom, and I have three chances to answer since I activated the question. Fortunately, I remember the answer," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "The king''s commander defended the King in that battle until their army won," Ryder answered the questions. "Correct." The words on the wall changed. Another question appeared on the wall. "The gods that bless the kingdom are called the Dilo and Milakna, what are they known for," The second question asked. ''This dungeon is the dungeon that is related to the kingdom. It''s not supposed to be a dungeon but the tomb of the first king. His inheritance is inside this tomb, and that''s why the questions are related to the kingdom. The person that opened it last time had inquired around and knew some things about this kingdom. That''s why he was able to open the entrance here as well. This is going to be quite easy,'' Ryder thought as he smirked. He answered the question correctly again. Another question appeared, and then questions kept appearing until Ryder had finished all the questions. He had responded to all questions correctly. He was only allowed to say wrong answers three times before he failed. The person that had opened the tomb last time was wrong twice, but Ryder knew the answers, so he got them all right. \u003cYou have answered the questions of the tomb of the first king\u003e \u003cYour affinity with the kingdom has increased\u003e \u003cYour affinity with the Royals of the Kingdom has increased\u003e \u003cThe Royals will still feel dislike towards you because of low affinity, but they won''t despise you anymore\u003e "That''s better," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. '' This can help me with the Princess. As long as the Royals don''t despise me, I can still try,'' Ryder thought as he saw the possibility of completing the quest of Janus. He removed his hand from the wall. Another opening appeared on the wall that allowed them to pass through, but as soon as they passed through the wall, they saw tens of giant bulls running towards then. Ryder twisted his body as he swung his Scythe in a horizontal motion. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder let out as he used his skill. A horizontal arc of light left the sword and passed through the room. The arc of light moved forward. Its edges were leaving deep groves behind on the walls of the room. \u003cKilled the Giant Inper Bull\u003e \u003cKilled the Giant Inper Bull\u003e \u003cKilled the Giant Inper Bull\u003e \u003cKilled the Giant Inper Bull\u003e ... \u003cKilled the Giant Inper Bull\u003e \u003cLevel +1 \u003e Ryder started getting the notification as the arc of light cut through all ten of the giant bulls. He also got the notification of ten percent Absorption ability activating simultaneously. He had gained the strength stat from only one bull. The other bulls gave him intelligence and dexterity only. "If this absorption weren''t random, it would be so amazing to get strength stat only," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "At Least I got something, so it''s not too bad," He let out as he shook his head "Let''s continue," he said to Rale as he started walking ahead. Ryder passed through even more traps and faced even more dangers, but this dungeon was pretty easy for someone like him that had a high level. He easily passed through all the obstructions and gained experience along the way. After two hours, Ryder reached the end of the dungeon. He was standing in a giant room that was the final room. 226 Chapter 222: Raksas King "I know how to pass the lake, but that would take longer. We need to use that floating stone. We can''t swim in this water as it''s impossible, and solving this trap will take a long time. Let''s just fly to the boss. Carry me," Ryder commanded Rale as he reached out his hand. Rale caught Ryder''s hand and flew across the lake. He landed on the ground on the other side of the lake. As soon as Ryder landed on his foot on the ground, the boss of this dungeon opened its eyes. \u003cRaksas King has woken up\u003e "I can see that," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He saw the boss of the floor open his eyes as he looked at Rale. The boss of this floor was a level fifty monster that had a humanoid body, which was around ten meters tall. The Raksas King had four arms. Each of his arms was holding a different thing. One of his arms had a shield while his second arm had a sword. His third arm had an ax, whereas his fourth arm had a spear. "He''s quite a low level being compared to me, so the fight shouldn''t drag out for long, but he''s a boss monster, so I can''t take him lightly. I don''t want to have to take Rale''s help and lose all the potential exp. The boss monster''s eyes changed color and turned grey. \u003cRaksas King has activated the Vision of Raksas. For the next twenty minutes, your defense will decrease by ten percent. Your dexterity will increase by five percent\u003e "Whatever. I don''t meet defense to deal with you. My speed is enough," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "It should end shortly." "Transform!" Ryder muttered as he transformed his Scythe into the form of a sword. Ryder held the sword as he ran towards the Four-Armed Raksas King. The Raksas King used his ax to attack Ryder. Ryder lowered his head as he dodged the attack and passed through the Raksas King. He got behind the Raksas King and stabbed the back of the Raksas King''s thighs with all his might. \u003cYou have landed a critical hit\u003e \u003cThe damage received by the Raksas King has been doubled due to the critical hit\u003e \u003cThe Raksas King is heavily wounded\u003e Ryder stepped back as he saw the HP of the Raksas King reaching zero. He knew the weak point of the Raksas King, which was only exposed for the first few seconds of the fight, and he utilized it. Ryder was already might stronger in level compared to the Raksas King, and with the critical hit, the damage was doubled, which was enough to clear all of the Raksas King''s HP, but just before it could hit zero, the HP bar of the Raksas King started filling up as it turned red. \u003cWarning: The Raksas King is entering the Rage Mode. His strength is increased by ten percent\u003e \u003cThe Effect of Vision of Raksas has disappeared because of the rage of the Raksas King\u003e "Here comes the rage mode. If I give him a chance, then he will call out the level 40 stone guardians. I would have dragged the fight out if the stone guardians gave experience, but they don''t give any exp. It will just be useless for now. It''s better to finish it fast and get the exp of Raksas King," Ryder let out as he moved like the wind towards the Raksas King. The Raksas King attacked Ryder as he threw the spear in his fourth hand towards Ryder''s chest. Ryder jumped ahead as he saw the Spear coming towards him. His left foot landed on the spear, but he used the momentum as he jumped again. He was so high that it seemed as if he was flying as he passed above the Raksas King''s head. Just as he passed above the Raksas King''s head, he pointed his palm towards the head of Raksas King and used his skill. "Shadow Ball!" he let out as a dark ball of shadow appeared, which hit the head of the Raksas King. The Raksas King''s HP started sinking like a stone, but Ryder didn''t stop as he landed before the Raksas King and used another skill. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder thundered as he swung his Moon Sword towards the Raksas King''s head. The sword slashed through the neck of the Raksas King, which acted like the last mail nail in the coffin. The Raksas King fell to the ground and dropped a few items. \u003cReceived the Sword of the Raksas King\u003e \u003cGrade: Silver\u003e \u003cDurability: 40\u003e \u003cMinimum Level to equip: Level 40\u003e \u003cReceived the Shield of the Raksas King\u003e \u003cGrade: Silver\u003e \u003cDurability: 40\u003e \u003cMinimum Level to equip: Level 40\u003e \u003cReceived key of the chest box\u003e "The items are not bad. Shu might find them useful if he has reached level forty, but it is too soon for him. He will be nowhere near level 40," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He kept the dropped items in his storage. He walked to the treasure chest at the front and unlocked it using the key he had just received. As the treasure chest opened, Ryder saw the item he was looking for. \u003cRing of Disguise Discovered\u003e Ryder went through the description of the ring to find out all the details about it, including the things that probably weren''t public before. It was the golden ring that was called the Ring of Disguise. It was a golden ring that had two uses. One of its uses was as an ornament that increased charm and decreased hostility. The second advantage of this ring was that it helped the player face in the game to any face he liked as long as that face was not a face of another player that was in the top 100 in the level rankings. "As I expected. This is perfect for me," Ryder muttered as he wore the ring. \u003cRing if Disguise equipped\u003e \u003cCharm of the player has increased\u003e " Rale, I want to test something. Tell me if my face changes," Ryder told Rale as he activated the ring and changed his face. He made his face more oval and his hair longer. His eyes were still the same color, but his nose was sharper. Ryder still looked good, but not as good as he generally looked. "It worked. If It were not for your aura, I wouldn''t have recognized you at all. Is that a magical item of this realm?" Rale asked Ryder with an amazed expression. "Yeah, it''s called the Ring of Disguise. It''s an item that can help me change my face. But you are right. The Dukes and the High Duke''s can still recognize me from my aura. Anyway, I only need it for when I''m in the human world. Now that I got what I wanted, let''s leave," Ryder said to Rale as he started leaving. Rale nodded his head as he followed after Ryder. They left the Dungeon and continued on their way back as Rale carried Ryder. "There they are. They got down the cliff, but still too late. Rale, stop here. I want to meet someone in that crowd personally," Ryder told Rale as he asked him to get down. Rale landed on the ground with Ryder. Ryder started walking towards the group of players that were coming towards the dungeon. Max was the person that was the vice leader of the team that Ryder led to subdue the dragon and finish the quest, but he lied to Ryder, which resulted in Ryder failing that quest. He was not as angry at failing the quest as he was about being lied to, which made him really angry at Ryder. After walking for a little while, Ryder met up with Max and the other players that were coming in his direction. "Well, Max, It''s good to see you again after so long, old friend," Ryder muttered in a tone that seemed on the edge of upset and angry as he stared at Max. "Who are you? I don''t recognize you," Max said to Ryder with a questioning gaze. " It''s not bad to forget your old friend, man, but then again, if you were willing to betray me, then I don''t think I was ever your friend," Ryder responded as he smiled. He was using a disguised face, which was different from his original face because of the Ring of Disguise. " Whatever. It doesn''t matter since you''re about to die soon," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Who the fuck are you? Do you really think you''re some bigshot? A freaking player that is roaming with a single person thinks he can threaten me? Guys, don''t you find this loser funny?" Max said as he looked towards his friend and started laughing. His friends also joined in as they started laughing at Ryder. 227 Chapter 223: Burning Embers Rale was getting annoyed, but he didn''t do anything as Ryder had told him to let him deal with it. Ryder didn''t react fiercely either as he simply smiled. He raised his hand towards the front and opened his inventory as he brought out his Moon Scythe. "Wait a minute, that... that... isn''t that the Moon Scythe? That symbol... It''s definitely the Moon Scythe from the description I read online from the people that met Hades," One of the players in the group pointed out. "Hades? That top player?" "The monster that''s close to level 70 already? What the fuck?" "He''s Hades?" There was an instant commotion in the field as people started to link Ryder with Hades, which he wanted since he needed to get his face out more so that people knew that he had a face-changing item. "Hades? What do you need from me? I don''t think I''ve met you before?" Max let out in confusion. " I''m not here to remind you of anything. Just know that you are going to die today. Also, every time I see you, I''ll kill you," Ryder said as he moved like the wind and instantly appeared beside Max with the blade of his Scythe resting against the neck of Max. "Last time you watched me die, now let me have that opportunity," Ryder muttered as he moved the scythe and cut the neck of Max. Max''s HP instantly went down to zero. \u003cYou Killed a player outside the safe zone\u003e ''I know. I won''t get the Player Killer Tag as long as I don''t kill them in the city. It''s not like the Player Killer Tag will do much to me, but it''s better to stay away from it while I can,'' Ryder thought as he saw the notification. Max died with an impossible look on his face, not understanding what had just happened. "Go on your way. Don''t waste time," Ryder told the other players that were stunned as he left after killing Max. After getting far from them, he again had Rale carry him while he flew. Rale got Ryder above the cliff and then to the city. Ryder and Rale landed near the central market Street of the city. **** Inside a room in a luxurious mansion, a man was lying on the bed. There were Divinity Glasses on his eyes. He was lying silently until he abruptly sat up. "Fuck that bastard! I don''t even know him, yet he killed me out of nowhere! Who the fuck is that, Hades!" The man cursed out loud as he took off the Divinity Glasses. " I swear I''ll find a way to kill you! I''ll make us equal even if I have to pour all my money when they activate that function!" He let out as he clenched his fist. **** ''I wonder if I can find the Princess of the kingdom or not. I still have over 18 hours before I need to get back. I should be able to find her, or I can go hunting instead,'' Ryder thought as he tried to come up with a plan on what he should do next. Ryder started walking through the marketplace. A lot of players were still coming to the city and getting their equipment in the city to prepare for their trip in the dungeon. As Ryder was walking, he saw a church on the side. It was a place where the players respawned. It was also the place where Max was going to respawn, but he couldn''t respawn before 24 hours as he was locked outside because of dying. "If only there was no lockout for 24 hours, I could''ve waited here to kill him again and again until he cried and asked for forgiveness," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Rale? There are so many shops here. Do you want to buy something as a souvenir? Some of the things are really interesting," Ryder told Rale. "It''s alright, Your Highness. I have everything that I may need," Rale replied as he shook his head. "Alright. If you find something interesting that you like, don''t hesitate to tell me," Ryder said as he smiled. \u003cYour have shown an excellent gesture to your supporter\u003e \u003cIncrease of favorability with Rale\u003e Ryder saw the notification and frowned. This was the first time he saw notification like this. Since he came to the world, the game has been giving notifications at a higher rate. This feature was supposed to be released when they activated the features of transferring real-world money to this world. He wondered why it was here so soon. ''The future is really messed up, I guess. The timeline is messed up as well. Whatever, no matter what they do, I''m in a pretty advantageous spot with everything that I got,'' Ryder thought as he shook his head. He started walking towards the Palace through the marketplace since he believed that if the princess left the palace to come to the marketplace, they would cross each other, but just as he started walking, he saw a little chaos. A thief was running away from someone. He was running in the direction of Ryder. "It''s the perfect opportunity to increase my favorability with the people of this kingdom," Ryder muttered as he got ready to stop the thief. Still, just as he was about to move, he saw another player jumping before the thief. The Player attacked the thief and made him fall down to the ground. The guards came and caught the thief and recovered the items. A woman also came forward. She was the one that the chain belonged to. The woman thanked that player. The player acted heroically as he started talking about justice and his duty. The woman thanked him again before she left. "It''s him..." Ryder muttered as he recognized the person who was standing before you. "Ryuk!" In the previous timeline, this person was from the Burning Embers Guild. This guild was the second rank guild and really famous in the American Server and the whole world. This person was not any random member of the guild, either. Ryuk is the Vice Guild Leader of the Burning Embers Guild, and he was also the person who made the Princess of the Tiara Kingdom fall in love with him. Ryuk played a really big role when it came to establishing the guild and securing its foothold in the kingdom. He also sat in the Top Ten Players Ranking in the last timeline. In this timeline as well, Ryuk was in the top ten already. He was ranked tenth at the moment. '' Ryuk... I haven''t had any dealings with him in the last timeline, but I did see him a few times. I heard he''s a nice guy, but some people claim that he fakes that, and in reality, he''s a cruel tyrant that didn''t actually care about anyone and killed without hesitation if someone got in his way. There were also rumors of him getting people to attack the players that he didn''t like,'' Ryder thought as he remembered everything he had heard about Ryuk. He was thinking about how to deal with the situation of Ryuk being in the same Kingdom where he made the Princess fall for him last time when Ryder saw a woman walking towards Ryuk. The woman was wearing average clothes that didn''t seem anything specific. Her face was also covered because of the cloak she was wearing. "You were really brave. I would like to thank you for helping people of this kingdom," The woman said. "It was my duty. There''s no need to thank me," Ryuk replied with a smile. "You''re so humble. Would you like to come to the Palace? My Royal Father really respects adventures, and he would love to meet a brave and kind-hearted person like you," The woman said as she removed her cloak. "P-princess?" The Guards that were standing nearby recognized the woman and got down to the knees. " She''s that Princess? What the...? This is so bad," Ryder muttered as he frowned. " Your Highness, do you like that girl? Should I kidnap her for you?" Rale whispered in Ryder''s ears. " Why do you always try to kidnap people? There''s no need for that. I have another purpose in mind, and kidnapping can... wait a minute..." Ryder was refuting Rale''s suggestion when he suddenly stopped. "It would be my pleasure to accompany the Princess and His Majesty," Ryuk accepted the offer of the Princess. He and the Princess left the place and went towards the Royal Palace. "Now that I think about it, that can definitely help. Rale, come with me. I have a plan," Ryder told Rale as he smiled. He took Rale with him and booked a room in a hotel in the city since he needed to stay in this place for a day. 228 Chapter 224: Greed Ryder took Rale into the hotel room to prepare for some things and to share the plan with Rale. " So, Rale. I need you to kidnap the Princess of this kingdom. The same girl that we just saw," Ryder told Rale as he sat on the bed. "I''ll be right back with her," Rale nodded his head as he prepared to leave. "No, don''t be in a hurry. First, listen to the whole plan. We''re going to follow the plan I like to call the Knight in Shining Armor. I need to save the Princess and attract her goodwill to become her hero. Ryuk had already taken the lead, and I can only overtake him if I save her personally from a life-threatening danger," Ryder said to Rale. " You need to kidnap her in stealth without anyone finding out. Also, no one! Not even the Princess himself should see you fly. We can''t expose ourselves. Your identity as a Demon needs to stay hidden," he added. "Understood." Rale didn''t even take a second before he agreed. "I know how fast you are, so don''t start now. You remember the path we came from when we were coming from the city, right? I''ll be there, pretending as if I''m leaving the city since I already got the treasure of the Dungeon. That''s when I''ll see you running towards me with the Princess. I will stop you and save the Princess by defeating you. You''ll run away after that." "Everything will depend on your acting. I was hoping you wouldn''t make it too obvious that you''re not attacking me in reality. Your acting needs to be convincing. So we need to plan how we will do that and what skills we''ll use. We need to be in sync as the villain and a hero," Ryder explained to Rale. "I understand that, but may I ask one thing?" Rale asked as he nodded his head. "Sure, Go ahead," Ryder let out. "Does Your Highness like that girl?" Rale inquired. "Hmm, I guess you can say that. That girl will be pretty important to me if things go right," Ryder answered. "Then why don''t we just kidnap her and take her to the Demon Realm. There is no way she can deny being with you. We don''t need to do this trickery. I don''t wish to harm Your Highness accidentally," Rale said with a concerned look on his face. "Don''t worry about this. There won''t be any danger to me. I''m sure you''ll be able to control your attacks. Even if you do attack me seriously, I still have my ways to survive," Ryder said with a casual smile on his face. Rale was about to open her mouth to say something, but Ryder started talking again. "As for the girl, we can''t take her in the Demon Realm. I need her to stay here. I want to establish my foothold in this kingdom for something that I''m planning in the future. I want her to help me willingly. We can''t do anything that might attract her hate towards me," Ryder said. Ryder spent the next half an hour clearing up the details with Rale. They talked about how they will perform the fight, and his Rale would run away and many more things. "Also, you need to change your clothes and wear a mask to hide your face since some players saw you with me. Get ready. I''ll leave first since you''re much faster than me. I''ll be outside the city near that forest. You can start your work after half an hour," Ryder said after he finished explaining. He stood up and left a normal mask on the ground for Rale before he left the room. \u003cYou have come with a Scheme against the Princess of Tiara Kingdom\u003e \u003cYou have gained a title: Fraud Player\u003e \u003cWould you like to unequip the Main Title: Salem''s Successor and equip the Title: Fraud Player?\u003e Ryder saw a notification flash before his eyes that talked about him gaining a title as he left the room. "Fraud Player? Is this supposed to be a prank, Maya?" Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. He did remember that he had lied to Maya before, but he was sure that even though she was the Divinity A.I, she didn''t know that. It was probably the new feature that Divinity activated, which kept an eye on the Player''s action to give them rewards, Quests, and titles. It also informed them much more regularly about any new updates. "The title seems useless. Only an Idiot will unequip Salem''s Successor," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He still decided to read about the Title and what it offered. \u003c Title: Fraud Player\u003e \u003cDescription: Title is given to the player that use scheme against Royalties of Divinity\u003e \u003c Effects: Charm: +50\u003e "So it increases the charm. It can be useful in getting the Princess on my side. It is not that bad, after all. Even though it might help me, I''m in no need of this at the moment. I''m sure my plan will work the way it is. If there is a problem, I''ll unequip Salem''s Successor and equip Fraud Player for a short time," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He didn''t use the new title that he gained and kept the old one. Ryder left the hotel room and started walking towards the exit of the town. He still had his mask activated to show a different face again. This face was different from the one he showed Max and the others. His scheme was to confuse as many people and have them understand that he had an item that helped him change face to separate his real life from divinity. He was also carrying his Moon Scythe in his hand to let as many people as possible see him and recognize him as Hades. "Wait, Doesn''t that look like the Moon Scythe if Hades? Could it be that he is Hades?" One of the Players asked as he pointed towards Ryder. "You''re right. That scythe matches the description. He''s definitely Hades! We finally met him!" Another player said. "That person has so many rare treasures! If we can kill him, we might be able to get the treasures!" "True, He has most of the top treasures in the treasure rankings. Our life would be set if we get the treasures! If I can sell a single treasure to someone rich, I''ll become a millionaire!" another player let out. "Don''t be mad! Didn''t you see his level in the level ranking? Last time I checked, that dude was close to level 70! We''re not even close to level 30! He''ll kill us instantly!" One player said in a concerned tone. "Don''t be an idiot! We can definitely take him on if all the players here join up! Don''t worry about anything! The bigger someone is, the harder they fall! Have faith! We''ll take him on with numbers that are on our side. He''s just a solo player," Another Player said. " Alright." "That''s right!" "We can do it!" "For the treasures!" "Let''s take him on!" All the players agreed one after another. Ryder had already noticed their greedy looks, so he knew what they were planning to do, but he ignored them. He knew that he could use them to spread out his fame to deter others in the future. His treasures were a big attraction to other players, and he knew that there would always be crazy people who would come after him for that. Only by increasing his notoriety, he could deter them. In the last timeline as well, the same thing had happened. Many players targeted the top players for their treasures. Most of the top players chose a different approach. While Lucifer straight away slaughtered the ones that came after his treasures, Darkness chose the different route. Darkness was almost impossible to find, and whenever someone found Darkness, they lost the trail. There were some players that let their guild deal with them while some players chose another route. Most of the top players didn''t kill as much as Lucifer since they wanted to maintain their reputation on the broadcasts that the channels showed in the future. Lucifer and a few others were the only ones that didn''t care. Ryder kept walking in the direction where he came from and left the city. \u003cYou have left the Safe Zone. There will be no penalties for killing other players\u003e "I know that much," Ryder muttered as he ignored the notification. He continued walking. After walking for another hundred meters, Ryder stopped. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Ryder let out loud as he turned back. He saw hundreds of players standing behind him. 229 Chapter 225: Against the Master Planner "Did you guys bring out all the players to take my treasures? If I may ask, how do you plan to distribute them between the hundreds of you?" Ryder inquired as he smiled lightly. "You don''t have to worry about that. We will decide when the time comes. First, you need to die!" One of the Players said. That player was a level fifteen mage. "Shhh, noobs should keep their mouth close and not disturb the big players. Come talk to me after you hit half my level, at least," Ryder replied in a mocking tone. "You bastard! Don''t think that we don''t know the reason for your high level. All you did was get some high ranking quest which anyone could do. That''s why you gained all that level!" Another player chimed in as he pointed his fingers at Ryder. " Well, whatever suits you. I''m in a hurry, so I''ll be fast. Please help spread my name around after you guys wake up in the real world," Ryder chuckled as he used the Transformation and changed his Scythe to a Sword since a sword was a better weapon to use Enraged Slash than a Scythe. "A transforming weapon? That Moon Scythe is said to be a unique treasure, but for it to have this ability, I''m amazed," One of the players said as he used his finger to adjust his spectacles properly. "Mages! He''s using a sword! He must be a warrior! We need to keep him as far away from us as possible! Form a shield around as and start firing the magic! Hunters: Use your arrows to attack that guy! Warriors: Stand before the mages and protect them in case the barrier broke! Priests: Start applying buffs to the Mages!" that player said. Ryder recognized that player who was wearing the spectacles. His username was MasterPlanner. He was a Thief and the leader of a small group of people. Even though he was good at the battle, he really shined when it came to his leading abilities. MasterPlanner was the Guildmaster of the 5th Rank Guild called the "Troopers of Victory". His strategy helped his guild many times in the previous timeline. MasterPlanner was said to be a great player that was always a part of the Dream Team Rankings. Dream Team Ranking was not an official Ranking in the game that focused on the levels of a player. It was a ranking that was determined by the player and other sell reputed establishments that ranked Players based on their usefulness in a battle and their utility. MasterPlanner was in the top twenty of Dream Team. Ryder smiled as he glanced at MasterPlanner. He was wearing the robe that was gifted to him by the High Dukes, so he didn''t have to worry about attacks from low-level players like them. "Transform!" Ryder muttered as he changed the plan. He transformed his Sword into a bow. "Might as well kill the leader of the annoying bugs first," Ryder let out as he smiled while looking at MasterPlanner. "He''s pointing an empty Bow without any arrows? Has he lost his mind?" One of the Players said as he started laughing. Ryder released the string of the bow. A bright arrow that seemed to be made from the blue light of energy left the sword and flew towards MasterPlanner. "... Guard the eternal shine of the lord!" The mages also finished casting a large scale defensive spell at that time, which shrouded everyone inside what seemed like a big bubble. The arrow hit the barrier. The barrier shattered like a glass as the arrow passed through and hit MasterPlanner. MasterPlanner''s HP instantly dropped to zero because of the level difference and the huge attack power of Ryder. MasterPlanner watched Ryder as he disappeared. \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e "Alright. Time for slaughter and chaos," Ryder let out as he grinned. He started running away towards the thousands of players. The barrier was already broken, so most of the mages were trying to cast another barrier. The rest of the mages were attacking Ryder. Arrows were also flying towards Ryder, which was getting blocked by the barrier spell that Ryder had received inside the dungeon after killing the monsters. "Let me show you something too," Ryder let out as he changed the Moon Bow to Moon Sword as he kept running. In the middle of the running, he slid ahead as he rotated his body by a complete 360 while holding his sword with both his hands. "Enraged Slash!" Ryder thundered as he swung his sword. A powerful arc of light left his sword, which advanced towards the players ahead as it kept getting bigger. The bright arc of light hit over fifty players, instantly dropping their HP to zero as they all died. \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e ... \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e Many notifications flashed on the side that notified Ryder. Amongst the players that had died, most of them were Warriors and Mages that were standing in the lead. A few hunters had died as well in the attack, but most of the hunters were still alive. The Priests were mostly safe too. The Thieves had also survived the attack with the help of their speed. "We need to land an attack on him, at least! If everyone stands before him, then we''ll all die! Surround him!" One of the thieves said as he moved towards Ryder''s back. The other thieves also followed suit as they surrounded Ryder and got themselves ready to attack. All of them attacked Ryder from different directions. "It was your foolishness to think that I won''t have a ranged attack," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He raised his hand towards the sky. "Sandstorm!" Ryder cast another one of his powerful spells. It was the same spell that he had used inside the Dungeon to take care of multiple monsters with ease. A sandstorm erupted in the field with Ryder at its center. It kept getting bigger as it shrouded everyone. "H-how! How can he use a spell? Isn''t he a warrior?!" One of the players screamed in disbelief as he was getting attacked by the sandstorm, which kept decreasing his HP like a rock dropping in the ocean. Soon, the HP of players hit zero, and they died. The sandstorm disappeared, leaving an empty field with no players in sight. \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e ... \u003cKilled a player outside the Safe Zone: No penalties received\u003e \u003cLevel up\u003e Again, a barrage of notifications arrived. He had also gained a level after all these fights. Even though the players he fought were low-level players that weren''t even level 30+, he still gained a level just from the sheer number of the players he fought. Ryder looked at the ground and noticed many items that were dropped by the players that he had killed, but all of these were random things that were useless for a high-level person like him. His inventory didn''t have enough storage to keep all of these items, either. He left the items behind for whoever could find it and started walking away. After some more time, Ryder reached the place where he had told Rale to bring the Princess of Tiara Kingdom. He sat under the shade of the tree and started waiting for Rale to come with the Princess. **** Half an hour after Ryder left the hotel Room, Rale left the room as well. He covered his face with a mask and changed his clothes to more darker ones as he flew through the city like lightning. His speed was so fast that no one was able to see him pass through them. Rale entered the Royal Palace without any trouble. No one noticed him. He found out that the Princess was in the Throne Room with the King and Ryuk. He knew that he could enter the throne room and kidnap her before the eyes of the long, but he didn''t do it. Ryder had told him that he didn''t need to use strength. It was going to be troublesome if he used his strength to fight the king and used a fraction of that strength to fight Ryder. The Princess would easily know that Rale wasn''t using his full strength against Ryder if he beat the king here. He was to act like a kidnapper that wanted to kidnap the princess without getting caught by the King. After some more time, the Princess came out of the throne room with Ryuk and closed the door behind her. ''Time to take her,'' Rale though as he looked at the Princess. He moved towards her. 230 Chapter 226: The Hero Rale appeared before the Princess of the Tiara Kingdom right before everyone''s eyes, but instead of holding onto her, he caught Ryuk''s hand and threw Ryuk away. Even though Rale threw Ryuk using a meager amount of power, only to get him off his trail as he took the princess, it worked against his expectation. Even though he didn''t even use 1 percent of his power, his strength was still enough to destroy Ryuk, who was a low-level player. Ryuk smashed on the wall of the palace. The wall was broken as Ryuk flew out. He kept smashing into wall after wall as his HP kept falling like it was in a hurry to reach zero. Ryuk''s HP reached Zero as he disappeared. He was logged out of the game. Ryuk woke up in the real world, still wondering what had just happened. He still couldn''t understand how and what happened. All he knew was that a person appeared out of nowhere and threw him. " Who was he? The king''s person? No, the king talked to me so nicely, his men wouldn''t attack me like that. Who was it then? An enemy of the King?" Ryuk wondered. **** Rale realized that he had miscalculated, but he had no choice but to go forward with the plan. There was nothing that could do about what had already happened. All he could do was follow the plan. He picked the princess up in his arms and ran outside the palace like the wind. The Princess wanted to scream, but Rale closed her mouth using his hands. The guards that were there saw Rale leaving, but Rale was so fast that they lost his trail in less than a second. Rale moved through the city like a shadow. He was told that he couldn''t fly, so he could only run on the ground, and his high speed helped him leave without attracting attention. Rale left the Royal City of Windsor. **** Ryder was sitting before the forest, waiting for Rale to appear when he got a notification. \u003cYour subordinate had kidnapped a Royal Person\u003e \u003cCharm: -10\u003e "It''s just charm. It''s no big deal. At Least it didn''t increase my hostility with the people of the Tiara Kingdom. I''m sure my hostility would increase of I was near Rale when he kidnapped the Princess," Ryder muttered. "At least I know that Rale has kidnapped the Princess now. He should be here soon," Ryder let out as he stood up. **** As Rale left the Royal City, he released the mouth of the Princess. "You! Who are you! Where are you taking me!" the Princess asked Rale with a scared look on her face. "I''m kidnapping you so that I can ask for money from your father for your freedom!" Rale let out in a solemn tone. He tried to change his voice as he talked, which made his voice different from his real voice. "If he doesn''t pay me what I ask for, I''ll kill you!" He added. "I''m not freeing you. You can scream all you want. We are outside your city. No one will find you here," Rale said. "Who is he?" Rale suddenly exclaimed in a shocked tone as if he saw something strange. He stopped in his footsteps. The Princess wondered what made the kidnapper stop. She looked in the direction where Rale was looking at and saw a young man standing there with a sword in his hand. "That girl in your arms. She looks scared. I don''t think she''s willing to come with you," Ryder said as he glared at Rale. "Girl, are you in trouble? Tell me if you are," Ryder asked the Princess. \u003cGained the title: Pretentious Bastard\u003e ''You are a bastard! Your whole family is a bastard! Stop giving me these useless titles, Maya!'' Ryder cursed in his mind, but he maintained his heroic expressions on his face. "Brave Warrior, You are right! This person has kidnapped me! I''m the Princes..." The Princess was replying, but Rale closed her mouth again. "She''s my little sister. She ran away from home. I''m taking her back," Rale explained. "You think I''m stupid?! I heard her words! You are an evil being that is an abomination in this world! How dare you commit such crimes like kidnapping the innocent?!" Ryder let out as he pointed his sword towards Rale. "Release the girl." "I was expecting to end it peacefully and leave with the girl, but who knew you''d be so clever. You found out that I kidnapped her. I can only end you now," Rale declared as he put the girl down on the ground. "If you move, I''ll kill you!" He warned the Princess. "Don''t worry. I''ll defeat him and free you from his grasp," Ryder comforted the girl. "For that, you need to be alive!" Rale let out as he brought his sword out. Rale started running towards Ryder. Ryder also ran towards Rale with his Moon Sword. They met in the middle as their sword clashed. It looked like a fierce clash, but it ended up with Ryder flying back like a stone as he crashed on a tree. The Tree broke apart as Ryder continued flying back and ultimately landed on the ground. Blood started flowing out of his lips as Ryder stood up. "Brave Warrior, Are you fine?!" The Princess let out loud in concern. She wanted to run to Ryder to help him, but she didn''t move as Rale was standing before her. ''Damn, even though we planned this and I knew this was going to happen, I still lost half my HP just from this acting,'' Ryder thought as he looked at his HP bar. He drank a potion to heal his HP. His HP recovered entirely with the potion. "You are strong," Ryder complimented Rale as he frowned. "You can never beat me. I''m giving you another chance. Run away and let me leave with the girl," Rale told Ryder as he pointed his sword towards Ryder. "I can never do that. I''d rather die fighting the enemy than to run away in the face of injustice! I''ll save the girl even if it cost me my life!" Ryder screamed in an emotional voice as he started running towards Rale again. Ryder''s sword and Rale''s sword collided, but Ryder simultaneously cast a spell with his left hand while their swords were engaged. "Shadow Ball!" A ball of darkness appeared in front of Ryder''s left hand, which he shot towards Rale''s hand. Rale moved back to dodge the attack, but he was hit by the shadow ball. Rale blew back and crashed on the ground twenty meters away. "Aaaaa! You can use shadow attacks! Those are my weaknesses! Damn you! How can I be so lucky to meet a Magic Warrior that can use the spells that are my weakness!" Rale let out in a horrified tone as he stood up. "I can''t beat you with that shadow spell! I just had to be unlucky to meet you! Fine! You win! I''m leaving, but I''ll return and kill you for spoiling my plans!" Rale said before he started running away and left. '' This acting wouldn''t win us any Oscars, but it should be enough for this world,'' Ryder thought as he saw Rale running away. Ryder looked towards the Princess. "You are safe now," He said to the Princess as he started walking towards her, but he dropped to the ground. The Princess saw Ryder fall to the ground. She started running towards him with a concerned look on her face. She held Ryder and made her head rest on her lap. "A-are you fine?" She asked Ryder. "I''m fine. I just used too much of my strength to scare that bastard. We''re lucky that he ran away; otherwise, both of us would be dead," Ryder let out as he sighed. " Y-you risked your life for me. You put yourself in danger to save a stranger. I don''t know how I can thank you enough," The Princess said as tears appeared in her eyes. "It was my duty as a human to save another Human. Also, I was even more motivated when the other human was so pretty," Ryder said as he looked in her eyes. The Princess''s face turned red as she heard his words. " Can I rest like this for a few more minutes? Just until I recover?" Ryder asked the Princess as he changed the topic. "Hmm," The Princess nodded her head as she smiled. ''It seriously feels good resting in a girl''s lap. I should try this in the real world too someday,'' Ryder thought as he closed his eyes. After a few more minutes, Ryder opened his eyes. "I''m fine now," Ryder let out as he sat up. " I''m name is Hades. I''m a Magic Knight and the top adventurer. May I ask the name of the Pretty Lady before me?" Ryder inquired. 231 Chapter 227: With the Princess The Princess''s face again turned red as she looked down. "I''m Aslina Windsor," The Princess replied. "Aslina Windsor? Are you from the Royal Windsor Family?" Ryder inquired as if he was genuinely surprised. "Yes. I''m the Princess of the Tiara Kingdom," The Princess replied as she smiled. "I heard that the Princess of the Tiara Kingdom was as pretty as a flower, but after meeting you, I must say that they were all lies," Ryder let out as he shook his head. The Princess lowered her head as her sadness covered her face. " All those rumors were lies. In fact, you''re even prettier. You''re as pretty as the moon on the beautiful shiny nights," Ryder said as he looked in the eyes of the Princess. The Princess looked in Ryder''s eyes. Their gazes were locked as none of them took their eyes off. The Princess felt her heart beating faster than she ever experienced. Ryder brought his face closer to her face. Slowly, their lips came closer. The Princess knew what was happening as her face turned even redder, but she didn''t move back. Ultimately, both their lips met as they closed their eyes. Ryder placed his hand around the back of Aslina''s head as he kissed her deeply. Aslina also wrapped her arms around Ryder''s back as she responded to her first kiss. After a short kiss, they separated their lips. "I''m sorry. I couldn''t control myself," Ryder told Aslina as he apologized. "I-it''s fine. I''m sorry too," Aslina replied as she lowered her gaze. "Let''s leave this place. That guy might come back," Ryder said as he stood up. Aslina also stood up. Ryder took his first step, but he pretended to be weak as he acted like he was about to fall down. He wrapped his arms around Aslina''s shoulders as he controlled himself. "Sorry. I guess my legs are still somewhat weak from the battle. You should go and leave me behind," Ryder told Aslina in a solemn tone. "It would be bad if he returned." "No! You didn''t leave me behind. I''m not leaving you either," Aslina said as she placed her hand on Ryder''s shoulders. She supported him as she started walking. Ryder kept his hands around her shoulders as he started walking with her. " Princess Aslina..." Ryder muttered as if he was hesitant about something. "You can call me Aslina," Aslina said as she looked at Ryder''s face with a smile on her face. "I like you," Ryder confessed in the open. "T-this..." Aslina didn''t know how to react as her mouth opened wide. "I fell for you the moment you helped me. I know that I shouldn''t feel this way because you''re a Princess, and you would never be with a guy like me, but I couldn''t keep this feeling in my heart. I just had to get it out," Ryder said in a low voice. Aslina felt her heart ache as she saw the depressed look on Ryder''s face. "T-that''s not it. I like you too," Aslina insisted. \u003cPrincess Aslina has proposed to you\u003e \u003cYour favorability with the Tiara Kingdom is increased by five hundred percent\u003e \u003cAll adverse effects are removed\u003e "You do?" Ryder let out excitedly as he raised his head and looked at Aslina while ignoring the notification. "I do," Aslina said as she nodded her head repeatedly. Ryder hugged Aslina firmly as he whispered in her ears, "I''m so happy." \u003cMission Completed: Made the Princess of Tiara Kingdom fall in love\u003e \u003cRewards are given\u003e '' This is good. The mission is completed, and I got an Ally in the Tiara Kingdom,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. " When we get back, I''ll tell father how you saved me. He''ll be so happy to meet you and know that I have selected you to be my husband," Aslina let out as she smiled innocently. Ryder nodded his head. He knew that even if she said that, there was no way he was going to be married in Divinity. Even in the last timeline, when Aslina was in love with Ryuk, they didn''t marry. The Date of Marriage selected by the Kingdom Priests was said to be five years after they met. He had plenty of time to think things through. Ryder and Alice left the place together and went back to the Royal City. Ryder had started walking without the support as he got near the Royal City. " Princess, you''re back!" The Guards saw the Princess and grew excited. They were all concerned and worried since the Princess was kidnapped from the Royal Palace and they couldn''t find him. "I''m back. This Hero saved me and brought me back," Aslina said as she held Ryder''s hand with a bright smile on her face. "I''m going to meet father," She let out as she started walking towards the Royal Palace. Aslina and Ryder entered the Royal Palace. Aslina introduced Ryder to the King and explained everything that happened after she was kidnapped. She also said about how bravely Ryder fought the kidnapper to save her life. "Amazing. Thank you, brave hero, for saving my daughter," The King thanked Ryder wholeheartedly. "Please don''t embarrass me by thanking me, Your Majesty," Ryder replied with a smile. "Father, there is one more thing that I need to tell you," Aslina said as she lowered her head. " What thing? You know you can tell us everything," The King let out as he looked at Aslina. "I love him," Aslina declared as she held Ryder''s hand in front of her Father. "You do? Why are you so worried about that, though? You know that your marriage has always been my dream. I left the decision of your marriage in your hands, though, including the selection of the guy. If you have already selected a guy, what could be better than that," The King laughed wholeheartedly. "It''s even better that you found such a brave man who could keep you safe. I like your choice, little girl," the King said. "Thank you, father," The Princess let out as she ran towards her father and hugged him tightly. " Son-in-law, why are you standing there? Come," The King said to Ryder. Ryder smiled innocently as he stepped forward and stood closer to the king. The King held his hand. "My little girl has given her heart to you. Please never break her heart. She''s the most precious person to me in this whole world. Keep her happy," The King said to Ryder as he looked in his eyes. "I''ll keep her happy," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "Good!" The King laughed happily. He looked towards the Eunuch, who was standing in the back, "Eunuch! Tell the servants to bring some good wine. I''ll drink with my son-in-law today." The Eunuch left the Royal Hall and came back with the servants and the wines. Ryder drank the wine with the King to keep him happy. " I''ll talk to the Royal Priests about the date of the marriage. We''ll get you guys married on that day," The King told Ryder. Ryder nodded his head. "I appreciate it, Your Majesty," Ryder replied. After the meeting and the drinking ceremony, the King told Aslina to show Ryder around the Palace and to keep him company. Ryder and Aslina left the Royal hall. "That went well," Aslina smiled as she held Ryder''s hand. "Yeah, that went really well," Ryder replied. Aslina showed Ryder around the Palace, but in between the trip, Ryder informed her that he needed to leave for some time. He told her that he would be back in a few weeks since he was in the middle of an important mission when he met Aslina. "Can''t you leave that mission? Stay in the Palace with us," Aslina told Ryder with an emotional look on her face. "I''ll be gone for a short time only. I''ll be back before you even know it," Ryder told Aslina as he placed his hands on her cheeks. "Promise?" Aslina asked Ryder as she looked in his eyes. "I promise I''ll be back. After I''m done with what I need to do, I''ll even establish my guild here so that I won''t ever need to leave the Tiara Kingdom and your side," Ryder told Aslina. "Alright," Aslina nodded her head though she still looked sad. "That''s like my good girl," Ryder said as he gave a peck on her lips. "I wanted to tell your father about it, but he looked so happy. I couldn''t bring myself to tell him that I need to leave for a short time. Can you tell him that when you get time?" Ryder asked Aslina. "I will," Aslina nodded her head. She hugged Ryder, "You can focus on your work without worrying about anything." Ryder bid his farewell and left the Royal Palace. He stepped out of the Royal Kingdom and went back to the forest. As he got to the forest, he saw Rale standing there. Rale had removed the mask, and he had changed his clothes back to his normal clothing. 232 Chapter 228: Death Domain on the Move? "How did it go?" Rale asked Ryder as he appeared beside him. Ryder looked at Rale and smiled. "It went perfect," he said. "Incredible. Your Highness did great. Now we can put your plan of conquering the whole world ahead," Rale replied as he nodded his head in praise. '' Plan to conquer the world? Well, I guess he''s right in a way. To get to the top of Divinity, I need to conquer the whole world of Divinity and become the strongest player,'' Ryder thought as he agreed to Rale''s statement even though he knew that Rale was talking about a different thing altogether. "No, You were the one who did great. Your performance was amazing. I''m glad that everything went according to the plan," Ryder said in acknowledgment as he patted Rale''s shoulders. "Where are we going now?" He asked Ryder. ''Well, that''s a good question. There are no other dungeons in this Kingdom, and moving to another kingdom just for a dungeon will be a waste of my time. I was only here to hunt and increase my strength. I can do that by hunting. If I''m not wrong, there should be a forest around a nearby city that was known amongst the players as a good hunting ground because it had some high-level beasts,'' Ryder thought as he went through all the information, he knew about the details in his memories. "We''re going east. There is a good hunting ground. I''ll hunt there for half a day and then go back when it''s time to leave," Ryder told Rale as he pointed in a certain direction. He told Rale to carry him since he could only fly for a few more minutes today. Rale held Ryder''s hand and carried him to the forest Ryder wanted to enter. Ryder spent the next twelve hours hunting in the forest, the monsters that were stronger than him. \u003cLevel Up\u003e "That should take me to level 75. It''s enough for the day. It''s time to leave. We need to go back to the Demon Realm too," Ryder muttered as he looked at his stats, which were looking really pleasing to the eye. He had Rale carry him to the place where they had come from. Rale and Ryder reached the first village they had come to when they came to this kingdom. Since the village was near the forest where the portal was supposed to open, they needed to pass through this place, but as soon as Ryder got there, a frown covered his face. He saw bodies lying all around the villages. Even the old man that had told Ryder the location of the Windsor City was dead. His body was lying in the center of the town. Ryder told Rale to land on the ground. Rale and Ryder stepped into the village. "What the heck happened here? It hasn''t even been a day since we left," Ryder muttered as he frowned. He looked around to see if there was anyone alive or not. He went through the village, but he didn''t find anyone here who was living. "Your Highness, I see some footprints that seem like they belong to the skeletons," Rale suddenly pointed out. "Skeletons? There is no dungeon nearby as far as I know. They shouldn''t be here. The only other reason for them to be here could be the existence of a Necromancer, but that class can''t be unlocked so soon. There is no way it''s a player who will do it even if they get the strength of a Necromancer," Ryder frowned as he thought about what Rale said. "Based on my assumption, it''s either the people of the Undead Region or the people from the Death Domain. The Skeletons of the Undead Region aren''t clever. They wouldn''t come here unless someone in a high position in the Undead Region were guiding them. As for the Death Domain, those people can also summon skeletons with ease to finish their tasks," Rale explained. " The Undead Region? Could it be that the Vampire King followed us here? No, he is too proud. He wouldn''t bring skeletons to take care of the opponents. That guy is a force to be reckoned with. He can easily destroy this Village just by moving his fingers. He wouldn''t use these tricks like using a skeleton. And if he was here for us, he probably would''ve caught us by now. He can''t be here. The High Dukes are also with him. He won''t be here," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "There are many more clans in the Undead Region. Some of those clans have their ways of coming to this world as well. It''s highly possible for them to come here," Rale chimed in with his opinion. " I get that, but they shouldn''t have any reason to be here and attack the citizens of this kingdom unless this village had something they needed. Could it be possible that these guys had a treasure?" Ryder muttered with a suspicious look on his face. "Wait a minute. Could it be her?" Ryder let out suddenly as he frowned. "Who?" Rale enquired as he saw the serious expression on his face. "When I was new in the Demon Realm, and I wasn''t crowned the Prince, I was staying at the Palace of Duke Devilia. I went to her forest to hunt alone, leaving the guards outside." Ryder started explaining about events that transpired before. "I met a young girl there. That girl was able to use the beings of the Undead Region for her battle and to save herself from my attacks. She also had the heritage weapon of the Death Emperor. The Death Emperor was killed by my master during the great war of the Demon Realm, as you can probably remember. It is clear that the girl was from the Death Domain. She tried to kill me, but I defeated her. She escaped in the end," Ryder explained. "Anyway, she seemed like she was looking for something when she met me, and our battle began. If she can enter the Demon Realm to find something, I''m sure their people can enter the Human Realm for treasures too. Those people can definitely be behind this slaughter," Ryder let out as he frowned. "You were attacked? Why didn''t you tell me?" Rale let out in concern. "It was only once, and I was completely fine. I had forgotten about it after I became the Crown Prince since other matters took my attention. Anyway, as I said, I was completely fine, and there is no way the Death Domain could harm me. That''s why I didn''t tell you guys. Now it is a serious matter, though. If it was actually them, then it means that they are starting to get active and restless for something. Something big might be on the horizon," Ryder let out as he shook his head. " I am over fifty percent sure that it''s the work of people from the Death Domain. We can''t find any of them here. I can''t even sense their aura. They must have left already," Rale said. "Yeah, they probably came here for something. They got what they wanted. They killed everyone after that and left," Ryder agreed to Rale''s opinion. "Let''s leave. There is nothing we can do since they already left," Ryder let out as he started walking towards the forest. He and Rale reached the place where they appeared when they left the portal. "There is no one around, is there?" Ryder inquired as he looked at Rale. He didn''t want to use the portal when someone was nearby. "There is no one here. I don''t feel anyone in the surroundings," Rale replied with full confidence. Ryder nodded as he brought out the key to the portal and raised it in the sky. The spatial portal opened before them. Ryder and Rale entered the portal and left the world. They appeared in the Demon Realm again. Ryder closed the portal and locked it again as he kept the keys back. He left the underground and went to the ground floor. Rale escorted Ryder to his bedroom. "It will be morning in a few hours. We will leave with High Duke Milana. Rest for some time," Ryder told Rale as he walked inside his bedroom. Ryder closed the door and went to the bed. He laid on the bed and logged out. Since he had a few hours of free time, he decided to spend it in the real world and to have something to eat in the meantime. Ryder woke up in the real world and removed the Divinity Glasses. It was evening at the moment. The dinner time was going to be in an hour. Ryder got off the bed, and we went for a shower. He read a few news headlines after coming out of the shower to keep him updated on what was happening in the world 233 Chapter 229: The Idol "Drug syndicate busted near the border? That line of work does have a lot of money involved. It''s no wonder that even after all these years, there''s no control over the illegal drugs that are harmful for people. It does nothing good in the bigger scene. It doesn''t look like this problem will ever be solved completely. Only small victories are possible," Ryder let out as he sighed. His mood was down after reading the news. He hated the people that were involved in drugs, especially the ones that spread it all around the country since he saw many lives being destroyed because of drugs. This hate was born with experience and what he saw in the world. In school, Ryder had a friend whose father was a middle-class worker. That mad somehow found his way to the drugs and got addicted. Ryder saw how his friend was affected because of that. Ultimately, his friend was forced to drop out of the school. He didn''t know where that guy was now. Ryder swiped down to read another news article on the sight. "India?" Ryder muttered as he saw something new in the article that was related to the person he killed last. " CEO and the Majority Shareholder of Stanner construction, Pasher Stan, go missing right before the multimillion-dollar investment in India," Ryder read the headline. "Of Course, he would go missing. He''s in the world of the dead now. There is no way he can appear again," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "I''m curious, though. What was it he was investing in? I remember he sounded really eager to stay back and finish the deal when I made Jameson call him here. The deal must be really important," Ryder let out with a thoughtful look on his face. He went through the article to read the details. The article mostly talked about how Pasher was missing after entering the United States, but in the end, it mentioned about the deal his company was working on. " He was trying to buy the rights of Riali Mines? I think I heard that name before," Ryder muttered as he fell in deep thought. He tried to go through his memories to remember where he heard of this name before, but he couldn''t remember it. It was probably something he heard in passing, and he didn''t consider it important at that time. Ryder put this name to the back of his mind and started reading the next news. "Diamond price increased again. I should probably buy a few diamonds as an investment." " The Tension between the European Union and the Russian Federation is on the rise again after Russia shot down a plane of an EU country? I hope this problem will be solved. I don''t want world war 4. The third one was already bad enough," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He put the phone down as he stood up and went to the dining room. "Alice? Is the dinner ready?" He asked as he entered the dining room. "Huh, do you have a Seventh sense or something when it comes to food? You''re always on time," Alice laughed as she picked up the plates and placed them before Ryder. "My body has adjusted to your timing since you''re always so punctual on dinner," Ryder let out as he smiled. He started eating dinner. "So, how was your day? Did something happen?" Alice asked Ryder. "My day was good. Nothing big has happened since I stayed at home all day. How was your day?" Ryder inquired. "My day was great. It was pretty fun," Alice let out as she smiled excitedly. "You sound excited. What happened?" Ryder asked with an interested look on his face. Alice never looked as excited when talking about classes as she was today, which intrigued Ryder. He knew that something of great significance must have happened. '' Could it be that she got some scholarship for her higher studies?'' Ryder wondered. "You know my favorite singer?" Alice asked Ryder with a big grin on her face. "I think I know. That Korean Idol Aera if I''m not wrong. You keep listening to K-Pop, and you talked a lot about that girl," Ryder replied. "Yeah! She''s the greatest singer. Her voice is so amazing. Her last two albums topped the charts as well, and she''s only 19 years old," Alice excitedly explained to Ryder. "Yeah, I get it. She''s good and talented. So what? Did you manage to buy her autograph online or something?" Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. " No! She just joined our University! She''s in my class!" Alice told Ryder with a big smile on her face. "Aera joined your University? Why would she come here to study? Korea has many great universities. Even in America, she has enough wealth to study in the new capital. Why would she come to this small place? I agree that the University of Dreamers is a high ranking University in the world. Still, it''s not on the same level as the top university of America or even Korea for that matter," Ryder let out in confusion. "I don''t know the reason. I only heard the announcement from our teacher. She has registered for the classes, and she will soon come to the University, and I will be able to meet him," Alice said smilingly. Ryder smiled as he shook her head. "So that''s what it was. I guess it''s good for you. You can make a friend with her and get her autograph for free," Ryder chuckled as he joked around. "Yeah, maybe I can bring her home too. Would you like to meet her?" Alice asked Ryder. "Nah, keep me out of this. I''m not into music like that. I don''t even recognize her other than what you told me. Keep her to yourself," Ryder replied as he finished the dinner. "Thanks for the food. It was amazing," Ryder praised Alice before he stood up and went back to his room. Ryder did some exercise and stretching in his room before he laid on the bed. He laid on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses as he got ready to enter the world of Divinity. "Take me to the world of Divinity," Ryder muttered as he activated the world of Divinity. He woke up in the Royal room in the world of Divinity. Ryder got off the bed and walked towards the wardrobe as he wore the new clothes of the Prince for his journey to the places of Dukes. He also wore his crown and other artifacts that were given to him by the Dukes. He also changed the form of his Moon Scythe into a knife, which was small enough to carry easily and left the room. **** The Vampire King has spent all his time trying to find his General, but even after searching all around the Demon Realm, the Vampire King wasn''t able to find anything related to Vampire General Viden. He searched the Royal City of the Demon Realm using his Special senses, and he searched the other cities, but he didn''t find anything suspicious. The Fourth High Duke followed the Vampire King like a shadow. He didn''t leave the Vampire King alone for even a second and didn''t let his attention wander off. "I told you. You aren''t going to find anything here. Our new Prince is not free enough to enter the land of the dead," The Fourth High Duke smiled as he shook his head "If he had any bad intentions or if he was guilty, he wouldn''t even allow you the free access into the Demon Realm. Don''t be stupid. It''s clear that the Death Domain was trying to use you against us to harm us," The Fourth High Duke added. "That''s for me to decide," The Vampire King let out in a grim tone. **** Ryder left the Royal Palace with Rale, Miku, and the other Royal Guards. Ryder traveled using the Royal Flying Beast that was used to carry the Royals. It had a small throne on top of it where Ryder could sit comfortably. Rale and the others followed Ryder''s beast and kept it surrounded while keeping their safe distance to protect Ryder. They could have taken the Royal Carriage, but Ryder preferred the flying since it was faster, and he wanted to finish this faster so that he could relax and go to the quest with Shu. Ryder and his entourage reached the first destination, which was the duchy of Duke Devilia. It was the first place Ryder had stayed in when he was sucked into the Demon Realm for the first time. 234 Chapter 230: Death Domain Spy Ryder and his team reached the duchy of Duke Devilia. The Royal Bird flew in all its glory, surrounded by all the Royal Guards. High Duke Milana was flying right above Ryder, but she didn''t come on any flying monster. She flew on her own and maintained the speed just fast enough to fly in the same place as Ryder. The citizens of the duchy saw the beautiful flying monsters flying in the sky in a group. "Isn''t that the Royal Beast?" "You''re right! The one behind that is the Royal Guardian Beast, which belongs to master Rale!" " It means that it''s His Highness! He''s here!" " I heard the announcement just yesterday that he''ll be visiting this place in the near future! I never knew it would be so soon. I can''t wait to see him! A lot of the citizens were amazed as they recognized the Royal Beast that only the Royal Prince was allowed to travel on. Most of the citizens started chanting, "Long Live the Prince!" Ryder looked down and couldn''t help but smile at all the love. '' Even though it''s not real, it does feel amazing,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. ''The Kings of old times definitely had a good life," Ryder chuckled as he smiled. \u003cYou have gained a new title: The Beloved Prince\u003e "Finally, you have me a normal-sounding title," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face as he watched the notification about him gaining a title. He tapped on the notification to understand what it actually gave him. \u003c Title: The Beloved Prince\u003e \u003c Description: Only a prince beloved by the citizens can get the blessing of the Kingdom. Whenever the Prince fights any battle inside his Kingdom, all stats are doubled for the fight\u003e \u003cWarning: The effects only apply to the Kingdom of the Prince. The effects won''t be there if outside the vicinity of the Kingdom\u003e ''Now, this is a good title. I can switch with this when I need to fight and switch back to the Successor of Salem after that. After I get level hundred, I''ll be able to equip two titles at once. I can keep both of them activated at the same time then,'' Ryder thought as he closed the screen. "That''s the palace. We''re already there," He muttered as he nodded his head. The Royal Flying Beast landed before the entrance of the Royal Palace. All the other people landed as well. High Duke Milana stood on Ryder''s left, a single step back. Ryder stood on the Right side of Ryder, two steps back. The other Royal Guards stood behind them. "Your Highness," The Guard Chief of Devilia''s Palace came to greet him since he was already standing outside. "Hey, it''s you. Good to meet you again," Ryder let out as he smiled. He remembered the Guard Chief since that man was the one who escorted him to the hunting place when Ryder was living in this Palace with Devilia. "Silence! What kind of reception is this?! The Prince of this Kingdom is standing outside the Palace of the Duke, and the Duke didn''t even come out?! Where is Devilia? Call her out right now! Did she forget how to handle things like this?!" High Duke Milana thundered as she glared at the Guard Chief. She seemed genuinely angry. Her aura was so fierce that it forced all the guards of the Duke''s palace to their knees, including the Guard Chief. She was careful not to let her aura get near Ryder, though. She didn''t want to harm the Prince too accidentally. She knew that Ryder wasn''t as strong as them now. If he were forced to his knees accidentally, it would be the biggest blasphemy towards the throne, and she would be killed for treason and disrespect towards the throne. She was pretty experienced in this and knew how to control her aura, so she didn''t have any difficulty. The door of the Palace suddenly opened as a beautiful silver-haired woman stepped out of the palace, donned a beautiful green gown. " Calm your anger, Senior Mila. I came out here as soon as I found out of His Highness'' arrival. Please forgive my delay," Devilia told High Duke Mila in a kind tone. "Calm Down, High Duke. It was only a few seconds delay," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly watching High Duke Mila angry. "Hmph," High Duke Mila retracted her aura. The guards felt like they could finally breathe when the mountain like aura wasn''t pushing down on them anymore. They all stood up as they wiped the sweat off their face. " I''m so glad that you''re here, Your Highness. I apologize for my delay. Hope I didn''t waste too much of your time," Devilia greeted Ryder first, and then she greeted High Duke Mila as well. "Please come inside," Duke Devilia invited them with a smile on their face. Ryder nodded his head as he walked inside the Palace with Devilia and others. Devilia escorted them towards the Great Hall. "Have you arranged everything for my speech?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at Devilia. "Yes. I had everyone informed about your arrival and about other things that you asked. I''ll make another announcement saying that you have arrived. Tomorrow, we can do that," Devilia replied as she kept walking ahead. Along the way, she saw a servant. She stopped that servant and told her something in a low voice to make sure that others didn''t hear her. Ryder wondered what she talked about, but he knew that he couldn''t ask. It wouldn''t be normal to ask about private matters of a Duke as a prince. He could''ve asked her if High Duke Mila wasn''t here, but before her, he needed to act like a people aloof Prince. Devilia took them inside the Great Hall of the Palace, where she had arranged for seats for everyone. Ryder walked forth and sat on the main throne. High Duke Mila sat on the throne beside him, but there was a problem. There were two people that needed to sit, Rale and Devilia, but there was only one seat available. Rale felt strange, but he didn''t say anything as he walked behind Ryder and simply stood. Ryder also looked at Devilia with a frown, wondering what she was doing. Why was there no seat for Rale. "I apologize, Master Rale. Please take that seat before you. I''ll be the one standing. It''s my fault that I arranged for fewer seats. I didn''t know about the arrival of the High Duke with you. I would''ve arranged an extra seat then," Devilia replied as she smiled wryly. "Ah, right. I told you about the arrival of my team only. High Duke Mila was added in the last moment, I forgot to update you about it," Ryder reacted as he remembered his fault. "Sigh, Devilia. Why are you acting like a child? There''s a simple solution. Just bring more chairs. What has happened to you today?" High Duke Mila let out as she sighed. "You are generally so confident." " Ah, I''m sorry. It''s because my father will be coming to the Palace today to meet His Highness. I''m just a little..." Devilia sighed as she shook her head. "Anyway, I told the servant to bring more seats." ''Ah, so that''s what she was telling the servants in such a low voice,'' Ryder thought as he got the answer to his previous question. "Oh? Your old man is back from his trip? I get it; it''s the time for a switch. It would be interesting to talk to him," High Duke Mila nodded her head. She looked at Ryder, who looked confused about the person they were talking about. "You don''t know her father. Her father is our spy in the Death Domain. He''s coming back, and another spy will handle the things there now," High Duke Mila told Ryder. "A spy in the Death Domain? Isn''t that dangerous for your father?" Ryder inquired. "My father is the master of the art of spying. That old man doesn''t worry about anything," Devilia answered Ryder. " I guess you chose the right place to start the journey. Instead of waiting for him to get to the Royal palace, we can talk to him here and get the information faster," High Duke Mila said. "Yeah, I''m pretty interested in the news of the Death Domain. My spies tell me that they have been pretty active in the human realm too. They slaughtered a human village some time ago," Ryder chimed in as he remembered the thing about the village in the Tiara Kingdom. " Really? If that''s true, then they are getting restless about something to show up in the human realm. They even went to the Undead Region and schemed against us by kidnapping the Vampire King''s subordinate. Those guys are definitely up to something," High Duke Mila muttered as she frowned '' Right. Let them take the blame for the Undead Region. They don''t seem like the good guys either,'' Ryder thought as he kept his mouth closed. 235 Chapter 231: Two Factions " Yeah. We need some answers about them, and only your father can answer," Ryder let out as he looked at Devilia. "Why are you worried about your father coming, though? Are you nervous about meeting him after so long?" "Hahaha, her father is kind of different. He is a little too doting. I think Devilia finds herself embarrassed whenever she is near someone with her father. You''ll see what I mean when he comes," High Duke Mila chucked as she explained to Ryder. "Interesting," Ryder muttered as he smiled. The servant came inside the Great Hall with another seat. The seat was placed near Rale''s seat. Everyone was seated now. "Fine, Duke Devilia. Let me start by asking you about your Duchy. What are the problems you face if there are any, and what help do you expect from the crown," Ryder asked in a straightforward manner. "There are no major problems that I can''t handle. Everything''s going smoothly, but there is one thing that''s creating trouble for me. You know, one of the Dukes that didn''t come to the Birthday Celebration of High Duke Oris controls the neighboring duchy. There is a group of Demons from his area that enters my land and harasses the citizens. I don''t want to have to take drastic measures to solve the problem, but talking doesn''t work either," Devilia started explaining about a problematic matter that she was facing. "Duke Floris refuses to do anything about this matter. I''m controlling myself so much. I think one day, when I can''t control myself, I''ll enter his duchy and destroy that clan, even if that escalates things," She told Ryder. "Oh? You did well. There''s no benefit in escalating things without telling the Crown. I''ll handle the matter when I go to his land next," Ryder told Devilia as he nodded his head. " That would be great," Devilia let out as she smiled. " How is the problem of missing demons in your place?" Ryder inquired. "It''s in control. There are some demons that commit murders, but the guards have been doing great to keep them in check," Devilia responded. "That''s good. I''ll talk to the citizens tomorrow. It''s good if they don''t have the problems and the ones they have is the one I know about," Ryder nodded his head. "When exactly will your father be here, by the way?" Ryder asked Devilia. "He should be here soon. By the evening, I believe," Devilia replied to Ryder. Ryder looked in the direction of Miku. " Miku, you sent out our schedule to the other Dukes, right? I want to finish all the trips in four days. You have something else to do on the 5th day," Ryder told Miku. "Yes, Your Highness. I sent the Royal Guards with the schedule. They will be ready with the citizens so that you can directly talk to the citizens and give your speech without any delay," Miku replied to Ryder. During the next two hours, Ryder and the others roamed through the duchy. The Marquis from various places of the duchy were here as well to meet Ryder. Ryder and the others walked through the marketplace of the Place, surrounded by the Royal Guards and the Marquis. The citizens greeted Ryder excitedly wherever he passed through as they saw his glory. "This is known as a luck crystal. It is said to give a person good luck," Devilia picked a Crystal from the store and showed it to Ryder. They stood close to each other as they looked at the crystal. High Duke Mila was looking at a different Crystal while Rale was keeping an eye on the surroundings. "Devilia!" Someone suddenly shouted. Ryder looks back to see who dared to call a Duke by her name. He saw a man who seemed to be in his early 40s. The man had dark hair, opposite of the shiny silver hair of Devilia. While Ryder was wondering who the man was, he saw Devilia step back in fear. '' Someone who can scare Devilia? Is he...?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "Hahaha, Come to your sweet daddy, little girl! Why are you standing there?" the man laughed out loud. ''I was right. He is her father. There is no doubt about that,'' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. " This guy? You already found a lover? My daughter has grown up to be such a pretty lady, and she already found a lover too. Sigh, this man was so busy in his work, he didn''t even know. Don''t worry, baby girl; Father is here now! I''ll arrange everything! I''ll invite everyone! We''ll have the marriage next week," The Man walked up to Devilia as he held her hand with tears in her eyes. "F-father, it''s not..." While Devilia was trying to explain, the man looked in the direction of the man. "Son in law! You''re getting married to my precious daughter. Take care of her always! Also, have some sweet kids. I want a few cute grandkids to show off to other old men," The man let out as he walked closer to Ryder, but before he could get there, Rale moved ahead and stood before Ryder. " It''s fine, Rale. He''s her father, I''m safe," Ryder let out as he smiled. Rale nodded his head and stepped to the side. The middle-aged man stopped walking towards him as his attention was attracted by Rale. "It''s you! How come I didn''t notice you were here. You listened to his orders, so he must be..." the man suddenly linked the pieces together as he recognized the identity of Ryder. "Little Girl? You and His Highness are lovers?! I didn''t expect that. I''m happy for you two," The man let out as he smiled happily. "Calm down, old man! You still haven''t corrected that habit of yours to be overly emotional before your daughter! He''s not her lover," High Duke Mila came forward and stood beside Ryder. "High Duke Mila? You''re here as well?" the man let out with a surprised look on his face. "Don''t tell me; he''s your lover too? Are you taking the main wife position?" the man exclaimed with the shocked look on his face. " Little girl? Are you really fine with the position of the concubine?" The Man let out as he looked back at Devilia. High Duke Mila can''t help but sigh. " Sometimes, I really wonder how you''re one of the seven leaders of our Spy Unit," High Duke Mila said as she glanced at the middle-aged man. "Listen, old man, none of us is anyone''s lover. Even if we were, I would definitely be the one taking the main wife position. Anyway, We are here on an official trip. We''ll be going everywhere and meeting all Dukes. So throw that idiotic though out of your hand and stop making a show before the citizens," High Duke Mila said in a stern tone. "We should go back now," High Duke Mila suggested to Ryder. "Yeah, since her father is here, it''s better to go back and listen to his report about what he found out," Ryder nodded his head as he agreed. All of them went back to the Palace of High Duke Devilia. **** Ryder and the others were sitting in the great hall, looking at Devilia''s father, Sulovan. "So, Master Sulovan. You spent the last many years in the Death Domain. According to our information, the Death Domain is making some strange movements. They entered even the Human Realm. They wiped out an entire village. Can you tell us more and what they might be trying to do?" Ryder inquired. Devilia''s Father was genuinely surprised as he heard Ryder''s word. "I''m surprised. I didn''t expect that the information about that can come here so fast? Do we have a spy in the human realm too now?" Sulovan asked in surprise. "That''s for me to know. You tell me what you know. If we have a spy or how we got the information will not change anything. Just tell us what you know," Ryder let out in a tone that wasn''t hostile but didn''t sound extremely friendly either. Ryder was using his Princely Voice and trying to keep his dignity during the first meeting. "It''s true. They are moving. They are also restless about the appearance of the Moon Scythe in the Demon Realm," Sulovan replied. " What''s there to be so upset about then. They also have the inheritance weapon of the Death Emperor," Ryder replied casually. "That''s the problem. The Royalty of the Death Domain doesn''t have the inheritance weapon. The power balance is shifting. The whole Death Domain is going through an internal turmoil. It has been Split up into two camps. One camp says that the bloodline of the Death Emperor should be the new emperor." " The other camo says that the person chosen by the weapon of the Death Emperor is the one who got his real inheritance and the one selected by the Death Emperor to rule." 236 Chapter 232: Urgent Mission "The other faction supports the girl who got the inheritance weapon. There is tension everywhere. Both sides are trying to gain an advantage, and that''s why they''re getting restless," Sulovan said. " I fought the girl with the inheritance. She ran away before I could catch her. I didn''t know she was a potential Emperor of Death Domain. Anyway, which faction was the one that destroyed the Village in the Human Realm?" Ryder inquired while talking about his interaction with the Death Emperor Successor. "That was the Royal Blood Faction. They were the ones who did it in the human realm," Sulovan explained. " Why would they do it? What were they after?" Ryder inquired as he frowned. " They were after something important. Something that is capable of shifting the power balance in their favor while making it difficult for the opposite faction to get in power," Sulovan answered with a grave look on his face. "It''s good. A conflict between them can be a good opportunity for us," Ryder let out as he nodded his head. "What was that something they were after? Did they get it?" Ryder inquired. "They were after something called the Orb of Lightning. It is said to be a small light blue orb that is capable of helping the wielder conjure lightning," Sulovan explained. Ryder heard his words and couldn''t help but look in the direction of his hand. He saw the bracelet that had the various characters. Each of those characters represented an element of the universe like fire, water, and others. Ryder had already received three fragments of the bracelet of immortality to activate three characters. He still lacked a lot more, though. There were over Twenty Fragments still remaining in this universe. ''An orb related to lightning? Could this be a fragment related to thunder? That should be an element too,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. The people in the great hall saw Ryder frowning and thought that he was thinking about something serious related to the Death Domain. No one said anything to disturb his thoughts. ''Janus, is thunder an element of this bracelet of immortality?'' Ryder asked Janus. After a few seconds, Janus replied. \u003cNo answer can be given related to the bracelet of immortality at the moment\u003e ''What no answer? It''s a simple question. I already know a lot of things about the bracelet. Just give me another answer,'' Ryder responded as he sighed. Janus didn''t reply. Ryder couldn''t help but shake his head as he stopped asking about it. He thought that there must be a reason. He also believed his assumption that there was a good chance that he might be able to get another bracelet of immortality fragment if he got the orb of thunder. "Did they get the Orb of Thunder?" He asked Sulovan. "They didn''t manage to take it from what I heard. They went to a village in the human realm because they had heard that it was in the village at the place. They also managed to find the village it was said to be in, but according to my sources, they didn''t find the thunder orb in that village. The village elder had already given that thunder orb to someone. The whole village was wiped in anger," Sulovan replied as he sighed. "They didn''t keep anyone alive to find that person that has the thunder orb? I don''t believe they''ll drop the search just because another person took the orb. They must be after that person," Ryder inquired with a thoughtful look on his face. "The villagers didn''t know where that person came from and where he lived. All they knew was that the person was an adventurer and his name. Without any information, founding that man is really difficult, but Your Highness is right. They kept someone from the village alive to recognize that adventurer," Sulovan answered Ryder. "An adventurer? What is the name of that Adventurer?" Ryder inquired. ''If he''s a player, I might be able to find him. I might even be able to exchange something from that orb or straight away, kill him to take the orb,'' Ryder thought as he sat straight. " I don''t know the Adventurer''s name, unfortunately. It was something that I couldn''t find out," Sulovan replied as he sighed. " So, we have nothing in our hands that can help us find that Adventure before the death domain?" Ryder inquired with a frown. " It seems that way. I apologize," Sulovan replied to Ryder. Ryder couldn''t help but shake his head in disappointment. "Tell me more about the two factions of the Death Domain. Which Faction is stronger at the moment? Also, How strong is the conflict between them? Was there any fighting?" Ryder asked Sulovan. "The fighting has not started yet. There are just light skirmishes. I don''t believe they''ll break all cordiality so soon. It might take a few months before they even get to that level," Sulovan told Ryder. " Should we do something to fasten the process? We can definitely interfere in their matters and use that to our advantage to weaken them further," Ryder inquired as he thought about it in depth. "What do you think?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila as he looked at him. " It seems like a good opportunity. Although we are at peace, there is always a threat of war if they somehow become stronger. As long as they are weak, they wouldn''t have big ambitions about fighting us," High Duke Mila replied as she nodded her head. Ryder heard her response and nodded his head. " That''s right, but even if we involve ourselves to increase the conflict, it needs to be in a way that doesn''t make them know that we are getting involved. We need to keep our name out of this matter, or they might join together to fight a common enemy, and the plan would fail," Ryder frowned as he explained something he was concerned about. "That is true, as well. As long as they find out that the Demon Realm is getting involved, they''ll be forced to stop their skirmishes and make a decision. That won''t be good. We need to be stealthy, and we need to be clever. What do you think we should do?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder as she looked at him for answers. "Let''s decide after we go back. I want all High Dukes to be there for this discussion. It is an important matter. I do have some ideas about what we can do, though. If things go right, I might even get three birds with one stone," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "Three birds?" High Duke Mila inquired as she frowned. "It''s a saying. It means that I will be able to achieve three goals if I succeed," Ryder replied as he smiled. "What three goals?" High Duke Mila asked. "You''ll know when I put my plan forward after we get back," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Hmm," High Duke Mila nodded her hand. "Anyway, let''s continue. What else do you get? Any other useful information? Tell me everything," Ryder replied as he nodded his head. Sulovan told them a lot of things about the Death Domain conflict. He talked about various powers that were directly involved in the conflict, and he talked about the powers that were still neutral there. He also talked about the King Candidate. The Royal Bloodline Prince and the Death Emperor Inheritor. Surprisingly, according to him, the two king candidates never showed up there. The conversation went on for over two hours. Soon, the meeting finished. Ryder told everyone to go back and rest. He was about to stand up when he stopped as he heard Janus'' voice. \u003cWarning! Warning! Warning!\u003e \u003cUrgent Mission: Log out of the game in five minutes and save Alice\u003e \u003cMission Reward: Golden Knife of Kimichi\u003e \u003cTime Limit: Five minutes\u003e ''Save Alice? What the fuck?'' Ryder stood up with a shocked look on his face. The others also stood up as they saw the shocked look on his face. "Is everything alright?" High Duke Mila inquired with a concerned look on her face. "Yeah, everything''s fine. I''ll be right back, though," Ryder replied as he opened the system screen and tapped on logout. " He disappeared?" High Duke Mila inquired as she frowned. " His Highness went to his treasure artifact that was given to His Majesty. He shouldn''t be in any danger," Rale let out in a calm tone. "But his expressions? It didn''t seem everything was fine," High Duke Mila inquired. " Maybe he forgot something important inside and went to take that? Let''s wait here for his arrival," Rale replied. He had faith that Ryder would be safe in the artifact. He didn''t know that Ryder had lied about the artifact and that there was no such thing. 237 Chapter 233: The Mastermind While Rale and the others were waiting for Ryder''s return inside the great hall of Duke Devilia''s Palace, Ryder had already logged out of the game. Ryder woke up in the real world and took off his Divinity Glasses as he sat up and hurriedly got off the bed. He started running towards the room of Alice since Janus talked about saving Alice. It meant that Alice was in danger. If he didn''t save her in five minutes, she was going to be in danger, and one minute had already passed. "Alice!" Ryder called out loud as he barged inside her room only to find it empty. "Alice!" He screamed again, but the place was empty. Alice wasn''t inside the house. "Janus! Where is she?!" Ryder let out like crazy as he ran towards the exit of the hour. He opened the door to see if she was outside. Since the mission was to save her in five minutes, she must be somewhere nearby, he thought. It was the night time in this place, and the sun hadn''t started rising. The streets were still bright, though. As Ryder looked around, he saw a car at some distance. He saw Alice inside the car, struggling to free herself. It seemed like someone was kidnapping her right before Ryder''s eyes. Before Ryder could do anything, the car started driving away. "You bastard!" Ryder roared like crazy as he brought his gun out and shot towards the tires of the car while he ran towards his whirlwind. There were only three minutes left before the timeline was over. He knew that if he didn''t free her from their grasp, something might happen to Alice. Ryder fired at the car''s tires, but he missed since the car was too far away already, and he was running. Ryder opened his whirlwind and stepped inside the car. " Janus! I want the healing potion right now. Keep that ready. You can deduct the Origin Points that you need," Ryder let out as he pressed the race. His car started speeding towards the BWM car that was running away. While the BWM was the luxurious car, it wasn''t as fast as the whirlwind since the whirlwind was a sports car. Ryder''s Whirlwind was closing in on the BWM, and soon, only a few hundred meters of distance was left between them. Even though it all happened in a short time, they were already out of that block of the city and entering a new block. The people in the BWM noticed Ryder closing in and started firing at his whirlwind. A few of the bullets managed to hit the whirlwind and broke the glass, but instead of being scared, Ryder continued his feel on the race as he kept trying to hit the maximum speed he could. Only one minute was left between the time given by Janus, and Ryder knew that he couldn''t take his time off. He pointed his gun at the car ahead, ignoring the bullets that had hit him already. Blood was flowing out of his body, which started healing with the help of the bracelet of immortality skill that he received after he got the second bracelet of immortality. Ryder fired a shot that hit the head of one of the men that was firing at him, but before Ryder could fire again, he stopped since he saw the men pointing their gun at Alice in order to threaten him. "Those fucking bastards?" Ryder let out as he lowered the gun, but he increased the speed of his car and crashed his Whirlwind on the BWM. The impact was so powerful that both the cars were damaged seriously. Since Ryder''s car was coming in at a higher speed, it got more impact. Ryder used this opportunity to use his special skill. Ruler of Wind was something that he had received as he found the third fragment of the Bracelet of Immortality. The skill allowed him to fly. He used the skill to safely escape the impact of the car crash. The BWM back was thrashed, and the kidnappers also lost their balance as their guns core out of their hands. The BWM lost control and turned left. If nothing was done, the car was going to smash on a nearby house, which was enough to kill them all. There were only ten seconds left in the timeline given to him by Janus. Ryder flew beside the car as he opened the door. He continued flying beside the car as he caught the collar of the person who was sitting on that side and threw out the car so that he could reach Alice faster. Ryder held the hand of Alice and pulled her out of the car as he carried her with him to the ground away from the cat. The BWM crashed on the wall of the building while Ryder landed on the ground safely with Alice. "Sigh, saved by the second," Ryder muttered as he looked at Alice. Alice''s head was hit on the seat ahead, and it was bleeding a little. Her vision was vague as well, but she seemed mostly fine. "Open your mouth, little girl. Let me feed you this medicine so that you can get better," Ryder let out as he brought the potion out of the system storage that he had just purchased from the system. He made Alice drink the potion. As soon as Alice drank the potion, her wounds started healing. It didn''t even take a few seconds before her wounds healed. Her blurry vision also recovered as if she was perfectly fine. "W-what was that?" She inquired in confusion as her pain disappeared like it was never there. "It''s a miraculous medicine the scientists are researching for. I paid a lot for it," Ryder made up an explanation as he placed Alice down on the ground. "Your clothes! The blood..." Alice let out with a concerned look on her face as she looked at Ryder''s blood-covered clothes that were covered in blood because of him being shot multiple times. "It''s nothing. When the car crashed, a few glass pieces hit me and lightly injured me. I drank the same medicine, and I''m fine now," Ryder replied and hid the fact that he was shot. "I''m glad you''re fine," He let out as he patted her head. "Wait here, I''ll be right back," Ryder said to Alice as he started walking away from her. Ryder walked towards the person who managed to survive because Ryder threw that man out of the car. According to Ryder, the others were already dead. This man was the only person who was still alive. Ryder stopped before the man was wriggling on the ground in pain. He caught the neck of the man and raised him in the air. "Let me see... My fricking expensive car was destroyed because of you. That''s nothing in front of your biggest crime of daring to kidnap someone close to me, though. How do you think I should deal with you," Ryder let out as he glared in the man''s eyes. The man saw Ryder''s eyes and felt as if a demon was looking at him who could see through his soul. "I can consider leaving you alive if you answer me," Ryder threatened the man. "Who was the one that sent you to kidnap me?" Ryder knew that there were a few people that he had annoyed in this world. The Uprising was one of those organizations that had the wealth and the strength to do it if they found out that Ryder was involved in their matters and destroyed their plans. There was also a chance that someone who hated him sent the men for revenge like the Dean of the University of Dreamers. There were a lot more people who had problems with him, and he wanted to find the ones that were faster to scheme against people close to him. "I... I... It was the Police Chi..." The man started explaining with a scared look on his face, but he stopped as he saw the Police cars arriving at that place. He didn''t answer as he started smiling. " You should run," The man let out as he smiled. Ryder glanced back and saw the cops pointing their guns at him. "Ryder, release that man and put your hands behind your head. You''re under arrest for destroying public property," The Police Chief warned Ryder. "Hahahaha." Ryder started laughing out loud like crazy as he heard the Police Chief''s work. "So it''s you getting your revenge by trying to harm my family to get me to take the lawsuit back. Mr. Chief, I think you forgot my warning. I told you about not even looking at my family, yet you dared to scheme against my family." 238 Chapter 234: The Big Guns "Stop talking and place your hands on your head. You just killed those innocent men by crashing your car in theirs. Everything else will be talked about in the prison! Arrest him!" The Police Chief told a cop to arrest Ryder. The Cop started walking towards Ryder while other cops kept their guns on him. Ryder glanced at Alice, who was standing in the back, looking at Ryder with concern. She wanted to run to Ryder, but Ryder raised his hand to stop her. "Don''t worry. Stay there. Nothing will happen to me," Ryder told Alice as he stopped her with gentle expressions on his face. He glanced back at the Police Chief as his expressions became fierce again. " Mr. Chief, you might think that you can get me this way, but you underestimate me... a lot. It looks like we''ll have a lot of fun soon. You''re going to regret targeting my family," Ryder let out, but he didn''t release the man. "Stop right there, or I''ll crush his neck!" Ryder told the cop that was walking towards him to arrest him. The cop stopped. "You already committed a lot of crimes. Don''t commit more unless you want to be charged with homicide! Release the man!" The Police Chief said as he warned Ryder. " If any of you moved even an inch, I''ll crush his neck. I''ll release him after a few minutes. Just stay back like the good little puppy you are," Ryder said in a mocking tone. " I just want a call." Ryder used his free hand to bring his phone out of his pocket as he called a number. " Hey. I got in a little trouble again," Ryder said to someone on the call. "Huh? What happened? Tell me," The person on the other side said. " It''s a serious matter. I''m surrounded by the police. I did nothing wrong, though. Anyway, I''ll explain everything later. Come here fast. I can handle most of the things, but I need someone to protect Alice after I''m taken in," Ryder said to the person. "I''ll be right there," the person on the other side replied. "Give me the address." Ryder disconnected the call and sent the location using his phone. " It has been a few minutes! When are you freeing this man? Don''t test our patience. We can even shoot you for domestic terrorism," The Police Chief threatened Ryder. "You feel really powerful at the moment, don''t you?" Ryder inquired in a mocking tone. He was about to say something when he heard the sound of what seemed like a helicopter. "The police helicopters are here too?" Ryder wondered as he heard the sound. He looked towards the sky, but the helicopter was not a police helicopter. It seemed like a private helicopter. Ryder''s phone started ringing. Ryder kept looking at the helicopter as he picked up the call. "Yes, Shu?" he inquired. "Someone you sent? Is that person in the helicopter?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. " Yeah, he was coming to my house, and he was in the way. I told him to go to your location first since he was near. Don''t worry. I''ll give you all the help I can," Shu said. " Thanks, man. Let me treat you to a drink in the future. You''re my real brother," Ryder smiled as he responded. "Hahaha, was there any doubt about me being your brother? Anyway, let''s talk about the drink after we deal with whatever trouble you got yourself in," Shu chuckled as he replied. Ryder disconnected the call and placed the phone in his pocket as he looked at the helicopter. Although the road was big enough for the helicopter to land, it didn''t land. A rope ladder came down from the helicopter. It was long enough to cover the distance from the helicopter to the ground. The cops were also looking at the helicopter in amazement. "The Max203C... the best helicopter in existence and the most expensive... created by the Dream Corporation. Whoever is inside must be really wealthy and powerful," The Police Chief muttered as he stared at the helicopter. A person started coming down through the rope. It seemed like a man dressed in military clothes. The man landed on the ground. Another person started coming down from the helicopter and after that another. Soon, there were five men standing on the ground. Three of them were dressed in the military attire, and two were dressed in black clothes and a bulletproof vest as if they were the personal guards or mercenaries working for someone really powerful. One more person came out of the helicopter and climbed down. The man was wearing a black coat and pants. He seemed to be dressed quite professionally. The man seemed to be in his early thirties. He was wearing black sunglasses. His short red hair moved in the wind coming from the wing of the helicopter as he climbed down the stairs. "Those people... they don''t look normal. Just who is Shu to be able to call people like them to help me. I thought he was just some rich third generation kid, but he seems to be something more. I should''ve performed a background check. I saw that helicopter. It''s not something many people can afford, and he said the man flying in this is working for his family." " There is definitely something. When I formed my friendship with him, I thought he was just a normal guy, but I found out he was rich and now this. Even after all this, he still cared for me as a brother. I knew that man was a real friend even though he was somewhat childish, but he is really nice. I wonder how I can pay him back for all the help," Ryder muttered as he looked at the men. "Are you Ryder Flynn?" The man in the black Sunglasses asked Ryder. "Yeah," Ryder responded as he nodded his head. "We''re here to help you. Just wait there and let us handle it," the man said to Ryder before he shifted his focus to the Police Chief. "Look, Sir. I don''t know who you are and what you want, but we''re on duty. Don''t interfere in our work," The Police Chief told the man. " What happened here? Care to explain?" The man in black glasses asked the Police Chief for an explanation. "I don''t need to explain anything to you. I''m here to perform my duty, and I''m telling you not to interfere. You can read the report of what happened after going through the proper sources," The Police Chief replied without backing off. He maintained his stern stance even after realizing that these people were rich. The man in black sunglasses didn''t reply; instead, another person took the lead if it was a man who was dressed in a military outfit. " Looking at your dress, you must be the Police Chief of this place. I''m Major General Andre from the United States Airforce," The man said. "M-major General of the Air Force?" The Police Chief was taken aback as he heard that such a high ranking person was standing before him. He couldn''t understand why someone like him would be here. " I am Major General Dreyson from the United States Airforce." Another man in the military outfit stepped forth. "A-another one?" The Police Chief stepped back a step as he felt his heart thump. Another Major General? He looked towards the third person in the military outfit as a foreboding feeling shrouded him. " I am Major General Gaira from the United States Airforce," The third person also stepped forth as he introduced himself. ''T-three Major Generals together? What the hell is going on?!'' The Police Chief was shocked as he felt his heart beag fasten. If this matter reached the federals and the truth was exposed, then he was going to be in big trouble. He couldn''t help but wonder since when it becomes so easy to get powerful people like them together. Wasn''t this guy just a normal man that lived in a small house? How was it possible that three Air Force Major Generals came to help him? ''Three Major Generals? I was hoping Shu will be able to protect my sister in my absence, but this... How does he have so much power to call them here?'' Ryder thought in shock While the Police Chief was shocked that Ryder was able to call these people, Ryder himself was surprised that he was able to call these people. "I know it''s not our jurisdiction, but we can''t sit back and watch when injustice happens before us. We heard that you''re arresting the wrong person. Explain the situation so that we can understand the whole thing," Major General Gaira told the Police Chief in a dignified voice 239 Chapter 235: Im not leaving "Well, ah, ah, the situation is that this person crashed his sports car in another car. The second car crashed because of that, and the innocent people inside it died," the Police Chief gave an explanation after realizing the position of the people that were standing before him "When we arrived, this man was also threatening a person and trying to kill him. You can see it for yourself! He still hasn''t released the man. It''s our duty to arrest all of them and then investigate. He''s also resisting arrest and threatening to kill the person if we moved," the Police Chief continued as he kept shifting the blame to Ryder. "Alright. If that''s the truth, then you do deserve to arrest him, but I doubt that. You said that the car ahead was filled with innocent civilians that died because of this man''s reckless driving, right?" Major General Gaira inquired as he looked at the man before him. "Ah, right. That''s what happened," the police chief nodded his head as he gave an affirmation. "Good. And that should be the car is the innocent civilians that crashed. Then please explain to me why I see two guns near the car that crashed?" Major General Gaira inquired as he pointed towards the BWM. The Police Chief hadn''t noticed it before, but the Major General was more observant. Near the BWM, a few guns were lying on the ground, along with the dead bodies of the people that were inside it. "I don''t trust his story, either. I see many mistakes and irregularities in his story," Another Major General chimed in as he refused to believe the story of the police chief. He took a step forward and walked closer to the police chief. As he walked, his shoes tapped on the ground, making a clearly audible noise in this silent atmosphere that had turned serious after their arrival. Major General Dreyson stood right before the Police Chief as he looked in his eyes. "Tell me, is what you said really the truth?" Major General Dreyson inquired as he looked at the Police Chief. He knew that the Police Chief was hiding something. "Ah, Of Course, it is the truth as far as I know from the preliminary assumption. I''ll have to investigate more later on after arresting them," The Police Chief replied. He gathered his courage since he knew that the best way to handle this was to arrest Ryder at all costs since it came to this. He was determined in what he wanted to do, "Also, you can''t intimidate me with your rank. I respect the airforce, but it''s my duty to bring justice to the criminals and to keep the public safe. As you said, this is a matter that is under my jurisdiction. Please don''t interfere with it." " Oh, really? I guess you are going to stick to your statement. Now that we got your side of the story, let us hear the other side of the story as well," Major General Andre let out as he stopped looking at the police chief and turned his sharp eyes in the direction of Ryder A few people kidnapped my sister from my house for some reason. I chased after them in my car. They kept shooting at my car, and in order to stay safe, I had to take some measures. Unfortunately, my car lost control and crashed in their vehicle. Fortunately, my sister was able to jump out in time," Ryder took a glance at the Police Chief before he started explaining. "You can check my car, or whatever left of it at least and you will find the marks of the bullets that will definitely match the bullets on those guns, and you will find the fingerprints of those guys that died. I''m completely innocent, and I''m being falsely accused by the Police Department because I dared to voice against them. They''re blaming me all because I sued them for violating my sister''s rights and damaging her reputation by arresting her on false accusations. It''s funny how they arrested her wrongly and now to protect themselves from this, they''re trying to arrest me on false claims," Ryder said as he stared at the Police Chief. A frown appeared on the face of all Major Generals as they heard this explanation. " So you''re using your position for revenge? Shame on you! How dare you say you work for Justice when you do this? Let me talk to my friends. I''ll have to report you! I''ll make sure you''re not capable of doing something like this again," Major General Gaira let out as he glared at the Police Chief. " This, this, this is a misunderstanding! We aren''t doing anything for revenge. We based our assumption on what we saw, and without investigating, we can''t believe his stories. That''s why I wanted to arrest them all. I wasn''t going to place any charges on him before our investigation was completed," The Police Chief let out as he waved his hand repeatedly with a nervous look on his face. "Oh, really? So it''s not because of a vendetta against me? Let me tell you something then. The reason I''m holding this man is because I was asking him about the person that sent him to kidnap me. He did tell me the name of that person already, but I''m sure he won''t repeat it again since his savior is already here. Let me try again, though," Ryder asked as he smiled. "Why don''t you tell me again? Who was the one that sent you here?" Ryder asked again as he tightened his grip on the neck of the man. "You! Stop that! Free that man instantly! It''s our responsibility to protect the man until the investigations are completed! I''m telling you that I will shoot if you don''t stop!" The Police Chief warned Ryder as he pointed his gun at him. "Looks like the savior is even more eager to signal the man that they will save him," Ryder laughed as he shook his head. "Whatever, I don''t want you to be punished. That would be boring," Ryder smiled as he threw the man towards the Police Chief and stood tall. The Cops helped the man up and cuffed him. "Arrest him as well," The Police Chief let out as he directed his men to arrest Ryder as well. While the Police Chief was focusing on Ryder, Major General Gaira was talking to someone over the phone. Right when the Police Chief was directing his men to arrest Ryder, Major General Gaira walked closer to the Police Chief. "Since it''s not my jurisdiction here, I called someone that might have a weight here. Here, for you," He gave the Police Chief a phone. The Police Chief frowned, wondering who the person on the call was. He took the phone and looked at the caller id. '' Little Brown? Who could he be?'' The Police Chief wondered as he looked at the name on the phone. He placed the phone near his phone. "Hello?" The Police Chief said as he wondered who the person on the other side of the connection was? Just who was Little Brown that the Major General called. "You Idiot! What do you think you''re doing? You''re misusing your power to arrest an innocent man that was just saving his family instead of the criminals? Do you have any idea the people you''re messing with? The Major General would never call me if it were not a serious matter. Handle it properly otherwise be ready to be fired," the person on the other side said. "M-mayor Brown?" the Police Chief exclaimed as his face turned pale. ''W-w-what is happening here! How is it that they got the Mayor involved?!'' The police chief couldn''t help but wonder as he looked at Ryder with an impossible look on his face. " Yes, it''s me! Do the right thing now. Also, give the phone back to the Major General!" The Police Chief gave the phone back to Major General Gaira. "Stop! Don''t arrest him!" He told the officer that he was sent to arrest Ryder. "Take the bodies out of the car and wait for paramedics." Ryder smirked as he understood that he wasn''t going to be arrested today. All because of Shu. As the cops freed Alice and moved aside, she ran up to Ryder and took him in his arms as she hugged him before everyone else. "I told you, I''m going to be fine," Ryder said as he patted her back. "I''m so glad. I''m so glad that you are safe," Alice let out. Her voice seemed like it was breaking as if she was controlling herself from crying. "I''m never going anywhere. As I said before, no one can harm me. They won''t take me anywhere," Ryder replied. "The only people that are going somewhere will be the ones that messed with my family." 240 Chapter 236: Maxwell " You can leave for now. We will investigate what happened here properly first," The Police Chief said to Ryder. A look of hate was clearly visible on his face. " Sure. I would love to meet you again to help you with the investigation. I hope you stay safe to finish this investigation successfully. The criminals need to be brought to justice," Ryder replied with a subtle smirk on his face. "Hmph," the police chief snorted as he shifted his focus and started looking at the other officers. "You guys wait here and help the bodies get back. Take the stock of the damage and talk to the witnesses. I''m taking this guy to the station to interrogation him," he told his men before he walked back to his car. A few cops stayed behind to investigate here while the others went back with the police chief. The Police Cars left. Ryder walked to the Major Generals with Alice. "Thank you, Sir," Ryder thanked the Major Generals with a bright smile on his face. "You helped me a lot." "Don''t thank us, Young Man. We don''t even know you. If Director Alem hadn''t asked us to help you, we wouldn''t even be here," The Major Generals replied as he pointed towards the man dressed in black. "Director Alem?" Ryder muttered in confusion. Dream Corporation was an American aerospace, defense, arms, security, and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests. It was a giant when it came to business. It had its fingerprints in many businesses, but it was most well known for its Weapon Technology. It was the biggest contractor of weapons for the US government at the moment and even worldwide. The Major Generals were going with the man in black to Shu''s house for some business matters related to an important deal. Ryder didn''t know that the man dressed in black was called Alem Schmidt. He was the Non-Executive Director of the Dream Corporation''s Defence Technology Branch. He was counted as one of the most influential people around the world. In the Dream Corporation, his position was said to be fifth in the Hierarchy. The first in the position was the mysterious Owner of the Dream Corporation that had all the power. The Second was the Managing Director of the Dream Corporation. The Executive Directors were third and fourth. Alem Schmidt was the fifth. One thing to note was that in the top five powerhouses of the Dream Corporation, Alem was the youngest and had the most potential for future growth after the mysterious Owner of the Corporation. He was seen as the future leader that was one day going to be the Chairman of the Dream Corporation. " Thank you for the help," Ryder thanked Alem. " It''s nothing. I did it because he asked me to," Alem replied casually. He suddenly looked back and saw two cars coming in his direction. The one in the lead was a Ferrari 2047, the car behind him was a luxurious SUV. A person stepped out of the Ferrari. The man was wearing a black coat and pants. He was a little chubby and looked to be as young as Ryder. "Shu..." Ryder muttered as he saw the man. The doors of the car behind him opened as well, and a Shu''s butler stepped out of the car. "Master Shu, how can you come here without security?" Alem Schmidt inquired in an upset tone. "Calm down, Alem. You know I keep my identity hidden just for this reason. No one is going to hurt me here. I''m not too fond of the security after me always. That''s why I did so much to make sure that no one knows my face but the people I actually deal with and trust," Shu replied as he chuckled. "Brother Ryder, It seems like things are handled. Let''s go back to my house," Shu told Ryder, who had his mouth open. "Generals, It''s great to meet you again. Let''s talk at home," Shu told the Generals as he greeted them. The Major Generals nodded their heads as they went towards the wire rope to get back to the helicopter. "Sigh, I''ll never understand you. It would help if you worried about your security. Although only our trusted people know your real face, we can''t ignore the fact that you need to have security. You can''t ignore it like that. I''ll talk to you about it back home. I''m not leaving this topic today," Alem told Shu as he smiled wryly before he also went towards the helicopter. "Hahaha, He''s still like that. He''ll like that old grandpa that doesn''t stop worrying," Shu couldn''t help but laugh. "Come, brother Ryder. I think it''s finally time to tell you everything about myself," Shu told Ryder as he held Ryder''s hand and started pulling him towards his cars. " You can bring the Ferrari back home. I''ll come in the SUV since Ferrari won''t fit three people. Alright?" Shu told his butler, but he didn''t stop as he continued walking towards the car. Ryder was holding Alice''s hand with his other hand. All of them entered the Black SUV. **** A helicopter landed in the helipad of Maxwell Mansion. Alem and the Major Generals stepped out of the helicopter and went towards inside the mansion. After some time, two cars also entered the mansion. Ryder, Shu, and Alice stepped out of the car. "A mansion like this..." Ryder muttered as he looked at the Mansion. "I was thinking I''m the one keeping secrets, but you, it looks like you''re two steps ahead of me," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "So, who are you?" Ryder asked Shu. "My full name is Schumacher Maxwell. In short, Shu," Shu answered Ryder. "Maxwell... that helicopter... the Major Generals... You''re the owner of Dream Corporation?" Ryder exclaimed in surprise. "Huh?" Alice was also shocked as she heard it. The guy she thought to be Ryder''s friend was such a big person. "Hahaha, Yeah. Sorry for not telling you before. I felt like there was no need to talk about this. I didn''t want my position to change the bond between us," Shu replied as he smiled wryly. "What is your position? You spent time with me. Did you really think I''ll behave differently around rich people? Don''t worry about that; I''m catching up to you pretty soon. My company will join the ranks of big corporations pretty soon. Position and money is nothing. It''s not going to change anything between us," Ryder replied as he smiled. " I know what you''re thinking, and no! I don''t want help. I want to bring my company to the top with my own hard work. If you tried to help me behind that shadows, then that will be what gets between us. So, don''t even try," Ryder said as he saw Shu about to say something. "I expected an answer like that," Shu replied as he shook his head. "Fine. I''ll only wish your company best of luck in that case," Shu said to Ryder, shaking his head. " You can go to the guest room and take a shower and change clothes. We have a resident doctor here as well. It doesn''t seem like you have any serious injuries, but still, get checked. In the meantime, I''ll deal with the Generals," Shu told Ryder right before he entered the mansion. Ryder and Alice were escorted to a room that seemed like it was a suite of a luxurious hotel. The gowns are in the bathroom. You can wear that, in the meantime, I''ll arrange for clothes for you," The butler told Ryder before he left them in the room. " It''s so incredible. Brother Shu is so rich. I had no idea that he was one of the richest people in the country. Who could''ve guessed from the way he behaved and his clothes? He really fooled us," Alice said as she looked at Ryder. "I don''t think he faked anything. There are unorthodox people all around the world. It''s not unusual for someone so rich to be so down to earth. I''m somewhat glad that he''s like that. It''s good that power hasn''t corrupted him," Ryder replied as he sat on the couch. "You can go take a shower first. I''ll stay here," Ryder told Alice. Alice nodded her head as she started walking towards the Shower Room. **** "That bastard! He was lucky today! He not only managed to save the girl, but he escaped us as well. All because of you!" The Police Chief was in the cell with the only survivor of today''s incident. It was the man that Ryder had spared. The man was tied to a rope, and the Police Chief had a staff in his hand, which he was using to beat the crap out of the man. The man kept screaming, but no one came to save him. "You trash!" "You can''t even do a single job, right!" "Just die already!" The Police Chief was the one that sent these people to Ryder''s house, so he wasn''t actually going to investigate these people. 241 Chapter 237: Access to Necrosis All he wanted to do was kill this man to get rid of the last thing that linked him to this event. He knew that he couldn''t get Ryder now without getting himself in trouble. Since Ryder had such a high reach, there was a chance that he could get federal agents to investigate, which would''ve put him in trouble. If the Federal officials came to investigate and talked to this man, then there was a good chance that the truth would be out, which was not beneficial to him. "Stop! I promise I won''t tell anyone!" "I''ll take all the blame on me! Don''t kill me!" The man kept screaming, but all he did was get even more beating. "It''s better that you die after all. Case closed. There''s nothing else I can do now anyway without getting myself in trouble as long as you''re alive!" He kept getting beating until the man was dead. **** "Mr. Maxwell, You already know why we are here. The new technology that your Firm is developing can be game-changing for the defense industry. It''ll increase the strength of our country for sure. We are interested in purchasing that, you already know. The thing is that the Government feels that this technology shouldn''t be sold to the outsiders," General Dreyson said to Shu as he looked at him in full seriousness. "Alem, didn''t you tell them our position on the matter?" Shu glanced at Alem and asked him. " He told us what you wanted. That''s why we had to come here. We are ready to increase the number of purchases from you if you can assure us that you won''t sell this particular thing to the other countries without the government''s permission. We have sent that offer to you as well, but from what I heard, you refuse to accept that. You say that you want the permission to sell it to any country that''s not the enemy of the states," Major General Gaia chimed in. " We can''t accept that. We don''t want any country to get that, even if that country is on friendly terms with us. You need to understand our position. Friends can turn enemies at any moment, and this thing can plunge the world into chaos if our enemies have it. If you have any other demands beside it, then I''m willing to listen," Major General Andre said in a calm tone. " You know that it will be a big loss to us if we can''t sell that thing even to the friendly nations. That''s not something a purchase from you can''t make up for. As you know, over sixty percent of our business is from overseas. Even if you double everything, we''d still be at a loss," Shu folded his arms as he shook his hand. "I know, but the president is not willing to have it sold outside the country. It''s just a big headache for us. What else can we give you then, please tell us? You need to understand; we don''t want to spoil our relations. At long as it''s not overboard, we can listen to your demands in exchange for signing this deal," Major General Dreyson let out with a wry smile on his face. The generals finally breathed a sigh in relief. As long as you do what you say and agree, it does not matter; they could deal with it. All the Major Generals looked at each other and gave themselves a subtle nod of appreciation. "What conditions do you have?" Major General Andre inquired. " My conditions are simple. Since you want more than I suggested, I want more than I suggested as well. First, the United States government will double its business with us. The timing we need to get the permits should be decreased. We want our Dream Corporation to get a license to test our weapons in government facilities as well. And lastly, I want some information about the Necrosis Corporation," Shu told all his demands at once. "Please give us a minute," The Major Generals stood up and walked to the other side. They started discussing amongst themselves. After some time, they came back and sat on the sofa. "The first one is a little tough, but I believe it can be done. The President should be fine with it as long as it stops the weapons from going in other countries'' hands," General Dreyson said to Shu as he nodded his head. " That''s a good start. What about my other conditions?" Shu asked General Dreyson. "The second condition is also understandable. We can fasten the process as long as you can maintain the safety standards. The third condition is also a little tough, but we can do that as well and get you the access to our facilities for your testing," General Dreyson said to Shu as he nodded his head. "That''s good. What about the last condition?" Shu asked General Dreyson as he frowned. He could see some hesitation in the general''s face, and he knew that it wasn''t going to be easy to get him to agree from his looks. "The last condition is impossible to accept. That''s the truth, and no matter what we do, we can''t change that. I apologize. Even if you decide to sell the weapons to foreigners after fighting a legal battle with the government, you won''t get the last condition. The matters related to the Necrosis Corporation are highly classified. We need not only the permission of the ruling party but of the opposition party as well to declassify them," Generals Dreyson said. "As for telling you that information without declassifying those documents, it''ll be considered treason. I apologize for this. It''s impossible. Please tell us if you have any other condition," General Gaira said as he shook his head. ''Interesting. I was only testing them since I had heard some rumors going around in the upper echelon, but from their extreme reactions, it looks like there might just be some truth in the rumors,'' Shu thought as he frowned. "Alright. My last condition is that I want the access to Government satellites to use in my tech that you want to buy. We''re using our personal satellites, but with the help of yours, we can increase the efficiency and accuracy. I want the access completely free," Shu told the Major Generals. The Major Generals looked at each other and nodded their heads. "We can get that done. We''ll have final talks with the higher-ups and get you the documents to sign. I believe this is a done deal, though," Major General Andre let out as he stood up. He shook hands with Shu before he started leaving. The other Major Generals did the same. They knew that Alem wanted to talk to Shu about something, so they told him that they''d be waiting outside for him. " Are you going to talk about security again?" Shu asked Alem. "Yes! You can''t take your security so lightly. Not only the government but a lot of people might try to kill you one day for one reason or another. Even in our own company, there can be many people that can plan to get you killed. Don''t play with your safety," Alem told Shu in a stern tone. "Hahaha, Alem, you need to learn to chill, man. You already know that the ones in our company won''t try to kill me since they won''t gain anything from that. You know the reason for that. You should also know that the government won''t try to take the risk either. As for the assassin, people can hire to kill me; I have already taken my precautions for that. You don''t have to write about that," Shu said as he shook his head. "What precautions?" Alem asked Shu. Shu looked at Alem and simply smiled, but he didn''t answer. " You always reply with that. I''m sure you don''t have anyone. Anyway, put more focus on your security. I''m leaving for now," Alem said as he sighed. He started walking back. Alem left the mansion and entered the helicopter with the Major Generals. The helicopter started flying and soon left. **** Ryder was still sitting on the couch when he saw Alice come out of the shower. Her hair was dripping wet while she was drying them with the towel. The white robe was sticking close to her cold body. Ryder looked at her face and smiled. "W-what?" Alice asked with a red face as she saw Ryder looking at her face. "Nothing, you just look stunning," Ryder complimented her, which made her red face even redder. "Y-you can go take a shower as well," She told Ryder as she started looking elsewhere. "Right," Ryder stood up as he took his shirt off and started walking towards the shower room. Alice couldn''t help but glance at Ryder subtly. 242 Chapter 238: Not over Her " Oh right, The guy came with the clothes. I kept them in the room. You can get dressed," Ryder reminded Alice before he stepped inside the bathroom. He took off the rest of his clothes and turned on the shower. Alice went to get dressed. The butler had brought a couple of dresses for Alice, all of the different sizes so that she could find the perfect fit for her. He did the same thing for Ryder. All those clothes were kept in the bedroom. Alice went through the clothes and found a skirt that was long enough to cover her feet entirely. Alice got dressed and came back to the hall. She sat on the sofa as she started waiting for Ryder to come out. After a few minutes, Ryder came out of the shower. The towel was wrapped around his waist, leaving her upper body care for Alice to see. Another towel was on his head, which he was using to dry his wet hair. "What happened? Do I look good too?" Ryder asked Alice after noticing her looking at him. He couldn''t help but chuckle. " Since when did you get those abs?" Alice inquired as she looked at Ryder. " Hah, Of Course, I worked hard for them. I have been getting some exercise daily, I guess," Ryder replied as he smiled. He couldn''t help but realize that it was because of everything he had been doing, like jumping through the fences or running. His real-life had become even more of an adventure then Divinity. His body wasn''t bulky at all. He had more of an athletic build, but his body was pretty fit. " That''s nice. You weren''t interested in those things before, though. Are you doing this to impress girls?" Alice asked as she rolled her eyes. " Why? Are you jealous?" Ryder asked teasingly. "Hmph, why would I be jealous. Go, find all the girls you need," Alice let out in an annoyed tone. "All the girls? So you wouldn''t mind if I get all the girls?" Ryder couldn''t help but laugh at her response. "Why should I mind. It''s your life," Alice said as she looked down. "Go ahead, get the girls, and leave me behind." Ryder saw her childlike expressions as he started walking closer to her and stood before her. He placed his hand on her head and started messing with her hair. Alice raised her head and looked in his eyes. " You idiot, There''s no way I can leave you behind. Don''t worry. The only girl I would ever think about impressing is sitting right before me," Ryder let out as he smiled innocently. "Now let me get dressed and don''t have these stupid thoughts about me leaving," Ryder let out as he started walking towards the bedroom to get dressed, leaving the dazed Alice behind. Ryder went into the room and got dressed before coming out. As soon as he came out, he heard a knock on the door. Ryder went to the door and opened it only to find Shu standing there. "Yeah, they were here to get a deal done. We got the deal," Shu replied as he shook his head. "Anyway, I met the doctor. She said that you two are perfectly fine. That''s good to know," he added. " I told you I was fine. The blood on my clothes wasn''t mine," Ryder replied. " Anyway, Why are you standing outside? It''s your home, after all. Come inside and talk," Ryder said as he smiled wryly. He and Shu got inside the room. "Brother Shu, Thank you for the help," Alice thanked Shu for helping her brother. "Little girl, you''re the little sister of Brother Ryder. In that way, you''re my sister as well. A sister isn''t supposed to thank a brother just like he isn''t supposed to thank me," Shu chuckled as he waved his hand. Ryder didn''t reply and simply smiled at Shu''s response. He was somewhat surprised that people as decent as Shu existed in the world. " Anyway, do you plan to go back home? If the kidnappers can break into your home, then it''s not much safe," Shu asked Ryder. "I understand that. I will be getting a new house. I''ll also be hiring some security for Alice. They can''t do anything to me, so I don''t have to worry, but I don''t want her to get injured because of me," Ryder let out as he shook his head. " How about you stay here instead? This place can be considered one of the safest places in the city. She can also use my security when she''s outside. No one will think about harming her," Shy suggested as he looked at Ryder. " Sigh, It is a good offer, and I do want to thank you, but as you said, brothers don''t thank each other. Just know, when you need me, I will never hesitate," Ryder let out as he placed his hand on Shu''s shoulders. "You already helped me so much by being my brother. Just focus on your work and don''t think about anything else. I''ll be leaving now. You guys can have rest," Shu said as he got ready to leave, but Ryder''s phone started ringing. Ryder picked up the phone. "Yeah, Bastion. What''s up?" Ryder said. " Today is the reunion of our book club. Are you coming or not?" Bastion asked Ryder. " I told you that I''m not coming to the Reunion. You know the reason. As long as that person is there, I don''t even think about coming. Forget it. There''s not even a need for a reunion in this day and age where we can talk to anyone around the world," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Sigh, Comeon Man, That guy promised me that she''s not coming. Be a good brother and come. I promise she won''t be here. Listen to me, alright," Bastion said to Ryder in an effort to convince him. " You sure that person won''t be there? I was told that person wasn''t in the city at all when I found that person in the city. I''m telling you that it wouldn''t be good if I came here, and that person came as well," Ryder let out in a serious tone. "I got the promise from that guy. He said that he didn''t even send the invitation. There is no way someone will come without an invitation. You can rest assured," Bastion comforted Ryder. "Fine. I''ll come," Ryder sighed as he agreed. "Just hold on for a minute," Ryder said as he suddenly thought of something. "Are you free today?" Ryder asked Shu. "Me? Yeah, I don''t have anything to do," Shu replied as he shook his head. "That''s good then. You''re coming with me to my Reunion," Ryder told Shu before he disconnected the call. " Yeah, sorry for that. I''m back. So, I''m coming. I''m bringing Shu as well," Ryder said to Bastion as he placed the phone near his ear. " Shu? Oh right. That guy I met at your house. It''s fine. Bring him as well. I think I already told him to come with you last time," Bastion replied as he agreed. "Alright." Ryder disconnected the call. "Were you talking about that book club reunion from that time?" Shu asked Ryder. "Yeah, That was Bastion over the phone. It''s the afternoon, so you can relax until then," Ryder told Shu. "Oh, right. My Whirlwind is destroyed, so you''ll need to take your car," Ryder told Shu as he smiled wryly. "That''s fine. I have lots of cars. If you want to take a separate car from me, you can do that as well, or we can both go in my Ferrari 2047," Shu suggested. " Yeah, Let''s go in one. It''s not like we''re going to show off. One car is fine," Ryder chuckled. "Cool. You can rest now. I''ll be downstairs. Tell me when you''re ready to leave," Shu said before he left the room. Shu left, but Ryder noticed that Alice was staring at him. " Don''t look at me like that. You''ll fall in love," Ryder let out teasingly as he placed he smiled. "The person you were talking about that you don''t want to be in the book club reunion... is it that girl?" Alice ignored his words and asked him a question. Ryder was surprised at her question. Did she know that girl and what happened? How did she know? He couldn''t help but wonder. " Which girl are you talking about?" Ryder asked Alice. "The girl who used to be your best friend," Alice replied. "The girl who left you broken..." "There''s no need to talk about that. The past is the past. Still, who told you about this?" Ryder inquired in full seriousness. "It doesn''t matter who told me this," Alice let out as she shook her head. "Are you still not over her?" She asked Ryder. " What I''m not over her? She doesn''t even exist for me. I''m in a different world, and she''s in a different world," Ryder replied. 243 Chapter 239: Classified Necrosis "She''s nonexistent for me. I''ll be concerned about an ant more than I''ll be about her. You know I stay away from spiders, right? Just think of her as that," Ryder replied as he sat on the sofa and closed his eyes. "Did someone from class tell you?" Ryder asked without opening his eyes. "Yes," Alice muttered as she sat beside Ryder. Her shoulder made contact with his shoulder. " Can you tell me their name?" Ryder inquired again. "No. I don''t want you to fight a friend as well. They were just concerned about you just like I was when you were like that after that incident. I asked them, no, I demanded that they tell me what happened. That''s how I got the answer," Alice said in a concerned tone. " As I said, you don''t have to be concerned about me. I''m perfectly fine here," Ryder said with a smile on his face. " I just... If you want to talk about it, just know that I''m here for you, always and forever," Alice muttered as she rested her hand on his shoulder. Ryder placed his hands on her cheeks and rubbed them gently. "Me too. Always and forever," Ryder let out softly. **** "You must be tired. So much happened today. Go and sleep," Ryder patted Alice''s head as he told her to go sleep. "You too," Alice told Ryder as she sat straight. Both of them got off the sofa and went to the room as they smiled. Ryder entered the second bedroom in the big guest room. He laid on the bed and wore the Divinity Glasses. He remembered how he had to leave suddenly. He wanted to make sure that nothing unexpected happened in the Divinity after that. "Take Me to Divinity," Ryder muttered. He opened his eyes and found himself standing in the Great Hall in Devilia''s Palace. Ryder looked around and saw a few people standing there. "You all are still here? Why didn''t you all go to sleep?" Ryder asked in confusion. "You''re fine! We were so concerned. How could we sleep!" Duke Devilia exclaimed as she heard Ryder''s question. "Are you fine?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder. "Of Course I am fine. Rale knows where I went. Nothing can happen to me in that place," Ryder chuckled as he nodded. " He did tell us that, but everyone was still concerned. Anyway, it''s good that you''re safe. What had happened, though?" She asked Ryder. "Nothing. As I said, I forgot to do something important that was related to the maintenance of my treasure. It needs that every two weeks. I remembered suddenly that I was late and had to do it in a hurry. Now that you all know that I''m perfectly fine, you can go to sleep. I''m going to sleep as well," Ryder said as he smiled. "I''ll escort you all to your rooms," Devilia told everyone as she gestured to them to follow her. Devilia showed everyone the rooms they were to stay before she left. She showed everyone''s room except Rale. " Ah, Isn''t he going to follow the Royal Guardian rules? Whenever the King is outside the Palace, the Royal Guard commander personally guards their quarters along with other Guards," Devilia let out as she looked at Ryder in confusion. " That''s right. I''ll be staying in your room to keep you safe," Rale nodded his head. "So, you won''t sleep?" Ryder asked Rale. "No," Rale said as he shook his head. " There''s no need to do that. You can sleep in peace. I''ll be sleeping in my special realm instead. You won''t need to protect me there. Sleep well. I''ll see you guys in the morning," Ryder let out as he smiled. He just came back to calm them down, and now that he was sure he could leave. He didn''t need to stay here, and it would be useless to hide that he was going to leave if Rale was going inside with him anyway. It was better to leave now so that Rale could officially sleep and so that no one even tried to target the room. "But..." Rale wanted to say something, but he was stopped by Ryder, who gestured to him to stay silent. "Don''t worry about anything. It''s not that I don''t trust my safety with you protecting me. It''s just that I don''t want to waste your effort when I''m not even lying here," Ryder replied as he shook his head. He opened the system screen. " Goodnight, everyone. I''ll meet you in the morning," Ryder said smilingly as he tapped on the logout. Ryder logged out of Divinity and woke up on his bed. He took off the Divinity Glasses and placed them in his storage. He got off the bed and left the room. He believed that Alice was already sleeping, so he decided to check once. He opened the door of her room gently and looked inside. Alice was lying on the bed. Her eyes were closed as she slept peacefully. Ryder smiled as he left the room and closed the door. He went downstairs and found Shu sitting on the couch. Shu was reading something on his Tablet. There was a deep frown on his face. "Is something the matter?" Ryder asked Shu as he stood near him. "Oh, you''re here. It''s nothing," Shu smiled as he closed the screen. "Is something troubling you? You can tell me," Ryder told Shu as he placed his hand on Shu''s shoulders. "Nah, I was just a little too involved in the stock market. The Necrosis Corporation is doing pretty good," Shu muttered as he smiled. "Of Course. It would be strange if they weren''t performing well. It''s not for no reason that they became the... Ah, I mean, they developed a great tech that changed the world of gaming. Of Course, they will become big, and they will probably keep getting bigger," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Yeah, the tech is indeed extraordinary. To some, it may even feel like out of the world," Shu chuckled as he shook his head. "Let''s leave," Shu said as he chuckled. Ryder and Shu left the palace and reached the car. " Want to drive?" Shu asked Ryder. "Hahaha, are you sure? Just this morning, I crashed my car. You shouldn''t trust me with driving," Ryder laughed out loud, but he still walked towards the driver''s seat. Shu threw the keys towards Ryder. Ryder caught the keys and unlocked the car. He sat on the driver seat while Shu sat on the passenger seat. Ryder started the car and moved it in reverse as he got it out of the Mansion Entrance before he pressed on the race and started driving it towards the direction where the Reunion was going to take place. "What do you think about Divinity?" Shu asked Ryder suddenly. Ryder kept his focus on the road as he answered. " Our Divinity? It''s quite incredible, but I think it''s not entirely safe. If you listen to me, I''ll advise you to stay away from it," Ryder replied casually. "You think so too, huh," Shu responded as he nodded his head. " I feel like you know something about it. Tell me what it is," Ryder inquired as he frowned. " I''m not sure, but... Forget it. It''s better that I find out everything before I spread this theory," Shu muttered as he shook his head. "No, tell me. I know a few things, as well. I might be able to help you get an answer," Ryder glanced towards Shu for a brief second before he placed his focus back on the road. "The involvement of the Government in a game is giving me a bad feeling. These guys never involve themselves this deeply in a project. Even though it''s a groundbreaking tech, but for them to invest this much and to secure the information so securely, there''s definitely something messy going around in the back," Shu let out as he frowned. " Of Course, they''ll keep the information secure. Don''t they keep all high profile government investments secret? This tech has the potential to be a really big thing in the future. It can be used in many places in the future. They would want to keep it secure and away from the hands of other countries," Ryder let out casually. He didn''t find it too strange. "They keep the information secure and classified, but normally the President has the authority to declassify the information if they want. This is different. From what I heard, even the President can''t declassify the information. They need the permission of the president, the Majority members of the ruling party, and the Majority Members of the opposition party to declassify it. All three of them are the key of a single lock. This is what makes it even more strange," Shu explained as he sighed. Even Ryder started frowning at this information. This was indeed not normal level classification. 244 Chapter 240: $20 Million Card "I don''t know everything about the politics, but that is indeed not normal. Normally, the President should have the control. Something seems strange," Ryder muttered as he frowned. '' From what I know of my past memories, Nothing bad has happened in the three years related to Necrosis. They did become an organization that was in the top five in the entire world in just three years, though. They increased this Fully Immersive VR craze.'' Ryder fell into a deep thought as he wondered about the incident. " They involved real-life money in Divinity. Players became millionaires just by playing and the brand deals. The live broadcast industry also bloomed from this growth. Although it was surprising how they became so big and so fast, I didn''t find anything strange enough to warrant this crazy protection.'' '' Is it that I didn''t know what was happening in the background in the past, or is it because of some change in the future because of me coming back in time? The Uprising also wasn''t a big problem in the last timeline. At Least I didn''t know about them or any other high-level terrorist group. Could it be that I have changed the future?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "Are you sure about this information?" Ryder inquired as he glanced at Shu. " Yeah. The Major Generals told me about this. I don''t think they were lying. I''m somewhat good at catching lies. I would have known if they were lying," Shu replied as he sighed. "Anyway, let''s not talk about this serious topic. It''s your reunion today¡ªtime for celebration and party. We don''t need to concern ourselves with Necrosis," Shh chuckled as he shook his head. "No, it''s fine. There''s no harm in discussing a little bit. Anyway, I do have a question. If you know that Necrosis has something big going on in the shadows, why do you still keep using Divinity? Don''t you think there might be danger in you using it?" Ryder asked Shu as he turned the steering wheel sideways to take the left turn. " Divinity is safe. I had my staff check the Divinity Glasses just to be sure. I also talked with the scientists that certified it. This thing has literally no danger to life. Now I did feel that there was a possibility that they were trying to steal memories of people to use them for their financial gains. Still, I am certain that it''s not it after I did some more digging," Shu started explaining as he looked towards Ryder, who was listening while keeping his eyes on the road. "Divinity is not stealing memories of the users, and it is not stealing any data. It''s also not harmful to life at all. It''s pretty amazing they managed to create a tech like this. Still, I do think something shady is going on. It''s not related to the players or the Divinity Glasses, but they do have something that the government is interested in," Shu said as he sighed. Ryder knew that there was also a possibility that someone had killed him in real life while he was in Divinity, but the chances of that happening were really low. He was not someone extremely rich. He wasn''t well known either in his real life. Ryder also lived a relatively peaceful life and didn''t have any enemies as far as he knew. He might have had a few arguments and some fights but nothing big enough to warrant someone''s decision to murder him. He fully believed that he had died because of Divinity since the chances of him dying in real life were almost negligible. "Why are you so interested in Necrosis? Even after finding out that it''s relatively safe?" Ryder asked Shu. He was quite curious why Shu was trying to find this much information about Necrosis? If it was about the Government sealing information, how would he know that if he wasn''t trying to get the information out in the first place? It was clear that Shu was pretty interested in Necrosis. " You can just call it a hunch or a wild goose chase. It could even be the fact that I''m interested in Necrosis as a future competitor. There can be many reasons when it comes to that, and all of them play a role in my curiosity," Shu explained as he sighed. " Interesting. Tell me if you find something about it," Ryder let out as he nodded his head. Shu was about to reply when his stomach started growling. "I''ll keep you updated. Anyway, where is the reunion? How long before we get there? I haven''t eaten, and I''m getting Hungry," Shu let out without feeling the least bit embarrassed. "Why didn''t you eat at home? See, even your stomach is angry at you. You should not keep yourself hungry," Ryder couldn''t help but laugh as he replied. "I didn''t want to be rude. The reunions have celebrations and all you can eat parties, I heard. I didn''t want to be rude by going there and not eating," Shu answered Ryder. "You heard? Have you never gone to the reunions?" Ryder asked out of curiosity. "I didn''t. I didn''t attend any reunion. It was the time my family had died. I was busy focusing on the company. Those guys decided to throw another reunion just for me, and they kept bugging me. Things happened, and now I''m not close to any of them," Shu explained. "So, I''ve never been to a reunion." "Don''t worry. Treat this as your reunion as well. Also, there will be food there," Ryder said. " Also, we''re nearby. We''ll be there in a few seconds." After around Twenty seconds, Ryder stopped his car before a small building. It seemed more like a shop that had two floors only. There was a Karaoke Restaurant sign on the top. Ryder parked the Ferrari and stepped out of his car. Shu also stepped out. Shu and Ryder were both in casual clothing. Even though Shu''s clothes were very expensive, they seemed cheap since they didn''t have any branding on them. The clothes that Ryder was wearing were also similar to Shu. Ryder was wearing a yellow T-shirt and black jeans. Shu, on the other hand, was wearing a black pants and a round neck t-shirt. "Let''s go inside. I wonder how they have planned it. This seems to be a Karaoke party at the first glance. It can be fun if it''s that," Shu let out excitedly. " Do you like karaoke?" Ryder asked as he walked towards the building. "I do. It''s pretty fun. I gave a karaoke system at the mansion. We should try that sometime," Shu responded. "It''ll be fun with us there." " Sure, in the future," Ryder said as he nodded his head. He pushed the door open and entered. Ryder and Shu entered the building and called Bastion. "We''re here. We''re standing near the reception. Where are you guys?" Ryder inquired. "We''re on the second floor¡ªroom number 13. Just wait there. I''ll be right there," Bastion replied as he disconnected the call. " Where are they?" Shu asked Ryder. "They''re on the second floor¡ªroom number 13. Now we can go there ourselves, but Bastion said that he''s coming down. Let''s wait for a little," Ryder replied. Shu nodded his head and opened his phone. " This is interesting," Shu muttered suddenly. Ryder heard that as he glanced at Shu. "What happened?" He asked. " Do you know about Pikomon? Shu asked Ryder. " Yeah, It is a big franchise that makes animated shows for kids. What about them?" Ryder asked Shu in confusion. " I just heard a news about them. More specifically, about Pikomon cards. An original Pikomon Card they made nearly half a decade ago just sold for over twenty million dollars." Shu let out as he chuckled. "A playing card? 20 million?" Ryder asked with a frown on his face, not believing it even a little. "Yeah. It''s a collector''s item, you can say. Still, Twenty million is not much. I want it for myself! If I had known about the auction, I would''ve bought it," Shu let out as he sighed. "Twenty million is not much?" Ryder muttered, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at the Prodigal Shu. "Yeah, this card would have been a good collection. It''s the rarest of them all," Shu muttered. "You know that I don''t understand your language now. Stop talking about cards. Save that money for something else," Ryder let out as he shook his head. " What are you guys talking about?" While Ryder and Shu were talking about Pikomon, a man placed their hand on their shoulders as he asked. "Nothing, We were just talking about some cards. Let''s go," Ryder replied as he looked at Bastion. "You sure that the girl isn''t here, right?" Ryder asked just to be sure. 245 Chapter 241: The Strange Mission "I''m sure. She''s not here, and she won''t be. She hasn''t been invited," Bastion comforted Ryder as he pulled him and Shu towards the lift. All three of them got inside the lift, which took them to the second floor. They reached room number 13. Bastion opened the door and entered inside. The room was pretty large. It was a private room that was big enough for fifty people to stay inside comfortably. There were couches for people to sit and a table in front of them. A big OLED tv was fitted on the wall. There were speakers on all four sides of the room. "Ryder, you''re here. Man, I''m sorry for what happened." Dan exclaimed as he saw Ryder. He was the Club President of the Book Club. He was also the person that had the job of inviting people for the reunion. He had gone with Bastion to Ryder''s house. Dan walked closer to Ryder and hugged him. " I seriously didn''t know about her returning to the city, but I promise she won''t be here. I haven''t sent her the invitation. You can rest assured and have fun today," Dan told Ryder in a low voice so the others wouldn''t hear. "Hey, Ryder! Long time no see. What have you been up to, man?" " Can''t you see? He has been working out. He looks more fit now." "Hahaha, Yeah. Ryder used to be less interested in his body and more interested in his laptop and in books. It''s good to see that he has started putting the focus on his body." "Come, sit, man. The food and snacks are already ordered. They''ll be here soon. First, the celebration and then the party." All the guys and the girls present in the room had a friendly relation to Ryder. They were all happy that Ryder was here. Ryder couldn''t help but smile as he saw the warm welcome. It had been so long since he met these people. Most of them had moved out of the city after graduating. They probably came the long way for the Reunion. "Thanks, guys. You all are looking great as well. Anyway, this is my brother, Shu. He''ll be joining us today. I hope you will welcome him," Ryder greeted them back before he introduced Shu. "Ah, right. Bastion and Dan told us that you''d be bringing a friend. He must be a great friend for you to call him brother," One of the guys let out as he chuckled "Hello, Little brother Shu." "Hello." "Good to meet you." "How are you?" One after another, everyone started greeting Shu. "Hello Everyone, It''s nice to meet you all," Shy replied with a smile on his face. "Let''s sit," Ryder told Shu and the others before he found an empty couch to sit on. Shu, Bastion, and Dan sat beside him. " Man, Shu looks great. I want to have a healthy body like him. My wife keeps scolding me for being too thin. Brother Shu, please help me gain some weight." One of the men suddenly said to Shu. "You idiot, Do you think he has opened a gym for you? Just eat and be happy. Don''t worry about life and enjoy." another man replied before Shu could. "If that was working, do you think I would ask him? I want to know about the secret of weight gain. The techniques of gym owners and the others were useless. This body of mine refuses to gain fat," The man replied as he sighed. "That happens. My doctors told me about that. There are some people that have a different metabolism. No matter how much they eat, they don''t get fat. Anyway, I would just tell you to keep eating what you actually like. Stop worrying about weight. You look perfectly fine just the way you are. You don''t need to change yourself," Shu answered the man as he sighed. "Yeah, Isn''t this just your wife wanting a chubby hubby now? She must''ve seen some chubby actor or something that became her favorite. Don''t mind the weight," Dan also chimed in as he laughed. The others also started laughing. After some time, there was a knock on the door. "Looks like the food is here. Come on in!" Dan called out. The door was open, and the waiters brought the food and the wine bottles along with the cutlery. After setting up everything, they left. " Man, this brings back memories. Do you remember how we all used to eat after our club meeting? Those were some fun days," One of the men let out as he saw the food. " Yeah, those were some fun times," Dan chimed in. " I agree. The club was the best thing about the college life. Reading books after and spending time together," Bastion said as he reminisced about the past. " I would believe those words coming out of anyone''s mouth except you. Do you really think we don''t know that you joined the club to hook up with girls," One of the girls present in the room laughed as she looked at Bastion teasingly. "Well, you can say hooking up was an advantage of being in such a prestigious Club filled with beautiful ladies. You can''t say I didn''t like books just because I liked women," Bastion chuckled as he looked back at the girl. "Also, you girls were just so pretty. You can''t blame me for falling for you girls," he added. "Hahaha, here comes our flirting king, Bastion. Man, you were the exact opposite of Ryder. I still wonder how you two were best friends. You spent your college life with multiple women, and Ryder spent it after..." Another girl started saying something, but she stopped herself as she remembered that she made a mistake. She had forgotten about Ryder''s bad past related to that girl. She couldn''t help but regret her words. She also saw a lot of the people in the room glaring at her. Ryder, on the other hand, didn''t look phased at all. "It''s fine. You can continue. I spent my college life chasing after a single girl only to then..." Ryder started replying. The only way to put this thing behind was to address it once and for all, but before he could continue, he stopped as he heard Janus'' words. \u003cDing: A mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Make the next girl that enter the room cry without using any item from the system\u003e \u003cReward: A mystery box\u003e \u003c Punishment for Failure: Depression for 24 hours\u003e \u003cTime Limit: Today\u003e '' What the heck? Make the next girl who enters the room cry? Who is he talking about? The room service didn''t have any girls. Also, all the girls from the book club are already here except..." Ryder thought till here and stood up shocked as he came to an assumption. "What happened?" Bastion asked Ryder as he also stood up. There was suddenly a knock on the door. " Ah, it should be Maximul. He said he was going to be late. Come on inside, Max," Dan said as he looked at the door. The door was open, and a man entered inside the room. Ryder somewhat relaxed as he saw that it was a man and not the person he was thinking. "Hey, guys, Sorry for being late but guess who I found on the way?" Max let out as he laughed. He looked back and said to someone, "Come on inside." Ryder saw another person entering the room, and it was the same person that he didn''t want to see at all. It was a girl who was wearing a beautiful red dress. The girl had beautiful eyes. Ryder simply stood there with a blank look on his face. He looked to his side at Dan with a look that could kill. Dan started sweating as he saw the girl. He didn''t understand how the girl was here. He didn''t even invite her here. "I can''t believe you guys forgot to invite her. I was coming here and saw her going in the opposite direction. Imagine my surprise after knowing that she wasn''t invited. I knew you guys would make some blunder. Forgetting a member. Hah, I guess I should''ve expected that. Last time also, you forgot to invite a few people," Max laughed as he rubbed his head. Dan wanted to kill Max for making such a big blunder. That Idiot didn''t understand that it was intentional that they didn''t invite her. Now, they couldn''t do anything. They just couldn''t tell her to leave outright. They had to be civil. Dan knew that he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. "Ah, I can''t believe I forgot to send her an invitation. I swear I remembered her. There must have been some mixup," Dan replied as he started sweating. _____________________________________________________ {{ Announcement:IMPORTANT: Trick Or Treat Giveaway. (Halloween 2020) As Discord is released a new fun bot for Halloween, we''ll be using that for this giveaway. To take part, all you need to do is join the Discord Server. The winner of this will receive a Nitro as a gift and a Character named after them in this Novel. 246 Chapter 242: Works "I should''ve checked with her to see if she got it. I''m such an Idiot," Dan facepalm himself as he pretended to be upset at the blunder. "Sorry, Imane." Even Bastion was shocked at the development. He placed his hand on Ryder''s back and gently patted him. "You want to leave?" he whispered in Ryder''s ears. '' I want to, but if I do, I''ll be thought of as a scared kid. Also, I need to finish Janus'' new task as well. Making Imane cry without using any items,'' Ryder thought as he frowned while looking at Imane. He wanted to leave this place and not even see her face, but he had reasons to stay, which made it tough for him to leave. Not coming here was a different matter but leaving after arriving is an entirely different field of play, which would only make it seem like he was still petty about what happened in the past. Everyone present in the room was stunned since they hadn''t expected Imane was coming here, but all of them started greeting her politely after she was here. The girls were more friendly with her than the guys, though. "Come sit; the food has just arrived. Let''s begin our reunion celebration," Dan told Imane as he gestured for her to sit near the girls. Imane walked to the girls and sat on the couch near them. Ryder and the others also sat down. Dan looked at Ryder with an apologetic look on his face. Ryder didn''t reach and just took a sip of his drink. While they were all eating, they also started talking. The first question was, how was everyone but the second question was more inquisitive. " May I ask what everyone is doing nowadays related to work? I heard that some of you hit really big," One of the girls chuckled as she asked everyone. "Let''s start from the left. Imane, you go first," She asked. "Work? I don''t work. I stay with my boyfriend, who works in Necrosis Corporation," Imane replied as she nodded her head. ''That guy works at Necrosis? It has been pretty tough finding Necrosis Scientists. Is he a Necrosis Scientist or a normal worker in marketing or something?'' Shu wondered as he looked at Imane. Ryder, on the other hand, was still thinking about how he could make the girl cry. Did he really have to act petty in front of all his friends? he wondered. "Oh, so you''re living a queen love. That''s incredible. The guy must be pretty rich if he works at Necrosis," one of the guys exclaimed. He knew a little bit about Necrosis and knew that it was a company that was hitting it big in the market. "Alright. Your turn," The girls asked another girl. "I work at Marketing in Koko construction. I''m not the head honcho in the marketing department, but I''m quite good," the next girl answered. After her, the next girl in line started speaking about her work. One after another, the girls kept replying until soon, it was the turn of the guys to answer. "I work in the sales department at BWM motors. It''s a pretty high paying job. I also get to meet a few rich people when they come to buy cars," The first guy replied as he chuckled. "Does those rich people include girls too? That''s a really good place to find a wife and enjoy life with her," One of the girls laughed as he teased the man. "Meh, It''s not as easy as it sounds. The Rich ladies that come to our showrooms come with their boyfriends. The ones that come single don''t show any interest at all," The man replied as he sighed. "Don''t worry, man. Keep trying. One day, you''ll find your woman," A guy comforted her. "Hahaha, yeah. I won''t give up. I''ll definitely find my sugar mamma," the man laughed out loud as he replied. "Man, I doubt that. You''ve been saying that since college days. Just give up and find a decent wife. It''s not easy to get a sugar mama with that face. Bastion, Ryder, Dan, and Arkun have the greatest chance of finding a rich lady with their faces. You, on the other hand, will have a tough time," One of the girls started teasing the man. "Meh, You''re just jealous that I didn''t chase after you when I was in college. Just say if you want me. I might be willing to give up on my dream to date a rich woman and start dating you. It''s worth a shot if you''re willing," The man replied as he winked at the girl. "Hah, was that supposed to be a joke? I''m sorry I forgot to laugh," The girl replied as she rolled her eyes. "You guys aren''t going to learn. You keep bantering like this since the college days. Why don''t you guys just date? It''s clear that you''re both close like that," Dan smiled as he tried to play a wingman to get some laughs and to lighten Ryder''s mood. "Since when did you start playing cupid?" The girl inquired as she looked at Dan. "It''s not most me that thinks that. What do you say, Ryder? Aren''t I right?" Dan asked Ryder. Ryder looked at the man and the woman, nodding his head. "They do look good together. Let''s not force anything, though. It''s not good when the girl or the guy doesn''t genuinely like each other, though. Just let them decide. It''s better never to be together than to go with someone you''re going to leave in less than a week without even telling," Ryder replied as he closed his eyes. Everyone understood the direction he was pointing in. They knew the person at was specifically subtly directed at, but no one said anything. The atmosphere suddenly turned silent. Imane lowered her head but didn''t say anything. She pretended not to understand his words. Looking at this suddenly awkward atmosphere, the guy who was answering changed the topic. "Don''t worry. I''ll get my sugar mommy sooner or later. Let''s get to the next person. Reili, it''s your turn," the man told his friend. "Me? I''m not going anything big. I''m a writer. I got seven books published already, and four of them are already the best sellers," Reili replied as he casually talked about his work. "Seven books? I''m an avid reader. I''ve read all the best sellers, but I don''t think I''ve heard your name. Did you really write a book?" One of the girls asked Reili. "That''s because I don''t use my real name. I use my Alias to publish to keep my privacy," Reili replied with a calm smile on his face. "What''s your Alias? Tell me," The girl asked with an interested look on her face. Most of the people here weren''t interested in reading books, so they didn''t take much interest, but there were a few that were really interested in it and wondered if they actually read Reili''s book without knowing. "I''ll tell you if you promise that you all won''t tell anyone," the man told her with a concerned look on her face. "I promise. I won''t tell anyone," The York replied. The other girls also promised. "It''s not that big a deal to brag anywhere. You''re just an author who sold well. Who would even care about telling anyone. Don''t worry. We won''t tell anyone. Whatever happens here tonight will stay here," Bastion replied as he smiled. Even though most of the guys here were members of book club that loved to read books in their younger days, they had grown out of it a few years after graduating. Only a few of them were still crazy about books and followed the trend about them. "You read My Triple Soulmate?" Reili asked the people present in the room. "My Triple Soulmate? The current bestseller? Written by the great Drei? Are you Author Drei? It can''t be!" the girl was instantly shocked as she heard the name of the book. "He can''t be Drei! Drei must be an old writer! How can someone as young as him be that good? No chance!" "He''s messing with us." "It''s not possible!" All the girls looked at Reili in disbelief. " It is possible. I don''t follow the books anymore, but you all know Drei appeared just a few years ago," Dan told the girls as he thought about it seriously. "Drei uses complex words but the prior outside him for keeping simplicity while mixing complexity without making it difficult. The things that Reili wrote while he was in the club also had a similar style," He said to the girls. "That... Are you really Reili?" the girl asked him. Reili looked at all of them and smiled as he nodded his head. Ryder didn''t look impressed, though. Instead, he looked at Reili weirdly. 247 Chapter 243: day 2 He remembered seeing that name in an article. It was an article about how the Famous Writer Drei was killed by his wife in his own home. The article didn''t have Drei''s image, so Ryder right knew that Drei was actually Reiki. Ryder looked at him and wondered if that was about to happen again. "Reili, Do you have a girl you''re seeing or a wife?" Ryder asked out of nowhere while so the girls were busy asking him for an autograph. "No. I''m still single. Why do you ask?" Reili asked Ryder with a curious look on his face. "Do you have a girl in mind for me?" He inquired as he chuckled. "Not really. I was just wondering if you were seeing anyone or not. It would be best if you were careful with this," Ryder told Reili as he frowned. " You are acting weird, bro. Why would I have to be careful when dating? I''m not a naive little girl," Reili chuckled as he shook his head. Ryder didn''t reply since he has no way to explain what he was talking about. He couldn''t just find it and say that Reili was going to be killed by his wife for some reason. If he had known that Drei was Reili, then he might have tried to find more about his death and the events that transpired instead of just skimming through the headline. ''Maybe it will happen this time too, or maybe it won''t. Not everything is happening as it did in the past. If the future is changed, then he''s safe, and he doesn''t need to worry. If it''s the same, then he will die in two years. The best I can do is advise him,'' Ryder thought as he looked at Reili. "Ah, Ryder? Are you alright, man? You''ve been dazing out for quite some time now. Did something happen?" Reili asked Ryder as he didn''t get a response the first time. " It''s nothing. I just read an article before that a woman murdered her husband at night. The husband was a writer too. Just thought that I should inform and tell you to be careful. You can ignore my words if you want or just be careful when selecting a girl. No one knows how the girl will turn out," Ryder responded as he nodded his hand. "Hai hai, I''ll be careful," Reili nodded his head as he smiled, but he didn''t take this warning seriously. Ryder understood that Reili was just saying that, but he didn''t say anything else. Even the future of divinity was changed, let alone the future of the world. Ryder understood that it was quite possible that he was concerned for no reason. While Ryder was dating these things to Reili since people took his last line as him indirectly taking a jab at Imane, who was sitting silently. While Reili was finished with his introduction and the commotion had calmed down, the others started introducing their works. One after another, everyone talked about their work. Most of them were middle-class, white-collar workers, while others were in decent positions in his companies. While the people were introducing themselves, Ryder was lost in a different thought of his own. There was only one question in his mind, but that single question had many interpretations. ''How? How can I do this? How can I make her cry without using any item from my system inventory? This girl is not the emotional type that will cry at a few insults. She might simply leave instead. He couldn''t let her leave, and he couldn''t'' He couldn''t help but frown as he thought about it with a grim expression on his face. He couldn''t use violence, and he couldn''t use his words as they would just fail. All he could use was his brain, which wasn''t helping him in the slightest. '' Only now do I realize how dependent I''m on the system when it comes to doing tasks. I need to adapt my brain to be able to deal with stuff even when I can''t use the system. This thing can happen anytime. I need to use my own strength and powers to achieve my goals,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "Ryder?" While Ryder was lost in his thoughts, someone called out his name. He came out of his gaze and looked in the direction of the voice. "You''re so out of it today. It''s your turn to talk. What''re you doing, dazing out there? Hurry up," The girls started laughing as she looked in the direction of Ryder. "I started my own company. It''s in the initial stages, so I can''t talk much about it, but you''ll know about it soon enough," Ryder replied casually since he was not really in the mood to talk about it. "Wha? You started a company? A company of that? How many people work for you?" The guys started asking Ryder. " I heard you made games which barely earned anything. Are you really that rich? Even the registration is $50k from what I heard. How can you afford that much just by developing games? Are you sure you''re not bragging?" One of the girls asked jokingly. Shu couldn''t help but chuckle. He was wondering what the girls would have thought if they had seen the car of Ryder. The Ferrari Whirlwind was a rich people''s car which only the rich people could afford. Ryder was definitely not poor, but these girls were too idiot to see it. Instead, they were joking with it. ''Should I help out? I might make him angry if I do, though,'' Shu thought as he wondered if he should help. He wanted to chime in and tell everyone that the Ferrari that was parked outside was Ryder''s. Even though it was going to be a lie, it wasn''t a big lie. That would shock others, but he knew that Ryder wouldn''t like it, so he dropped the plan. He wondered what Ryder was going to say. "Were you really joking? Hahaha, you really got us there." The guys heard the words of the girl and started believing her. They misunderstood that Ryder was trolling them to have fun with them. "As I said, It''s a small company that is in its initial stages. It doesn''t need that much investment. Also, I have an investor that helped me with the money," Ryder said as he lied a little. All his money was his, but he decided to lie about an investor. "Ah, so it wasn''t a joke. You actually got an investor. The idea you came up with must be really great. What''s the company about? What are you working on?" Reili asked Ryder with great interest. "It''s a pharmaceutical company. As I said, it''s one the beginning, and all we have is an idea. You''ll know if we make any progress," Ryder let out casually. "You jumped from a game developer to a Pharma Ceo? That''s a big stream change. I don''t believe it," Imane said softly. "You don''t have to believe it. Why should I care if you believe or not? Neither you''re going to pay me anything, nor I''m going to pay you anything. There''s no reason for me to lie. Anyway, who''s next? Take it over," Ryder replied casually without even looking in the direction of Imane. People could see the tense atmosphere, but they didn''t interfere. "Ah, right. It''s my turn," Dan let out suddenly as he smiled wryly. While Dan started talking about his work, Ryder again got busy with his thoughts, trying to come up with an idea, and he suddenly got one. ''That''s right. I can use her,'' Ryder thought as he suddenly got a great idea about how he could make Imane cry. It was a long as a complicated method, but he believed that it was a surefire way to achieve it. If he was able to pull this off, he was going to succeed for sure. "Excuse me for a second; I''ll be right back. You guys continue," Ryder suddenly said as he stood up and walked out of the room. **** Dan and the others watched Ryder, but they believed him when he said he was going to be back. They continued with their conversation. Shu and Bastion didn''t leave the room either since they felt like Ryder wanted some privacy for some reason. "I work for the Dream Corporation," Dan suddenly said, shocking everyone. His words shocked everyone. Dream Corporation was one of the biggest conglomerates in the world. Those who could land a job there could be said to be the absolute best. They were surprised that Dan worked there. 248 Chapter 244: Good News and Bad Shu didn''t know that Dan worked for his company. He found it to be pretty interesting. He didn''t say anything, though, and just sat back and continued eating the snacks. " Dream Corporation has a lot of branches from what I heard. It works in multiple industries. What is your work in Divine Corporation?" One of the guys asked Dan. "I work there, but I''m not a big shot. I work as a System Engineer in their Tech Division. It''s just my beginning, so I''m sure I''ll get higher positions in the future," Dan let out as he nodded his head. "A System Engineer in the Dream Corporation? It''s not a bad deal. The work they do is pretty high profile, and the incentives are good too. You can definitely reach great heights if you stay there," One of the guys replied. The girls also started showing some interest as they looked at Dan. A man who was so successful and had such a bright future was definitely worth their interest. That all wanted a successful guy, and Dan was pretty good looking too. "Dan, it looks like you''re going to be taking my role here. All the girls are looking at it like hungry wolves. Take care of her," Bastion laughed out loud as he patted the shoulders of Dan. "Hah, stop joking, man. You''re always going to retain that position. Only an idiot would be stupid enough to believe that the girls would want anyone other than the Great Bastion," Dan laughed out loud as he rolled his eyes. He knew that no matter how he looked, Bastion was many times better. He was handsome, and he came from a wealthy family. Dan had no confidence in himself. "Anyway, it''s your turn. Start talking," he continued without giving Bastion a chance to respond. "Me? I''m living the same life as before. You know that I''m a happy go lucky guy. Just pandering my family money," Bastion replied casually. "Really? I heard you went to foreign for further studies. Don''t you have any interest in working?" One of the guys asked Bastion. "I did finish my higher education and just came back. I''m taking some time off before I think about what I need to do. It''s not like I must work, though. I want to work on something that interests me," Bastion replied. "Anyway, let''s move over to the last person," Ryder said as he looked at Ryder " Brother Shu, You''re new, and the people here don''t know you that well. Introduce yourself. From now on, you''re a member of our club too." "Yes. You''re with Ryder. Do you work with him?" Shu was the only person that was left who hadn''t answered yet. "Ah, right. I work with Brother Ryder," Shu replied as he smiled innocently. He wasn''t exactly telling the truth, but he wasn''t lying either. Shu was never the one to look for attention; otherwise, he wouldn''t keep his identity a secret, whether it wasn''t needed to expose his identity. **** Ryder was standing outside the room as he picked up his phone and dialed a number. After some time, the person on the other side picked up the phone. "Ooh, My hubby is calling me? You never call. Did something happen? Are you missing me?" A beautiful sounding voice was heard from the other side of the call. "Of Course. Who would I miss if not you, my dear? There''s never a day I don''t miss you," Ryder let out as he replied. The person on the other side was none other than the Mafia Queen of the city, Esmi. She was the first woman Ryder slept with and the one who possessed a lot of power in the underworld. "Hah, you''re flirting too. It''s either you''re really horny today, or you need me for something. Tell me what it is so that I can prepare accordingly," Esmi chuckled as asked Ryder. She knew that Ryder didn''t sound urgent, so she could take her time flirting with him a little. If he sounded urgent, she would''ve instantly left instead of talking like this. "I do need you today, and it''s for something really important. I want to scare a few people. I need a few of your men here. You don''t need to come through. Bastion is here as well. It would be awkward if you come here since there won''t be any benefits, and only your time will be wasted, so only send the men. Send them with weapons. Also, make sure that they are people that Bastion doesn''t know about. I don''t want him to know what I''m doing," Ryder told Esmi. "Alright. I''ll send ten of my best men. All of them will be armed. Tell me the address," Esmi agreed before she asked the address. "Cafiona Karaoke Bar on the 154th Street. Give me a call when they''re here. I''ll meet them outside," Ryder told her. "Alright. Everything will be arranged. The men will be there in ten minutes," Esmi said as she nodded her head. "Awesome. Thanks," Ryder responded with a smile on his face before he disconnected the call. After disconnecting the call, Ryder walked back into the room. The club members were already finished with the introduction, and they were now about to start the Karaoke Session. Ryder walked back into the room and sat on his position as he joined up with them. **** Exactly after ten minutes, Ryder''s phone started ringing. He didn''t even bother looking at his phone as he stood up. "You guys continue. I''ll be back after taking the call," He told Bastion and others before he left the room. Ryder walked out of the room and closed the door behind him. He brought his phone out of his pocket and looked at the caller id. It was the same person he was expecting. It was Esmi. Ryder picked up the call. "Hey, there, hubby. Ten of my guys are already outside the place. You can go out and meet them. You can give them any command. Oh, Bastion doesn''t know them. You, on the other hand, to know the guys," Esmi chuckled as she informed Ryder. "I know, but he doesn''t? Interesting. Let me see who they are. Thanks, by the way. You''re the best," Ryder said before disconnecting the call. Ryder went down the stairs and stepped out of the Karaoke Bar. "Hah, it''s you guys? Esmi sent you to help me?" Ryder inquired as he frowned. He recognized the people in the lead. He remembered the day he went to bowling with Shu. Three people tried to bully Shu there, and Ryder had beaten them up. A few more things had happened after them, which involved the guy in the clear following Ryder''s car to kill him. Ryder also planned to kill those guys, but he had found out that they were Esmi''s gang members. Esmi had convinced Ryder not to go anything at that time, and she had told these guys to stop following Ryder. "Yeah, Madam Esmi sent us," the boss of the team said as he nodded his head. "Good. You brought the masks and the weapons?" Ryder asked the guts. The guy in the lead raised his shirt softly and showed the gun that was tucked in his pants. "Good. Now dress up and listen to the plan," Ryder muttered as he walked closer to them and told them what he wanted to go. The gang members heard his plan and couldn''t help but look at him weirdly. "You called us here for that?" the leader asked Ryder with an incredulous look on his face. "Yup. It''s not a tough job. I''m sure you can handle it," Ryder replied. "Hmph, of course, we can handle it. It''s a kid''s job after all," the man let out as he shook his head. "Whatever. Let''s just get done with this," The man said as he looked at Ryder. Ryder smiled subtly as he nodded his head. **** "Just how long is his call? It''s Ryder''s turn to sing," Dan asked Bastion as he looked in the direction of the door. "It must be a call from work. Let me see," Bastion let out as he stood up and left the room. Bastion looked outside but didn''t find Ryder there. "Did this guy go to the toilet or something? Hah, he must''ve eaten a lot. Let me go find him," Bastion muttered as he walked towards the gents toilet. He thought that Ryder came out of the room to take a call, but he went to the toilet after disconnecting the call. Ryder just happened to come out of the lift at the moment in time. He had disguised himself. He was wearing a joker mask and a robe. 249 Chapter 245: Updated ''Bastion?'' Ryder thought as he recognized the person as Bastion. ''Perfect. I was wondering how I could keep him away from this. This worked out for the best without me doing anything,'' Ryder thought as he smiled. Ryder waited for Bastion to enter the toilet before he ran up there and locked the door. "One of you guys stay here and keep an eye on the door. Make sure no one opens it from the outside. No one should be able to come out of this place," Ryder told one of his men to guard the door. He had locked the door from outside, but he still didn''t relax. He didn''t want anyone to open the door from outside and let Bastion out after Bastion starts constantly knocking on the door. Ryder wanted to avoid this situation, so he decided to place one of the ten guys here to keep an eye. Ryder took the other nine men and walked in the direction of the room where everyone was staying inside. **** Bastion checked inside the Men''s bathroom and found it to be completely empty. He walked back to the door and tried to leave, but when he tried opening the door, he found himself being unable to open the door. "It''s locked? Did someone lock me inside?" Bastion muttered as he looked at the door. He tried pushing the door and calling out for someone to open the door, but no one opened the door for him. He brought his phone out of his pocket and tried calling his friends to come open the door, but no one picked the phone. **** While Bastion was trying to call the people in the Karaoke Room, the Karaoke room was busy on its own. The entire room was suddenly silent, and only the ringing of a phone could be heard. It was Dan''s phone that was ringing and it was Bastion who was calling. Ten people in joker''s Masks were standing inside the room as well. All of them had a gun in their hands, pointing at the people in the room. Ryder had told the leader of the ten people to do all the talking other than him since he didn''t want to say anything, but he had to be the one that caused Imane to cry, so he had also planned for that. It was for him to be the one who made her cry using the leader of the gang. "Kekeke, we came here looking for the enemy gang member, but it looks like we got the wrong information. Those guys are not here. Instead, just some kids are here. Such a waste of time," The leader of the said as he chuckled. Ryder was standing beside him, and he simply nodded his head. "Boss, since we already came here, how about we have some fun instead. It''s clear that someone gave us the wrong information, and I''m pretty irritated. I want to let this steam out. Please, boss, let me do this. The girls here look so pretty," The leader said as he looked in the direction of Ryder. "I''m not interested in anyone here, but since you''re my loyal man, I won''t let you down. But you can only choose one girl. We don''t have time," Ryder replied as he nodded. "Kekeke, of course, boss. I am somewhat confused, though. All of them look so pretty. Can you pick one for me? Just chose any," The leader told Ryder. Ryder looked at the leader of the ten people before he roamed his gaze over all the girls. It was just to show since he had already decided on the girl he wanted to choose. All the girls were shivering as they saw the masked men and heard their words. They knew that they couldn''t do anything and that they might lose everything today. Even Imane was looking scared. She was looking down, hoping not to get seen. "Any? Fine. I''ll choose one for you. For us, dark-hearted people, you need a dark-hearted girl. That girl looks pretty evil. You take her," Ryder told the leader as he slowly raised his hand and pointed towards a girl. The girl he was pointing at was none other than Imane. Imane couldn''t help but take a step back in fear. "N-no, please don''t," She said as her shivering increased. She was too fearful now as she held the corner of her clothes. Her eyes started getting wet, but she still wasn''t crying. The Leader that was with Ryder started walking towards the girl. "Wait! Don''t you dare touch the g..." One of the guys started moving towards the girl, but that''s when Ryder fired a shot, intentionally missing. It was a warning shot to show that he was serious about killing people, and the gun wasn''t a fake. Because of the silencer in the weapon, it didn''t make much noise. The you who was trying to move froze in his place, unable to move in fear. He couldn''t believe that he was so close to death just now. Suddenly, all his courage had left the body. No one tried moving. Even Shu didn''t move. Shu was just silently standing in the background, looking at Ryder with great interest. No one tried moving after that as the leader of the gang continued walking in the direction of Imane. The man reached near her and stood just a few feet away from her. The man slowly reached out his hand towards the face of Imane to touch her face. Imane closed her eyes in fear as a teardrop fell from her eyes. \u003cMission has been completed\u003e \u003cRewards have been given\u003e Ryder heard the voice of Janus, who gave him the confirmation of the mission. "Forget it. It''s just a waste of time. Let''s leave. We should find those guys instead. I want to kill the ones that gave me the wrong information first," Ryder let out in a solemn tone as he told the leader to stop. "Kekekkeke, You''re lucky little girl. You escaped. Man, I really wanted to have a taste, but I can''t go against the wishes of my boss," The man said as he stopped his hand that was just a few inches away from Imane''s cheeks. Imane slowly opened her eyes as she breathed in relief, but she continued crying. Ryder and the others left the room and locked that room from outside as well. He gestured for the man that was guarding the toilet to leave as well. All of them left through the stairs while Ryder entered the lift. The lift and the stairs didn''t have any cameras, which Ryder had already seen. Ryder changed his clothes inside the lift and came back to the floor through the same lift. The other guys left the place entirely. Ryder stepped out of the ring and walked back to the room with his phone in his hand. He opened the room and entered inside. "Man, the network is really getting worse nowadays. I can''t believe I had to leave the building to get a good connection. Why did you guys give the door closed from outside, though?" Ryder asked as soon as he entered, but he stood shocked as he saw everyone in the room shivering. "What the heck happened here? Why are you so looking so scared? Did you see a ghost or something while I wasn''t here?" Ryder asked in curiosity. While Ryder was disguised as the Joker, he had dialed the leader. Both of their phones were connected. He did it to make sure that if Bastion tried calling his number, it would be busy. He disconnected that call after entering the lift. "Also, where is Bastion?" Ryder asked again. Everyone in the room looked in his direction. "Right, Bastion! I hope he''s safe!" Dan came out of his fear as he pulled his phone out and called Bastion. The other people started telling Ryder about what happened. Ryder pretended to be continuously shocked as he heard about it. "We should call the cops!" One of the girls suggested. "Yes! Call the cops! We need to tell them everything!'' Another Girl chimed in. " I don''t think there will be a benefit of doing that. The people had already left. This place doesn''t have any cameras either. The cops won''t find anything. It''ll be a useless endeavor," Shu said as he shook his head. "I agree. When I came up here, I didn''t see any people dressed in a Joker outfit. They probably left. We should all just leave. The day must''ve been tough for you guys. Go back and rest," Ryder agreed. "I guess you''re right," The guys and the girls slowly started nodding their heads. They all understood that it was useless at this point. Fortunately, everyone was safe. 250 Chapter 246: "Bastion is in the toilet. Apparently someone locked him there. Fortunately, he''s perfectly safe as well," Dan said as he smiled. "That''s good," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "Let''s get him out of here. We should leave. The party is over as well," He added as he turned back and left. The others also nodded their heads as they left after him. "He''s on the toilet of this floor, right?" Ryder asked Dan to be sure. Even though he knew, he decided to give an even more convincing performance. "Yeah. He''s on this floor," Dan responded as he nodded his head. "Good." Ryder unlocked the door and let Bastion out. "You got locked in the toilet. I never thought I''d see this day," Ryder said as he rolled his eyes. "Who did this?" " I don''t know. I didn''t see anyone. I was here looking for you, and when I tried leaving, the door was locked," Bastion explained. He hadn''t heard about the things that happened with the Joker since Dan simply asked him where he was. He has no idea what had just happened outside now. He noticed the strange expressions on the faces of people. "What happened here? Now that I think about it, none of you were picking up your phones, and all of you look worried. Something must''ve happened!" Bastion inquired. "What happened?" He asked Ryder. " I was not in the toilet. Because of some network issues, I had stepped out of the building. When I came back, the door of the room was closed. I''m not clear on the details either, but from what I heard, Some thugs entered the room in search of their enemies. They scared them and left after some time. No one was harmed," " The people were wearing joker masks, but when I came back, I didn''t see anyone like that, so they probably left," Ryder explained in short to downplay the situation and to explain to Bastion that there was no benefit in sticking to the situation or for trying to find those men who did this since it was impossible and didn''t really matter since he said that they entered by mistake. " People in joker masks? I don''t think I''ve heard of any gang with that. I''ll try to find out about them. In the meanwhile, it''s good to leave. You guys must be stressed about this. Go home and rest. We can do this again some other time," Bastion said as he nodded his head. Bastion left the toilet with the others. "Did you all get your stuff?" He asked. "Yeah." All of them nodded their heads. "Good," Bastion muttered as he walked towards the stairs. All of them left the floor and went down. All of them walked to their cars in the parking. Since Ryder still had the keys, he walked towards the Ferrari parked there and opened its doors. "Ryder, you own a Ferrari?" One of the girls asked. "Of course, Brother Ryder owns a Ferrari," Shu said as he replied instead. "He walked to the car and tapped the bonnet of the car. This is Brother Ryder''s favorite model," He added. Ryder understood what he was trying to do, and he couldn''t deny either. Whatever Shu said was the truth, after all. Ryder did own a Ferrari. The only difference was that he owned a Ferrari Whirlwind that was not in good condition. It was also the truth that Shu''s Ferrari 2047 was his favorite model. Ryder just stayed silent and entered the car. Shu entered the car as well. "Goodbye, guys," Ryder wished everyone before he drove away. Everyone else watched him zoom off into the distance. Even Imane took a few glances. **** Ryder had only driven for a few minutes when his phone started ringing. He connected his headset to his ears and picked up the call. "Hello?" he let out. " Stop at the next traffic signal and get in my car," The person on the other side of the connection said. "But I''m going home," Ryder replied casually. "Fine. I''m coming," Ryder let out as he disconnected the call. "Call from work?" Shu asked Ryder as he looked at him. "Yeah, I need to meet someone for work. I''ll have to leave. You take the car back. I''ll be back by night," Ryder said as he stopped the car near the next traffic signal and got out of the car. "Should I leave you there?" Shu asked Ryder. "Nah, they will come to pick me up," Ryder said as he shook his head. "You go back." "Alright. I''ll leave then. Have fun," Shu replied as he smiled. He shifted to the Driver Seat and started the car. Shu drove away, leaving Ryder behind. **** Ryder stood in the traffic signal for a few minutes before a car stopped near him. He entered the car. There was a beautiful girl sitting in the car. "What do you need?" he asked as he looked in the direction of the girl. "Aww, My hubby called me when he needed me, and he''s not going to do anything for me. It breaks my heart," Esmi chuckled as she placed her hand on Ryder''s lap. Ryder looked at her and smiled wryly. "You should know that your hubby just bullied a girl. Do you not mind?" Ryder asked. "Nope. My hubby is allowed to bully anyone except me," Esmi said as she chuckled. "That''s good to hear. Let me pay you back then," Ryder replied as he placed his hand on her hand. " Wait, let us go to some place first," Esmi said as she started the car with a beautiful smile on her face. She turned the car back and started driving it in the direction where Ryder came from. Esmi stopped the car before the same Karaoke Bar. "This place?" Ryder asked as he looked outside. "Yup. Come with me," She said as she stepped out of the car. Ryder also stepped out of the car and entered the place, following after her. Esmi took him to the same room where Ryder had left from and locked the door behind him. She sat on the couch. "So, you want to repay me?" Esmi asked, looking at Ryder, with one of her eye-brows up. ''Is she trying to go for this play?'' Ryder couldn''t help but think as he smiled wryly. He decided to play along. He did genuinely like her though. Ryder sat down on the couch and lazily ran his lean fingers through his hair as he spoke while yawning, "Yes, I don''t leave debts." "Mmm...I see.." Esmi said in a deep voice before sitting down on the other couch. She put her legs on over another as she settled herself in a relaxed position. Her bare skin was visible from where her pencil skirt ended. She looked like a lazy little kitten as she started drinking from the bottle on the table, not even bothered to pour it into the glass. Ryder also started drinking even though he knew he couldn''t get drunk, yet when your company is drinking, you can''t just sit by idly or it would seem both lame and unsocialized. He knew his manners. A few minutes passed by with both of them indolently when Ryder suddenly spoke up. "So, what do you want?" Esmi looked at him while licking the liquor left on her lips; a smirk flashed through her face as she noticed Ryder''s reaction at her little action. She cleared her throat, and a mischievous smirk formed on her lips as she said, "Are you sure you''ll be able to give me whatever I want?" Ryder sipped from the goblet, trying to hide his slightly knitted eye-brows as he thought, what is the trickster planning again? But he quickly neutralized his expression when he put the glass back on the table. "Whatever you ask, little trickster, I never go back on my words," Ryder looked at Esmi challengingly. Esmi''s eyes sparkled as an impish smirk covered her red lips; she looked back at Ryder directly in the eye as she dropped the bomb. "Seduce me and satisfy me," Esmi said in a serious tone as she changed the light settings of the karaoke room to red. Ryder, who was taking a sip, suddenly choked his drink and started coughing uncontrollably. He had already thought of several options about what she was going to ask for, but damn.. how could he ignore the fact that she was a vixen in the disguise of an innocent, cute cat. Esmi yawned lazily as she lay back and teased Ryder with a smile on her face, "Awwee, already scared you wouldn''t be able to satisfy me? Sad, didn''t take you for that type hubby." 251 Chapter 247: Karaoke with a Vixen * Ryder looked at the lady devil and squinted his eyes as he replied, "Huh. Aren''t you too ambitious? I''m pretty sure it''s you who wouldn''t be able to handle me. I''m warning you; I don''t go easy on the bed." "Show me," Esmi replied, instantly looking at Ryder with a revoking smirk visible on the corner of her lips. Ryder suddenly started sweating under her deep gaze; he drank all the liquor left in that bottle in one gulp and sat straight. Esmi stopped drinking; she landed a sharp gaze and all her concentration on Ryder as she waited in anticipation. Outside, she looked calm, but inside, anxiousness was erupting inside her. Ryder, on the other hand, looked extremely calm; he wiped away the wetness on his mouth with the back of his palm and then loosened the top two buttons of his shirt and exhaled a deep breath. He looked nervous and a little bit off minded to Esmi. The mischievous spark in Esmi''s eyes started to become dim as she thought about the fact that Ryder wasn''t interested in her. Disappointment hit her hard; she looked away and started sipping from her bottle recklessly. Engulfed in her own thoughts, she looked lost. An awkward silence formed inside the karaoke room as two people sat on the purple couches. Both of them looked like they were fighting a rough battle inside. A few minutes passed by without any of them moving or talking... All of a sudden, Esmi felt a hot breath lingering on her neck as she looked back. Ryder didn''t provide her the chance to say or look as he grabbed the heck of her neck and smacked his lips on her. The wine bottle from Esmi''s hand landed on the ground making a loud crackling sound echo in between the four walls of the karaoke room. Ryder started nibbling on her lips every now and then as he kissed her passionately. Esmi kissed him back with the same amount of passion and wildness in her actions. In one swift movement, Ryder grabbed her shoulder and pinned her against the wall; he didn''t miss the sync of their kiss while doing so. Esmi, on the other hand, wrapped her legs around Ryder''s instinctively. Ryder groaned in between the kiss as he cupped her face and tilted his head to one side, deepening the kiss. Esmi gasped for breath in between Ryder''s hungry kisses. Her toes seemed to turn into jelly by the extremely passionate kiss. He devoured her candy floss like sweet lips as his hands moved into her hair. Ryder started comforting her into the kiss as he slightly bit down on her lower lip asking for access to devour her mouth. A smirk appeared on her lips as she felt Ryder''s body quivering slightly the moment her hands touched his bare torso. She moved her palm over his bare chest, torso, muscles, and ended the journey by teasing his nipples. She tightened her grip on Ryder''s waist with his legs and started rubbing her lower part against him. Ryder groaned as he pushed her on the wall with his waist and Esmi chuckled softly in between their kisses. Ryder kept moving his waist backward and forward while his passion for the kiss turned more fiery. Esmi felt woozy as his erection started moving against her core with passionate and rough thrusts. She gripped on Ryder''s neck, panting hard as she arched her hip forward. Ryder smirked, knowing she had already lost it. He increased the pace of his waist as his one hand remained still on her waist to keep her steady while the other one started moving towards the hem of her tops. His rough, cold palm entered inside her top and started moving on her perfect shaped body. Esmi hissed as his hand came in contact with her bare skip. Ryder quickly pulled her top up and started massaging her breasts roughly. An unimaginable amount of pleasure blasted through Esmi''s body as a moan left her swollen lips. Her moan worked like an extreme revocation, making the caged beast in Ryder''s boxer hardening instantly. He suddenly became more ferocious than before. Tearing the top off from Esmi''s body, he unclasped her bra effortlessly like a pro. Two soft fleshy breasts were released; the crimson nipple and essence of them made Ryder''s head spin for a few seconds before he started pressing them mercilessly. Esmi''s loud moans filled the room as Ryder took one of them in his mouth and massaged the other with his hand, without the discontinuation of thrusts. He played with her buds for quite some time before nibbling on her soft pinkish nipple. The moment he gnashed one nipple in between his teeth and pinched the other one with the same amount of pressure, Esmi dug her nails into his skin as she arched her head back, moaning his name, she released orgasm. The next second they were on the couch, both of them sweating rapidly and panting from their previous actions. "Seduced enough, Vixen?" Ryder smirked, looking at the half-naked girl inhaling air through her mouth like a fish. Her lips were still swollen from their kiss; several hickeys covered her chest and bosoms while she lay under her panting, in only her heels and pencil skirt. Esmi chuckled as looked at Ryder mischievously and said in an adorable voice, "No, hubby." Ryder gave her a pointed look as Esmi moved her head slowly towards Ryder''s ear. Instead of whispering something in his ear, she licked his earlobe and seductively nibbled onto it. Making Ryder''s whole body stiff as fire burned through his veins. She then whispered hoarsely in his ears, "I want you, in every possible way..." Those words ignited the fire in Ryder a thousandfold; he groaned as jumped back on her lips while his hand moved towards the zipper of her skirt. He pulled it down while continuing his sweet torture on her thigh. With every gentle stroke, he made on her thigh; it made Esmi go more insane. She already wanted him inside her so badly, but he kept teasing her. Esmi hissed when Ryder finally ejected one of his fingers inside her; she felt warm and slippery. A smirk formed on Rylan''s lips as he commented huskily, "So wet for me..." Esmi opened her mouth to say something but was stopped abruptly by Ryder as he pushed another finger in. A gasp left her throat as Esmi''s words came in as moaning, "Oh God...Ryder..." Ryder pushed his third finger inside as he replied in a sweet voice, "Yes, love..." He started moving his fingers inside her together and moans after moans started erupting inside Esmi. She bit down her hand to suppress them but failed miserably as she ended up moaning his name with several shameless sentences. Ryder rubbed this thumb against her clitoris in an oval sequence while three of his fingers kept moving in and out of her womanhood, which triggered Esmi more. She desperately arched forward and cried out. "Ryder...oh..faster...ah..." She was so lost in that feeling of satisfaction and pleasure that she had given up her usual domineering tone and teasing habits. The second release bought waves of unknown feelings from Esmi''s head to toe as dizziness swept over her. Ryder cuddled her calm body in his embrace, and Esmi finally found herself coming out of some fantasy world. A few minutes passed by that way, and Esmi broke the silence by pulling down the zip of Ryder''s pants. As she pulled down his boxer, a huge erection erupted out. Esmi looked at it in astonishment; his beast was actually beastly and perfectly round, not too long, not too short. It was just perfect. Ryder chuckled at her mystified expression as he kicked his pants off; Esmi felt her cheeks getting flustered as he quickly moved her eyes away. "Scared that my big sausage won''t fit in your little oven, vixen," Ryder smirked as he poked Esmi''s cheeks. Esmi looked back at him angrily and slapped his hand off as she scoffed, "Huh, you wish! I think you are scared that your little monster wouldn''t be able to devour my unfathomable core." "Uhhah, is that it? Let''s see for ourselves then." Ryder pulled her in the perfect position under him in one swift movement. His passion and ferociousness were no less than some severely hungry lion. Without wasting any second, he placed his bulge in the opening of her core. Esmi''s breath hitched in her throat, and she arched forward as he penetrated full of his manhood inside her in one rough push. Ryder waited for a few seconds so that Esmi would be comfortable. The walls of her womanhood started sucking his rod. Once Ryder started impelling inside her, he began it at a slow pace, but after a few, he started thrusting at full pace. Esmi''s moan and the sound of thumping filled the karaoke room as Ryder''s body moved fast against Esmi''s one maintaining a rhythmic sync. It only stopped after fifteen minutes when Ryder ejaculated, making Esmi''s oven full with his semen. 252 Chapter 248: Janus Serious Warning Esmi''s head was resting on Ryder''s shoulders while her eyes were closed. There was a flash of red on her face. "That was great," Esmi muttered as her eyelashes fluttered. "It sure was," Ryder replied softly. He was quite fond of Esmi. She was the first woman he had ever been with, and he liked spending time with her. Esmi''s position meant that she was a fierce leader who didn''t worry about killing people, but before him, she was always like a good girl. He couldn''t find any flaws in her at all. He and Esmi were together. They had been intimate on more than four occasions, but still, they didn''t have any formal name for their relationship. Esmi didn''t ask him, and Ryder wasn''t sure either. He believed that if people were to listen to his situation, they would think that he was in a Friends with Benefits relationship with Esmi, but only Ryder knew that it wasn''t all. There was definitely something more. It wasn''t love exactly, but it wasn''t less than that either. Even he didn''t understand what he thought. He believed that he even liked her, but he decided to take some time before naming their relationship. "Alright, I should go now. Thanks for a great time," Esmi let out as she stood up and started getting dressed. "Esmi?" Ryder suddenly asked while Esmi was wearing her dress. "Yeah?" Esmi inquired without looking back. Her back was facing him as she dressed. Ryder looked at her for a few seconds without saying anything but ultimately shook his head. "Nothing. I''ll tell you later," He smiled as he stood up and started getting dressed as well. Esmi turned back as she faced him. "What was it? Now I''m even more curious," Esmi asked Ryder as she looked at him. She had always seen Ryder speaking whatever he wanted, even when it came to embarrassing stuff. For him to say something and stop? Was it something serious? she couldn''t help but wonder. "Nothing. It was Just some fleeting thought. I even forgot what I was trying to say," Ryder let out casually as he shook his head. "You know, you can tell me anything. If there''s a problem troubling you, you can tell me. I will solve it for you," Esmi replied as he looked at Ryder''s face. "I know that. Don''t worry. You''ll be the first person I contact if there ever comes a situation like this," Ryder said as he finished getting dressed. After he and Esmi got dressed, they left the room. **** Esmi dropped Ryder off near Shu''s place before she left. During the journey, they talked a lot but mostly about random things. Esmi had dropped Ryder around 300 meters away from Shu''s mansion as per Ryder''s instruction. Ryder wanted to walk the rest of the way, but just as he walked a hundred meters, he noticed something strange. He felt as if someone was looking at him. It was the first time he felt like that. He started feeling like that only a few seconds ago. He stopped in his tracks as he looked around to see if he could find the person. Ryder looked around for quite some time, but he didn''t see anyone. That lingering feeling didn''t go away, though. "Stanner, I feel like someone is watching me. Search my surroundings to see who it is," Ryder muttered softly as he talked to the Spirit that had become his helper after he helped it finish its long-awaited revenge. While Ryder continued walking towards the Mansion of Shu, Stanner went in a different direction. Stanner''s task was to find the person who was spying on Ryder, and he could do it easily if the person were when he was keeping an eye on Ryder, and it wasn''t hiding. Stanner looked around for quite some time before he found the person who was spying on Ryder. It seemed like a young woman who was wearing black jeans and a black jacket. There was a black cap on her head. Her long hair was tied to a bun. Stanner observed the girl for a few minutes before he started flying back towards Ryder. Ryder still hadn''t reached Shu''s Mansion when Stanner reached him. "Did you find anything?" Ryder asked Stanner as he saw him get back. "Yes. A woman is standing on the top of the second house on the left side. She is keeping an eye on you," Stanner explained to Ryder. "A woman?" Ryder frowned as he wondered why a girl was keeping an eye on him. He was also curious about who the girl was. "What does she look like?" Ryder asked Stanner. " She looks like a girl. She is wearing a black jacket and black jeans. Her face was covered in a pollution mask. She was also wearing a black cap," Stanner explained. Ryder looked at Stanner weirdly as he heard his first line, but he soon calmed down as he shook his head. He decided to focus on other things Stanner said. "The clothes you described makes it seem like she''s trying to play pretend detective because dressing like a spy is the most stupid thing an actual spy can do," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Who could be this girl?" Ryder muttered as he thought about it. ''Should I let her know that I know about her and scare her a bit to try to find her motivation? If she''s actually a spy planted after me, I can use her without her knowing,'' Ryder thought as he continued walking towards Shu''s Mansion. There were only fifty meters of distance between him and Shu''s place. " Alright. I have decided. Stanner, You go to the girl. Follow her for the next 24 hours and come back to me after that. Try to find as much as you can about her," Ryder told Stanner. Since no one could see Stanner except Ryder, he believed that he was the most appropriate person to spy for him. Stanner probably had many more advantages like that. He could simply follow the girl and listen to everything she talks about on the phone or to a person. If she was a spy, then she was definitely going to report to someone. That could be the moment Stanner was able to find out about it. Stanner flew back to the girl while Ryder entered Shu''s Mansion. **** Ryder entered the mansion; he saw the butler of Shu. "Where is Shu?" Ryder asked the butler just out of curiosity. If she was free, he wanted to talk about something to him. "Master Shu went to his room. He said he was going to rest. Should I go inform him that you wish to meet?" The butler asked Ryder. "It''s fine. Let him rest. I''ll talk to him in the morning," Ryder shook his head as he replied. It was night already, and he wasn''t in any urgent need to talk either. Ryder went back to the guest room where he and Alice were staying. As he entered their room, he found the hall empty. "Alice?" Ryder called out, but he didn''t get a response. He went towards the room that Alice had chosen and opened the door, but just as he opened the door, he got a little surprise. Alice was lying on the bed, and there were glasses on her face. The glasses weren''t normal, though. They were the Divinity Glasses that Ryder recognized too well. ''She''s playing Divinity too?'' Ryder frowned as he looked at her face. "She didn''t even tell me about it," Ryder muttered as he kept his gaze on the glasses. "The game is dangerous, and for her to play it... I can''t allow it," Ryder muttered as he stepped forth, but he stopped as he heard Janus'' words. \u003cDon''t do it\u003e "What?" Ryder inquired as he heard Janus'' voice. Whenever Janus talked before, it seemed like he was just a system that sounded like a human when it talked. At Least most of the time it talked, Ryder got a feeling that he was talking to a businessman except a few times where he felt some emotions. This time it was different, though. It felt as if the system wasn''t his being like it''s old self. It was really talking like a human being that was telling him not to do it. "What shouldn''t I do?" Ryder asked Janus, testing if it was just his misconception. \u003cYou will ruin everything. Let her use Divinity whenever she wants. Stopping her now will have unforeseen complications\u003e "How are you talking like that? You sound no different from an actual human I can have a conversation with now. Did something happen?" Ryder asked Janus. 253 Chapter 249: Overlord System? "More feasible to do what?" Ryder asked Janus in confusion. He didn''t understand the meaning of Janus. \u003cMore feasible to involve me more, but it''s still not perfect. There are many problems. Many eyes are seeing Janus. Things will get bad if anything over the radar is done\u003e Janus replied to Ryder in a more human-like tone. "Many eyes are seeing you? Who? Are there more systems like you? Is there an overlord system that keeps an eye on you all?" Ryder asked Janus out of curiosity. He remembered reading a story like this in a book when he was young. It was about the gods playing a game where they have each user some powers and a system, but the system wasn''t allowed to tell them anything. He wondered if this was the same kind of story. \u003cThere are no systems like Janus. There is no overlord system, either. Instead, there is a...\u003e Janus was about to continue, but he stopped. "There is what?" Ryder asked as he frowned. \u003cDon''t take the Glasses off and don''t interfere in her destiny. She will be in danger otherwise\u003e Janus'' voice was grim as he said it as if he had never been more serious. "Fine. I''m not doing it," Ryder muttered as he agreed. If Janus was being so severe, then it was better for him to stay away. He didn''t want Janus to give him another weird mission just because he ignored his words. "But if you''re wrong and Alice is harmed because of Divinity, then..." Ryder let out in a heavy tone as if he was warning Janus in return to be serious about Alice''s life. \u003cThat depends on you just like it did last...\u003e Janus muttered softly but didn''t finish his sentence. Ryder turned back and left the room, closing the door behind him. Ryder entered his room and sat on the bed. "Hey, Janus, you said you went through the third evolution? How come it was so sudden? Why didn''t I know anything about it like last time?" Ryder asked as he thought about Janus. The last time, Janus had given him a difficult mission, and the Reward for him was the second upgrade of the system. He had to work hard for that upgrade. This time, however, Janus didn''t pull any trick like that; instead, Janus upgraded on his own without even thinking about it. \u003cIt had to be done\u003e Janus replied. "What had to be done? The upgrade? Of course. It''s a good thing, after all. Just upgrade as many times as you want, and I''ll be happy," Ryder said to Janus as he smiled. \u003cIt was because of the Bracelet of Immortality. You are using too much power of the Time Fragment. It is creating instability. Even though the instability in time is only minor, If it goes on for long, they will sense it. I had to evolve to help you\u003e \u003cJanus knows. You need to use the power of the bracelet to get everything back. That''s why I haven''t told you to stop it; instead, I decided to do something entirely different. Now, as long as I can fool them, we would have more time. Just keep the progress like it is. Everything will be clear when it happens\u003e Janus replied to Ryder in a kind tone. " You always throw these curveballs towards me. Talking like the old man does in those weird Cultivation Novels. You must''ve read a lot of them to get this character," Ryder replied in an annoyed tone. "Who will sense it, by the way? Just be clear for once. Don''t be that old man," Ryder told Janus as he sighed. \u003cEven the words have powers. Only when the time is right\u003e Janus didn''t answer clearly; instead, he talked about something that Ryder once again didn''t understand. "Even the words have powers? What did he mean by the phrase ``words have powers?" Ryder muttered as he thought about the words. "What does that mean?" Ryder asked Janus. \u003c Find for yourself\u003e Janus answered Ryder without answering anything, but before Ryder could reply, Janus continued. \u003cThe sudden upgrade took a lot from me. I would not be able to talk for some time. You can use the Powers of the Bracelet but be careful. Don''t overuse it before you''re ready for the consequences\u003e After saying that, Janus went silent. Ryder kept trying to ask him, but Janus didn''t reply. " It must be something. Last time, he went silent before the upgrade, but this time, he went silent after the upgrade," Ryder let out as he got off the bed. Ryder went to the shower and came out after a short 10 minutes. He changed his clothes and laid down on the bed. " My poor Whirlwind is wrecked, and now I''m technically without a car. All because of that idiot. He already crossed my bottom line. He needs some consequences, but if the person Stanner saw was actually a spy placed after me, then I can''t be careless. It''s not a light offense to thrash the police chief of the city," Ryder muttered as he stared at the roof. "I''ll think about it later after getting the identity of the girl who was spying on me. For now, I''ll just stay under, I guess. The whole Federal debacle is already doubtful of me. I don''t want to get the police after me as... Wait!" Ryder was casually speaking his thoughts out loud, but he stopped suddenly as if he realized something. "Is it the Feds? It must be! They let me go after the test and made it seem like they weren''t doubtful of me, but when it comes to that, it shouldn''t be that easy. They might be pulling the old trick of letting the bait out to catch the big fish. They either want me to lead them to the Uprising unintentionally, or they want to catch me red-handed if it''s them. Either that or the person is working for the Police Chief. Things will be clear soon," Ryder muttered as he came to an assumption. Even though he had a general idea about who it could have been, but he knew that he had to wait for Stanner''s return before forming an opinion. ''I''ll deal with it depending on who it is,'' Ryder thought as he clenched his fist. He brought the Divinity Glasses out and wore them. "Take me to Divinity," Ryder muttered. The Divinity Glasses activated, and a link was established which brought Ryder to the World of Divinity. Ryder appeared outside his room, where he had disappeared from when he logged out. He looked around and found the hallway empty. Ryder opened the door and entered the room. As soon as he entered the room, he found Rale. He imagined Rale to be sleeping, but Rale standing near the window, looking outside. "What are you looking for outside?" Ryder asked after entering. "Your Highness," Rale turned back and greeted Ryder while getting down on one knee. "Stand. I already told you that you don''t need to go down on your knees when greeting me while we''re alone," Ryder told Rale as he walked closer. "A royal etiquette should always be followed," Rale let out in full seriousness as he stood up. " You follow the rules, which is your biggest positive side, but sometimes you''re too stern," Ryder responded as he smiled. He walked closer to the window and looked outside. "The view is really pretty from here," Ryder muttered. "It is. If we come here during the Third Month of Demon Calendar, we might even be able to see an even greater view," Rale suggested. "Why? What happens then?" Ryder asked as he looked back in curiosity. Rale walked closer to the window and pointed outside in a certain direction. "A rainbow fountain appears right around there during that time which showers over the whole city. It''s a majestic view that can only be seen inside Duke Devilia''s City. People from all around the Demon Realm come here to see that," Rale explained. "Did you come here last time it happened?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yes. It was fun. I came here with all my men," Rale replied. "What is it like? What happens other than the rainbow fountain? Is there a celebration or a festival of sorts?" Ryder asked in curiosity. "No. People just come here, watch, and leave. There is nothing else," Rale said, shaking his head. "That''s sad. Alright. Remind me about this a month before this happens. If I''m free, we''ll make it a big event," Ryder told Rale as he smiled. 254 Chapter 250: Killer Skeleton "Anyway, how was your sleep?" Ryder asked Rale. "It was decent," Rale responded as he nodded his head. "That''s good. Whenever we are in a place where I can sleep in my special space, you don''t have to guard me all night long," Ryder told Rale as he smiled. \u003c+50 Loyalty\u003e \u003cYou have received a new title\u003e \u003cTitle Received: Caring Demon\u003e ''Hmm? Another title?'' Ryder muttered as he tapped on the title to see what it entailed. A different screen opened before him. "Title: Caring Demon\u003e \u003cDescription: A demon is said to be ruthless and fierce, but there exist caring demons too that think less about destruction and more about protection. A title that can only be given to a Caring Demon\u003e \u003cBenefits: Defence +20%\u003e "A title for defense? It can come in handy," Ryder muttered as he looked at the screen before him. "Hmm?" Rale couldn''t help wonder what Ryder was talking about. What Title for defense? Was Ryder thinking about the defense of this palace? ''He must be thinking about what we talked about last evening. He''s definitely thinking about breaking the defense of the Undead Region and weakening them after creating trouble between the two factions. He''s already thinking so far ahead,'' Rale thought as he looked at Ryder. He misunderstood the meaning of Ryder''s words entirely and took them as a plan against the Undead Region. "Oh, right. Rale..." Ryder glanced back at Rale. He was about to ask something, but before he could, there was a knock on the door. "Come inside," Ryder commanded. The door of the room opened, and Devilia entered the room. She roamed her gaze around the room and found Ryder standing near the window. "You''re back. The citizens have arrived. Everyone is waiting for your arrival. We can start whenever you feel like it," she told Ryder. "Oh? There''s no reason to delay then. Let''s finish it faster. We still need to go to other places," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. He already had the Crown on his head and the Treasure Robe on his back. His clothes were also princely, like a majestic ruler. "Now, only one thing is missing in my appearance," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He opened his inventory and brought the Moon Scythe out of his storage ring. "It''s perfect now," Ryder muttered as he stood with his Scythe. He started walking towards the exit of the room and went towards the Palace Balcony, being closely followed behind my Rale, Devilia, and his Royal Guards. As he reached near the Balcony, he saw High Duke Mila standing near that place already, outside public view. "Come. Let''s finish this," Ryder said to High Duke Mila as he smiled. High Duke Mila also walked out and stood on the right side of Ryder, just one step back. Rale and Devilia stood behind. The crowd that was chattering for a long time had suddenly turned silent as they saw their Prince appear. "All hail the Prince!" "All hail the Prince!" "All hail the Prince!" "All hail the Prince!" "All hail the Prince!" Suddenly, the citizens started chanting and cheering for Ryder. Ryder felt like laughing, but he controlled his expressions and remained stern. After a short period of chanting, Ryder raised his hand, signaling them to stop. There was again silence. Ryder used his Skill of Intimidation to make him seem like a fierce leader "Citizens of my Demon Realm, As you all may already know, I am the Prince of the Demon Realm. Not only the Prince, but I am also the soon to be King of the Demon Realm. A lot of you may have already heard about my character, but to those that don''t, let me reiterate! I believe in individual strength, but I believe in combined strength even more. As long as you all are with me, No danger can even dare to look at the Demon Realm, and as long as I am here, No one can even think about harming my citizens!" Ryder began his speech. "Now, I came here today, to see the beautiful Dukedom of your Duke Devilia, and I must say that it looks astonishing. The view here is beautiful, and the Demons here are great. You all are doing a great job keeping this place great, but as I say, There are always things that are hidden by the disguise of beauty. So today, I am here to listen to you. If any of you have any information or any major information that you think can affect the stability and safety of our realm, then feel free to tell me right now. I''m willing to listen," Ryder declared. "Those who think they have something important to say, Raise your hand. Since we don''t have too much time, I''ll select any three of you guys to speak your concern. Make sure to utilize this opportunity," Ryder added. After speaking till here, Ryder waited for people to raise their hands. A lot of people raised their hands while a lot didn''t. Ryder looked around all the citizens and selected one. "You! The one in that blue dress," Ryder said as he pointed towards a Female Demon that looked like she was in her late 20s. The woman lowered her hand and pointed towards herself as if she was asking for confirmation. " Yes, you! Speak your concerns," Ryder said as he smiled. "Greetings, Your Highness. I am Rinoloa. I have a problem that I think can affect the safety and stability of this place if it increases," The girl told Ryder. "Yes. What is it?" Ryder inquired with a curious look on his face. "It''s about the Missing Demons. I have seen some of the Demons go missing in our vicinity. At first, I thought that there was a Demon killing people or something for whatever reason. It isn''t odd for people to kill here, but just yesterday, I saw something that made me realize how wrong I was," The girl told Ryder. "You mean to say that it''s not Demons killing Demons? What did you see? Tell me clearly," Ryder told Devilia as he looked at her in full seriousness. Even Devilia seemed serious now since she hadn''t known this. "When I was outside last night, I saw something. I saw a Skeleton, dragging a big sack filled with something. There was blood dripping out of that Sack. It seemed like Demon Blood. I believe that the skeleton is behind the missing demons. It can only mean that the Undead Region or the Death Domain is involved. They must be scheming something," The girl told Ryder in a voice powerful enough to reach him. \u003cSpecial Quest Received\u003e \u003cQuest: Find the reason behind missing Demons\u003e \u003cQuest Grade: Grade A\u003e \u003cQuest Rewards: The next part of Chain Quest will be unlocked\u003e \u003cQuest Reward: +2 Level\u003e \u003cQuest Reward: The Painting of Yama\u003e \u003cQuest Reward: +500 Fame\u003e '' A Quest is here? Ah right. It must be a special quest associated with this lady. If it''s the work of other Realms, then the quest will only get bigger and scarier. The rewards were also getting better. I will also get fame points. This did turn out to be better than I thought\u003e "Rale, bring her up here. I want to talk to him in private," Ryder turned to his left and commanded Rale. Rale nodded his head and flew outside the balcony. He landed in the crowd. "Give me your hand," Ryder told the girl. The girl gave him her hand, which Ryder held and flew back to the balcony. " This is an important topic. I''ll talk with you in brief later. Till then, stay inside," Ryder told the girl. Ryder told one of the royal guards to take the girl inside the palace. The girl was sent inside. The crowd started talking amongst themselves as they heard this news. "A skeleton is killing demons? How? They''re weak!" "It must be someone controlling the skeleton and making him stronger or giving it a backup. It seems like the work of the Death Domain! They''re again looking for a war!" "Do they think we''re weak? We''ll smash them like last time too!" The demons were more enraged about the news of Skeleton being the killer. They didn''t look scared; instead, they looked angry and started chanting for revenge. "We need to attack them!" "They forgot what happens when they fight us! It''s time to remind them!" "I''ll kill thousands of them alone!x "Revenge!" "Revenge!" "Revenge!" Ryder could see the crowd getting restless. "Silence!" Ryder let out in a stern tone. All the people that were chanting stopped instantly. "Alright. That was indeed an important topic. If her words are correct, then a skeleton has managed to sneak inside our Demon Realm. It is a serious matter, and we would need to investigate the matter clearly. In the meantime, I advise you all to stay alert," Ryder told them all. 255 Chapter 251: The Mysterious Girl "Alright. Now that we have been informed about the first concern, let''s move on to the second. Remember, only raise your hand if you believe the matter is important," he told the citizens as he again started looking for people with concerns. People once again raised their hands. The number of hands was no less than the number of hands that were raised before. Ryder glanced over the people that had their hands raised and selected another person. "You, the demon with black hair in red clothes," Ryder said as he pointed towards one of the men. The other people lowered their hands and started looking towards the man. "Greetings to Your Highness," The man greeted Ryder as he dropped to one knee. "Speak," Ryder told the man as he nodded his hand. " Your Highness, My concern might not be as important as the interference of Death Domain in our Demon Realm, but I feel like the life of us here would improve a little if this problem is solved," the man told Ryder as he hesitated a little. " It''s fine. You can speak," Ryder told the man. The man opened his mouth and closed his mouth again as if he was still hesitating, but as he saw Rale glaring at him as if warning him to be fast, the man finally started speaking. "It''s about an official! I came from the domain of Marquis Glaria. The main purpose of me coming here was to talk to Duke Devilia, but it was proving to be difficult. I told the City Guards about my concern, but even they refused to believe me. I was hesitant if I should speak before you or not because I wanted not to do it in public, but I don''t think I can talk to the Duke otherwise or if anyone will believe me or not," The man explained with a concerned look on his face. Duke Devilia looked at the man as she frowned, wondering what he was talking about. She hasn''t received any information. Did her guards really bury a crucial piece of information? She decided to investigate about this later. "I guess you''re concerned about your security. Don''t worry. I assure you that nothing will happen to you. Just be clear and tell your concerns. I would be happy to hear them and find a solution for you," Ryder told the man as he looked in his direction. "I am here to talk about our Marquis," The man said. "I believe that Marquis Glaria is dead, and the Minister of Marquis Glaria is taking care of our land in his stead! Under a different leadership, the quality of life in our place is deteriorating," the man blurted out. "Marquis Glaria is dead?" Duke Devilia exclaimed in surprise. Ryder looked at Devilia and frowned. Looking at her reaction, it seemed like she had no information that he was dead, which could only mean that the Marquis Palace hadn''t shared the information. How did this man know about it then? If they had kept it a secret that even the Duke didn''t know, then how was it possible for a normal citizen to know about it. " What makes you believe that Marquis Glaria is dead?" Ryder asked the man as he frowned. x "There are many things that made me believe it. Marquis Glaria cared about the citizens, and he was a just leader, but there is no justice left in our place anywhere. He also had monthly meetings with the citizens, but that has stopped too. No one is allowed to meet the Marquis anymore. No one had seen the Marquis from the last two months either. Something is really strange. If he''s indeed dead, then it would indeed make sense. I can''t be a hundred percent certain, but I''m almost a hundred percent sure that the Marquis is dead, and the Minister is trying to use the Marquis name to collect power," The man told Ryder. Ryder nodded his head before he glanced back at Devilia. "Duke Devilia, you''re more aware about your Duchy. What do you say about the concern of this man?" Ryder asked Devilia. "That is indeed a serious accusation," Devilia said as he frowned. She looked in the direction of the man before she continued. " You know that if it turned out to be a lie, you could be convicted, right?" "I know. That''s why I waited for so long before coming here, hoping that Marquis Glaria would appear, or I would get a signal of him being alive, but nothing happened. I had to take this decision. Even if I''m wrong and I''m put to death, at least I would get my satisfaction that he is alive. If he''s not, then that too can be handled as long as people know about it," The man replied in full seriousness. "Alright. I will address your issue. Devilia, Send some people to the Palace of Marquis Glaria. I need the answers. If Marquis Glaria is actually dead and the Minister didn''t inform anyone, then he shall be put to death," Ryder told Devilia after looking back at her. "It will be done," Devilia nodded her head. She looked back at her Chief Guard and told him to go to the Palace of Marquis Glaria and investigate this matter. She also told him to take a small amount of force to be ready if any unforeseen situation appeared. The Guard Chief nodded his head before he left. "Also, make sure that man remains safe. Find the guard that stopped this information from getting to you and deal with it accordingly," Ryder said again. Devilia once again nodded her head as she sent another guard to bring the man inside the palace. She was going to find the guard that this man was talking about later. **** "Alright. Two concerns, and both were valid. I wish I could take more, but I need to leave for other places as well. I only have time to listen to one more," Ryder declared as he glanced at the citizens once more. People raised their hands once again, but Ryder noticed that there was a kid this time who was raising his hand. It was a girl who seemed like she was 14-15 years old. Ryder had noticed the girl before because there was a strange tattoo on her face that seemed quite intriguing. Ryder had already seen the girl just as he had come out to the balcony of the palace. The girl hadn''t raised her hand before, and it was her first time now. ''Was she hesitating before, or did she just come up with something?'' Ryder thought as he looked at the girl. He raised his hand and pointed towards that girl. "You! The young girl in red. Speak what you want to say," Ryder said to the girl. The girl looked at Ryder without any expression on her face, but she didn''t say anything. " Don''t be scared. You can speak about anything," Ryder told the girl as he smiled. "What is it that you wanted to say?" Ryder asked the girl. The girl looked at Ryder and slowly opened her thin lips as she spoke five words. Even though the girl only spoke five words, the words were enough to send a frenzy. People started getting restless. Even High Duke Mila and Rale were shocked as they started looking at the girl. Their expressions turned severe, and even a little bit of killing intent appeared in their eyes. Duke Devilia also looked at the girl threateningly. "How dare you speak those words to the Prince! Do you wish to die!" Duke Devilia told the girl as she glared at her. Her powerful intent pressed down on the girl, but she controlled her strength. Even Ryder couldn''t understand what was happening. He was in a daze after hearing the girl''s words. He saw people getting angry at the girl and came out of his daze. "Devilia, stop!" Ryder said as he raised his left hand and gestured to her to stop. Devilia stopped and retracted her killing intent. Rale and High Duke Mila did the same, but they still looked at the girl with hostility. "Everyone, calm down. Let me talk to the girl myself! No one will interfere!" Ryder declared in a powerful voice. 256 Chapter 252: Death? People closed their mouths and stopped saying anything, but they didn''t stop looking towards the girl in hostility for what she said. None of them expected someone to say something to the Prince, that too in the presence of the Royal Guard Chief Rale and High Duke Mila. The girl would''ve been decapitated for uttering these words in most situations. Ryder glanced towards the girl and started looking towards the girl as he smiled. "So, little girl. You speak some bold words. You just said that I am going to die! Why did you say that? Also, how should I take those words? Should I take that as a threat?" Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face. "Or should I take it as a warning?" He asked his question and waited for the girl to reply. What she said was a bold statement, and he wanted to know the reason she said it. "It is a warning. You are going to die!" the girl repeated without any expression on her face. Ryder noticed the killing intent and hostility increasing in the surroundings. " How?" Ryder asked again as he looked at the girl. " I don''t know," The girl replied. "You don''t know how I''m going to die? Then why did you say that I will?" Ryder asked in confusion. " Your death is near. The Death Domain will kill you. No one can save you anymore," The girl told Ryder, without any expression on her face. "Are you from the Demon Realm or from outside?" Ryder inquired. He wondered if the girl was someone from the Death Domain that was here to threaten him. The girl didn''t reply and turned back to leave. "Rale, bring her back. I''ll ask her myself later," Ryder told Rale casually. Rale listened to the command and instantly flew towards the girl, but he failed to find the girl as he reached there. It was as if the girl had suddenly disappeared and he couldn''t find her at all. Even Ryder was surprised as he lost track of the girl. High Duke Mila couldn''t find the girl either. Rale kept looking around and observed every person present there, but the girl wasn''t there. "Did she actually disappear?" Ryder muttered in confusion as he looked at the crowd, getting not even a glimpse of that girl. Rale flew back to the balcony and stood beside Ryder. "Your Highness, that girl is not here anymore. I believe she used some skill to leave," Rale told Ryder. He dropped down to one knee before Ryder with an apologetic look on his face. "I am ready for my punishment for failing to bring the girl back." "You can stand. Don''t worry about it. You know what I always say, right? Even gods can''t kill me, let alone a few death dwellers. You don''t have to worry," Ryder told Rale as he smiled. Ryder glanced back at Devilia and frowned. "I find the security of your Duchy lacking. If people like the skeleton and that girl can roam around so freely without anyone knowing. Increase the security and conduct a search. If that girl is still in this place, I want her found," he told Devilia in a stern tone. Devilia simply nodded her head. "I will deal with it appropriately," Devilia replied in full seriousness. Ryder looked back towards the citizens again. " Citizens of Demon Realm. This was all the time I had today as I have to deal with the major issues about the security of this place but don''t worry. This doesn''t mean that you can''t talk about your concerns. From today on, there will be a special branch set up by the Duke that will listen to all your concerns. You can send your concerns Anonymous or go there in person." " I promise that every concern you register there will reach Duke Devilia. She will solve them for you. Those who want to register their concerns today can also do this as well. Find the closest guard and give them a letter with your concern," Ryder declared to everyone with a gentle smile. " Also, if you have any concern that isn''t solved by the authorities here and you feel like that''s a pressing matter, you can come to the Royal Palace and tell the Royal Guards about that. You have all been without a king all this time, and even though the High Dukes handled the matters, I know we can make this place even better. It''s time to make the Demon better, and I''m here for you," Ryder continued as he told everyone in a stern tone before he turned back and started going inside the palace. The citizens started cheering for Ryder. Under the loud cheers, Ryder and the others left the balcony and went back inside. " Alright. The battery of the missing marquis is something your people should be able to take care of. The only matter we have left is the mysterious skeleton. I didn''t expect that the Death Domain would actually think about creating trouble for us when they''re on the brink of a civil war themselves," Ryder muttered as he walked with the others towards the inside of the great hall. "That might be their exact plan. They probably want us to get angry and attack them first. They can use fighting us as an excuse to get all the power. It''s obvious that the Royal Heir had more power now because of him being the legal Prince, but that can change anything as the Inheritor of the Death Emperor becomes strong. If we attack, the Prince can absorb all the power with the excuse of a war. I''m over ninety percent sure that it''s the idea of one of those idiot Death Envoys that are with the prince," High Duke Mila told Ryder as she frowned. "True... The Inheritor chosen by the weapon of the Death Emperor will be at the biggest disadvantage if we attack. The Prince gains the most from it. Of course, my assumption is based on the fact that there is Death Domain behind this," Duke Devilia said as she chimed in. " We''ll find who''s behind this soon enough," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. He entered the Great Hall with the others. The girl who had informed them about the mysterious skeleton was already there in the room. She was standing near the center. Ryder walked past the girl and sat on the throne in the center. High Duke Mila, Duke Devilia, and Rale also sat down on the nearby seats. "Alright. Now we can talk about this in peace. Tell me what exactly you saw and where this took place. I also want you to describe the skeleton in detail if you saw him," Ryder told the girl. The girl opened her mouth to speak something, but Ryder raised his hand and said, "What a minute." Ryder glanced towards Duke Devilia. " Devilia, is there someone who can create a Sketch according to the description? I want to talk to the Vampire King about this. He must know a few things about skeletons," Ryder said to Devilia. "There are a few artists. Let me call him here," Devilia nodded her head. She told her servant to bring the artist here. In no time, the artist arrived in the great hall. " You can continue now. First, talk about his appearance so that we know what you''re talking about when you tell the rest of the story," Ryder told the girl. The girl nodded her head as she started describing the skeleton she saw. "The Skeleton was over 6 feet tall." The girl started describing the skeleton. "Its bones were black, but on the skull portion, I saw something shining. It seemed like there was a tattoo on its skill that seemed like that kept from here to here..." She pointed towards her face as she talked about the skeleton tattoo, which was more intriguing for Ryder and the others. After around twenty minutes, the painting of that statue was created that seemed to be carrying a bag. The artist was so amazing that he made a realistic-looking art piece. Blood drops could also be seen falling from the bag. "It''s ready," The artist said as he showed the portrait to the girl. "Yes, that''s exactly what I saw," The girl nodded her head. The artist walked towards the Prince with the portrait and gave it to him on Ryder''s orders. 257 Chapter 253: The Special Skeleton Ryder observed the portrait before showing it to Rale and High Duke Mila. "It doesn''t look like a normal skeleton. What do you guys think? Do you know about anything like this?" Ryder asked Rale and Mila. " Generally skeletons are white. A black one should be easy to differentiate, that too one with the tattoo," Ryder continued as he hoped for a clue. " I do know about black skeletons. They are generally Commander level Skeletons, which are normally more intelligent than normal skeletons," Rale explained to Ryder as he looked at the skeleton. "True. Black Skeletons enjoy a good reputation in the Undead Region. They are stronger than average skeletons and can think for themselves," High Duke Mila suggested as she smiled. " What about the tattoo of the skull? Do all black skeletons have a tattoo on the skull?" Ryder inquired as he looked around. " They don''t. I don''t think I''ve seen a skeleton with a tattoo like that, at least not on the skull. That''s what makes it so strange," High Duke Mila said as she frowned. "I have fought in the last great war between the Death Domain and the Demon Realm. We saw many strange things as the war raged on, and millions were killed. The Death Domain warriors used a lot of Undead in the battle, but none of the Undead was like this. Either it''s a new type of evolution that had appeared after the last great war, or it''s a skeleton that the Death Domain Warriors weren''t able to control in the last great war, making them not use it," she continued. "So we have no proof that it''s someone from the Death Domain. I guess I''ll have to talk to the Vampire King," Ryder muttered as he frowned. ''I didn''t want to meet him as that can get troublesome since he''s here to find someone that we already killed, but it looks like I have no choice. I do have the quest which needs me to find the Black Skeleton. If I can, I might be able to get an opportunity to take part in an S-Rank event,'' Ryder thought as he looked towards the girl standing before him. " Anyone have any more information about a skeleton of this type besides what we already know about its origin?" Ryder inquired as he looked around. Everyone looked at him and shook their heads. They knew about a black skeleton, which they already talked about, but they didn''t know about a black Skeleton with that tattoo besides what they already shared. Ryder understood the meaning of their looks, and Ryder started looking in the direction of the girl that had seen the skeleton in Demon Realm. "Alright. You can continue. Describe everything that took place on the day you saw this mysterious skeleton," he told the girl. The girl nodded her head as she started talking about that day. "After a long time, when I finally gathered some courage and got my legs to move, I found the guards and told them about it, but they all thought that I was crazy. None of them believed that a skeleton could approach in the main city without being noticed by them. Even when I told my neighbors, they refused to believe me, I tried so much, but I was considered crazy. I can''t describe how glad I am that I got to talk about this today and bring focus to this topic," the girl said as she sighed in relief. She was really scared about the safety of this place, but as no one believed her before, she couldn''t do anything with this Knowledge. She was excited that she got to share her information and that too, in front of the highest authority in the kingdom like the Prince and the High Dukes. "Alright. Take me to that place. Miku, drop the visits to other Dukedoms. We''ll leave this place after settling the matter about this skeleton. Send them a message about the delay. Tell them that I''ll be there after two days," Ryder looked at Miku and told her to inform the others about the delay. ''Even though there is no time limit about the quest of finding the reason behind the missing demons but still, the faster I do it, the better. Two days should be enough to get an idea,'' Ryder thought as he nodded his head. "It will be done," Miku said as she nodded her head. "That''s good. As for you..." Ryder said as he shifted his focus back to the girl standing in front of him. "Take us to the palace you saw the skeleton at." The girl nodded her head. Ryder stood up with the others. "Can you fly?" He asked the girl. "I can''t," The girl said as she shook her head. "It''s fine. Rale, you carry her. Flying should be faster," Ryder muttered as he glanced back at Rale. Rale also agreed. Ryder, Rale, High Duke Mila, and Devilia, along with a few guards, went back to the balcony and flew away, under the watchful eyes of the citizens. The citizens had already guessed where they were going as they saw the girl being carried by them. "They''re taking that girl. They must be going to investigate the skeleton appearance!" "True. The Prince and the High Dukes are already involved in this matter. There''s no way that skeleton can roam around freely." "I still believe that the girl is trying to fool everyone with the fake story. She is only trying to get some fame." "That''s possible as well, but if that''s true, I''m sure the Prince will give her a death sentence." The citizens started talking about them. Most of them believed that the girl was lying and talking about made-up stories. They were all proud of their demon lineage, and they looked down on skeletons. There was something really unbelievable at the thought of a weak skeleton being able to kill a demon. Ryder and the others were brought to the portion of the street where the girl had found the black skeleton. The street was still empty, but as they all landed there, it''s started looking crowded since it wasn''t a wide street. 258 Chapter 254: Sealing the city Ryder looked towards the girl, "Is this the place?" "Yes. The skeleton was standing there and walked towards that side," the girl said as she pointed towards the other end of the street. She then pointed towards the other end of the street. "I hid there." Ryder nodded his head as she walked towards the direction where she talked about the skeleton. He observed the street for any marks that were left behind on the road, but as he reached near that portion, he saw marks of blood drop being left behind. "This should be the blood falling from that sack," Ryder muttered as he saw a trail of blood drop, which he followed. Rale and the others followed after Ryder. "Devilia," Ryder muttered as he looked towards Devilia. " Yes," Devilia replied in confusion. " This is my first time getting involved in the matters of this Dukedom, but I must say, I find your guards to be really lacking. How can I be sure of the safety of this Dukedom when all this is happening here, and you don''t even have any information? Not only that, your guards don''t even listen to people''s complaints," Ryder let out in an annoyed tone as he kept following after that trail. Devilia looked down as she heard that, but she didn''t say anything. "I can understand that the guards would be suspicious of this story, but they didn''t even try to verify it. Not even this, but they didn''t even try taking the concerns of that man who informed about Marquis Glaria? I am really disappointed here," Ryder said in disappointment. "With this level of security, how can we expect our citizens to have a safe life in this place?" he continued. "I hope you do something about it after I leave." "I promise I will get to the end of it. Those who are responsible will be properly punished, and I will be stricter with them," Devilia responded as she smiled. Ryder followed the blood trail for half an hour before he reached the dead end. The blood trail disappeared after some time as he reached outside the city. " I guess this is as far as I can reach with this trail. The only thing we can be sure of is that the black skeleton left the city. Unfortunately, there''s no trail left here anymore," Ryder sighed as he saw no trail after that point. He looked back in the direction of Rale. "Rale, Is there a way for us to follow that skeleton without this trail? Something that can track the blood?" Ryder said as he smiled. "There is no way, unfortunately. We can not track the blood," Rale shook his head as he sighed. "High Duke Mila, Do you have any suggestions?" he asked Hugh Duke Mila. "That''s possible. We do know that the skeleton left the city two days ago after she saw him, but there''s a high chance that he came back if he''s been kidnapping the people from this city. We can take the risk of sealing the city, and we might be able to find him if our luck is good," Ryder muttered as he liked the idea. He believed that sealing the city and searching it can help him find the skeleton if luck supported them. "Should I seal the city then?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder to confirm. "Yes. Seal the city. Devilia, get the guards ready. I want the whole city searched in the next two days," Ryder let out as he walked inside the city. High Duke Mila raised her right hand and started chanting a spell. The spell was long and took Mila over five minutes to complete chanting. As soon as she finished chanting, a bright ray of light left her finger and arched forward as it landed in the center of the city. As soon as the light landed, it changed the form into that of a golden bubble that kept getting bigger and bigger until it was big enough to cover the whole city. The Golden Light surrounded the city, and the barrier was completed. Ryder looked at the sky and saw a beautiful golden barrier surrounding the city. ''She''s pretty powerful. An AOE skill of a level 200 player can''t even cover twenty meters, and her barrier covers an entire city, and she doesn''t even look tired. Sigh, sometimes I can''t help but feel down. In front of normal players, I''ll be a Godly Existence that can kill anyone, but when it comes to this place, I''m not even close to being an ant. At Least I have them to help me, or I''d be dead a hundred times over in a place like this,'' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. High Duke Mila and the others joined Ryder. "High Duke Mila, can you contact High Duke Eston? He should be with the Vampire King. If there''s a way, then establish the contact. I want to talk to the Vampire King," Ryder told High Duke Mila. "There''s a way to do that. We can easily establish a link with them when we go back," High Duke Mila said as she nodded her head. "Good," Ryder muttered as he started flying towards Devilia''s Palace. Rale and the others followed after them. Ryder and the others entered the palace and went back to the Great Hall. Devilia told a maid to take the girl that informed them about the skeleton to a different room since they didn''t need her for now. All of them sat on the seats before they continued their discussion. "High Duke Mila, You can contact High Duke Eston," Ryder told Mila. Mila nodded her head as she stood up and walked to the front. She opened a spatial crack and brought a big mirror out of that which she placed before everyone. The mirror was as tall as Mila and as wide as her. Mila touched the mirror and said a spell which made the mirror shine brightly. The mirror changed color and started showing the view of High Duke Eston that was standing. "Mila? Do you need anything?" High Duke Eston asked as he looked in confusion. 259 Chapter 255: It cant be "No, it''s not me that wanted something from you. His Highness wants to talk to you about something important," High Duke Mila replied as she shook her head. "His Highness? Alright. Let me talk to him," High Duke Eston nodded his head as he heard it. High Duke Mila moved to the side and walked back to her seat beside Ryder. "Greetings, My Prince," High Duke Eston greeted Ryder. "Greetings to you as well, High Duke Eston. Today I have contacted you for a really important matter that is related to the security of our Realm," Ryder told High Duke Eston in a grave tone. "Something related to security? I''m prepared to help in any way I can," High Duke Eston got serious as he heard it. He nodded his head and started listening even more carefully. "Tell me. Is the Vampire King near you, or has he left?" Ryder asked the High Duke. "The Vampire King? He is still here. He is in his room. I am waiting outside for him. Did you need something?" High Duke Eston asked Ryder. "Yeah. I need him. Get him in front of me. I want to have a conversation with him," Ryder asked High Duke Eston. High Duke Eston nodded his head and started walking towards the room of the Vampire King. The Mirror floated behind him and showed Ryder everything. High Duke Eston entered the room after knocking once. The Vampire King was sitting on the bed, lost on some thought, when the door opened. He saw High Duke Eston standing before him. "What do you need?" The Vampire King asked High Duke Eston in annoyance. "Our Prince needs to talk to you about something important," High Duke Eston said to the Vampire King before he moved aside. The Vampire King became visible to Ryder and the others. Vampire King looked towards Ryder. "What do you need?" The Vampire King asked in a casual tone. His tone frustrated both the High Dukes since there was no greeting involved. They found it disrespectful, but they knew they couldn''t interfere without Ryder''s orders. " I have an important matter to discuss today, but before I start, let me ask about you. Have you finished what you were trying to do? Did you find the person you were looking for?" Ryder asked the Vampire King. The Vampire King''s mood only grew worse as he heard Ryder''s words. He had hoped to find his General but even after all this time, let alone finding his general; he didn''t even find a single clue about him. "I didn''t find anything," The Vampire King shook his head. The Vampire King was suddenly more interested in what Ryder had to say. "What did you find out?" he asked Ryder. "You remember when you first told us about your General going missing and you finding demon blood in his missing spot? Our first suspicion was the Death Domain since a lot of demons had been going missing in the demon realm. We believed that they used the blood of those missing demons. Today, I have found proof that it was indeed something like that. It''s either the Death Domain kidnapping out people or your Undead Region that''s planning against us," Ryder let out as his tone turned more serious. " Let me tell you one thing, though. If we find out that the Undead Region is behind it, then we won''t hesitate from a full-on war. For me, the lives of my citizens are more important than anything. If you people are kidnapping my citizens, then I won''t hesitate a single second before declaring a war," Ryder said in a threatening tone. His tone was so serious that even the Vampire King frowned. He felt like Ryder was actually serious about the war. He couldn''t help but wonder what he was talking about. What had happened? How was his Undead Region involved in it? Ryder''s tone also gave pride to the others present in the room. Rale was extremely happy that Ryder was so brave. He was excited to see the Prince standing up to the Vampire King as the Prince of the Demon Realm. He couldn''t help but see a glimpse of the Demon Emperor Salem in Ryder. High Duke Mila also smiled as she heard Ryder''s words. She nodded her head in appreciation. Devilia, on the other hand, looked towards Ryder with a different gaze. She was somewhat attracted to Ryder, who was prideful. She found Ryder to be so manly today. "Anyway, let me talk about this matter now. I would appreciate it if you are honest since a single misunderstanding can result in a war and the loss of millions of lives," Ryder said as he looked in the eyes of the Vampire King. "I just came here to visit a douchy when I was informed that a witness saw a demon''s body being carried in a sack. Can you guess the person who was carrying the sack?" Ryder asked the Vampire King. The Vampire King looked in confusion, not knowing how to reply. "Who?" he asked Ryder. "It was a skeleton! A black skeleton! Do you know who uses skeletons? The Undead Region and the Death Domain. It''s either one of you two that are killing and kidnapping my citizens or the both of you working together against us. Whatever it is, won''t end well for anyone scheming against us," Ryder said in a grim tone. "A black skeleton?" The Vampire King asked as he frowned. "Yeah. A black skeleton with a tattoo on his skull! We have its sketch. Tell me if you know anything about it," Ryder let out as he turned the portrait towards the Vampire King. The Vampire King saw the portrait carefully. High Duke Eston was also hearing it carefully and seeing the portrait. ''A black skeleton with a tattoo? Did someone really infiltrate? Did the Vampire King bring someone with him?'' High Duke Eston wondered as he looked in the direction of the Vampire King. "This... I remember it... it can''t be!" The Vampire King was a little taken aback as he saw the portrait. 260 Chapter 256: The Skeleton King? "That skeleton! He..." The Vampire King kept glaring at the skeleton with shock on his face. "Speak! Who is this skeleton! Why are you so shocked to see him?" Ryder asked the Vampire King. "It''s because... I destroyed that skeleton myself! I crushed him into a powder before burying him!" The Vampire King replied as he frowned. "Hmm? Did you destroy it? Who is it? Why did you destroy it? If you''re so sure that it''s the same skeleton, then how is it still alive after being destroyed in your hand," Ryder asked the Vampire King as he frowned. " That skeleton is the previous Skeleton King!" The Vampire King replied, shocking everyone. Ryder and everyone else was shocked as they heard this revelation. The Skeleton King? An undead King? Even though the Leech King and the Vampire King were the two Major Undead Kings, there were other Undead Kings too. The Leech King and the Vampire King were said to have as much strength as the High Dukes of the Demon Realm, but the other kings weren''t weak either. If Ryder were to make an assumption, the Skeleton King could be said to be as strong as a Duke of the Demon Realm. This meant that the Skeleton King was as strong as Devilia. If Ryder wasn''t with High Duke Mila here and Duke Devilia badly fought with the Black Skeleton, she might not have been much of an advantage either. "So he''s a Skeleton King. No wonder he was able to kill Demons without being found out. It''s as strong as Devilia, after all. It''s a good thing that we arrived and heard about it. I never knew such big trouble was roaming around in our land under all our noses," Ryder muttered as he frowned. "Tell me more about the Black Skeleton King," Ryder said to the Vampire King. "Since you killed him, it doesn''t seem like you liked him much. That might be why he killed your general and framed us while destroying is from inside," Ryder said in full seriousness. Since the Skeleton King was here, he decided to use that as an excuse for the death of the Vampire General. "That''s indeed possible if it''s him. If it''s indeed the Black Skeleton King, he''ll definitely think about revenge," The Vampire King nodded his head in understanding. "It would make even more sense that he joined the Death Domain since he lost his position in the Skeleton Clan and with the rise of a new king from the Royal Skeleton Clan," he continued. "Tell us what had happened," Ryder asked in curiosity. "Nothing major. The Black Skeleton King was just too arrogant. He started attacking nearby clans and taking their resources. Ultimately, he attacked a clan he shouldn''t have," The Vampire King said as he reminisced about the past. There was no way a King that was as strong as a Duke will attack a King that was as strong as a Duke. The only possible explanation was that the Skeleton King was an Idiot, or he was way stronger than the current Skeleton King. Ryder only knew about the current situation where the Skeleton King was as strong as the Duke, but maybe in the past, the Previous Skeleton King used to be as strong as a High Duke? While Ryder was coming up with an assumption of his own, the Vampire King started replying. "No, he didn''t attack the Vampire Clan. He wasn''t an idiot to attack us. Instead, he attacked the Zombie Clan," The Vampire King replied. "How did you get involved then?" Ryder asked in confusion. Why would the Vampire King attack the Skeleton Clan for Zombie Clan? Their relationship shouldn''t be that close. "It''s because of a promise. In the past, the Zombie King had helped someone from my family. I had promised him that I would help him once whenever he needs, no matter how big the problem. When the Zombie Clan was in danger, I came to his help and killed the Black Skeleton King. I helped the peaceful Royal Skeleton Commander rise to the throne, and the war was over. That was the last day I saw the black Skeleton King," The Vampire King explained as he sighed. "So you destroyed it. It is surprising that it was able to rise against... wait a minute! The Death Domain! Those guys can revive undeads to fight for them!" Ryder exclaimed as he put the pieces together. "That''s true. They can revive Dead Skeletons, but they shouldn''t be strong enough to revive and control an Undead King, though. Only the Death Emperor was strong enough, but according to my sources, he was killed by the Demon Emperor in the last great war," The Vampire King replied as he frowned. "Could it be that the Death Emperor is still alive? Or he revived the Black Skeleton King before dying?" Ryder asked as he frowned "No, if he was alive and he had revived the Black Skeleton King, he would have definitely used the Black Skeleton King against us in the last great war. He didn''t use that against us, so I can''t say that he is involved. The Death Emperor is definitely dead," High Duke Mila chimed in as she shook her head. "How is this possible then? Has another person appeared in the Death Domain that can revive High Ranking Undeads and the Undead Kings?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "That shouldn''t be possible. I don''t think there is anyone like that in the Death Domain according to our information," High Duke Mila shook her head. "There isn''t, according to our information as well," The Vampire King chimed in. "This doesn''t make sense then! How is the Black Skeleton King still alive? The only possible explanation that can still make sense is that the Death Emperor revived the Black Skeleton King, but for some reason, he didn''t use it on the last great war," Ryder let out as he frowned. "Alright. That does make sense, but there''s a problem in that as well. If the Black Skeleton King has been alive for so long, why is it only getting active now? Why hasn''t it done anything before? So many years have passed since the last great war," High Duke Mila asked as she frowned. 261 Chapter 257: Forcing mila " Wait! I want to help with this! I created so much trouble for you because of someone else''s trap! I want to clear the dirt and free the name of the Undead Region! Tell me the location!" The Vampire King called out. "Alright. High Duke Eston, please bring the Vampire King to Devilia''s Palace. The more people we have for this, the better. We''re dealing with a Duke Level Threat after all," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "We are going to begin the search on our own for now. You can inform High Duke Mila after you get here. We''ll create an opening in the barrier and help you enter after you get here," Ryder let out as he stood up. "It shall be done," High Duke Eston replied as he nodded his head. High Duke Mila waved her hand, disconnecting the connection. The visuals disappeared, and the mirror returned to normal. High Duke Mila stood up and walked up to the mirror. She touched the mirror with her fair fingers, making it disappear. "Let''s begin the search. We''re searching for an Undead King, so your guards can''t do anything to stop him. Only Rale and High Duke Mila are effective against him completely. The guards will just be cannon fodder, but at this point, we can''t handle this without them. We need to use the guards and form a net all around the city. Their goal won''t be to kill the Black Skeleton King but only to find him. We also need a way to find out if one of those guards is killed so that we can get there. Can we do that?" Ryder asked Devilia in curiosity. "There is a way. There is a spell that can connect a person to the guards, but I can''t cast it. Only a High Duke has enough Magic to link to the thousands of the guards in the city," Devilia replied as she talked about a way. She said that she couldn''t cast the spell, but High Duke Mila could cast this spell. Ryder looked back at High Duke Mila. "Do you know about this spell, and can you cast it?" Ryder asked High Duke Devilia. "Yeah, I do know of that spell, but I don''t think it would be good for me to cast it," High Duke Mila said with a concerned look on her face. "When I cast that spell, my mind will be linked to thousands of Minds. I wouldn''t be able to do anything more than see what the guards are seeing. When I''m in that condition, if the Black Skeleton King attack is, I wouldn''t be able to save you," High Duke Mila said as she sighed. She told Ryder her concerns, which were his safety. "How about we wait till Eston is here? I can freely cast it after he''s here since he''ll be able to keep you safe," she suggested. Even though he talked about this, his main concern was entirely different. There was another reason he wanted to start now, but he didn''t tell High Duke Mila. The reason had something to do with something he had realized from the portrait of the black Skeleton King that he saw. He didn''t tell anyone about this, and he wasn''t willing to, but he had noticed something. The Black Skeleton King had something that he needed. A very rare thing that he couldn''t wait to get his hands on " But what about your safety? If I do this, who will keep you safe? You know that keeping you alive is a bigger priority than anything else right now. We need to keep you alive as you have become a foundation of our Empire now," High Duke Mila said, shaking her head. Ryder couldn''t help but smile wryly. He knew that her concerns were valid, as well. "Rale will protect me from the Black Skeleton King. You know his strength, right?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila as he smiled. High Duke Mila looked towards Rale. Only Ryder and the High Dukes knew about Rale''s true strength. When Rale stopped controlling his strength and removed his limiters, he was much stronger than he normally was. Everyone else thought that Rale was as strong as a Duke of the Demon Realm, but High Dukes and Ryder knew his real strength. They all knew that Rale was much stronger than that. Rale''s strength was way more than a Duke. He was only a little weaker than a High Duke when he wasn''t hiding his strength. "That''s assuming the Black Skeleton King is as strong as a Duke. We also need to consider the fact that he might be stronger. It''s also possible that he''s working with someone else. If he''s working with someone else, then that might be dangerous. When Rale and I are together, we can take care of anything, but if I''m out of the equation, then I don''t think it will be safe. I highly oppose this idea," High Duke Mila said as she shook her head. She wasn''t only concerned about the Black Skeleton King, but what his arrival meant. There was a good chance that the Death Domain was working with them. If the Death Domain had more pieces in their city, then she couldn''t let his attention be diverted at all. She wasn''t willing to agree. Ryder''s safety was more important. ''Sigh, it doesn''t look like she will agree. Her intentions are right, but she isn''t understanding. I can use my token of command to make her do any one thing for me, but to make her do this would be a waste of that token that I''m given. I don''t want to do this,'' Ryder thought as he sighed. "Are you really not going to listen to me?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila. 262 Chapter 258: Rale? Ryder couldn''t help but smile as he saw the stubbornness of High Duke Mila. " Don''t worry. I''m not going to force you," Ryder finally gave up. He wasn''t going to waste his command of the token on this small matter. He didn''t want to wait, but he didn''t need to be in such a hurry either. He decided to wait. Just as Ryder had given up, he thought of something. He looked towards Rale and smiled. "Rale, would you come with me?" Ryder let out as he smiled. Rale nodded his head. " Can you guys leave this hall for a few seconds?" Ryder told the others. High Duke Mila and Devilia looked at Ryder suspiciously, but they agreed as well. They stood up and left the hall. After High Duke Mila and the others left, only Ryder and Rale were left in the hall. "Rale, Do you know about that spell?" Ryder asked Rale. " The spell that Duke Devilia talked about? Yes, I know that spell," Rale said as he nodded his head. " That''s good. By the way, Devilia said that she''s not strong enough to cast that spell, but what about you? You are definitely stronger than her and almost reaching the levels of High Dukes. Can you cast that spell?" Ryder asked as he smiled. "This..." Rale stumbled as he realized that Ryder was talking about. He wanted Rale to cast that spell instead, but Rale had a similar concern to High Duke Mila. He was also concerned about Ryder''s safety and didn''t want to do it. He didn''t know how to answer, though. He knew that he couldn''t say no like High Duke Devilia said. He couldn''t be as stubborn as her. There was just something about him that didn''t let him deny the commands of his Royal Prince. He knew that he couldn''t lie either. "Why aren''t you saying anything? Can you cast that spell or not?" Ryder asked Rale. Rale took a deep breath and sighed as he nodded his head. "I can cast the spell," Rale said as he nodded his head, but he also continued with his excuse of why he didn''t want to. "But I don''t think it would be a good idea for me to use it this time," Rale replied as he shook his head. "Why not?" Ryder asked as he frowned. Was he also going to use the same excuse as High Duke Mila? If this was the case, then Ryder believed that he could convince Rale to do it. Rale looked at Ryder in full honesty. " It''s this oath that we shouldn''t break unless the Royalty''s life is in danger. I can''t break this oath. If I use this spell, I will be linked to all the guards, and all the guards will know that it is I who is linked to them. They will easily realize my strength from this spell. They will know that I''m much stronger than the Duke. My oath will be broken, and my strength will be exposed," Rale replied as he sighed. Ryder didn''t know that Rale was going to use this excuse and this excuse genuinely sounded severe. With this, Ryder realized that he couldn''t force Rale. If he forced Rale, then his favorability with Rale will increase. Ryder didn''t want that at all since Rale was his main man in this place. He trusted Rale more than he did anyone else, and he also felt safer with Rale around. Rale was a walking superhuman, after all. His level was so high that Ryder felt like he was already strong enough to break the game. Ryder realized that if the other players knew that Ryder had someone like Rale as his helper, they would strike at the headwaters of Necrosis and start calling Ryder an illegitimate child of Necrosis owner even more. He didn''t want to lose Rale, and forcing him would do that. He also knew that it would also affect other things. His favorability with the Royal Guards will decrease as well. Also, if his favorability decreased and Rale betrayed him, he could be in danger. Rale knew that they went to the Undead Region and many more places illegally. Ryder could lose everyone''s trust if Rale betrayed him. That''s why he wanted to keep his favorability with Rale high. "Fine. You don''t need to do it. We''ll wait till the Vampire King and High Duke Eston arrive. You can call the others inside. We''ll Wait," Ryder sighed as he walked back to the throne and sat on it. Rale also breathed in a sigh of relief since he didn''t need to put Ryder in danger by following Ryder''s orders. Rale left the great hall and told everyone to come inside. High Duke Mila and Devilia entered inside the great hall once again. "There is a plan change. We will wait for the arrival of High Duke Eston and the Vampire King before we begin the search," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "That''s better," Hugh Duke Mila said as she smiled. Her young face looked even cuter as she smiled. She sat on the throne beside Ryder. Devilia and the others also sat down. "Oh, right. Devilia. We sealed the city so suddenly. Are the citizens freaking out?" Ryder asked Devilia. "They were, but we have everything under control. I had my guards inform everyone that it''s nothing serious. We used the excuse of testing the barrier. They wouldn''t freak out, and we can keep the barrier up for longer," Devilia explained to Ryder. "That''s good. It''s better if they don''t freak out. It''ll be difficult to find the Black Skeleton King otherwise, and he would have an easy time to kill the demons," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. He closed his eyes and started waiting. While Ryder closed his eyes, the first thought that came into his mind wasn''t related to the Black Skeleton King and this matter, but it was about Alice. 263 Chapter 259: Inside Necrosis He had found out about her and realized that she was also a part of Divinity. He had seen her with Divinity Glasses, which meant that she was also playing inside Divinity. He wondered what her Avatar was and where she was at the moment. The world of Divinity was mostly safe for normal players. He had only died in the later stages of the game, so he believed that Alice was safe, but there was another concern for him. He had realized that the future was changing and anything was possible. If he could, he would never let Alice play divinity, but Janus was forcing him not to interfere. Janus had assured him that she was going to be safe, and he believed it. Ryder couldn''t help but shake his head. He wondered if he should find out about her username so that he could message her or send a friend request to her. He also wondered if that was the right thing to do. ''She knows I play in Divinity too. She started playing and didn''t inform me. Did she not want to meet me in Divinity? Is it that she wants freedom from me inside Divinity? If I do anything like asking her username and sending her a friend request, would it look like km stalking her? It might affect her negatively,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. Rale and the others saw Ryder frowning with close eyes. They all believed that Ryder was thinking about the Black Skeleton King and how he could save the people of the Demon Realm. '' He is indeed a nice Prince. I''m glad that he''s somewhat serious about his role,'' High Duke Mila thought as she smiled. '' As expected of His Highness. He isn''t resting at all. Even in this situation, he''s still thinking about the problem ahead. I should really do something to step up myself as well. I need to keep up with His Highness,'' Rale thought as he looked at Ryder. The Royal Maid Miku, on the other hand, was not in the great hall. She was busy dealing with the official matters of the Kingdom. She was dealing with informing the other Dukes about the change in Ryder''s schedule, which had become even more complicated after the whole city was sealed down. Devilia''s guards were guarding the great hall carefully. Ryder''s Royal Guards were inside the Great Hall, taking care of his safety. **** While Ryder was inside the game, something else was taking place in the real world. A bright moon was rising high in the sky. A cold breeze was flowing, making the grass on the ground whizzle. Under this cold weather, a meeting was taking place in a giant building. The building was in the Corporate Capital City of the Country. It was a tall building that everyone knew about. It belonged to a new corporation that was on its way of becoming a giant corporation. There was a name on the top of the building. This building belonged to the Necrosis Corporation that was known to be the makers of the first fully immersive Virtual Reality Game of Divinity. On the top floor of this building, a meeting was taking place. The meeting was between the top executives of the organization, where they discussed above the future plans for Divinity. "So, what did you find out about this Hades? How is he getting so many items in Divinity? Did you not take precautions to prevent it from happening before we allowed the public to access Divinity?" An executive asked as he looked towards the screen. Ryder''s image was showing on the screen. It was not the image of his Game Avatar. Instead, it was the pic of him in his real life. All the executives looked towards a certain person who was sitting in a black suit in one of the suits. The man sighed as he stood up. "We did take precautions, but apparently we missed some things. That man, known as Ryder, was indeed lucky. He found an item that even we didn''t know about. That helped him advance and unlock the quests after that. Anyway, I know we are getting complaints, but we can''t do anything about it. It was his luck that he got this chance. It''s not worrisome. In my eyes, it only makes things more interesting. I think we can leave him alone for now and focus on other matters," The red-haired man replied. "Fine. We can let him be. It''s his luck, and I''ll leave it at that, but there are more things we need to talk about. There are more pressing matters," the dark-haired executive in the main seat said as he frowned. " About this Lucifer... Were you able to find out who this Lucifer is? How is he still getting access to Divinity?" The dark-haired executive asked the red-haired man. "We... we have no idea. I don''t think he''s using our Divinity Glasses to get access to Divinity. He''s using some other methods. We can''t find out who he is or how he actually looks like. He could be a guy, or he could be a girl. All we can say is that he has some really incredible resources in his hands to be able to do this. We''re trying everything we can to find him, but it seems impossible," The red-haired man said as he shook his head. " Everyone is useless! You can''t even find a guy that is getting access to Divinity bypassing us? Useless! Morons! Do you have any idea about the seriousness of this matter? The whole... Ahhh, you''re making me frustrated. I want him found! I want him found at all costs! Just remember, no one else is going to come from outside and help us find him. We''re the ones that are going to have to do it. Put more men in trying to find him," The dark-haired executive said as he stood up in anger. The red-haired man took a deep breath but didn''t say anything. He simply nodded his head. "It shall be done. Give me one more month," The red-haired man ultimately said. "Good! I expect to see results in a month," The dark-haired man said as he nodded his head. He sat down on his seat. " I also have to point out something," Another executive said as he chimed in. He also looked pretty serious as he talked. "Speak, what do you wish to say?" the dark-haired executive asked the man. 264 Chapter 260: After Imane "That''s true as well, but I don''t like any abnormalities," The dark-haired man said as he nodded his head. He looked back at the red-haired man. " I still want him found, and I believe you will keep your words. You have one month." The red-haired man couldn''t help but smile wryly as he nodded his head. The dark-haired man looked back at the second executive and asked again. "What is your concern? Speak," he asked. " It''s about what we are going to do in the future. The involvement of real-world money in divinity. Are you sure that it''s a good idea to leave it all on that man? Can he even handle it alone?" the second executive asked as he frowned. "Don''t worry about that. I have faith in him. He can easily deal with it. He is the..." The meeting continued in the office of Necrosis, while Silence ensued outside the building of Necrosis. **** The Two FBI agents that were on Ryder''s Trail had left his city and arrived in this city as well since the headquarters of the FBI was here. They were going towards the hotel since it was night. They had to report at the office in the morning. " I''m having second thoughts about it. Is your sister really going to handle it? I still think that you shouldn''t involve her in this matter. If that guy is really the person we know him to be, then there are going to be dangers all around him. Your sister might get caught in then. It''s dangerous for her. I seriously think we should tell the Chief about it. We don''t need to take this matter into our hands. We seriously can''t afford the consequences if something goes wrong," Jacob let out as he frowned. "Don''t worry. My sister knows what she is doing. She also knows how to stay away from trouble. She won''t involve herself in this matter too close. She will just track his movement and do nothing else. She is an expert in this. I have full faith in her. Also, I do think that Ryder isn''t a bad guy. He wouldn''t harm her even if something goes wrong. That man could''ve killed us many times, but he didn''t. That''s enough for us to know about him. From what I understand, he only kills the ones that are involved with that Bio-Terror Organization," Ray let out, shaking his head. Jacob looked at Ray and couldn''t help but smile wryly. "What about Pasher? Most likely, Ryder killed him," Jacob let out as he frowned. "Sigh, what can we do. Where we get a lead, Ryder appears here and kills our lead," Jacob exclaimed as he laughed. "Sigh, yeah. That is indeed frustrating but don''t forget if he doesn''t appear, then we wouldn''t be alive. He appeared in Washington and saved so many lives. He appeared outside Jameson''s house and saved our life from Riya... wait a minute," Ray was talking about Ryder saving them when he suddenly thought of something. "What? I know about that look. Did you uncover some mystery?" Jacob asked Ryder. "Yeah. Jameson... he was related to the Uprising. Also, Ryder appeared outside the house of Jameson that day when he took Riya. Could it be that Jameson... it wasn''t suicide but..." Ray let out but didn''t finish his sentence. " But Ryder killed him and made it seem like suicide. That''s not tough to believe. In fact, I believe that more than the theory that Jameson was scared of some interrogation and committed suicide," Jacob replied as he nodded his head. Ray couldn''t help but facepalm himself, "That guy! He''s killing all out clues!" After a long time, he sighed. "What can we do now? It''s not like we have any clues left. Now we can only use him to get to clues. Previously, he and we were after the same clues, but now we''ll be after him. He can''t be faster than us now," Ray let out as he nodded his head. **** Everyone was busy with one thing or another. Shu was also busy in matters of his own. Shu was on the phone with someone, trying to find the history about the girl that Ryder hated. He had heard from Imane during the Karaoke celebration that her boyfriend was a member of Necrosis corporation. He was trying to find more about her boyfriend. He wanted to know what her boyfriend''s position was. Necrosis Corporation kept the information of their engineers a secret. They never disclosed the names of anyone that might have been deeply involved with the creation of Divinity. Shu was hoping to find out about the guy through other measures, and if the guy was indeed an engineer, then he might have been able to get more answers. "Yeah, Go after Imane. Don''t use any extreme means. I want you to find out about her boyfriend from her. Use any methods you can without harming the girl," Shu said in a grim tone. "Yeah, you can use that method. I don''t think that will be considered illegal," Shu continued after he heard a response from the other guy. After some time, Shu disconnected the call and laid on his bed. "Sigh, why is this little thing so complicated," Shu muttered as he looked at the Divinity Glasses in his hand. ***** Back in the Demon Realm, Ryder had opened his eyes as he was informed of the Vampire King''s arrival. He stood up. 265 Chapter 261: Arrival "The Vampire King is waiting outside the barrier with High Duke Eston. We''ll need to go there to allow them to enter," Devilia said to Ryder and the others. Ryder glanced towards Rale with a questioning gaze. Rale nodded his head as if he understood Ryder''s meaning. When Ryder and Rale were alone in the room, Ryder had also talked about something else with Rale. He had told Rale one of his concerns, which would be negative for them. Ryder had told Rale about the Vampire King and how he could recognize blood. They both knew that when they were in the Undead Region, both of them had bled. In the alternate reality, the Vampire King had recognized Ryder''s involvement in the death of his general through his blood. He knew that if he or Rale bled this time, the results might be the same. So he had told Rale to do everything he could to make sure that he didn''t bleed. He was said to be alert at all cost and save himself from even the slightest of injuries. Ryder had ordered Rale to do it, and Rale had agreed. Ryder had also told Miku not to come before the Vampire King. Even though Miku hadn''t gone to the Undead Region with them, Ryder knew that she was vulnerable. She knew about them going there, and if the Vampire King used his mind-reading ability on Miku, then they might be exposed. Ryder was protected from that ability because of his special crown that had the ability to protect against mental attacks. Rale was also protected from this ability since it only worked on people that were weaker than a Duke. "High Duke Mila, Do you need for us to come with you?" Ryder asked Mila "Not really. Devilia and I will be enough. You guys stay behind. I''ll bring them here safely," High Duke Mila replied as she shook her head. "Alright. You go ahead. We''ll wait back here," Ryder said as he nodded his head. He sat back on his throne once again. **** High Duke Mila and Devilia left the great hall and flew towards the entrance of the city where the Vampire King and High Duke Eston were waiting for them. Devilia and High Duke Mila landed before the barrier, the other side of which stood the Vampire King and High Duke Eston. "They look pretty eager. Hah, both of them are impatient guys," High Duke Mila smiled as they saw the impatient look on the faces of both men. "Aren''t all guys impatient? His Highness were being impatient too. He really wants to catch the Black Skeleton King," Devilia replied as she smiled. "True. He''s really a caring prince. I can''t wait to see him when he has reached his peak. If Prince Hades is so good, I can only wonder how amazing King Hades will be," High Duke Mila replied as she shook her head. "Hey, ladies! Are you going to open the entrance or not?" High Duke Eston asked with a wry smile on his face as he looked at High Duke Mila. "So impatient," High Duke Mila muttered as she shook her head. She waved her hand and made a door shaped opening in the barrier. The High Duke and the Vampire King entered through the opening. As soon as they entered the city, the barrier disappeared. "Finally, we''re inside. You made us wait for quite some time," High Duke Eston said to High Duke Devilia. "You literally had to wait a few minutes. What are you even talking about?" High Duke Mila asked High Duke Eston as she shook her head. " Stop your loving banter. If I were you, I would be more concerned about the Black Skeleton King roaming in your city. He can cause so much destruction; you have no idea. Also, since it seems like he''s with the Death Domain, it''ll be even more dangerous," The Vampire King said in an annoyed tone. " And we can thank the Undead Region for that. They just had to be the pawns of the Death Domain against us! In the last war as well, we fought less Warriors from Death Domain and fought their Undead Slaves more. I still don''t understand why you guys are still neutral even after they treat you like slaves," High Duke Mila said sarcastically as she shrugged. The Vampire King glared at her angrily. " They can control the weaker Undeads, so it''s not my responsibility to take care of them. They can''t control the Vampires, and I don''t care about them. Why would I do anything about the Death Domain? They''re your enemies. You should take care of them. It''s not like I want to help you. I''m only here to find my General. Since it seems like the Black Skeleton King and whoever is controlling him is responsible for this scheme, I want to help catch them and get to the end of it. Don''t get any ideas like I''m breaking the neutrality of the Undead Region by doing it," The Vampire King let out as he frowned. "Hmph," High Duke Mila rolled her eyes and didn''t say anything. "Think whatever makes you feel better at night. We both know the reality. Most of the Undead Region is a slave of the Death Domain. You have the power to change that, but you''re too scared. As for the excuses for it, I''m sure you can come up with thousands of them," High Duke Mila ultimately said. The Vampire King was about to reply, but High Duke Eston cut him off since he knew that this would only increase this little argument further and waste more time. " We''re getting late. We really shouldn''t delay this important matter. Let''s go to the Palace and meet up with his Highness," High Duke Eston said. High Duke Mila nodded her head as she started flying towards the Palace. Devilia also followed after her. High Duke Eston flew near the Vampire King, keeping an eye on him. The citizens of the city saw them flying back, and they were once again shocked. "High Duke Eston is here as well? I feel like something is really wrong. Two High Dukes are in this city, and this city has been sealed," One of the demons said as he frowned. "I''m getting worried too. It doesn''t seem like a simple matter, or the other High Duke wouldn''t be called here. Are we under attack from the Undead?" Another Demon inquired. " The appearance of a skeleton, the sealing of the city, and then the appearance of another High Duke. It seems like that. We might actually be under attack. I think we should stay inside our homes. Don''t go out until there''s any update, or the seal isn''t removed. It''s going to be a long day," the first demon said with a concerned look on his face. Most of the Demons had understood about it. They all realized that something was wrong here. They were all getting restless. Most of them chose to hide in their houses and waited for the thing to pass over. The Vampire King and the others landed near Devilia''s Palace and entered inside. They all entered the palace of Devilia and appeared before Ryder inside the great hall. "Sigh, finally, you''re here. You guys made me wait for so long," Ryder smiled wryly as he stood up. "Ah, yeah. We did get delayed for some reason," High Duke Eston replied as he subtly glanced at High Duke Mila. "It''s fine. Now that you''re here, we can begin. Let''s start now. I don''t want to wait even a second. High Duke Mila, Tell High Duke Eston the spell he needs to cast to link with all guards. After that, we can start. The guards will search the city, and where we get any information, we''ll leave to catch the Black Skeleton King," Ryder said as he glanced at High Duke Mila. High Duke Mila nodded her head. High Duke Eston, on the other hand, stood confused, wondering what they were talking about. What had happened? What were they talking about? he couldn''t help but wonder, but everything was clear after High Duke Mila told him about the spell. "Ah, so this is what you were talking about. You just want to give this boring task to me. Isn''t that why you didn''t do it?" High Duke Eston asked as he glanced at High Duke Mila. He did talk in a low voice so that only High Duke Mila could hear him. High Duke Mila smiled like a child whose plan had succeeded. "Alright. I''ll do it," High Duke Eston sighed as he nodded his head. 266 Chapter 262: Gigantification High Duke Eston nodded his head as he agreed to do it since Ryder wanted it. "There''s no need for preparation. I know the spell. Just make me see all the guards so that I know what I''m working with and to make a good connection," High Duke Eston nodded his head as he told Ryder. "Devilia, please bring all the guards near the Palace. Let High Duke Eaton see them all. We can begin the work after that," Ryder told Devilia. "I''ll arrange for that. I''ll inform you all when it''s ready." Devilia nodded her head as she started walking towards the exit. Devilia left the great hall, and just as she was walking away, she happened to walk past her father, who was going outside. "Father, please don''t leave. Stay inside the palace for the next 24 hours. It''s not safe outside," Devilia told her father as she tried to stop him. "Little Girl, do you think that Black Skeleton will be able to stop me? Are you underestimating your father? I can live in the Death Domain between their higher-ups and still come back alive, without any harm. What''s the danger of a little skeleton? Even though it''s a Skeleton King, it can''t harm me," Devilia''s Father let out with a casual smile on his face. "You?... You weren''t in the great hall when we were talking about it? How do you know that the Black Skeleton is the Skeleton King?" Devilia asked with a suspicious look on her face as she frowned. "Hahaha, is that really a question you should ask me? Your father is the best Spy of the demon realm, little girl. I spent half my life spying in the Death Domain. Do you really think I don''t know the information that goes around in my own home when I''m here?" Her father replied as he chuckled. "You were spying on us? Do you know how serious of an offense that is to spy on the Prince and a High Duke? They can get you punished if they find out," Devilia scolded her father as she frowned. "They won''t. I think I have a good understanding of people. I have read the Prince well. He isn''t going to harm anyone for an offense like this. He might look hard on the outside, but from what I understood, he''s a really soft guy on the inside, at least towards his own people. I like him. A really good choice to be my son in law. Go for it, my dear daughter. Father supports your choice," Her father replied as he laughed lightly. Devilia glared at her father in annoyance. "You again started!" she let out in frustration as she stomped her for on the ground. "Hahaha, you might be the Scary Duke Devilia for the citizens of the Demon Realm, but you''re simply a kid that is too shy to know that she actually wants," Devilia''s Father let out as he smiled before he continued walking towards the exit. **** Devilia arranged for all the guards to come to the Royal Palace. Tens of Thousands of guards were standing outside the Royal Palace, waiting for further orders. The citizens that saw it realized that their assumption was correct. There could only be one reason for bringing all guests together. A war was going to begin, and the beginning of this war was now. They believed that this was a war with the Undead Region this time. The citizens also started preparing for war in their own ways since they knew that they could be called at any moment. A lot of the citizens started moving towards the shops to collect the edible items that they felt were needed to get them through this war. They realized that with a war, there was a chance that the resources might start lacking. They didn''t want to die of hunger and started packing the food. The whole city was sealed, which made them even more confident that they''ll lack food since the supply from outside the city would be disrupted because of this barrier as well. Devilia realized what was happening, but she had more important matters to deal with. She needed all the guards to be present, so she couldn''t send any guards to explain to the citizens either. Devilia just waited back at the palace. She knew that this whole chaos would be over in a few hours. As soon as they finished the search, they would open the barrier, and everyone would realize that there was nothing to worry about. She knew that the more she tried, the more people would misunderstand the situation. She already gave an initial excuse, and she was going to stick with that. Devilia watched all the guards standing before the palace, and only then did she walk inside. She went to the great hall. Ryder and the others were still sitting in the great hall. Ryder was watching the Vampire King speak. He had asked the Vampire King a question about the Black Skeleton King''s powers so that they could know what they were dealing with. "The Most Annoying Power of the Black Skeleton King was Gigantification," The Vampire King replied as he frowned. "It was really annoying as it made him more destructive." "Gigantification? What''s that?" Ryder asked as he frowned. He had an initial idea about the power from its name, but he wanted to be sure. "It''s a power of increasing in size. The Black Skeleton King can increase his size by a thousand times, at least. He can become a giant Skeleton that is over 60 meters tall. His strength also increases with his size, but there''s also a disadvantage that comes with this. With an increase in size, his speed decreases. He also becomes a bigger target to hit with an increase in size. Still, it''s a pretty annoying ability since his defense also increased because of it," The Vampire King explained as he frowned. ''Gigantification? It increases attack and defense but decreases speed and evasion. The real magic is in the size, though. Oh man, I really want to kill the Vampire King myself and get that spell of Gigantification with the ability of Steal of the Moon Scythe. Fucccc! Why did he have to be so powerful! I would''ve been able to kill him myself if he was under level hundred, but he''s as strong as Duke Devilia. I have no chance of killing him and snatching that skill. I can only watch him die,'' Ryder thought as he sighed. He hated the fact that he couldn''t kill, but he just forgot that it wasn''t because he was weak. It was because he had accessed something that should''ve been beyond his abilities. With his level, he could''ve killed anyone he wanted in the lower levels of the game where he belonged at this moment in time but his luck had played such a game with him and straight away brought him amongst the real beasts of people. "That is an annoying ability indeed. If he used that ability inside the city, most of the citizens would die in the aftermath of the Battle. Did we really take the right step by imprisoning him in the city?" Rale asked as he frowned. He was simply raising a concern. Ryder looked at Rale and nodded his head. This was a genuine concern. "That will indeed be annoying. It would make us lose the trust of the citizens if that happened. High Duke Mila, I have a suggestion. We can take precautions against it, I think," Ryder said as he glanced at High Duke Mila. "What suggestion?" High Duke Mila asked as she looked back with great interest. " Can you modify the barrier that''s covering the city?" Ryder asked High Duke Mila. "That is possible," High Duke Mila nodded her head. "That''s good. And, can the Black Skeleton King break the barrier if it used Gigantification?" Ryder asked Mila again. " I think he can break the barrier, but the barrier should be able to hold the attacks of the Black Skeleton King for a few minutes even in his increased size," High Duke Mila responded. "That''s good. I have a plan then," Ryder said as he smiled. "What plan?" High Duke Mila inquired in confusion. Ryder opened his lips to reply, but that''s when Devilia opened the door of the great hall and entered inside. "It''s done," She said. "All the guards are waiting outside." 267 Chapter 263: Bankrup "Yeah, I''m coming. Just wait. Let his Highness finish first," High Duke Eston let out as he waved his hand, gesturing Devilia to wait. "It''s nothing major. I was just talking about something to stop him from using his Gigantification. We can''t actually stop him from using it, but we can make it so that even if he tries, it only brings him at a disadvantage," Ryder told High Duke Eston casually. ''What''s the way? Anything we can do to decrease the amount of destruction is useful," High Duke Mila asked Ryder. Ryder looked back at High Duke Mila as he started talking, "What I want you to do is very simple. You can modify the banner, and it''s specification, so I want you to decrease its height. Instead of it being like a dome, I want it to be like something that has a plane roof and possibly only a few meters taller as our tallest house." "If we do that, we can still manage to fly, even though we''ll be flying a lot closer to the ground. This way, we can also stop the Black Skeleton King. If he starts increasing his size, his head will increase the barrier at the top, which, as you said, can hold him for a few minutes. We can use those few minutes to kill him," Ryder continued. "That is something I can do," High Duke Mila replied as she nodded her head. "Good. You do that while High Duke Eston will link with the guards. We can start when the two of you are ready," Ryder told High Duke Mila. "I should get going then. I''ll be right back." High Duke Eston said as he stood up. He didn''t leave, though, as he glanced back at the Vampire King. "Why don''t you come with me too? Let me show you our army," he said to the Vampire King. High Duke Eston was clever, and he had thought of everything before others could tell him. He knew what he needed to do. He had realized that when he left, High Duke Mila would start modifying the barrier. Since her mind would be more focused on the barrier, it should mean that Ryder would be alone with the Vampire King and Rale. If the Vampire King decided to attack Ryder at the time, High Duke Mila might not be able to react on time. High Duke Mila also nodded her head in appreciation as she realized what High Duke Eston was trying to do. He wanted to bring the Vampire King away from Ryder and keep him together. The Vampire King also realized what was happening. He knew that Eston was suspicious of him. He stood up. "Now, it would be a different matter if I find out that you guys schemed against my own people. I don''t want a war, as long as you guys don''t give me a reason too. Because, honestly speaking, amongst all your enemies, I can and will be your worst nightmare if you give me a reason to be," he continued as he started walking towards the exit. "Aren''t you coming with me to see the guards, High Duke Eston?" The Vampire King let out casually as he left the Great Hall without the least bit of worry on his face. High Duke Eston chased after him as he left as well. Duke Devilia left with them to show them the place. After the others left, High Duke Mila also got ready to work. She closed her eyes as she started controlling the thousands of kilometers wide barrier. The barrier started changing shape. From a semi-spherical barrier, it changed shape and became a more square shape as the roof of the barrier became entirely flat. The roof of the barrier was on Ten meters in height, no matter where it was measured from. High Duke Mila was so efficient and so fast that it took her only five minutes to complete the work. The barrier work was completed as it became the exact shape that Ryder wanted it to be in. High Duke Mila opened her eyes after she was done with her work. " I''m done. We can start at any time now," High Duke Mila told Ryder. "Alright. Let them come back now. We''ll begin then," Ryder said as he nodded his head. He closed his eyes and started waiting. ''Janus, are you still resting?'' Ryder asked in his thoughts, wondering if Janus was still in his slumber or if he was up. Janus didn''t reply. Ryder felt like he was still sleeping. "Wake up fast, bro. There''s something I need to talk to you about," Ryder muttered softly. Ryder opened his eyes and opened his status screen to see how it was there. He couldn''t help but smile as he looked at the status. ''The level that took me months to reach is now so easy to get. I think I really broke the game. I wouldn''t have believed that it was possible if I wasn''t looking at my level now. I can perfectly understand why the other players complain. Still, I need to do something about it. If it keeps going on like this, the others will only get more and more frustrated. It won''t be fun anymore,'' Ryder thought as he looked at his level, which was in the 70s. He felt like he was already far ahead of his nearest competition. He was also concerned about the consequences. Such game breaking events could be really harmful for him and for Divinity. '' At Least no one can kill me now,'' he thought as he smiled. ''I don''t want to be petty, but it would''ve been so good if I was in the same timeline when I had died. Reviving in reality at that time would be too good. Now I am becoming rich but still, living the same three years again is boring, even though it''s different,'' Ryder thought as he started frowning. Rale was looking at Ryder''s every expression, curiously. He watched Ryder frown one second, then smile the next second and again frown. He wondered what Ryder was thinking about. High Duke Mila, on the other hand, was looking at her fingers, thinking about something as well. **** While Ryder was sitting on the throne inside Devilia''s Palace, something else was going on outside in the real world. It was something that Ryder had already known about, and he had planned for it as well. He had previously met up with a woman when he was out drinking who was the Owner of an Aviation Industry Company. Ryder had remembered that the company was going to go bankrupt soon because a buyer had backed out from a major deal after the deal was almost done. The company lost a lot of money in that, and it had sued the buyer, but Ryder knew that they were going to lose the case. Ryder wanted to buy it at that moment, and it was exactly that moment now. A Young looking woman was sitting in a room, looking at a bunch of papers that were lying before her. Her hands were holding her head as she was going through a fierce headache. "It''s all over. We lost the case! Those bastards! They bought the judges! There''s no way the decision would be like this otherwise. There''s no other way. It''s over. It''s all over. We''re bankrupt," The woman muttered as a tear fell from her eye. "We have no chance but to sell the company shares at whatever we can to pay back the loan, or they''ll take over the company and sell it themselves," she muttered as she shook her head. While she was wondering if she could even get a buyer, she had no idea that the buyer was going to be no other than the person she had shared drinks with, thinking that he was just a casual worker. **** In another portion of the city, something else was going according to Ryder''s plan as well. The renovation and finishing of Ryder''s building were completed as per the plans. The equipment that he had asked for was set up as well. The company was officially ready, and he could bring the staff that only included one man at the moment. That one man was a big shot thought. Not in this timeline, but in the previous timeline, it was said that the man was a lead contender for the nobel prize for his work. At the moment, he was just a nobody, though. 268 Chapter 264: Heavenly Roo A person was moving through the tall buildings, jumping from one building to another like that person had some superpower or some special type of energy that made them stronger. That person was around 5 feet 8 inches tall, but as that person was shrouded entirely in black clothing, it wasn''t easy to judge if that person was a man or a woman. While that person moved through the roof, another group of people closely followed behind. The second group was also wearing black clothing, but there was a Chinese dragon symbol on their clothes. The clothes of the person on the lead were plain, though, without any symbols. It seemed like the grout of people with the dragon symbol were chasing after the person who was at the front. They kept chasing after the person in the lead. "You can''t run! Give us the Heavenly Root! It belongs to us! Return it, and we can let you live! If you don''t give it to us, not even your soul will leave intact!" One of the people that were chasing after the person in the lead said in a grim tone. The Voice sounded like it belonged to a middle-aged man. The voice also had some strange energy that seemed to be vibrating in nature, making it so that it clearly reached the ears of the person in the lead, but that person didn''t stop as that person jumped again, landing on another building. "That Bastard! He stole the Heavenly Root that we purchased from the Underground Auction! Does he really think that he can escape after stealing from our Chu Clan?! I''ll definitely kill him for sure!" Another person said in an angry tone as they looked towards the person in the lead. The person in the lead kept jumping from one building to another before landing on the building that seemed to be the last tall building in the surrounding. The next building was over a hundred meters away, making it seem impossible for the person to escape. The person finally stopped running at the end of the roof of the last tall building. That person turned back and looked at the people that were chasing. A face was covering the face of that person. Only blue eyes were visible from under that cover. The blue eyes looked towards the twenty people in the dragon symbol black robes landing on the same roof. "Hahaha, why did you stop, little guy? Run! Jump off the roof! Hahaha, you really thought you could escape from us, didn''t you," One of the followers said as they laughed out loud. " Haha, he really thought he could steal from the Chu Clan! I can bet that if we remove that mask, we''ll find the crying face of a man who''s too scared even to speak," another person said as they laughed. "Give us the Heavenly Roots, and we can still give you an easy death!" Another person chimed in. "Give us the Heavenly Root! You have no way to escape! Just give it to us, you thief!" Another person said as they glared at the girl. " I''m sure you''re an independent thief that has somehow learned a few Cultivation skills! If you give us the Heavenly Root and beg us for forgiveness, we can even think about taking you to the Chu Family. You can be a servant of our family. Think carefully. Our Chu Family is a really big name amongst the Cultivation Families," The man in the lead said to the Blue-eyed person. "What''s there to think about? Should I really be concerned about what dead people say to me?" the blue-eyed masked person replied as a beautiful voice echoed in everyone''s ears. The voice sounded like it belonged to a girl. "You''re a girl?" The man in the lead exclaimed in shock. "Yeah, I am. So what? Can''t girls embarrass old men by stealing things from under their noses," The blue-eyed girl replied. "Hehehe, that''s nice. After taking the Heavenly Roots, us brothers can also have some fun with you to control the Yang Fire burning inside us after running for so long." "Kekeke, it''s really our lucky day. We caught the thief, and we''ll get rewards for retrieving our item, but not only that, but we''ll also get to have fun with a girl with such a heavenly voice, all night long," The men started laughing as they passed the lecherous comments on the girl after hearing her beautiful sounding voice. "Oh? I would have to disappoint you, but you''re not getting the Heavenly Root. You''re not even getting the girl," The girl replied in a casual tone. The men looked at her and started laughing even louder. "Do you really think you have a way to escape? Or do you think that someone will come to save you? Little girl, we''re from the Chu Family! Even the gods shall be afraid of us!" one of the men said as he continued laughing. "Wah, I thought you guys were idiots, but you''re clever indeed. How did you know that someone is coming to save me?" The girl let out in a fake surprise as she slowly took off her mask, revealing a beautiful jade-like face on the other side. The girl had a face without any blemishes. Her eyes looked as clear as the purest of blue and as deep as the sea. Her lips were thin, forming a slight smirk on her face. She had beautiful brunette hair that was longer than her shoulder but not long though to reach her waist, but the black robe she was wearing hid her hairs from the eyes of the men. The Girl looked like she was only 21-22 years old. Even though the girl had a beautiful face, the lustful gazes of the men had suddenly stopped as they saw her face, contrary to expectations. "Y-you are... It can''t be..." "W-why would you... Your Family..." All the men were gobsmacked as they saw the girl''s face. It seemed like they recognized the girl''s face, and they were scared of her. The beautiful looking girl felt like a scary ghost to the men that were proudly chasing this girl like lions a few minutes ago. The Lions had suddenly turned into rabbits that had started shivering as they started stepping back, but they reached the end of the building. "Where are you trying to go? Don''t you want the Heavenly Root?" The girl called out as she saw the men standing at the other end on the roof. " W-we apologize for disturbing you. We don''t really want that Heavenly Root. Think of that as a gift from our Chu Clan to your family. W-we will take our leave now," the black-clothed men said in fear as they turned back to leave, but their face turned even paler as they saw tens of white-robed people standing on the other roof. Not only that, white-robed people appeared on the roof they were standing on as well, on every corner of that roof, creating a ring around the Black Clothed people. A handsome man appeared beside the brunette girl and sat on one knee. The man had a sharp chiseled face and beautiful silver hair. He looked like he was in his late twenties. "Young Miss, If you''re done with this timepass activity, shall we go back? Madam had realized that you sneaked out of the clan to have fun. She''ll be getting restless," The silver-haired man said to the young brunette. "Sigh, mother is like a baby. She always starts worrying. Why does she even have to worry? Aren''t you here to keep me safe? She never lets me have fun. Fine, let''s go back. This game of chase was nice. Btw, here, this Heavenly Root that I won in this game. Wasn''t your birthday yesterday? Treat this as an extra birthday present," The girl said as she threw a fruit like an item towards the silver-haired man. This small fruit was called the Heavenly Root. It was a really mysterious fruit that was really helpful and rare. The Silver-haired man caught the Heavenly Root. "Thanks," he thanked the girl. "Y-young miss. C-can we leave? We already gave you that Heavenly Root as present," The Black Clothed man pleaded with the girl as they were scared after being surrounded by the White Robed people. "Do you really hope to leave alive after you talked vulgarly about her? Kill them and make sure that it''s a painful death," the Silver Haired man commanded the white-robed people. "They can deal with it. Let''s move back," he continued as he looked towards the girl. "We also need to prepare that birthday celebration. Many big people are coming." The girl nodded her head as she got ready to go back home. 269 Chapter 265: New Skill "I have seen them all. I am prepared to start at a moment''s notice," High Duke Eston said as he opened his eyes. Ryder opened his eyes slowly and looked in the direction of High Duke Eston as he nodded his head. " Have a seat. Start as soon as you can. I don''t want there to be any delays. Every second is important," Ryder said. High Duke Eston walked back to his seat and sat down. The Vampire King also sat beside High Duke Eston. Devilia sat beside Rale. "After you cast the spell, you should not only see what they see, but you should be able to hear their thoughts too. It will be challenging, but I''m sure you can do it. When you''re ready, take a deep breath and establish a link so that you can send them a message about starting the search," Ryder let out after High Duke Eston sat down. High Duke Eston nodded his head. He took a deep breath as he roamed his gaze all around the room. He rolled his eyes as his gaze landed on High Duke Mila. High Duke Mila smiled. She knew that High Duke Eston was annoyed as she dumped this task on him instead of doing it herself, but she didn''t feel bad. Instead, she enjoyed watching the annoyed look of High Duke Eaton. "I''m ready. The search will begin now," High Duke Eston said as he closed his eyes and started casting a spell. "O Lord of Demons, Give me the strength, Let me take the happiness and pain of all your followers that I wish, ... ... Give me their thoughts and give them my though, The world shall show me through their eyes, Eyes of Changing, Thought of Soro Let this be the wish of a Demon, Dreimaia!" High Duke Eston finished casting a spell. Ryder glanced at them and heard the chanting. He wondered if he could cast the same spell with this chant as well? This chant was the most simple spell that he had heard, which didn''t use any ancient words. Instead, it used the generally spoken language. He wondered if he could cast this skill by changing a few things about it. Ryder looked towards High Duke Mila and wondered if he should ask her. '' No, she can be too stern. Rale knows about it too. I should take his help,'' Ryder thought as he gave up on the idea of asking High Duke Mila. He waited until High Duke Eston went silent and finished establishing a link with the Guards. After he saw High Duke Eaton not moving for over five minutes, he nodded his head as he was sure that the link of High Duke Eston was completed. It was the time of searching the whole city with the net of guards, which would take a long time. He could take some time off from this place without missing anything. She watched Ryder come closer and closer until Ryder was standing right beside her. Ryder moved even closer as he bent his body forward, placing his arms on both sides of High Duke Mila''s throne as his face was just a half a meter away from her face. High Duke Mila''s expressions turned a little unnerving as she looked in Ryder''s eyes. ''Is he going to kiss her?'' The Vampire King thought as he looked at Ryder and High Duke Mila. ''I didn''t know their Prince was a person like that. Sigh, the demons are really like I heard. They are a creature of their emotions, lust being the strongest of them. The rumors were true after all," the Vampire King''s thoughts continued, wandering off into different conclusions. Ryder, on the other hand, kept bringing his face closer to High Duke Mila''s face, but just as his lips were a few inches away from her confused face, he turned his face to the left and brought his lips closer to her ears. "I need to leave this took with Rale for a few minutes. You stay here and keep an eye on the Vampire King. I''ll be back in a few minutes. Also, sorry for coming so close. I just don''t want to disturb High Duke Eston," Ryder whispered in the ears of High Duke Devilia. His warm breath brushed against her ears, giving her a strange feeling. She could also smell Ryder''s smell. She couldn''t help but feel something strange, but she controlled her expressions and didn''t let it show on her face. She nodded her head. Ryder moved back before he walked closer to Rale and whispered in his ears to follow after him silently. Rale followed the orders as he stood up and walked towards the exit, leaving High Duke Devilia, High Duke Mila, and others behind. Ryder and Rale left the great hall. Ryder didn''t say anything as he continued walking in a certain direction. Rale didn''t ask any questions, either. After walking for some more time, Rale realized where Ryder was going since they were getting closer to the Room of Ryder in the Palace of High Duke Devilia. Ryder opened the door and entered inside. "Come in," He told Rale after entering. Rale also entered the room after Ryder. Ryder walked closer to the window and looked outside. He could still see a few guards standing outside. " It''s surprising how a person could link his brain to tens of thousands of people while still being the same. This skill of High Duke Eston is pretty amazing," Ryder said as he looked outside. "This is a good skill, indeed. From what I heard, our Second Demon Emperor had created this skill to command his men effectively in war. While High Dukes can only link to a few hundreds of thousands of people with this skill, the Second Demon Emperor was said to be able to link to the entire Demon Realm and its million of Demons," Rale explained. "Interesting. He must be pretty high level," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "Anyway, I brought you here to talk to you about something really important. I want to learn this skill. I need you to teach me everything about this skill," Ryder said to Rale as he glanced back. "Ah, that? I can teach you about the skill, but I would suggest you not to use this skill before you''re stronger than me. This skill is not something to be used lightly. It can really harm the brain if it''s used carelessly," Rale told Ryder. 270 Chapter 266: Second Demon Emperors Wierd Limitation "Alright. You already heard the High Duke cast this skill, but still, I''ll repeat the spell for you so that you can listen again and get a better idea of it," Rale told Ryder before he started speaking a spell. Rale made sure to speak slowly so that Ryder could hear carefully. "I understand. I had already learned it on the first try," Ryder said as he nodded his head before he raised his first concern. "There is one thing I don''t understand, though. Why is it that the skill didn''t activate for you even after you said the spell?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "It''s really simple. The spell is not the main part of the skill. It is said that you need five things to cast this skill effectively. The spell is just one of those things," Rale explained to Ryder. "What are the other four things, then?" Ryder asked as he frowned. " I''ll talk about all five of them so that Your Highness can understand better. The first thing is Spell. Spell something that uses your energy to interact with the Demonic Energy in the surroundings to cast this skill. Mastering the spell is the easiest because of your Demonic Bloodline and because the spell is simple and doesn''t use complex pronunciation of the words," Rale told Ryder. "The Second component that is needed to cast this spell correctly is intent. The intent is something that you need. It''s like the will. Even if you speak the spell, the skill won''t activate since you don''t have the intent to activate it. That''s why when I said the spell, it didn''t activate for me. It was all because I didn''t have intent," Rale continued as he looked at Ryder. "The Third Component is called the Spirit," Rale explained to Ryder. "Spirit?" Ryder asked in confusion. He understood about Intent and Spell from the words themselves, but it was the first time he was hearing about the need of Spirit to cast a spell. "Do you mean Souls?" "No, Your Highness. I didn''t mean the Spirits like the ones we saw in the Valley of Wandering Souls. What I meant by Spirit is your soul. Everyone''s soul contains some magical energy that is needed to cast spells. That''s the third component. If your spirit doesn''t have enough magical energy, you can''t cast the spell," Rale explained. "Oh, I think you''re talking about Mana. That''s right. Mana is needed to cast skills like this. I already realized that," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "Mana?" Ryder asked in confusion. "Ah, I meant Spirit. Don''t worry, I understand. You can continue ahead. What''s the fourth component," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "That''s easy as well. From what I know, I already have Demon Bloodline. It shouldn''t be a problem either," Ryder affirmed. ''Now, as long as the last component isn''t bad, I should be able to learn it,'' He thought as he waited for Rale to continue. A few seconds passed away, but Rale didn''t start talking. "Go on. Talk about the last component," Ryder said to Rale, who looked a little awkward. "Speak," Ryder asked again. "The fifth component that is needed to cast this skill successfully is related to Virginity," Rale blurted out. "What the actual fuck? How did virginity come into this?!" Ryder exclaimed in shock as he looked at Rale with an incredulous look on his face. " I don''t know why it is the way it is. From what I understand, the Second Ancestral Demon Emperor made it this way. As for his reasons, I have no idea. Anyway, this skill can only be used by people who are not virgins," Rale said openly. If the term ''What the fuck'' had an expression, that''s what Ryder''s face looked at the moment he heard Rale''s works. '' Just what kind of person was this Second Demon Emperor? Did he really hate virgins so much that he made skills specifically for non-virgins?'' Ryder thought as his frown didn''t lessen. ''I''m not a virgin in the outside world, but still, I don''t think that will be counted in the game. The VR glasses did not have any data if I''m a virgin or not. That should only know if I have sex in-game, which I haven''t. I''m entirely sure that I''m considered a virgin by Divinity,'' Ryder thought. ''Whatever. Let me test the skill myself to see if I satisfy the criteria.'' "Rale, tell me more. About the meaning of each word in the spell and if I can change that. Also, how should I control how many people I link to? If I want to link to a hundred thousand people or if I want to link to ten, how should I handle that?" Ryder asked Rale the main question. He knew that it would cost more mana the more people he linked to, but if he linked to only one person, the cost of mana should be much lower. He wanted to try from the lowest level since he knew that his mana levels were nowhere close to even Devilia, let alone to High Dukes. "That is pretty simple," Rale let out as he started the significance of the spell, word by word. ... "As for the control of his many people you affect, that''s pretty simple as well. When you cast the spell, you just need to think about the people you want to affect. That will be done. If you think about affecting a hundred thousand people that you know, it''ll be fine as long as you satisfy all the criteria and have enough Spirit. Similarly, if you think about affecting only one person, that will be done as well," Rale said. "There''s only one thing to keep in mind, though," he continued as he warned Ryder. "You shouldn''t try to link to a person stronger than you without their permission, or it might harm you." Ryder nodded his head as he glanced at Rale. "Rale, I want to test it. I want to cast this spell on you," Ryder let out suddenly. 271 Chapter 267: Death Strikes Home "Don''t worry. Nothing will happen to me. I''m doing it anyway, and I''m not going to listen to anything. Don''t worry. I have a Treasure that can protect me from that. Nothing will happen to me. Just don''t resist, and I''ll be fine," Ryder said as he made up an excuse. He believed that the skill wouldn''t even work if he doesn''t satisfy the criteria, but it definitely shouldn''t harm him. "Your Highness has a Treasure for that?" Rale inquired with a curious look on his face. "Yeah, Don''t worry. On the count of three, I''ll begin. Be ready," Ryder said as he closed the conversation without giving Rale any chance to oppose. He had already made an excuse to make Rale uncertain, and he didn''t give time for Rale to even think about it. "Alright. As long as it doesn''t harm you," Rale affirmed, nodding his head. Ryder took a deep breath as he started chanting the spell. "O Lord of Demons, Give me the strength, Let me take the happiness and pain of all your followers that I wish, ... ... Give me their thoughts and give them my though, The world shall show me through their eyes, Eyes of Changing, Thought of Soro Let this be the wish of a Demon, Dreimaia!" As soon as Ryder finished the spell, notification started sounding in his head. \u003cYou have used the Spell Dreimaia\u003e \u003c A unique spell detected that could be saved in Skills\u003e \u003c The Special Grade Spell doesn''t have any Elemental Affinity Requirement\u003e \u003cWould you like to learn the spell\u003e \u003cY/N\u003e Ryder looked at the notification in surprise. ''Interesting. Even after chanting the spell, I can''t use it, but fortunately, I got a skill to learn. Just chanting the spell gave me the option to learn it? Is this because of some specialty?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''Is it because it''s specially made for demons by the Second Demon Emperor? If I can learn skills like that, it would be pretty good. I should investigate about it,'' he continued as he tapped on yes to learn the skill. \u003c The Special Skill Dreimaia has been learned\u003e Ryder tapped on the skill to see it''s description in the game. \u003c Skill: Dreimaia\u003e \u003cType: Active Skill\u003e \u003cSkill Level: Level 0\u003e \u003cProficiency: 0% \u003e \u003cSkill Cooldown: None\u003e The description also showed the limitations of the skills which he was the same as Rale had told him. The conditions to successfully cast the skill weren''t specific, but the ones that were specifically made Ryder give up on the idea to cast the spell. "What the heck, even the lowest mana cost is so high. Is it even possible to cast this skill? It''s impossible. There''s no way I can get that much mama even if I was a level thousand player in my past timeline. This thing is soo..." Ryder was feeling frustrated as he saw the impossible-looking mana cost. "Forget it. I think you were right. It is impossible to cast this spell at the moment. I''m not ready. Let''s just forget about it and go back," Ryder nodded his head as he turned back to leave. Rale moved faster as he wanted to open the door for Ryder. Ryder couldn''t help but smile as he slowed down, letting Rale do what he wanted as he moved to the side. Rale reached the door and opened it, but as soon as the door was opened, Rale''s expressions changed. He brought his hands closet to his chest as if trying to protect his chest. Ryder couldn''t see anything, but he did see Rale making a strange movement of his hands after opening the door. Only a second had passed. Ryder couldn''t even open his mouth to ask what was happening as he saw Rale flying back. Rale flew back, but it didn''t seem like he was intentionally flying. It was as if a fist had landed on his chest, making him fly back. Rale crashed on the wall at the back, but he didn''t stop there. The force of the impact was so fierce that even the wall was broken as Rale flew out of the palace. Ryder just watched everything with his mouth wide open as he watched Rale fly outside. He looked back to see who was standing outside the room, and his mouth opened wide in shock. He saw someone he never expected to be here. It was someone he wanted to meet but not like this. There was a Skeleton standing outside the door and not a simple skeleton. The Skeleton was a Pitch Black in color. There was a strange tattoo on the skull of the Skeleton. Ryder was taken aback as he saw the Skeleton. "Black Skeleton King? How?" Ryder muttered in shock as he took a step back for some strange reason. ''The heck, why am I even getting scared. I don''t need to be scared. It''s not like running can help me if he''s going to attack me. Might as well...'' Ryder thought as he stopped. He realized that it must be something like his Intimidation skill that the Black Skeleton King was using. His Crown should''ve stopped all mental attacks, but this probably wasn''t dangerous, so it wasn''t stopped. It might also be that this skill didn''t actually target his mind. It might be something that had a similar effect but didn''t affect the mind, so it wasn''t affected by his crown. After realizing it, Ryder activated his own Intimidation Skill to cancel out the effect. He also brought out his Moon Scythe out of his inventory as he got ready to defend himself until Rale came back. He knew that Rale wasn''t going to stay down just from this. It wouldn''t take long before Rale was back. He just needed to defend himself and made sure that he didn''t die. Everything else was going to be taken care of by Rale. This commotion was also going to attract the attention of the High Dukes. Ryder knew that some of the guards were outside the palace. It was highly probable that High Duke Eston''s mind was connected to them too. They would definitely see Rale crashing on the ground. It wouldn''t take long for them to realize that something was wrong. They would run to this place, and everything would be taken care of. Even the Black Skeleton King couldn''t survive the attack of a High Duke. The only thing that shocked Ryder was how Black Skeleton King was able to enter inside. It shouldn''t have been possible. The guards must have caught him if he came openly. The only other possibility was that someone on the inside helped the Black Skeleton King. It was either that or a possibility that someone teleported inside. That would''ve also needed the cooperation from someone on the inside with the Teleportation formation creation. Ryder also had another assumption. ''That girl in Devilia''s forest... When she left, she used some strange formation too. Something that helped her Teleport and leave. It must be something like that. This place just has Death Domain spies. The Death Domain is definitely involved,'' Ryder thought as he gripped his moon Scythe firmly. He saw the Skeleton King appearing before him instantly and punch towards his face. "Transform!" Ryder muttered as he used the Transformation ability of the Moon Scythe. This ability of the Moon Scythe allowed Ryder to change the Moon Scythe to anything he wanted as long as it was a weapon or a shield. Ryder used this to transform the Moon Scythe into a shield, which he brought closer to his face to protect himself from the fist of the Black Skeleton King. He knew that he couldn''t stop the damage, but as long as it wasn''t an instant kill, his Ruler of Nature might be able to help him. Ryder kept his shield in front of his face as he braced himself for the impact. This was the moment he was really nervous since he knew that if he were killed in one hit, he would have to repeat the last day, which he really hated a lot. He would have to arrange for everything again and get everyone back together, which he didn''t want to do once again. It was just too much. Ryder knew that this revival ability was useful, but he also knew that if he kept using that, he would one day go crazy because of repeating the same things again. Janus had also warned him to use this ability sparingly. 272 Chapter 268: Multiple Enemies Ryder opened his eyes and looked down. The first thing he saw was the feet, but these were actually feet, not skeleton feet. He moved his shield to the side and looked at the front. He couldn''t help but smile as he saw a familiar back. A person was standing before him. Their two beautiful wings were clearly visible. A powerful aura was surrounding that person. Ryder could see that person''s hair. That, along with the clothes and the physique, made Ryder know who that person was without seeing their hair. " Rale, Right on time," Ryder muttered as he looked at the back to give Rale enough space since he knew that Rale wouldn''t attack at full force in fear of harming him. He was giving Rale freedom. **** Rale had opened the door when he was suddenly punched by the Black Skeleton King. Rale believed that he was in a safe place, and he wasn''t alert, so it was unexpected, but he still reacted fast and protected his chest using his hands, but he was thrown back because of the impact. Rale was thrown out of the mansion as he crashed on the ground outside the mansion, but he didn''t even take a second to stand up. He was a little hurt, but he was not seriously injured since even though he had sealed most of his strength, his physical defense was still there. Rale was so furious and concerned about Ryder''s safety that he wanted to Unseal himself and destroy the Black Skeleton King, but he controlled his emotions. He didn''t Unseal himself here, but he did fly back to the place he was thrown out of. As soon as Rale flew inside, he saw Ryder standing with the Shield near his face and the Black Skeleton King punching towards him. Rale''s blood started boiling as he unsealed his full potential without even thinking twice. He released all his sealed strength that he had promised not to use unless a Royal was in absolute danger. Rale''s speed was increased. His reaction was faster. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Ryder. The fierce fist that was coming towards Ryder''s shield was caught by Rale as he glared at the Black Skeleton King. "You... dared... to harm my Prince!" Rale muttered softly as his eyes glared at the Black Skeleton King. As Ryder stepped back, Rale packed the fist of his other hand and punched the skull of the Black Skeleton King, giving the Black Skeleton King a dose of his own medicine. The Black Skeleton King flew back as he was punched, crashing on the wall of the opposite side. The Black Skeleton King was thrown out of the room, and he kept flying away as he crashed on one wall after another, but Rale didn''t stop. Rale chased after the Black Skeleton King as he stepped out of the room. Ryder left the room and entered the hallway, but he couldn''t help but frown as he looked around and saw dead maids and guards. "No wonder there was no commotion even after it happened. The Black Skeleton King killed the maids and the guards as he came here," Ryder muttered as he frowned. He stopped looking around as he moved to the front and followed after Rale, but he immediately jumped to the side as he saw a person''s back flying towards his direction. Ryder realized that it was Rale who was flying back. Rale didn''t fall on the ground, though, as he balanced himself on the ground and stood straight. He did skid a few meters back even after he stood on the ground, though. '' How the heck is this possible? Is the Black Skeleton King stronger than we assumed? He should''ve been on the same level as a Duke, but to push Rake back even in his unsealed form, his strength is definitely nowhere near we predicted. Did he get stronger after Revival?'' Ryder thought as he frowned "Your Highness, We''re under attack! Go towards the Great Hall and meet up with the High Dukes! We''re having multiple enemies! I''ll hold them back! Your safety is the priority. I''m sure their plan is to harm you!" Rale noticed Ryder and let out in a loud tone as he flew ahead again. "Multiple enemies? The Black Skeleton King is not alone, I know, but the helper has also shown himself? Is the Death Domain really not scared of conflict?" Ryder muttered as he stepped back. He decided to listen to Rale and go to the great hall. He believed that the High Dukes should''ve been coming here, but he still decided to move back and catch up to them faster. Something was not right here. He needed to find out everything. Ryder started running back. " It can''t be that the Death Domain is looking for conflict, but it must be the bloodline Heir of the Death Domain! He wants a war! He doesn''t only want a war, but he wants us to attack them. We were right! He wants more power and control, and that power and control will be much easier to gain with us attacking them. That Bastard! I''ll make him regret targeting me!" Ryder muttered as he started flying back. He was fully convinced that it was the handiwork of the bloodline inheritor of the Death Emperor. If there were a war, the opponent of the Royal Prince, the Death Emperor''s weapon Inheritor, would be at a disadvantage. This was what he believed, but he also knew that this might be a reverse trap by the Weapon Inheritor. The Death Emperor Weapon Inheritor had previously come to the Demon Realm, and she could also use the Teleportation proficiently. She might have made it too obvious to make Ryder think that it was the Bloodline Prince, and she might have also guessed that if she made it that obvious that it was the Bloodline Prince, the Demon Realm won''t attack straight and send an envoy to reveal the Lies of the Bloodline Prince that he wanted a war. If that happened, the Weapon Inheritor would win more trust and power. It had become like a political chess where both sides had something to win from it, and Ryder was in the middle of the chess board. As the Prince and one of the Leading Voices in the Demon Realm, his every action was something that directly affected the future of Death Domain in one way or another. " Rale should be able to take care of himself. After the High Dukes join, this will..." Ryder was muttering to himself as he flew back, but just as he reached near the great hall, he was stunned as he saw tens of Skeletons standing before the great hall. The Guards and the maids were all killed. "What the heck? How can they kill people here, and the High Dukes still didn''t know?" Ryder frowned as he let out in frustration. "These guys can kill the Palace guards. These Skeletons are definitely high level," Ryder muttered as he wondered if he should run, but still decided to use kid All-Seer. Ryder gazed his roam around the skeletons. \u003cNormal Skeleton Soldier Level: 50 Description: An undead summoned from the Depths of Hell\u003e \u003cNormal Skeleton Soldier Level: 53 Description: An undead summoned from the Depths of Hell\u003e \u003cNormal Skeleton Soldier Level: 58 Description: An undead summoned from the Depths of Hell\u003e ... \u003cNormal Skeleton Soldier Level: 52 Description: An undead summoned from the Depths of Hell\u003e One after another, Ryder looked at every Skeleton, but none of them were above level 60. "What the fuck? None of them are over level 60? How the heck did they kill all the guards unless... they were not the ones that killed the guards," Ryder exclaimed in shock, but he suddenly sensed something behind him. He instantly turned back and brought the Moon Shield in front of him without even thinking about it. A black ball of light landed on the Moon Shield. The Moon Shield wasn''t damaged at all, but Ryder was tossed back like a broken kite from the impact. Ryder flew in the direction of the skeletons, but he didn''t hit any as he passed by them and landed on the ground. \u003cYou have received a critical hit\u003e \u003cMoon Shield Effect Activated\u003e \u003cMost of the Impact has been absorbed by the Moon Shield\u003e \u003cWarning... Critical Damage\u003e Ryder crashed on the ground as he watched his HP lower rapidly. From a hundred percent, it got down to five percent. Ryder didn''t know if it would hit zero, but fortunately, it stopped when he still had 5 HP. "This bastard is definitely a level 200 or above beast. One hit was enough to almost kill me," Ryder muttered as he stood up while he activated his Nature Healing. His HP recovered to a full hundred percent. 273 Chapter 269: Traitor Ryder looked up and saw a person only to see someone he never expected to be there. He couldn''t help but laugh out loud as he saw the person. "So it''s you. I should''ve expected it. The Teleportation and everything," Ryder let out as his laughter changed to the laughter of anger. "Miss Inheritor." A girl was standing in front of him, but she was not the one that had attacked him. Right beside the girl, a middle-aged man was standing. The middle-aged man was the one that had attacked him. "Interesting. I never knew that you would still survive after taking a hit from Master Mao," the Girl let out as she smiled while looking at Ryder. The girl was none other than the Girl that Ryder had met in Duke Devilia''s Hunting Grounds. According to information, the Girl was the contender for the Crown of Death Domain. She was in a race against the Bloodline Inheritor because she had inherited the Weapon of the Death Emperor somehow. "That attack? Meh, that was a child''s attack," Ryder let out mockingly as he dusted his clothes. " Interesting. Master Mao is as strong as a Duke from your Demon Realm. To take his attack without dying and still mocking him, you''re really brave, aren''t you, Prince Hades. Do you really think that I don''t know what the shield you used is? Everyone knows that the Moon Scythe of the Demon Emperor can transform. I never knew you would gain enough control in it that soon but still, do you really think a Shield would be enough to save you?" the girl asked mockingly Ryder looked towards his left at the door of the Great Hall, wondering if he could enter or even somehow attract the attention of the High Dukes inside the Great Hall. The girl noticed him looking towards the door and chuckled lightly. "Go ahead. Scream all you want. No one will listen. Do you really think we would dare attack this place without taking precautions and collecting proper information?" " Everything happened according to our plan¡ªthe suggestion of using the brain linking spell, and the High Dukes being inside. We have sealed that room. No one can go inside. Not even any sound can infiltrate that room. As for the High Duke that has his brain linked to guards, he wouldn''t know anything either since all the guards that he has linked to are searching the city. None of them are near the Palace. No one is going to know what''s happening here," The girl said as she grinned. "On the other hand, if you kill me, you won''t be able to bear the consequences," he said in a threatening tone. " Don''t worry about the consequences. We were able to guess your thoughts and plan all this, but you have no idea what our actual plans are. Only know one thing that today is going to be your last day. The Demon Realm will lose its prince and..." the girl started speaking, but she stopped suddenly and didn''t continue. She looked to the left and glanced at the middle-aged man on the side. The middle-aged man had a pale skin, but unlike the Vampire King, his skill was comparatively less pale. His eyes were out h black "Master Mao, you can kill him now," the girl said as she looked to her left and stepped back. As the girl moved back, the middle-aged man known as Mao cracked his knuckles as he grinned. "Who knew that the one leading the Demon Realm would be such a weak kid. This place is nothing but trash. I''m ashamed that our Glorious Death Domain lost a war with a trashy place like the Death Domain," Mao laughed as he started walking closer towards Ryder. "I''ll give you a quick death, little prince." "Wait! Since you''re confident that you''re not going to be caught, why don''t you let me live for longer? There are more questions I have. Just answer two of them, and then I can die in peace," Ryder let out as he raised his hand. He was curious about many things in this scenario, and who better to ask but the person who planned it all. He wanted to know who the spy inside Devilia''s Palace was! He also had many more important questions that he wanted to know before he took further action. " Why should I care if you die a bad death or if you die in peace? You can die without peace. I''m not answering anything. The faster you die, the faster we can leave," the girl replied as she rolled her eyes. Master Mao reached near Ryder as he grinned. "Little Girl, even your father can''t kill me without my permission, let alone you. As for my permission, you''re not getting that. I''m not going to repeat a day when I have another option," Ryder muttered as he grinned. The girl felt something strange as she saw him smile. "Kill him fast! Don''t take any chances!'' She exclaimed as she commanded Mao. "Too late," Ryder muttered as he snapped his fingers. "Rewind!" Ryder activated his Ruler of Time''s Active Skill, Rewind, which helped him rewind time by minutes that were equal to his highest level. The surroundings started changing as they got blurry. In the real world, the clock started moving back until it moved back by just over an hour. Ryder opened his eyes and found himself sitting in the Great Hall, on the throne. The Vampire King and High Duke Eston were still not here. High Duke Mila had her eyes closed as if she was waiting. This was the time when they were waiting for the arrival of the Vampire King and High Duke Eston. ''I''ve come back in time, but things are still not perfect. That future... I need to stop it,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. He looked to his side and glanced at everyone present in the room. His eyes stopped on Devilia as he wondered something. ''That girl, she said everything went according to the plan, including the suggestions. Devilia suggested the linking spell that engaged High Duke Eston and made us send most of the guards outside while we stayed inside the Palace. Without that Spell, I would''ve left with High Dukes in search as well. Could it be her?'' Ryder wondered as he looked at Devilia. ''It is already pretty suspicious that she wouldn''t know about the Black Skeleton King infiltrating her Domain. Is that really possible, though? For a Duke to betray us? She already had everything she could hope for here. How would she even get in contact with the Death Do... Her father, right! How could I forget! Her father must be the link that worked to make Devilia betray us. Was it really a coincidence that I found the Death Domain Second Inheritor in her hunting grounds? It''s a really serious accusation, so I can''t talk about it lightly as well,'' Ryder continued as he placed his chin on his hands and continued thinking about it deeply. ''The only people that should''ve known about the entire plan are Devilia, High Duke Mila, Rale and...'' Ryder''s thoughts reached till here when his frown deepened. He looked around and realized that Miku wasn''t here. He had sent her for other matters and to handle his schedule. ''Miku knows about the plan as well, and she is in the Palace. Devilia also warned me about her before. She said that Miku is the sister of the Duke that I injured. She could be the betrayer too. High Duke Mila would not betray us since she''s already at the Peak here. As for Rale, I already know that his Loyalty towards me is really high. He can''t be the betrayer. The only people that are suspicious are Devilia and Miku,'' Ryder thought as he closed his eyes and thought about everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours in the previous timeline. ''When Devilia left to collect the guards, she could''ve set things up for the death domain since our plan was confirmed, but I still don''t know if anyone left the Great Hall after I left with Rale.'' Ryder was getting a headache; the more he thought about it. 274 Chapter 270: Warning High Duke '' It''s highly possible that they brought a Death Envoy that''s as strong as a High Duke with them or even more. The side of the girl had the support of Two of the Four Death Envoys from what I heard. If this is a bigger scale plan and both of them are here to make sure that nothing goes wrong, then we''ll be in trouble since we can''t fully trust the Character of the Vampire King.'' The Vampire King and High Duke Eston were still not here, and Ryder didn''t know if the Vampire King would support Death Domain when the power balance is equal. ''I need more help,'' he thought as he continued contemplating. He glanced at Devilia and nodded his head. "Ah, Devilia?" he called out. Devilia was surprised at being called out by Ryder all of a sudden. "Yes, Your Highness?" she responded curiously as she opened her thin lips. "Since we''re on a time constraint, how about we work proactively? Tell all the guards to stand outside the Royal Palace. As soon as High Duke Eston is here, we would need to have him use Dreimaia on them and link with them. We would need to collect the guards in one place for him to see later anyway. Let''s just do it now, so there''s not much time waste," Ryder said to Devilia. Devilia was somewhat surprised as she nodded her head. "But Your Highness, there''s still time in High Duke Eston coming here. It would not be efficient to do it now. The long wait will only make the guards more restless," Devilia told Ryder as she raised her concern. " Don''t worry. Just tell them there will be a meeting, and High Duke would be getting to know them a little in some time. I''m sure you know what to think and say. Go ahead," Ryder said as he continued budging her to leave with this excuse. "Ah, Alright. If that''s what Your Highness wants," Devilia ultimately nodded her head as she stood up. Ryder watched her leave the Great Hall before he also stood up. He walked closer to High Duke Mila just like last time. Everything happened the same way as he closed up with High Duke Mila and brought his face closer to hers. Her reactions were the same as well. The only difference was that Ryder whispered something different. Last time he whispered in her ear about leaving the Great Hall with Rale to not disturb High Duke Eston, but this time he said it merely for privacy since he didn''t know if someone was listening to their conversation He moved back to his Throne after saying the words. There was a casual expression on his face as he moved back to the Throne as if nothing was wrong. High Duke Mila looked at him in curiosity, wondering why he was being so cautious here. Ryder glanced in her eyes and nodded his head. High Duke Mila also nodded her head as she waved her fingers casually. A barrier took shape, covering Ryder, Rale, and High Duke Mila inside. "Why all this privacy? Is something wrong here?" High Duke Mila straight away asked Ryder. Rale also looked in confusion. "Not something, everything is wrong here," Ryder let out as he sighed. "No one else can head us now, right?" he asked her. "Yeah, no one else can hear us now. You can say anything inside the barrier," High Duke Mila replied. "I know who is behind sending the Black Skeleton King here. That person also has a spy inside the Palace, and I can''t take the risk, so I made this plan to maintain my privacy," Ryder let out as he glanced back at her. "Is that why you sent Devilia outside in such a hurry? Are you suspicious of her as well?" High Duke Mila inquired as she frowned. "Let me be absolutely clear. There are only two people in this whole Palace that I am not suspicious about. One is you, and the other person is Rale. Other than you two, everyone else has a chance of being that spy, especially Miku and Devilia. I don''t want to believe it myself, but I need to be cautious," Ryder said as he frowned. " What is happening here? What do you know? Tell me everything," High Duke Mila let out in a grave tone. She felt like Ryder was severe, and if he was, then things were more complicated here than they seemed. " Everything that has been happening here is a scheme of the Death Domain. The Second Crown Candidate of the Death Domain, the girl who got the Inheritance weapon of the Death Emperor, is the one behind all this," Ryder told Mila and Rale. He didn''t stop and gave them a chance to speak, though. He continued speaking. " According to my information, many parties are involved in this scheme; someone called Master Mao from the Death Domain being one of them. From what I believe, they have already infiltrated this city. They might even be hiding inside this palace already," Ryder explained in a grave tone. High Duke Mila and Rale both stood up. They were not scared, but the information that the Death Domain was able to infiltrate the Palace of the Duke so easily was really concerning. "It would make sense if Devilia is involved in this scheme; otherwise, she would be just too negligent not to know what was happening in her Palace," High Duke Mila said to Ryder as she thought about it. This way, the palace of the Duke. If what Ryder was saying was true, then it was a big negligence on Devilia''s part. Either that, or she was actually involved in it. "That and a few other things, but I might be wrong at will. All I know is that there was a spy who was leaking whatever we talked about to the infiltrators. Devilia just has a high chance of being involved, but there''s a good chance that she''s not involved as well. I can''t blame anyone, and I can''t clear anyone. All I know is that the three of us are the only ones that I want to plan with that I can trust," Ryder declared. "How do you know all this? Why didn''t you say it before?" High Duke Mila inquired as she looked at him suspiciously. " There''s not enough time to discuss minor things like that. Just know that I have a few sources of my own," Ryder said, refusing to answer. "Hah, you want to keep it a secret? Do you know how serious of a situation it can result in? This situation is one where we are under attack from the Death Domain, and you refuse to tell me anything? That''s not how a leader should behave," High Duke Mila let out in annoyance as she glared at Ryder. "High Duke Mila, Please mind your manners. Don''t forget who you''re talking to. His Highness has every right to do what he wants. I''m sure he knows what he''s doing. Don''t talk like that, or it can be taken as disrespect towards the Crown, which is a crime. You should know," Rale intervened as he saw High Duke Mila getting serious. He didn''t want her to cross the limits, so he tried warning her. Ryder was surprised that Rale was talking back to a High Duke, but it wasn''t surprising. Considering the authority, it was his responsibility. As the Royal Guard commander, he had the authority to hold people accountable. Even though he was weaker than Devilia, he still couldn''t be scared when it came to his responsibilities. "High Duke Mila, I''m not here to talk about unnecessary things. As I said, this is not a time to talk about my sources to maintain their anonymity. So we should really stop wasting time. We need to do something to stop them and be one step ahead," Ryder let out as he shook his head. High Duke Mila was looking at him briefly before she sighed. "Fine. What is the plan? What do you want me to do?" High Duke Mila inquired. " The first thing I need you to do is contact High Duke Oris," Ryder told her as he smiled while folding his arms. "They scheme against me? I''ll show them what a scheme is." 275 Chapter 271: Teleporting High Duke He had already planned something, and he was ready to follow that to the end. Something that was going to make the Death Domain regret getting involved in their matters. "Alright. Let me do it," High Duke Mila said as she nodded her head. She brought her mirror out of her Spatial Storage again and placed that in front of her. Since they were inside that special barrier formed by High Duke Devilia, even if someone entered the Great Hall, they wouldn''t be able to see anything inside. They would have only been able to see a dark barrier in place, hiding some area of the Great Hall in its shroud. High Duke Mila established a link with her mirror. The link was to the similar mirror that was with High Duke Oris. After a few minutes, the mirror of Mila started showing the visuals of High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris was standing in his garden, appreciating his flowers when he brought his mirror out of his spatial Realm. His daughter was standing with him. "High Duke Oris," Ryder greeted Oris in a gentle tone as soon as the link was established. " My Prince, Is everything alright? What made you contact me like this so urgently?" High Duke Oris inquired as he looked at Ryder. "I need your help. How fast can you get to Devilia''s Palace?" Ryder asked Oris. "That? I can get there instantly. I do have a Teleportation Skill." High Duke Oris let out, shocking Ryder. "What? You have a Teleportation Skill? You can come here instantly?" Ryder asked in shock. "Yeah, I thought you knew it?" High Duke Oris let out as if he was surprised that Ryder didn''t know about it. "How was I supposed to know? I had no idea that you even had a Skill like this," Ryder smiled wryly as he replied. "It''s the Truth. High Duke Rale and High Duke Magna, both of them possess a skill like this. High Duke Eston and I are the ones that don''t have the Teleportation Skills. He can be here in a second if he wishes," High Duke Mila nodded her head as she chimed in. " That''s good. That makes my plan even easier. Wait, don''t Teleport here. I''ll tell you a place where you need to Teleport. High Duke Mila, can you explain to him the coordinates of my assigned room in this Palace? I need him to Teleport there," Ryder asked Mila. He wanted Oris to Teleport straight to the destination since he didn''t want anyone else to know that he was here. His plan was to beat the Death Domain in their own game. They wanted to shock them, but he was going to give them an even greater shock. " That''s easy. High Duke Oris and I have been here before. In fact, he stayed in the same room that you''re staying in now. He should have no difficulty teleporting there," Mila let out casually. "The one you stayed in the last time. You should have no difficulty staying there," She responded. "Yeah, I can Teleport there, but first, is anyone going to tell me what''s going on here? I need to know," High Duke Oris inquired. "We have some information. The Death Domain is going to attack this Palace today. They have no idea that I know about this. Our plan is to beat them at their own game and crush them. Also, I wish to catch the Second Crown Candidate of the Death Domain. There''s a spy here, though, and they can be anyone, so I can''t let anyone know that you''re here as well. You''ll be our hidden weapon in this attack," Ryder said to High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris was instantly furious as he heard Ryder. "Those bastards! They dared to scheme of attacking us? Let me bring Magna with me as well. We should really show them what it means to mess with the Demon Realm. We will kill them all and go to the Death Domain Royal Palace and throw the Dead Bodies there!" High Duke Oris let out furiously. He wanted to bring High Duke Magna with him as well and enter the Death Domain. "No, there''s no need to bring him. Someone needs to stay in the capital as well. The Death Domain people are already in this city. We don''t know if they''re in the Royal City or not. Let him stay there. It''ll be bad if something happens to that place, especially the Royal Palace," Ryder responded, shaking his head. High Duke Oris seemed as if the understanding dawned on him about Ryder''s logic. "Ah, that''s true. If the Royal Capital is attacked, we''ll become a laughing stock of the world if none of us is here and the Royal Capital is destroyed," he let out, nodding his head. "Yeah, so we only need you here. Now, let me tell you what''s going to happen and how we need to react. If everything happens as per plan, we''ll be in a really good position. Only 40 minutes are left if I''m not wrong. Please Teleport to the room and wait for me there. Devilia might return anytime. We need to stop talking," Ryder let out as he decided to stop the conversation with High Duke Oris. He decided to talk to High Duke Oris about the rest of the plan in the room when he was there. High Duke Oris nodded his head as he agreed. The mirror stopped working. **** High Duke Oris was back in his palace. As soon as the connection was disconnected, he looked back at his daughter. "You heard everything, right? Don''t tell anyone. I''ll be leaving now. I should be back as soon as things are back to normal," High Duke Oris told his daughter as he placed his hand on her head. His daughter nodded her head as she watched her father disappear into thin air. High Duke Oris appeared in the room that was assigned to Ryder. He sat on the bed and started waiting for the game to begin. **** After dealing with High Duke Oris, Ryder looked at Mila and told her to contact High Duke Eston as well. "Wait, don''t contact him," Ryder suddenly called out as he stopped High Duke Mila. "What happened?" High Duke Mila looked at Ryder, who seemed like he had suddenly thought about something grave. " How could I forget about this possibility! I''m an idiot!" Ryder exclaimed as he frowned. "What possibility?" Mila asked Ryder. " I thought that there were two major suspects that could be a Spy, but in reality, there are three major suspects," Ryder let out as his frown deepened. "How could I miss something so obvious." "What are you talking about? I don''t understand anything," Devilia asked Ryder as she frowned. " The Vampire King! He knows about our plan! He might have been the one that did it! He was also in this palace when the attack happened. He might have left this Great Hall and helped them. This Black Skeleton King, the Death Domain, and the Vampire King. They might all just be a part of this scheme. I need to tell High Duke Eaton about the plan, but not when he''s with the Vampire King," Ryder muttered as he looked down. "Don''t contact them. I have another plan. I''ll tell him after he''s here," Ryder muttered as he walked back and sat on the throne. "Let me tell you the plan first," He glanced at High Duke Mila and Rale as he started telling them what they needed to do and how things might play out. **** High Duke Mila dispersed the barrier that was surrounding her, Ryder, and Rale after the explanation was completed. They all sat down comfortably on their seats with their eyes closed as they waited for the pieces to fall in their places. After a few minutes, Devilia entered the Great Hall. "I did it. The guards are on stand-by right before the Royal Palace," She told Ryder as she stepped closer. "Good work. Have a seat now. We can only wait for High Duke Eston to get here," Ryder said as he pointed towards the nearby seat and gestured to Mila to sit down. A few more minutes passed before High Duke Mila got a message that High Duke Eston was standing outside the great barrier surrounding the city. "High Duke Mila, you and Devilia should go to escort them. Rale and I will stay behind," Ryder casually said to High Duke Mila. "Alright," High Duke Mila and Devilia stood up and left the Palace. Ryder and Rale were left behind in the Great Hall. 276 Chapter 272: Quest from Rale He believed that the second Inheritor might already be here, hiding in the palace along with other infiltrators. Ryder and Rale were left in the palace alone as they waited for High Duke Mila to return with other High Dukes. ''Wait a minute? If there were already here and knew about everything, why didn''t they attack me in the previous timeline when I was alone with Rale in this great hall and when High Duke Mila left with Devilia to bring High Duke Eston here?'' ''Without the presence of and High Dukes, they could''ve easily killed me, and the dangers to them would''ve been really low. Why did they wait until High Dukes were here? Were they lying about knowing everything? Or was it actually the Vampire King that helped them get here after I left the Great Hall with Rale?'' ''No! Even though High Duke Eston was involved in Dreimaia, High Duke Mila was still here. She was with him. There''s no way that she would allow the Vampire King to leave the Great Hall or do anything without her watch!'' ''That can only mean that the Death Domain wanted the High Dukes here. This was a part of their plan. They want the High Dukes to see my dead body personally so that they lose themselves in anger and attack the Death Domain? No, attacking Death Domain would only help her opponent. She wouldn''t plan this. Just what did that girl plan? I''ll have to beat the heck out of her to get her to spill the information.'' Ryder continued thinking as he tried to make sense of the situation regarding the girl and her plan, but he couldn''t come to a concrete conclusion He glanced at Rale on his side. "Rale?" Ryder inquired. "Yes, Your highness," Rale responded, looking back. " How many people do you think actually know about your real strength? Is there really no one other than the High Dukes and me?" Ryder asked Rale. "I don''t think anyone other than you all knows about it. Ah, right. My team knows about it. The team that was with us when I used my full strength last time," Rale replied to Ryder. "Oh, right. They are there too," Ryder muttered as he remembered that there were other guards when Rale had unsealed himself in the Death Domain. "They are under the Royal Oath, so they probably won''t tell anyone. Is there anyone else that knows?" Ryder asked again. "Is there someone that could have leaked it to the Death Domain?" " The only other person that knows is my father," Rale replied to Ryder. " Your father? He was the Royal Commander before you, right?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yeah, my father is many times stronger than me. I can''t even hope to compare. As for his help, that''s impossible," Rale let out, shaking his head. "Why is that?" Ryder asked in confusion. He wondered if Rale''s father was dead? He didn''t get that feeling from Rale''s words, though. " It''s the oath of the Royal Commander. After fulfilling their duty and passing on the responsibility to the next Royal Commander, they leave the Kingdom and go into anonymity. They can never use their strength for anything else than protecting themselves, and they are required to live in a place of their choice that is not in the Demon Realm. No one knows where the previous Royal Commander lives," Rale told Ryder as he frowned. "In fact, even if there''s a war, we would have no way of getting that information to my father. We don''t even know which isolated corner of the world he''s living in at the moment," He continued. " That sucks. He would''ve been a big help. Why is there an oath like that? That sounds stupid," Ryder asked, trying to understand the situation. Rale looked at Ryder and sighed. "There''s a long history behind it. Please forgive me but I can''t tell you. We are prohibited from talking about it, though. You should ask the High Dukes if you''re curious about it," Rale let out, shaking his head. "High Dukes? I am indeed curious about him," Ryder muttered as he frowned. Rale looked at Ryder in hesitation for some moments before he opened his lips to say something. "Your Highness, I should not ask you of anything, but I have a request for you. Can you please help me?" Rale asked Ryder with hesitation clear in his face. "What can I help you with? Sure go ahead. If it''s within my means, I''ll do it," Ryder let out, nodding his head. "Before my father left the Demon Realm after passing the Royal Guard position to me, he gave me something. He told me to pass it to the next heir of the Demon Realm, and he said that only the next heir could uncover the mystery behind it. He said that with the help of this item, the long lost treasure of the Demon Realm could be found again," Rale told Ryder. "I beg you to please find the lost treasure of the Demon Realm and fulfill the wish of my father," He continued. \u003c Royal Commander Rale has issued a quest to you\u003e \u003cQuest: Find the secret behind the item left behind by the previous Royal Commander\u003e \u003cQuest Grade: A\u003e \u003cQuest Difficulty: High\u003e \u003c Recommended Level: Above Level 200\u003e \u003cDescription: Royal Commander Rale left behind an item before he went into banishment. Use that item to find the lost treasure of the Demon Realm that has been lost for over a hundred years\u003e \u003cReward: Undying Loyalty of Royal Commander Rale\u003e \u003cReward: +10 levels\u003e \u003cReward: The Moon Armor\u003e \u003cReward: 1000 Fame Points\u003e \u003cWarning: Failure of Quest will result in Royal Commander Rale losing all his loyalty and adoration towards you\u003e Ryder was surprised as he saw the quest prompt. '' Did I really receive a quest from Rale, and all I had to do to get the quest was to ask Rale about how father? Strange. I guess I shouldn''t be shocked. NPCs give the quest, and Rale is an NPC too. It is not impossible for him to give me a quest,'' Ryder thought as he looked at the quest prompt before you. ''The rewards are really nice. What''s the Moon Armor, though? Is it a Unique Grade Item like Moon Scythe? If it is, then it would be awesome. Could it be that the Moon Armor is the lost treasure that I need to find? I should really ask Rale about it. This quest will be really good,'' he thought. He also wondered about the warning under the quest prompt. The warning meant that Rale would lose his respect for Ryder, which wasn''t good. ''I need Rale. I can''t lose him, or it would be difficult for me to control the Demon Realm as effectively as I can now. If I took the quest and lost, I would be at a real disadvantage,'' He continued as he started considering if it was worth it. Ultimately, he came to a conclusion that the risk was worth it. He tapped on yes as he saw a counter below the quest. The quest was automatically rejected if the quest wasn''t accepted within a specific period of time. "I will accept this request," Ryder told Rale as he tapped yes on the Quest prompt. " That''s great. Let me give you that item right now," Rale smiled as he gave a scroll to Ryder. \u003cYou have received the map of the Moon Armor\u003e "Map of the Moon Armor. I guess I was right. The Moon Armor is indeed the lost treasure of the Kingdom," Ryder muttered as he looked at the scroll. "This should be the map that leads to it or to a clue of the Moon Armor." "Rale, is the Moon Armor that lost treasure you talked about?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yes. The long lost treasure of the Demon Realm. The Moon Armor that was said to be carved from the same material as the Moon Scythe. It was stolen from the Fourth Demon Emperor by his brother that ran away with the Moon Armor. It was never found again," Rale told Ryder. "It''s related to Moon Scythe. It must be an overpowered item as well," Ryder muttered as he looked at the scroll. " What do you know about this scroll?" he asked again. "I don''t know anything. I was prohibited from opening it. Father didn''t tell me anything about it either. All he said that it was to be given to the next heir if he wished," Rale told Ryder. 277 Chapter 273: Unique Ques He was right. The scroll was indeed a map. It had various lines and various markings that it showed. Ryder looked at the Map, but instead of getting happy, he got confused the more he watched the map. He couldn''t understand a thing about the map. There were no words on the map: just various lines and a cross at the center. "Come here. Take a look. I don''t have any clue about the place on this map. Do you have any idea?" Ryder asked Rale as he asked him to move over. Rale stood up and walked closer, and looked at the map. "This..." I think I have seen a similar map before. I would have to look inside the library again, but from my initial assumption, this map is of a city in the Death Domain," Rale let out as he frowned. "A city in the Death Domain? It looks like I''ll have to hasten to the Death Domain. This just gave me even more reason to go there," Ryder muttered as he rolled back the scroll and placed it back into his inventory. '' Sigh, I still need to go and do that quest with Shu. It''s so strange that I''m spending less time in the main game and more time here doing secret quests. I wonder if there is anyone else that got a similar secret quest like this," Ryder muttered as he frowned. **** While Ryder was wondering if anyone else had a Secret Quest or not, there was another person that was going through something important. Alice had also joined Divinity a few weeks after he joined. She had even left the Novice Village. Alive took ten days to clear the novice village, which was the time a weak novice would take. It was Alice''s first time playing Divinity or any mainstream game of this caliber. She had initial difficulty, but after ten days and doing quests in the village, she had passed the Novice Village as she became a level five player. Alice had also entered the first kingdom that every player spawned in after passing through the Novice Village. She appeared on the same spot on the Estella Kingdom where Ryder had appeared the first time he spawned here. She had studied some details about the gameplay on online forums, so she knew where she had to go to get her class. She started walking towards the Church of the Estella Kingdom. As Alice was walking towards the church, she saw an old woman walking towards her from the other site. The old woman was hit by a man accidentally as she fell down. Alice ran up to the woman. "Uh, Grandma. Let me help you," Alice said as she placed her hand on the woman''s shoulders to help her up. " T-thank you, kind lady," the old woman thanked Alice. "Ah, no. Don''t worry about me. I can really go home without any trouble. It''s nearby. Please don''t waste your time on an old and insignificant lady like me," the old lady told Alice as she waved her hand. "If it''s nearby, then that''s even less of a problem. I can easily take you there, and I''ll be back in no time as well," Alice chuckled as she refused to budge in her stance. "Hahaha, You''re a really kind girl and a really stubborn one as well. Just like how I used to be in my young days," the woman finally laughed as she agreed. "Fine. You can take me home." Alice escorted the woman home. The woman''s home was an old house on the outskirts of the Royal City of Estelle Kingdom. Alice reached the small house with the woman. "Thank you, kind girl," The old lady said to Alice as she bowed her head lightly. "Don''t thank me, Grandma. It was just a little act of kindness. Anyway, I''ll be going back now. I still need to get my class," Alice said as she started walking away. The old lady smiled as she looked at Alice, leaving. " You old bastard! You think you can live in peace without giving me back my money?! I''ll kill you today!" While Alice was leaving, she heard a loud shout from being. She saw a bearded man staring at the old woman with a knife in his hand. He started running towards the old lady to kill him. "Stop!" Alice also started running towards the lady to stop the man as she shouted. Alice had reached level 5 by doing normal tasks in the novice village, so she had no fighting experience at all. She didn''t even have any skills that she collected in the Novice Village unlike Ryder that left the Novice Village with two powerful skills. Alice was just a normal girl with level 5 stats. She reached the man first and held his hand to stop the knife from hitting the stomach of the old lady. "Don''t kill her!" Alice scolded the man, but her eyes opened wide as she saw the man using a different knife to stab her back. "You dared to block my hand! You deserve what you got!" the bearded man let out with a cruel grin on his face. Alice''s HP continued going down. The bearded man pulled out the knife as he looked towards the old lady, but that''s when he noticed the city guards. "Crap! Why are the guards at this part of the city!" the bearded man cursed as he started running away. Alice''s HP hit zero. \u003cYou have lost all your HP\u003e \u003cLevel -1\u003e \u003cYou will be logged out in 10\u003e \u003c9\u003e \u003c8\u003e ... The countdown of logout began as Alice watched her body turning transparent. "You little girls are really kind. Not many people will help an old lady reach her home. Not only that, you even sacrificed your life for me. I think you are what they call the Warrior of the Goddess. When you come back to this place in two days, make sure to come to my house," The woman told Alice. While Alice was confused, she heard a system prompt. \u003cThe Old Lady has given you a quest\u003e \u003cQuest: Come to her house after respawning\u003e \u003cQuest Grade: Unique\u003e \u003cQuest Difficulty: None\u003e \u003cReward: A unique class Quest\u003e \u003cDo you wish to accept?\u003e \u003cY/N\u003e Alice looked at the quest prompt and hurriedly tapped on yes before the logout timer hit zero. \u003cQuest Accepted\u003e That was the last thing that Alice saw before she woke up in the real world. She took off her glasses and sat up. "Unique Class Quest? I heard about them. They are so rare. How did I get it so easily," Alice muttered as she looked at the door. "This must be because I helped that lady. The game is hiding class Quest behind such menial tasks. This is really interesting. I should tell Brother about this. If he does the same task, he can get the Same Glass as well. We''ll have the same class then," she continued excitedly as she stood up, but she stopped herself. She sat down on the bed again as she shook her head. "Wait a minute; he already has a class. He can''t take a second class, I think. Also, I haven''t told him that I have started playing Divinity. I should wait and get stronger before I join his team to help him," she muttered. **** The Vampire King and High Duke Eston entered the Great Hall with Devilia and High Duke Mila. "Welcome, Vampire King and High Duke Eston. Take a seat and rest a little before we get to work," Ryder told everyone. What happened next was the same as the last timeline. High Duke Eston still didn''t know about the infiltration by the Death Domain. High Duke Mila told High Duke Eston about the need to use Dreimaia. After their initial banter like last time, High Duke Eaton agreed. " Rale, you go ahead with High Duke Eston and Devilia. High Duke Mila and I will stay back with the Vampire King," Ryder told Rale. This was the change he had made in this timeline. Instead of sending the Vampire King, he was sending Rale with High Duke Eston. He had already told Rale to inform High Duke Eston about the plan without letting Devilia head. Rale could do it, and since the Vampire King wouldn''t be here, he can''t hear the plan. Rale is stronger than Devilia, so she would have a hard time hearing them as well, but still, Ryder told Devilia to come back instantly after showing High Duke Eston that place, leaving them there. Devilia was confused, but she agreed. 278 Chapter 274: Calculated Risk "Vampire King, do you know about the chaos going on in the Death Domain?" Ryder inquired casually as he rested his head back. "You mean about the presence of two Inheritors?" the Vampire King responded with a question. "Yes," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "Of course I know about that. You know it as well. As the rulers of our respective places, we would be idiots to not know about it," The Vampire King replied, shaking his head. " What is your opinion about that? Which side do you think holds the actual right of succession? The Bloodline Heir or the Legacy Inheritor?" Ryder asked, trying to gauge the Vampire King''s ideology. "What I think doesn''t matter. All that matters is what the people of Death Domain think. Whoever they choose will be the King of the Death Domain and your potential enemy," The Vampire King replied, shaking his head as he refused to answer. "True, but still. As a leader, if you had a choice, who would you rather see the King of Death Domain? the girl or the boy?" Ryder asked again. He was curious if the Vampire King would choose the girl that was going to come here. "If it were up to me, I would rather see the Bloodline Heir become the King," The Vampire King replied. "Why is that?" Ryder inquired curiously. "Because he will be a weak king. I''m thinking of them as an opposing force. The girl that could get the Weapon Inheritance of the Death Emperor will undoubtedly become a more threatening opponent. I would much rather see someone weak that wouldn''t have ambitions as wild as the Death Emperor had," the Vampire King replied. "That''s interesting. By the way, what do you think about establishing a relationship with the Demon Realm? You know how the Death Domain used the people of Undead Region in the past. It would be better if you join us. If there is a conflict, help us. You know that we won''t use your people like cannon fodder. We''ll protect you, and you''ll help us. With peaceful relations, we can go a long way," Ryder said as he looked at the Vampire King in full seriousness. If the Vampire King was not an enemy, then establishing a corporation with him would be a good thing. Both Death Domain and Demon Realm had four people as strong as High Dukes each. The Undead Region had two such people, and the Vampire King was one of them. If he could convince the Two Major Undead Kings to support the Demon Realm in case of a war, it would make them have six against 4 of the Death Domain. At that moment, he wouldn''t need to worry about the results. Just the threat would be enough since the Death Domain would not dare to attack them if they know that the Death Domain was in support of them. There was silence for the next few minutes before it was broken by the return of Devilia. Devilia had followed the orders and arrived after leaving Rale and High Duke Eston on the balcony, where they could see all the guards. Ryder talked about random matters of the surroundings duchies to keep Devilia busy. He also needed an excuse on why he asked her to return so fast after leaving them here, and he used these random conversions for that. After ten more minutes, High Duke Eston and Rale also returned. High Duke Eston glanced at Ryder and nodded with a knowing gaze. "High Duke Eston. You can rest for a few seconds and then begin the linking as soon as you can. We need to begin the search as soon as we can. Every extra second we delay can be another second where the Black Skeleton King might kill more people. "There''s no need for rest. I can start now," High Duke Eston responded as he sat on the throne and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, Ryder followed the same thing that he did in last time. He stood up and walked up to High Duke Mila to tell her that he needed to leave the Great Hall with Rale. He had already told High Duke Mila about this when he was telling her the plan, but he still had to follow the proper script to make sure that the future didn''t change much. Ryder left the Great Hall and walked towards the room that was assigned to him. He entered the room and saw High Duke Oris sitting there according to the plan. After closing the door, Ryder walked up to High Duke Oris and greeted him. As High Duke Oris looked at Ryder with a confused gaze. "Cast a noise cancellation barrier first. I''ll tell you everything after that," Ryder told High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris did the same as he cast a barrier that was similar to the one High Duke Mila had cast. After the barrier was completed, Ryder started explaining about the rest of the plan to High Duke Oris. He also told High Duke Oris about the details that he had left out in the presence of Mila. High Duke Oris'' expressions went through a lot of change throughout the explanation, which ended with an understanding gaze. "I''ll follow the plan," he nodded. "Good. You can cancel the barrier now. It''s the right time. We would begin," Ryder let out as he looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost the time when Rale had opened the door of the room to leave in the previous timeline. "Rale, you can Unseal your strength. You have my permission," Ryder told Rale with a subtle smile on his face. Rale nodded his head as he walked towards the door. Two beautiful wings appeared behind his back as he unsealed himself. His entire aura changed as Rale released all his strength. Rale reached near the door and opened it slowly. As soon as he opened the door, a shocked expression covered his face as it was exactly the same as Ryder had told him would happen. The Black Skeleton King was standing outside the door. His fist was coming towards him, but Rale bead prepared as well. He had already unsealed all his strength. He brought his hand closer to his chest and caught the fist of the Black Skeleton King with his left hand with ease. He packed the fist of his right hand as he glared at the empty eye sockets of the Black Skeleton King. " Sorry, but you chose the wrong opponent," Rale declared as he punched the skull of the Black Skeleton King, making him fly back like last time. The Black Skeleton King went through wall after wall, breaking them as he was tossed back because of the impact of the punch. Rale flew after Rale like last time. There were guards who were dead as well, just like last time. Ryder flew behind Ryder, but he didn''t go too deep as he moved to the side, just before Rale came back flying, crashing before him. "You were right. There was more than one enemy here. If I hadn''t known about this, I wouldn''t be able to protect myself so effectively," Rale let out as he stood up. He had protected his chest effectively this time, unlike the last time when he was slightly injured. "They brought their hidden weapons, time for us to bring out our weapon as well," Ryder muttered as he glanced back towards his room. It was the time according to the plan. That''s when it happened. The inf started changing as it seemed like a lightning bolt came out flying from the room. It was none other than High Duke Oris. Ryder had told him to stay back until he made sure that everything else was the same as last time. Since it was the same, he didn''t need to hold back. "High Duke Oris will be able to handle him. Let''s go. Time to participate in the next part of the plan. It is going to be most crucial since the success and failure will depend on it. We can''t let the girl escape at any cost," Ryder muttered as he patted the shoulder of Rale before he began flying back. While Ryder continued towards the Great Hall, Rale hid himself as he followed after Ryder. He didn''t want to go through the rest of the plan since that plan included Ryder getting hurt, and there were chances of Ryder seriously getting injured, but Ryder had commanded him and promised that it was a calculated risk. Ryder also comforted Ryder that nothing was going to happen to him. 279 Chapter 275: The End Ad Ryder reached the Great Hall; he saw a few Skeletons standing before the entrance of the Great Hall. Last time he hadn''t noticed it, but as he used \u003cAll-Seer\u003e this time, he saw a barrier before the entrance. Ryder realized that it was probably the barrier that was preventing the outside sound from entering the inside the Great Hall. As Ryder was looking towards the Skeletons, he had already started accessing his storage. He pulled out his Moon Scythe from the inventory. Without wasting a single second, he used Transformation to change his Moon Scythe into a Shield as he turned back. Ryder protected his body using the shield, which was hit by someone''s attack. Fortunately, just like last time, this time as well, the Shield took most of the Impact. Ryder was tossed back like a stone, ultimately crashing on the ground. His HP started lowering, but his Ruler of Nature activated again, recovering all his lost HP. Ryder stood up as he patted his clothes while he looked ahead. There was a girl standing in front of him, but she was not the one that had attacked him. Right beside the girl, a middle-aged man was standing. The middle-aged man was the one that had attacked him just like last time. "Interesting. I never knew that you would still survive after taking a hit from Master Mao," the Girl let out as she smiled while looking at Ryder. The girl was none other than the Second contender for the Crown of Death Domain. She was in a race against the Bloodline Inheritor because she had inherited the Weapon of the Death Emperor somehow. "Did you think I was as weak as you? You were the one that ran away last time, not me. Give me some credit," Ryder let out mockingly as he changed his time. Last time he had mocked the Middle-Aged man, but this time, he was mocking the girl for running away in their previous confrontation in the Forest of Duke Devilia. He had conveniently forgotten that he had run away himself to the past a few hours ago. "Interesting. Not only did you survive, but you also have the courage to mock me? Master Mao is as strong as a Duke from your Demon Realm. To take his attack without dying and still mocking us, you''re really brave, aren''t you, Prince Hades. Do you really think that I don''t know what the shield you used is? Everyone knows that the Moon Scythe of the Demon Emperor can transform. I never knew you would gain enough control in it that soon but still, do you really think a Shield would be enough to save you?" the girl asked mockingly. The girl expected Ryder to look towards the entrance of the Great Hall in hesitation, but she was surprised as she saw Ryder smiling comfortably instead. "Don''t you want to scream for help? The High Dukes are right in that great hall. Why aren''t you calling for help?" "Why should I call them? Would that even do anything? The barrier that you guys have cast around the Great Hall will prevent my voice from getting inside anyways," Ryder let out casually as he raised his hand. "W-why, do you know that?!" Ryder''s words thoroughly shocked the girl. She didn''t expect Ryder to know about this. On a more critical note, she didn''t expect him to still look so comfortable even after knowing that he had no chance of getting help. Why was Ryder so calm? Where was his confidence coming from? Did he really have something up his sleeve? The girl couldn''t help but wonder as she frowned. " Little girl, You''re the Crown Candidate of the Death Domain, fighting for the position of the Prince, not me! I''m the Prince of the Demon Realm! I''m the ruler here! What I can do is beyond your imagination, so don''t even try," Ryder let out with a smirk. "Hah, such big words for a guy who''s about to die. Without help, you''re nothing, and let me remind you, no help is coming for you today. Everything we did was planned. Your Royal Commander is busy, and the others are inside the Great Hall, unaware of anything that''s going on outside. Don''t bother with us," the girl fired back, trying to break Ryder''s confidence. "I wouldn''t be getting any help? I wouldn''t be so sure about that if I were you," Ryder let out as he smiled. **** A few minutes before Ryder had used his Shield to protect himself from Master Mao''s attack, High Duke Mila inside the great hall had stood up. She looked at High Duke Eston that had his eyes closed. "Stop pretending. It''s time to get to work," High Duke Mila told High Duke Eston. Devilia looked at High Duke Mila in confusion, wondering what High Duke Mila was talking about. Since High Duke Eston''s mind was linked to thousands of soldiers, there was no way she should have broken his concentration. She knew that once Dreimaia was broken unintentionally, it couldn''t be cast again before 24 hours. She wondered why High Duke Mila was trying to disturb High Duke Eston. The Vampire King didn''t know about the basics of this spell, so he wasn''t as shocked as Devilia about Mila disturbing Eston; what he was more interested in was her words. What plan was she talking about? Devilia looked at High Duke Eston''s eyes. She believed that High Duke Eston''s concentration was broken. He was probably going to be really angry at High Duke Mila. Devilia''s expectations turned upside down as she saw no anger in High Duke Eston''s eyes. Instead, she saw a smile on his face. "Oh? So it''s finally time. I was getting bored," High Duke Eston let out as he smiled. "What is happening here?" Vampire King asked High Duke Eston as he stood up. Devilia also stood up. "What''s happening is really simple. We are under attack from the Death Domain. The Black Skeleton King is in the palace as well. Let''s just step out of the Great Hall and see for ourselves," High Duke Mila told the Vampire King casually as she stepped towards the door of the Great Hall. She tried pushing the door open, but it didn''t even move. "As expected, it was true. There''s a barrier around the Great Hall," High Duke Mila let out as she smiled. She raised her palm towards the door of the great hall and fired an energy ball. **** "Stop acting smug! No one will come to save you. You''re just trying to delay us by confusing us with your false confidence! I''ve seen enough of this idiocy! Master Mao, let''s not waste any more time. Kill our dear Demon Realm Prince so that we can leave," the girl let out as he smiled while looking at the middle-aged man beside her. "Right away," The middle-aged man let out with a smirk as he started walking towards Ryder. Ryder watched the man coming towards him, but he didn''t bother stepping back. ''The timing couldn''t be more perfect. Just a few seconds more,'' Ryder thought as he saw Master Mao reaching near the door. Just as Master Mao was in front of the Great Hall door, a loud blast happened. The Great Hall door came flying and crashed on Master Mao, making him fly back in return. High Duke Mila and the others stepped out of the Great Hall. High Duke Mila looked to the side and saw a girl standing there. "So you''re the Second Candidate of Death Domain Crown. I thought that you would be smart but to infiltrate our Demon Realm under our watch? You''re not much smart, are you?" High Duke Mila let out as she shook her head. "You!" the girl was horrified as she took a step back in fear. She instantly got a talisman out of her storage space. "Rale now!" Ryder let out in a hurry. The girl was shocked as she heard Ryder''s road, but her face turned pale as she saw Rale appearing before her out of nowhere. Rale took the Talisman from her and threw it away before he caught both her hand and placed them behind her back. "Did you really think the same trick would work twice? I already saw you escape though that the last time we battled. Of Course, I''ll take precautions," Ryder smiled as he looked at the girl. "High Duke Eston, there''s someone called Master Mao in that rubble. Can you take care of him? He really likes hitting people. I think he''ll really like a battle partner," he continued as he glanced back at High Duke Eston. 280 Chapter 276: Master is here He was somewhat excited as they really got a big win today. Not only did they catch the intruder from the Death Domain, but they also got the Black Skeleton King, who was being handled by High Duke Oris if everything went according to the plan there as well. All that while they just sat in the Palace. They didn''t even have to go out. It was as if luck was all on their side today. Even though High Duke Eston was curious as to how Ryder got all this information to make such an accurate plan, he didn''t think too much about it. He left those questions for later. For now, all he wanted to do was shatter the bones of the ones that dared to infiltrate this place. Master Mao moved the door to the side as he came out of the rubble, but his face turned pale as well as he saw High Duke Eston walking towards him. He instantly turned back as he started rubbing, but he knew that it wasn''t easy for him to escape from a High Duke. "My dear Zombies, delay him for me!" Master Mao let out as he continued running while he cast a spell. Five Zombies appeared out of thin air between High Duke Eston and Master Mao, to create an obstruction for High Duke Eston. Master Mao knew that the Zombies couldn''t stop a High Duke, but he wanted to get whatever small bit of time he could get to escape and get to the Spatial Formation they had created inside the Palace. Unlike the girl that was caught by Rale, Master Mao couldn''t use the talisman to leave this place. He had to go to the formation that they had created before. He didn''t even think about saving the girl. He knew that it was impossible. All he knew was that it would be bad to save his life. "Oh? You bought these Zombies to stop me?" High Duke Eston grinned as he saw the five Zombies standing in his path. The Vampire King just watched High Duke Eston and observed him. High Duke Mila, on the other hand, stood near him, looking at his expressions to get an idea of what he was thinking. She was trying to see if he had any thoughts of interfering or not, but it didn''t seem like he had any intentions of that. The Vampire King didn''t act suspiciously at all. High Duke Eston didn''t waste much time with the zombies. He simply waved his hand as a gust of wind appeared and flew towards the Zombies. As the gust of wind hit the Zombies, it didn''t toss them away like Ryder had expected as he watched this attack of High Duke Eston. Instead, that gust of wind hit the Zombies and destroyed them instantly. "Don''t leave. The party has just begun!" High Duke Eston muttered as he looked at the back of Master Mao, who was running away. He instantly disappeared from his position and appeared before Master Mao, grabbing his neck. The ground cracked from the powerful impact as Master Mao''s painful groan echoed in the hallway right at his impact. High Duke Eston glanced towards Ryder. "Should I finish him or take him as a hostage for the future?" High Duke Eston asked Ryder. Ryder didn''t reply instantly; instead, he looked towards the Vampire King. " What do you say? What should we do about him?" he asked the Vampire King. "Should we kill him?" ''If he says yes, then he''s definitely involved in this scheme since killing Master Mao would only mean one less witness for us to get information out of,'' Ryder thought as he waited for Vampire King''s response. "That depends on you. It''s your Kingdom. Don''t involve me in this. Still, since I''m here, I''ll give you an advice. As the Ruler, getting information out of the enemies is better. You should keep him alive for interrogation. If Death Domain people were able to enter your Palace, then there''s a high chance that someone from this place has betrayed you. It''s better to find out about that person. The more prisoners you have, the higher your chance is to find the truth. That''s just my advice, though. You can decide how you want to deal with this," the Vampire King told Ryder. "Interesting," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "What do you say, Devilia?" Ryder asked Devilia as he glanced back at her. " I agree with the Vampire King. There''s a good chance that someone has betrayed us. We already have the girl to get the information about this scheme, but the more people we have, the better," Devilia said as she nodded her head as well. Ryder frowned as he glanced at Devilia. "Right," he said. "High Duke Eston, keep him alive," Ryder told High Duke Eston as he smiled. "Just cut off both his hands for now," he continued before he turned back to focus on the Second Crown Candidate of Death Domain that was still in Rale''s grip. A scream of Master Mao echoed in the hallway as his arms were ripped apart by the High Duke. Ryder didn''t look back as he focused on the girl. "So, little girl. Tell me why you wanted to kill me!" Ryder asked the girl. "Don''t call me a little girl! I''ll kill you!" the girl threatened Ryder as she glared at him. "Well, you''re an idiot that dared to enter an enemy''s while the enemy was at their strongest. Why would I call you if not a naive little girl? Oh, on that note, I don''t even know your name. What''s your name?" Ryder asked the girl after sarcastically mocking her. The girl snorted as she refused to reply. "Well, I have many ways to get my answers from you, but I''m taking the simpler route for now. Let''s see the advantages of having more than one prisoner," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He glanced back at Master Mao, who was roaring in pain. "You, little Mao. Tell me her name if you don''t want your legs to be torn off as well. You''re just an extra, after all. It wouldn''t matter even if you die, so don''t expect us to go easy if you fail to cooperate," Ryder said to Master Mao. " Elisia! Her name is Elisia!" Master Mao roared loudly as he saw High Duke Eston stretched his hand out towards his legs. Ryder glanced back at the girl as he smiled. "See? Simple," he let out as he chuckled. He walked closer to Elisia and placed his hands on her soft cheeks. Elisia had a killer look on her face as she glared at Ryder. " Elisia is a beautiful name. It suits your beautiful face as well. Now, it would be a real tragedy if that beautiful face wasn''t on that beautiful body anymore for some reason. Answer my question, Elisia. Don''t test my patience," he said while giving a subtle threat as he looked in her eyes. "Hah, you''re an idiot if you think you''ll get any answers from me. The same tricks won''t work on me!" Elisia let out as she rolled her eyes. Ryder had expected a reply like that, but just as he was about to reply, he heard footsteps. With a curious look on his face, be turned to the order side to see who was coming. As he saw the person, a smile appeared on his face. "High Duke Oris, did you deal with the Black Skeleton King?" Ryder inquired. The person that has just arrived was none other than High Duke Oris, who had stayed behind to take care of the Black Skeleton King and the other enemies. "Yeah, it''s done. The Black Skeleton King is gone forever. Not even the ash of his bones remain. The other enemies also ended up in the same position," High Duke Oris said as he smiled. "Oh, right. The left portion of the Palace is completely destroyed. You should start thinking about the repair," he continued as he glanced at Devilia. " I''ll get that done. It''s nothing," Devilia said, nodding her head. "Looks like everything went according to the plan here as well. That''s good," High Duke Oris said as he nodded his head. High Duke Oris seemed happy until his smile disappeared instantly as he glanced towards Ryder. "Not in my watch!" High Duke Oris let out as he disappeared. He didn''t use his movement. Instead, he used Teleportation to save whatever little bit of time he could. While Ryder was confused, he felt a sense of danger. He looked at Elisia''s face and saw a smirk on her face. "Master is here," Elisia let out as she smiled. 281 Chapter 277: Death Envoy vs High Duke "T..." Before Ryder could even react, he felt the air in his surrounding changed as a terrifying pressure appeared out of nowhere. He looked to his left and saw a fist coming towards him. It was so fast that Ryder didn''t even feel like he had any hope of escaping. He had realized that it was probably going to be game over for him. He knew that because of the Ruler of Time''s passive revival skill that didn''t differentiate between the death in-game and the real-life death, he''d be sent one day in the past again. Just as Ryder had given up, someone appeared before him. High Duke Oris appeared before Ryder and attacked with a finger towards the fist that was coming towards Ryder. The fist and the finger clashed. Time seemed to have stopped at the clash as if two powerful entities had just clashed. A terrifying energy wave was born because of the clash which tossed Ryder back. Ryder crashed on the ground. Devilia and Rale were also thrown back, and so was Master Mao from the terrifying energy wave. As Rale was tossed back, Elisia also suffered the same. Rale''s grip on her was released through as she fell into a different place. There were only five people that hadn''t moved even an inch. The Vampire King, High Duke Eston, High Duke Mila, and High Duke Oris were standing still. The intruder that had just attacked was also standing still. He didn''t move back even an inch, either, as if his strength had perfectly matched High Duke Oris'' strength. "Death Envoy Lai, is this really what you want? This is an act of war. You should be ready for the consequences now," High Duke Oris let out as his eyes turned blood red in anger. The person standing before High Duke Oris was a man that looked like he was in his early 30s. He was the Death Envoy of the Death Domain, which was like the High Duke of Death Domain. "I''m not here for a war. I''m just here to take a rogue girl back. Now that we got what we wanted, I''m leaving. We will send you an explanation later," Death Envoy Lai said in a grim tone before he disappeared. Ryder was injured the most from the crash, but his Ruler of Nature had healed him just as fast. Ryder stood up. Rale had also stood up. "Elisia, she''s gone," Ryder let out as he looked around, not finding Elisia anywhere. "They took her. For her to be able to bring three Death Envoys to bring her back, She must hold a really important position in the Death Domain," High Duke Oris said as he frowned. "Three Death Envoys? Why did I only see one?" Ryder asked in confusion. High Duke Oris was about to reply, but before he could say anything, someone else completed his sentence. "One was standing in front of him. The other was taking the girl, and the last one was hiding nearby," Vampire King told Ryder. "I''m not sure of that. It''s impossible to exactly know the intricacies of the Death Domain. The information that we had did indicate that only two Death Envoys were supporting the girl," High Duke Mila chimed in. "It''s either the Third Envoy also started supporting the girl, or the Bloodline Prince got active and sent his supporting Death Envoy to save the girl," Ryder muttered as he frowned. "No. They didn''t come to save her," High Duke Oris let out suddenly. "They didn''t? Why did they come here then? and why did they take the girl then?" Ryder asked in confusion. " It hasn''t even been half an hour since it all started. On the other hand, it hasn''t even been ten minutes since the girl and the other intruders were caught. There''s no way that in ten minutes, the Death Envoys will get the information. Even if they got the information, it''s impossible to come here in ten minutes. They will never take the risk like this in a hurry," High Duke Oris said as he frowned. "I believe that Death Envoy Lai wasn''t lying. They were here to take the girl back, most probably because the girl decided to infiltrate the Demon Realm and scheme against us. The Death Envoys must have found out about this long ago. They must be here to take her back before she could cause irreversible damage, and when they came here, they saw her captured. That''s only an assumption though, but I feel like it''s right," he continued. " Isn''t there a flaw in that story? If the girl was dead here, the Bloodline Prince will only get an advantage as he wouldn''t have any enemies left. His throne would be safe." Ryder raised a question. "On the other hand, if the girl had killed me and the Demon Realm attacked the Death Domain, the Bloodline Prince could have blamed her and gotten her out of the way before getting all the power for himself to face us against the war. He would''ve received the support of all the citizens of Death Domain as well, and all the blame would''ve fallen on the girl," he raised a question. "Why would he even send a Death Envoy to help her when the alternatives were so much better for him?" he asked. "The answer to that question is obvious. You''re thinking of him as a Prince like you, but you aren''t taking it into account that he might be different," Vampire King chimed in. " He is a sensible prince. You remember what I said before? He''s someone that would think ten times before doing something that can cause a war. He knows that the Death Domain will suffer a lot if there''s another war. He most probably wants to avoid a war even if it means letting an enemy live," he continued. " That''s what I thought as well. Also, from what Death Envoy Lai said, they might send us an explanation for all this soon enough," High Duke Oris said he sighed. "Interesting. That Prince is really interesting. The girl is hot like fire, and the Bloodline Prince is cool like ice. Both the Crown Candidates of the Death Domain are opposite to each other," Ryder muttered as he glanced back at High Duke Eston. "It''s good that High Duke Eston was near Mao, or they might have taken the Second Witness as well," he continued. " If what everyone says is right, then I think that they left him here alive intentionally since they didn''t even try to take him. They could''ve at least given me a fight, but they didn''t even get near me. It seems pretty intentional," High Duke Eston said as he shook his head. "Why would they leave someone like him here? We can get information out of him that might be bad for them. Why then?" Devilia inquired in confusion. Ryder also thought about this question. "I got it," he suddenly let out. "That''s because they do want us to get the information out of him. They want us to know the truth that Elisia was rogue and that they didn''t know anything about her plan to make us understand. I''m sure their explanation will have something mentioning this too. They''re pretty smart," He continued as he smiled. "They are smart, indeed, but we need to be smart as well. We can''t be overconfident from this victory and underestimate them. There''s still a big question before us. That is how we should react to this situation. We can''t be too soft to maintain our dignity," High Duke Mila said as she stepped towards High Duke Oris. " Yeah. We can''t let it go, and we can''t declare war either since both options are too extreme. What do you all suggest we should do?" Ryder asked the High Dukes. " Sigh, let''s not be hasty about this decision. We can think about this for a day, at least. It''s an important development that might affect the future of both the Realms after all," High Duke Oris said, shaking his head. " Ah, How about you all eat first? It''s time, and the Dining hall portion of the Palace is still intact. After eating, you can think about how to deal with the Death Domain regarding the event," Devilia gave a suggestion. "Ah, right. Now that I think about it, I didn''t eat anything today. I was feeling hungry," High Duke Oris smiled as he nodded his head. Ryder also nodded his head. "Ah, High Duke Oris, keep Mao safe. We can''t lose him. We still need to get the information about the spy in the Palace," he said as he subtly glanced at Devilia. 282 Chapter 278: Going to the Enemy Ryder thought that High Duke Eston would carry Mao with him to keep him safe as a precautionary measure, but he was surprised when he saw High Duke Eston throwing Mao in a Spatial Portal. On inquiry, High Duke Eston told him that it was a skill of his which was called Dimensional Prison. It traps the person he wishes in a Dimensional Prison. He also said that Mao would be safe in his Dimensional Prison since no one else could enter his Dimensional Space. Ryder was once again surprised to see that a skill like that existed. ''I guess I can get some fascinating skills with higher levels,'' he thought as he nodded his head. With Mao in a safe prison and the enemies of the Duchy Dead, Ryder could finally be relaxed as the threat on this place was over, but the real problem still remained. It was the Death Domain and the person that betrayed the Demon Realm and worked with Elisia. The second problem could be solved after getting the information out of Mao, but the First Problem was complicated. If he didn''t handle it properly, there would be a war, and the whole world of Divinity will be affected. Even he would be in hot waters since his own strength was not sufficient enough to take part in the battle of the High Dukes and the Death Envoys. If it comes to that now, all he could do was hide in the back and watch the battle. He still needed time to get strong enough. He projected that with the Speed he was growing, he should be as strong as a Duke in just a year, but that was just his assumption. He didn''t know what the future held for him. Ryder and the others sat at the Dining Table together as the food was served for them. After serving the food, every maid and guard inside the room was told to leave since Ryder was going to start talking about the actions they needed to take during dinner. "So, what are your suggestions? What should I do about this?" Ryder asked the others. "Let me start with the Vampire King first," Ryder muttered as he glanced towards the Vampire King. "What do you say? If you were in my place, what would you do?" Ryder asked the Vampire King. " Before I answer, let me ask you something instead. I came here to help you, but more importantly, I came here to search for my General. I do believe your words that the Death Domain is scheming something, and they might be responsible behind it. If that''s the truth, then they must have my General. I want to interrogate the person you captured first! I want to ask him about my General," the Vampire King told Ryder as he refused to answer. ''Sigh, this guy still didn''t forget that. Just think that your General is dead and drop the matter, man," Ryder thought, but he maintained a subtle smile on his face. "Sure. You can interrogate him first but in our watch," he said, nodding his head. ''It''s good that no one saw our faces in the Undead Region. The cloaks really helped. Without sketch, he can''t find out about us, and with the shield of the Death Domain, we can definitely get away with this as long as we''re careful,'' Ryder thought, glancing at Rale. "We''ll start the interrogation after dinner. You can ask your questions to Mao then," Ryder said, shaking his head. "Let''s continue the main discussions for now," he continued as he smiled. " Alright. I''ll answer the question that was asked. If I was in your place and this had happened to me, I would have gone straight to the Death Domain Royal Palace and ask for an explanation. If I hadn''t received a proper explanation, I would''ve made them regret crossing me," Vampire King replied. ''I can believe that. You''re the guy that did the same to our Demon Realm when you came to High Duke Oris'' Palace and attacked me under the watch of four High Dukes without worrying. This isn''t that unexpected, but if we do that, this would be the same as declaring a war,'' Ryder thought as he glanced at the Vampire King. Ryder shook his head. He was just about to speak, but High Duke Mila chimed in. "That''s an interesting idea. We can go there before they give us their explanation and show them that we''re not going to wait for their explanation. We need to show them that we have the strength to do what they did and even worse," She said. Ryder released a mouthful of breath as he smiled. "High Duke Eston, what do you say about this?" Ryder asked High Duke Eston. " This seems like a better option. We won''t be outright declaring a war, but we won''t be sitting idle either. This is the good step between mild and extreme," High Duke Eston nodded his head. Ryder didn''t say anything as he simply nodded his head. "What about you, High Duke Eston? Do you see something wrong with this plan?" Ryder asked High Duke Oris. He had three answers that were agreeing with the plan, but he didn''t agree. He could see a problem with that plan. He was wondering if anyone could see that problem or not. High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston had failed, but he believed that High Duke Oris would notice it. ''The others are too hot-headed, so they can''t see the bigger picture, but High Duke Oris should be able to see it,'' he thought. High Duke Oris looked at Ryder in full seriousness. "That is a good suggestion, but we can''t do it," High Duke Oris said. "Interesting. Did you see the problem as well?" Ryder asked as he subtly smiled. "What problem?" High Duke Mila inquired. " The problem is that we have no information about this. This might just be a plan to get us out of the Demon Realm so that they can come here and create destruction everywhere. We can''t leave the Demon Realm," High Duke Oris said. "That''s simple. All of you stay here to protect the Demon Realm. Only I will go," High Duke Mila said as she nodded her head. "That''s not good either. There will be four Death Envoys there. Even though I have confidence in you, but I can''t underestimate them either. If you go alone and they attack you, you would be in trouble," Ryder let out, shaking his head. " I can protect mysel..." "I know you can protect yourself, but I can''t let you take that risk." High Duke Mila was saying something, but she was cut off by Ryder that refuted instantly. " Any other suggestions?" Ryder asked everyone. " Everyone said what they wanted to say except you, Prince Hades. It''s your turn. What do you wish to do," Vampire King asked Ryder. "Me? I''ll do exactly what you suggested," Ryder said as he smiled. "What? But didn''t you..." The Vampire King and the others were shocked since Ryder had just said no to the plan. "I just said there was a problem with that plan, not that we couldn''t solve the problem," Ryder replied as he glanced at High Duke Oris. "High Duke Oris is our solution." " Me?" High Duke Oris inquired as he smiled as if he realized what Ryder was going to say. Since he had the Power to Teleport, it was the safest for him to go there since he could escape from any situation. He realized that Ryder would ask him to go, and he was also ready. High Duke Oris himself was about to suggest this. "High Duke Oris, you have the spell of Teleportation. Can you use that spell to take others with you?" Ryder asked Oris. "Ah, yeah. I can take two people with me to the places I Teleport to. What about that?" High Duke Oris asked. "I want you to go to the Death Domain. You''re going to take Rale and me with you," Ryder said as he smiled. "Impossible! You''re not going anywhere, especially the Death Domain!" High Duke Mila stood up in shock. High Duke Eston was also shocked. Ryder was the Prince of Death Domain, and he was the weakest. If anything went wrong in Death Domain, he would be the one dying first. Him going there was sheer stupidity, which they didn''t expect from Ryder. "Listen to me first," Ryder said as he gestures to them to sit down. 283 Chapter 279: Vampire Poison " High Duke Oris can Teleport, and he can take two people with him. We can''t send more than one High Duke there since we need to protect the Demon Realm too. Three High Dukes need to stay behind, at least. As for Rale and me, don''t worry. I''m sure they won''t scheme against me. High Duke Oris is very strong. He can escape with us at the first sign of a scheme," Ryder suggested after everyone sat down. "No. We are not letting you do that!" High Duke Mila, High Duke Eston, High Duke Oris and Rale, all said at the same time, refusing Ryder''s suggestion. "But listen to me first!" Ryder let out, trying to get them to listen, but they refused to listen at all. "We are not letting you go there. Even though the chances of anything happening to you under High Duke Oris'' watch are almost nonexistent, but we can''t take the risk of sending you there," High Duke Eston said, refusing his suggestion. " But..." Ryder tried speaking again, but they again cut him off. "No, but! The relationship between the two Realms is unstable right now. If you go there openly and something happened to you there, do you know how much of a trouble we will be in? There will be instability in the entire Demon Realm. People will start getting restless at the news of your death. They''ll lose morale, and they''ll lose confidence in our ability to win. Whatever happens, we can''t let anything happen to you, at least not in the Death Domain!" High Duke Mila said, refuting Ryder. " I agree with them. It''s not feasible for you to go there. I will go alone and do what you intended to do. I don''t need anyone else to come with me. I can still escape under the assault of four Death Envoys, but with you around, it''ll be tough to make sure of your protection!" High Duke Oris let out, shaking his head. "Sigh, I can take care of my safety. I will talk to you about this later, but I don''t have any danger even if I go there," Ryder let out, trying to convince them. " What can you do to make sure of your safety?" High Duke Oris inquired as he looked at Ryder curiously. " You can test that for yourself. After we''re done with the interrogation, you can come with me alone to my room. I''ll show you my abilities," Ryder told High Duke Oris. "If it''s a suitable ability to help me survive, you can let me go with you, and if you''re not satisfied, then we can talk about that later. What do you say?" Ryder asked again. "Interesting. Fine. I''ll test myself if you have what it takes to survive in that place. As long as I''m satisfied, I''ll take you with me," High Duke Oris let out, nodding his head. " What are you saying? Have you lost your mind?" High Duke Devilia asked High Duke Oris with an incredulous look on her face. "Right. If their Prince Candidate was brave enough to come here, how can I fall back? How can I stay behind! I have full faith in my abilities. There''s no way I''ll die there," Ryder said, nodding his head. High Duke Oris and High Duke Eston looked back and forth between High Duke Oris and Ryder. "Sigh, Fine. If High Duke Oris believed in your ability, I''d believe as well. As long as you pass the test he decides to take, you''ll be allowed to go," High Duke Mila said as she sighed. " Hah, if two High Dukes agree to it, who am I to say no. You can go if High Duke Oris sees you fit," High Duke Eston let out as he agreed as well. " High Duke Oris and Rale, it will be your responsibility to keep the Prince safe. Don''t take your duties lightly and bring him back safe if he passes the test and go there," High Duke Mila said to Oris and Rale. " It is my oath and my duty to keep His Highness safe. It doesn''t matter if it''s Death Domain or the Demon Realm. I will bring him back safe even if it means my death," Rale let out as he nodded his head. As the plan was made, they continued eating in silence until someone broke the silence. "It''s good that you have decided what you''re going to do but let me interrogate the prisoner before you leave. If I don''t get satisfying answers from him, I will come with you as well," the Vampire King let out. "I can only take two people with me," High Duke Oris let out, shaking his head. '' Yeah, we can''t allow him to come. I still don''t trust him completely. If he backstabs us there, it wouldn''t be good. On the other hand, I can use that time to test his resolve. It''s not like my life will be in danger,'' Ryder thought as he glanced at the Vampire King. "I don''t need you to take me. I have ways of my own to come there," the Vampire King said casually. Before the High Duke could say anything, Ryder agreed. "But you''ll come separately. I''m not leaving Rale behind to take you with us," he continued. "But..." High Duke Eston said, worrying the same thing as Ryder. He also thought that Vampire King could betray them. He wanted to say something, but he knew that Ryder wouldn''t listen. "I''ll come as well if he''s coming." he continued. " I know what you''re thinking. Don''t worry about anything. I know what I''m doing. Let the Vampire King see with his own eyes how the Death Domain schemed against his people. He needs to know the reality," Ryder let out, shaking his head. After a lot of back and forth, Ryder managed to convince all Hugh Dukes. It was decided that Ryder, Rale, and High Duke Oris were going to go there, and the Vampire King was going to come alone, separately from them. The dinner was completed, and everyone went back to the Great Hall for the interrogation. Ryder and the others sat down on their thrones. High Duke Eston was the only one that was still standing in the center of the great hall. He brought Master Mao out of his Spatial Prison and stood beside him to make sure that he doesn''t kill himself or someone doesn''t hurt him. "Go ahead. You can ask your question first," Ryder let out, gesturing the Vampire King to ask his question. The Vampire King nodded his head as he glanced towards Master Mao. "Mao, tell me! What did you do to my General, Viden?" The Vampire King asked Mao. " W-what your general? We did nothing to anyone related to you! In all my time staying in the Demon Realm, you''re the first Vampire I saw!" Master Mao let out intently. The Vampire King released some of his aura, only affecting Mao. The pressure was so powerful that Mao dropped down to the ground. "Don''t lie to me! Tell me why you attacked him in the Undead Region inside the Valley of Wandering Souls! What did you steal from there?" The Vampire King asked again as he narrowed his blood-red eyes. "I never went inside the Undead Region!" Mao said as he struggled on the ground. The Vampire King stood up as he started walking towards Mao. High Duke Eston glanced towards Ryder, wondering if he should stop him, but he didn''t do anything as he saw Ryder gesturing to him to let Vampire King do what he wanted. Ryder knew that the Vampire King wouldn''t kill Mao. He probably wanted to threaten him. Also, he knew that the prisoner was essential to them. He would not kill Mao. At Least not before they finished interrogating Mao as well. The Vampire King sat in front of Mao as he looked into his eyes. He brought his hands near Mao''s face. His long nails penetrated Mao''s face, leaving a deep scrape on his face. "You know about us Vampires, right? You know that''s going to happen to your Body now, right? If you don''t tell me what I''m asking for, you''ll see that first game," the Vampire King told Mao as he smirked. Mao''s face started turning unusually green. " So that''s the Vampire Poison. He''ll start speaking, or he''ll suffer a lot," High Duke Oris muttered as he nodded his head. "I-i will tell you everything! I never went to the Undead Region! I swear to my family name! Her Highness went there a few times, but I never accompanied her. I don''t know if she did anything to your general! I don''t know anything," Mao let out as he felt his veins bulging. 284 Chapter 280: The Betrayer "He doesn''t know anything else. I don''t believe he lied, so there''s no benefit in me asking more questions. The questions I need to be answered can only be received in the Death Domain," he muttered as he closed his eyes. "He''s under the effect of my Poison. Ask your questions before the effects take place. He''ll answer them all," Vampire King muttered as if he was telling others to be fast. Ryder nodded his head as he glanced at Mao. He narrowed his eyes as he prepared to ask his question. "I only have one main question. It is impossible for you to make such an extensive scheme targeting our Demon Realm without any insider support. As for that insider support and the people that betrayed us, I''m sure they are inside this Palace today. Tell me who they are. Tell me the names. Tell me who betrayed us!" Ryder asked Mao. Master Mao was wriggling in pain on the ground when he heard the question. "It''s Master Lu! Master Lu helped us! Please stop the pain! Please stop it! I am telling you everything! Please stop the torture!" Mao screamed in pain. Ryder heard the name, and he was confused. It was the first time he was hearing that name. "Who is Master Lu? Is there anyone with that name in your Palace?" Ryder asked Devilia in confusion. "No. I don''t know of anyone with that name," Devilia replied, shaking her head. "Who''s Master Lu! What is his position here! Tell me everything about him, and I''ll think about stopping the pain for you!" Ryder asked Mao once again. Since no one here knew who Master Lu was, only Mao could answer that. " Master Li is a Death General in the Death Domain! He has the same position as me in that place!" Master Mao let out as he clenched his teeth to control the pain. "Please stop the pain now! Please stop it!" Ryder heard his answer and didn''t know how he should react. He looked towards the Vampire King in confusion. "Is the poison screwing with his brain? Is it making him lose his abilities to understand questions?" Ryder asked the Vampire King. "It has no such effects. It only affects his body. He should be able to understand your question and answer them perfectly if he has the answers," the Vampire King responded as he sighed. Ryder glanced back at Mao, who was begging for the pain to stop. "You idiot! I asked you who betrayed us! Who was a part of the Demon Realm that helped you infiltrate?! Who helped you with setting up this trap in Devilia''s Palace?!" Ryder asked again as he started getting annoyed. "As long as I don''t get the right answer, I''m not going to move even a finger to stop the pain for you," he continued. "Hmm? So there was an Imposter in this place? Interesting. Who was disguised as? Is he still here? Is he one of us?" Ryder asked curiously. He only doubted Devilia. If Master Lu had killed the Real Devilia before Ryder''s visit and he was pretending to be her, then it made sense that Devilia didn''t know anything about this. "I don''t know who he was disguised as since he was in his real form when he met us, but it must be a significant position since he was able to set up the formation outside the Great Hall and the formation to get us back home! That''s all I know! I''m sure that he already escaped through that position when he saw us getting caught! Even if he''s here, there''s no way we can recognize him," Master Mao explained as tears fell down his eyes because of Vampire Position. "So he can still be hiding here. I have an idea. We can easily test it. Demon Blood is distinct from the blood of Death Dwellers. We can cut out fingers and let our blood prove that we are not imposters," High Duke Oris suggested. Everyone likes the suggestion except Ryder, who was thinking about something else. ''We can''t do that! If Rale or I bled, then the Vampire King would know that we were in the Valley of Wandering Souls when his General went missing. That wouldn''t be good,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "I can say for sure that I, Rale, and the High Dukes can''t be the impersonator. We can check everyone else," Ryder let out casually as he subtly got himself and Rale out of the testing. He didn''t have any good excuse to stop this test, so this was the best he could do. "True. Prince Hades was holding the Moon Scythe. No one except him can hold that, so Lu is not him. As for Rale, I know that he''s safe as well," High Duke Oris said as he nodded his head. He didn''t openly say that Rale was safe because he was actually a lot stronger than a Duke. Master Lu was a Death General from what they were told. A Death General can''t kill Rale that easily. Also, High Duke Oris had seen Rale Unseal his real strength when he attacked the Black Skeleton King. Since then, he had been with Ryder. There was no way Master Lu could kill Rale and pretend to be him. Devilia and the Vampire King were the only ones in the room that were not said to be safe. "The Vampire King should be safe as well. He''s too strong for the Vampire King to impersonate him," High Duke Eston chimed in. "That only leaves Devilia. Even though I trust you a lot, you have been here before we arrived. It''s possible that Lu did something when you were taking care of this Duchy alone. Just to be on the safe side, let''s start this test with you," High Duke Mila said what Ryder wanted to say, but he was hesitating. Ryder didn''t want it to seem like he was suspicious of her, but High Duke Mila knew that he was suspicious, so she asked Devilia to go through the test intentionally. Devilia looked at everyone blankly as she sighed. "I am me. You should trust my ability to defend myself. It''s impossible for a Death General to defeat me and pretend to be me. Trust me! I am me!" Devilia ket out as she sighed. "We know that you are Devilia, but just to be on the safe side, please go through the test," Ryder said as he found her behavior suspicious. "No! You do not only doubt me, but you doubt my abilities as well. You know that I helped you so much. I suggested the plan of Dreimaia to search for the Black Skeleton King! I did so much to catch him! I don''t like you doubting my abilities and my dignity. I won''t stand for it!" Devilia said, shaking her head. " I know you suggested the use of Dreimaia, but you also know that it was what Elisia wanted as well! If High Duke Eston had linked to Dreimaia and we were careless, the outcome would be different. Now, I''m not saying that your suggestion was wrong. The suggestion was right, looking at the situation, but it can''t be used as your Defence. Please believe that it''s for the safety of our home. Please go through this test," Ryder insisted as he glared at Devilia. " No! I can''t accept it! How can you say that a Death General can defeat me? I am a Duke of Demon Realm! It''s insulting to me that you believe that I can be defeated by him while Rale can''t! I would not accept it. Test everyone in this hall first! I won''t be the only one that gets this lack of trust," Devilia let out as she rolled her eyes. "Duke Devilia, Please understand that it''s not about trust. On the other hand, you''re really acting suspiciously now. Go through the test right now," High Duke Eston let out as he looked at Devilia suspiciously. Ryder and the others also found her behavior strange. "It''s enough. I need to see if the repair work of the palace is going smoothly or not. I''ll be right back," Devilia said as she stood up and started to leave. " Duke Devilia, I''m warning you! Stop and go through the blood test, or we will be forced to make you go through it," Ryder thundered as he stood up. His voice echoed in the chambers of the entirety of Great Hall as he used his Intimation Skill as well. 285 Chapter 281: Desire to Burn! "High Duke Oris is right. If you''re really innocent, all you need to show is a drop of blood. Do it," High Duke Mila said to Ryder. "This is useless! I''m telling you that I''m perfectly fine. You all are doubting me unnecessarily. That is understandable since you''re all stressed right now about the Death Domain, but are you really going to believe him? He is lying!" Devilia said as she pointed at Mao and accused him of lying. " He''s not going to get anything from lying. All he can do is delay us for an hour this way before he dies. Even if he is lying, it''s not like we will lose anything if we indulge him," Ryder said in full seriousness. "Just show us your blood. We aren''t going to lose anything. If he''s lying, I''ll let you punish him on your own!" he continued. " Of course we lose something! We lose our precious time, which I can utilize elsewhere. If it isn''t a waste, why aren''t you testing Rale and the others as well? Why am I the only one that''s responsible to probe my authenticity!" Devilia let out in a hurt tone. " Devilia, you''re wasting even more time than what we would have wasted. This is the last warning. I''ll count to ten. If you don''t show us your blood, you''ll be forced! That''s the last bit of relaxation I can give you," Long Chen let out as he sighed. Devilia looked at them for a few minutes as if she was contemplating something serious, before ultimately nodding her head. "You don''t believe me. It''s because you''re a little stressed, I think. You guys should have rest. I will see how the repair work of the Palace is going on," She said as she turned her back on them and started walking towards the exit. "High Duke Oris, please stop her and test her blood. She isn''t going to listen like this," Ryder sighed as he looked at High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris nodded his head as he started flying after Devilia, but as he was getting near her, two golden skeletons came out of the ground and caught the legs of High Duke Oris. While High Duke Oris was shocked, he noticed that Devilia had started running towards the door. "You idiot!" High Duke Oris roared in anger as an energy wave came out of his body, destroying the golden skeletons with ease. The energy wave was so powerful that it was equivalent to the energy wave that had appeared when High Duke Oris and the Death Envoy''s attack had collided, but unlike last time, this energy wave was more controlled. It destroyed the skeletons and didn''t go any further as it stopped without going any further. High Duke Oris disappeared from his position and appeared before Devilia as he caught her neck and smashed her on the ground. Everyone saw the blood color, which was different from the dark blood of the Demons. " Death Domain Blood," The Vampire King muttered as he saw the blood. " You are not Devilia! Tell me who you are?! What did you do to Devilia?!" High Duke Oris let out as he started tightening the grip on Devilia''s neck. "I-i am Lu! I am the person he was talking about! I came here to impersonate others and get the information to my people! Please don''t kill me! I will tell you everything!" Devilia started crying out loud as if she was seeing her death now, and she knew that if she didn''t say anything, she was going to die. Ryder walked closer to High Duke Oris and Devilia with clenched fists. The others also followed behind her. "Sigh, he probably killed your Duke sneakily and took her place. Such a cruel plan from Elisia but really effective. She does think like a ruthless King; I must say," Vampire King muttered as he nodded in praise of Elisia. Ryder glared at the Vampire King but didn''t say anything. He simply looked back at High Duke Oris. "Attacking me and failing is a different matter, but killing a Duke of Demon Realm to make your plan go forward. Elisia is really brave to come up with this plan. She even dared to target Devilia? If she''s really looking for death that much, then I''ll give it to her," Ryder said in a Devil-like tone. He didn''t know why, but he could feel his blood boiling at the thoughts of his people dying. It was as if he had gone through the same thing before. It was as if he had lost everything he held precious once before, and he couldn''t do anything. He could feel a desire inside his heart. A desire to burn everything! A desire to destroy even the Heavens for what they took from him. He couldn''t understand what this feeling was. He wasn''t even that close to Devilia. He felt like there was something more to this feeling than Devilia. His anger was taking over his head. He didn''t know, but at that moment, there was a glimpse of shine on his Bracelet of Immortality as if it was happy. A red shine also appeared in Ryder''s eyes. For a brief second, it seemed like his eyes were back millions of years, looking at the destruction all around him. Ryder didn''t notice anything. He was just lost in his anger to notice such minor things. All he knew was there there was an anger inside him that he couldn''t suppress "High Duke Oris, we''re not going to Death Domain. Send an envoy there with a letter from me. Tell them that I want Elisia here at all cost. I want Elisia on her knees before me in twenty-four hours! She deserves death for being responsible for our Duke''s Death! Tell them that if I don''t get Elisia, they should be ready for the consequences," Ryder declared as he glared at High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris was stunned at Ryder''s words. In his eyes, Ryder was a guy that always looked to avoid wars if possible, but it seemed like he was thirsty for war if he didn''t get what he wanted. He was even more surprised as he saw Ryder''s face. He didn''t know what was going on, but he had a feeling as if he was not just looking at Ryder. For a brief moment, he felt like he was looking at the Ancient God himself, that was thirsty for slaughter. " I will do as you said; just let us hear what he did to Devilia first. If she''s actually dead, then Elisia truly deserves death along with the others that participated. I will fully support you in the war if it''s the truth," High Duke Oris said as he nodded his head. " Tell me! Did you kill Devilia?" he asked the woman in his grip that looked like Devilia. "N-no, I didn''t kill her! I did not need to kill her! I only made her unconscious and trapped her! She is perfectly fine! If I had Killed her, my skill of Impersonation would be broken! I left her perfectly safe! She is just sleeping because of the effects of my skill! I can free her if you want!" the woman lying on the ground said. Ryder heard his words, and his anger was a little less, but he hadn''t calmed down perfectly. " High Duke Oris! Take him with you and bring Devilia safely back!" Ryder told High Duke Oris before he walked back like a king and sat on the throne with one of his legs resting on his other legs. ''Just what exactly happened to him? His visage is all different? He was like a sensible prince before, but now I get a feeling as if I''m looking at a deep abyss. Is this his real personality? Even I''m feeling intimidated,'' The Vampire King thought as he watched Ryder sitting on the throne. He never thought that it was ever possible, but he was actually feeling intimidated by a kid. He couldn''t understand why it was that way. Just what was Ryder hiding? Just who was he exactly? The Vampire King has even met the Demon Emperor before. Still, the King of intimation he felt from Ryder was entirely different from the intimation he felt when he met the Demon Emperor. When he had met the Demon Emperor Salem, he felt like he was standing before a person that was impossible to be defeated. He felt like Demon Emperor Salem was the real king while he sat just a kid before him. He was like an incomparable mountain in Vampire King''s eyes, but the feelings he got from Ryder were entirely different. 286 Chapter 282: Return of Memories VIP ''Just what is this feeling. I never felt this way,'' The Vampire King thought as he frowned. High Dukes were feeling the same way. High Duke Oris didn''t delay any further as he took the impersonator with him. High Duke Mila, High Duke Eston, and Rale were left behind, who just looked at Ryder, sitting on the throne like a real ruler. "You! Tell me! Was there any other impersonator or spy?" Ryder asked Maon in a grim tone. Even Mao was sweating as he lived in Ryder''s eyes. He had forgotten the pain of the Vampire Venom; all he could remember were the devilish eyes. "N-no. We only had one spy! You already caught him," Mao replied. "Good. Last question. Did the Bloodline Prince and the Death Envoys know about Elisia''s plans?" Ryder asked again. "No. Princess Elisia kept it a secret from them. They weren''t told anything," Mao answered as if he was answering his master. Ryder stood up as he nodded his head. He walked towards Mao. "I-i answered. Can I go?" Mao asked Ryder with a hopeful gaze. Ryder stopped before Mao as he brought the Moon Scythe out of his Storage. "You can go. You are of no use to me anymore. I punish you to death!'' Ryder let out as he slashed his Moon Scythe, cutting the neck of Mao. ***** In a faraway place, a man was sitting on the throne. It was a world with a blue sun. The trees were red instead of green, and the people could fly. The man was sitting in a beautiful golden palace. He was wearing a golden Armor. There was a red cloak behind his back. He sat on a beautiful throne, listening to two people talking before him, when he suddenly felt something strange. He had long red hair. He hurriedly stood up as he looked towards the sky. "Was that my misconception? Why did I feel the same energy as that person? It''s impossible. He should be dead. We all killed him together! There''s no way I can feel that man''s aura. Was this really my misconception?" The man muttered as he frowned. "Uh, Flame Lord? Did something happen?" the people that were standing before him asked the red-haired man in concern. "Ah, nothing. I just remembered an old friend... an old friend who is dead. I must be missing him," the red-haired man muttered as he shook his head and sat down on the throne again. **** Ryder slashed his Moon Scythe and cut the neck of the Mao. Mao''s head was separated from his body, and fell down on the ground. \u003cLevel up\u003e \u003cLevel up\u003e \u003cLevel Up\u003e ... \u003cLevel Up\u003e One after another, level up notification started resounding in Ryder''s ears as he killed Mao. \u003cError: User has reached level 100\u003e \u003cLevel Update is blocked. No more experience can be harvested\u003e \u003cClass update Required for future level upgrades\u003e \u003cDo you want to update Your Class?\u003e \u003cYes/No\u003e Ryder looked at the notification, but he didn''t care about it. It was as if he was detached from the game. He ignored the notification and walked back to the throne. The notification was still in his notification panel to upgrade in the future if he ever wished to select yes in the future. There was no timer for acceptance. As Ryder killed Mao so suddenly, no one could do anything. They all felt strange, though. Since when was Ryder so ruthless? Vampire King hadn''t known Ryder for a long time, but from the time he interacted with Ryder, he had a completely different perception of Ryder than what he was seeing at the moment. High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston also looked at Ryder in shock. Today, they were getting shocks one after another, and it all happened after Ryder heard the news about the potential death of Devilia. It was as if the news of the death of someone close to him had woken up something inside him. It had woken up a small ruthless side in Ryder''s heart. That''s what they felt like. They even wondered if Ryder had ever gone through the trauma of losing someone before, which was deeply buried in his memories, and it was suddenly brought up by the news of Ryder''s death. Watched the dead body of Mao with an expressionless face. "I won''t let anyone kill me," he muttered as he walked back to the throne. Ryder sat again on the throne. "All of you. Sit down. We are done here," Ryder muttered softly as he closed his eyes, but the intimidating aura around him didn''t disappear. \u003cThis feeling... it''s just like before\u003e While Ryder had his eyes closed, Janus'' voice responded in his ears. Ryder didn''t reply to Janus. He opened his eyes again, and time seemed to have stopped. It seemed as if the High Dukes and the others present in this room were paused in time. " Janus, Why are you here? I told you not to interfere with whatever happens after that moment, didn''t I? You dare disobey me?" Ryder muttered in a grim tone. \u003cI... You remembered? You remember everything?\u003e Janus asked in a shocked tone. "I never forgot anything. I always remembered. How can I forget you, little guy," Ryder muttered as he smiled. \u003cA-are you really back? You''re finally back?!\u003e Janus inquired again as if he was having difficulty believing anything that was happening. "I''m back, but not for long. I feel like I will forget everything soon. This is not the time for me to appear. I don''t understand how this incarnation of mine managed to wake me up, but it''s only temporary. This body is not strong enough for my memories yet. I can only stay here for a few more minutes at maximum before I''ll disappear again. If I stay longer, he''ll die," Ryder let out as he sighed. He looked into the distant horizon as if he was able to see the history of the universe. \u003cI-i will make sure that everything is ready! It won''t take long\u003e Janus told Ryder like an excited boy that was talking to an elder. "You little kid, You didn''t need to do anything. Do you have any idea what will happen if Father knows what you''re doing? Don''t take the risk. Let it happen at its own pace. It would be fine. The right time will come. I will get back everything that was taken from me," Ryder let out softly as he closed his eyes again. \u003cFather... Ah, Are you going to spend your last few minutes here? Don''t you want to meet her?\u003e "Her? Oh, right. Her name is Alice, isn''t it? I can see many more people in the memories. Hah, they all came here as well. Those idiots. You''re all idiots," Ryder muttered as he smiled. \u003cYes. Her name is Alice. You can meet her before you leave\u003e " It''s fine. Everything will happen at its own pace," Ryder muttered as he glanced at the bracelet on his wrist. " I''m reaching the limits. I can only stay here for a minute before this body starts destroying itself. Even the Bracelet of Immortality won''t be able to heal it then," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "It is really good to talk to you again, little brother," Ryder let out as he smiled. \u003c I will bring you back as soon as I can, big brother. Even if I gave to break all the laws set by them\u003e Ryder was about to reply when the door of the Great Hall opened. High Duke Oris entered the Great Hall with Devilia and the Impersonator Lu that had returned to his real body. "I still have a few seconds. Might as well use them to do something," Ryder muttered as he stood up. High Dukes and the Vampire King were paused in time. They started moving once again. High Duke Oris placed Devilia on the ground and threw Lu down. Ryder walked towards Lu with his Moon Scythe in his hand. "You dared to harm her and put her in your schemes? Anyone who dared to think about harming people close to me deserves death! Die for me?" Ryder let out as he slashed with his Moon Scythe, cutting the head of Death Warrior Lu. \u003cError: Class hasn''t been updated. Experience Points can''t be absorbed\u003e A notification resounded in Ryder''s ears, but he ignored it. As Ryder killed for the first time before High Duke Oris and Devilia, they were taken aback in shock. The others had already seen Ryder kill Mao before, but even they were shocked to see how easily Ryder killed Mao again. "Thirty Seconds left. Might as well do something good for the little guy," Ryder muttered as he walked towards Devilia. 287 Chapter 283: Tricks "You''re known as Devilia here, aren''t you? You''re mine from today," Ryder let out as he placed one of his hands behind Devilia''s neck and pulled her face closer, kissing her. Devilia was so shocked that her mouth opened a little. Ryder slid his tongue inside her mouth. ''Time to go,'' Ryder thought. The strange aura that was surrounding Ryder disappeared as he returned to normal. Ryder had no idea what happened in the last few moments after Ryder had heard the news about Devilia''s potential death, but as he came back to his senses, he felt a hot pair of lips touching his lips. He could also feel his tongue fighting for dominance insider Devilia''s mouth. His right hand was resting behind Devilia''s neck while his left hand was resting on her hips. Ryder was so shocked, he pulled his tongue out of Devilia''s mouth and moved backward. "Ah, Devilia. You''re perfectly fine. I''m so glad," he said, not knowing what else to say. "I... that was my first kiss. I... I don''t mind. I accept. I am yours from today," Devilia said as she nodded her head as she moved forward and hugged Ryder as she kissed him back. It was time for Ryder''s mind to be blank as he didn''t know what just happened. From Devilia''s words, it sounded like she was his woman. What did she mean by she accept? Did he propose to her during the time he couldn''t remember what happened? Was he having some disorder or split personality? He couldn''t understand what was happening. All he knew was that he didn''t hate this development. He quite liked the kiss of Devilia. Also, Devilia was one of the prettiest women he had seen. She was pretty, and she was hot. Even though it was all in Divinity, he didn''t feel like anything was unreal about it. Her kiss felt as real as it could. Ryder liked that kiss. He also felt a little hot from her kiss. He didn''t hate Devilia. In Fact, he quite liked her. Since it had already happened, he decided to accept Devilia as his woman. He wrapped his arms around her back and hugged her even tighter as he sucked the sweet juice off her lips. After kissing her for over five minutes, he separated his lips from hers to breathe. Ryder looked in the eyes of Devilia, which seemed as deep as the sea. "Ahem, ahem." While Ryder was looking at Devilia with a passionate gaze as if he wanted to kiss her again, he heard a coughing sound. He looked to his side and saw High Duke Oris looking at him. High Duke Mila, High Duke Eston, Rale, and Vampire King were also looking at him. "Ah, right. That''s not how I should''ve behaved in public," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. Devilia''s face was also red as she saw the gaze of High Duke Mila. She lowered her gaze, and her eyes couldn''t help but fall on Ryder''s pants. Her face turned even redder. Even though he didn''t remember what just happened, he knew that the two dead bodies had something to do with him. He thought that High Dukes killed the two of them, and he believed that they wouldn''t do that without Ryder''s command. So he believed that he had a hand in it. He tried to test this theory. " Back to the topic. You all know why I had them killed, right?" Ryder asked High Dukes. "Ah, yes. You said that Mao didn''t have any valuable information to give, so you killed him. As for the other guy, you said he didn''t deserve to live since he reserved targeted people close to you," High Duke Eston explained to Ryder. As Ryder heard High Duke Eston''s words, his mouth opened slightly. ''What the heck? What did he mean I killed them? How can I kill them? I would have asked them to kill for me! These guys are so high level; I wouldn''t be able to kill them even if I sliced them ten times with my strongest skill. Just what exactly happened here? Is this really a split personality disorder? But this hasn''t happened before. How come I suddenly have this disease?'' Ryder wondered as he started sweating. He was beginning to believe that he actually had a split personality disorder. Just when Ryder was trying to make sense of the situation, he heard the voice of Janus. \u003cYou don''t have any disorder\u003e "You''re up? Oh! So it must be you, playing tricks on me! You idiot! Was this a new type of prank? You really scared me for a moment," Ryder muttered as he breathed in relief. He walked back to the throne and sat down. \u003cSomething like that\u003e Janus replied in a casual tone. Ryder sighed as he shook his head. "You are really trying to kill me! Always coming up with these weird tricks. Anyway, what exactly did you do this time? Did you give me some strange task to kill those two with the threat to kill someone if I didn''t do it? That makes sense!" " You must''ve asked me to kiss Devilia as well! You are really troublesome. Why did you even remove my memories after doing all this?" Ryder asked Janus as he made an assumption about what must have happened. Janus didn''t reply to Ryder, but Ryder didn''t seem like he was going to drop this matter. Ryder kept asking the same thing again and again. "Answer me, you idiot!" Ryder let out in frustration. \u003cDing... A new mission has been issued to the host\u003e \u003cMission: Make Devilia tell you that she loves you\u003e \u003cMission Reward: Devilia''s complete Loyalty\u003e \u003cMission Reward: 100 origin points\u003e \u003cPunishment for Failure: You''ll forget what the last fifty minutes of your memory\u003e \u003cTime Limit: Three hours\u003e "Ah, I get it. You''re trying to divert my attention. As for the punishment, I guess I got my answer. I lost my memory because I failed to complete the entire mission that you gave me last time. That must be it, isn''t it?" Ryder asked again, but he didn''t get any answer. "Sigh, he always goes silent when he''s in trouble. One day, I''ll definitely get back at him," Ryder muttered as he smiled. " Oh, right. Since the witnesses are dead, there''s no benefit to this meeting. You can all go and rest. High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston, you guys can go back to the Royal City after resting. High Duke Oris and I will leave for the Death Domain tonight with Rale," Ryder told everyone as he stood up and started to leave. He stopped before the door as he glanced back at Devilia. "Oh, right. Devilia. I need to talk to you about something important. Please come to my room as soon as you can," he said before he left the Great Hall. Rale followed after Ryder. "Congrats Devilia. It looks like you''re not going to be single for long," High Duke Mila chuckled as she patted Devilia''s shoulders before she left as well. High Duke Eston, Vampire King, and High Duke Oris also left. z Only Devilia was left behind with a red face. She could feel her heart beating faster. She took a deep breath to calm her down before she left the Great Hall as well. **** "Your Highness, You must really like High Duke Devilia. The way you asked her to be your woman in front of everyone was shocking yet so brave¡ª exactly how a Demon King should behave," Rale complimented Ryder as he walked behind him. "Ah, really? Hah, even I can''t believe that I did that," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "To be honest, I don''t even remember what I exactly did." "That''s the sign of greatness. Doing something big and not even remembering it. I''m sure you remember about proposing to Duke Devilia. You''re surely jesting with me about not remembering," Rale replied to Ryder with an innocent smile. " Hah, You''re so clever, Rale. You know me completely. You are right. I remember everything," Ryder let out as he agreed to what Rale wanted to believe. Ryder reached his room. He entered his room while Rale stayed outside. "You aren''t coming?" He asked Rale. "Ah, no. I can see Duke Devilia coming here. It''s going to be your private time. I won''t interfere. I will stand outside. The rooms are soundproof, by the way. You won''t have to worry about any sound getting out," Rale told Ryder as he moved a step back. Ryder felt like he understood what Ryder was trying to convey. Rale was probably thinking that Ryder called Devilia here to have sex with her, but in reality, he wanted to complete his mission. At Least that''s what he wanted, but he knew that this whole thing might actually end the way Rale was thinking. 288 Chapter 284: What are you? "Sigh, I have so many memories of alternate timelines that didn''t exist because I reversed the time, yet I don''t even have memories of my own timeline. It''s kinda funny and sad at the same time," he muttered as he sighed. "Janus, can I ask you a question? What exactly are you? How do you have so many powers? Are you really a god that is bored in heaven and trying to entertain himself through me?" Ryder asked Janus as he walked back to the bed. \u003cWrong\u003e Janus replied with a single word. "Then what exactly are you? Why do you have so many powers? Why do I have so many powers? Who exactly made this bracelet? Why do you keep toying with me? I thought we were cool after you stopped threatening to kill me and people close to me about our deaths in nuclear blasts, but now you''re wiping my memory. Just what are you trying to do? Just what do you wish to achieve using me?" Ryder asked Janus in a soft tone. \u003cWhat does the host think?\u003e Janus didn''t answer anything. Instead, he asked the question in return. "I don''t know. I don''t know anything at all. I just have a feeling that you''re not a bad being but the way you behave always makes me doubt my feelings. Despite all you did, I just can''t seem to make myself hate you. Honestly, I am angry, more at myself than I am at you. Just what is wrong with me. Why can''t I seem to hate you?" Ryder asked Janus as he frowned, but he didn''t wait for an answer as he continued. "After meeting you, my life hasn''t been in my control entirely. Most of my actions are a result of your missions. Even though I have the freedom about how I finish the missions, but still... I don''t know when and how it will end. I should be hating you for making my life like this, yet I can''t bring myself to hate you," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "Is this because you''re the reason I was able to get my life back? Even if it''s that, that was only a one-time thing. You messed with me so many times. I''m seriously surprised why I don''t feel angry at you. It''s like something, a part inside me that makes me feel like you''re family. Sigh, I guess my brain is really messed up. I wonder if I''ll ever lose my sanity. Just remember to delete my browser history if I lose my sanity, and I''m admitted to a mental hospital because of you," he added as he placed his hand behind his head and sat down. \u003cBrowser History?\u003e " Ah, nothing. I will delete that myself after I go back," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Ryder sat straight. "Ah, Devilia. Come on in," Ryder said as he looked towards the door. She walked over to Ryder and sat beside him. For a few minutes, no one said a single word. There was silence in the room, which was broken as Ryder opened his mouth after thinking about what he needed to say. "Ah, Devilia. You know what I said before. I wasn''t lying," Ryder let out softly as he placed his hand over her hand. "Sigh, I''ve been thinking about this for a long time. I wanted to tell you long ago that I''ve been in love with you since the moment I saw you. I wanted to make you my woman, but I couldn''t say that out loud. Today, when I found out that your life was in danger, I felt scared. I thought that I lost you and I couldn''t even tell you my feelings. I was glad you were safe and sound, but I didn''t want to take the risk of staying silent again. That''s why I told you to be mine in front of everyone," Ryder told Devilia. " Let me be as clear as I can," he added as he looked deep into her eyes. "I love you, Devilia. For a moment, forget that I''m a prince. Forget that I have any authority over you. Please think of me as a normal human being and tell me honestly. Do you love me as well?" Ryder asked in full seriousness as he looked into her eyes. "I... I love you too," Devilia said as she nodded her head. A bright smile appeared on her face. While Ryder was reminiscing about the notification of his mission being successful, a warm pair of lips suddenly closed his mouth. Devilia had always been bold, but she was shy as well in certain situations. Now that they had confirmed their relationship, she was back to being bold in front of Ryder. Right after her confession, she kissed Ryder. Ryder also wrapped his hand around her back as he kissed her back. After kissing for a few minutes, he felt as if he was filled with pleasure. He felt as if his hands were moving on their own as he started taking off her clothes. **** Just as Rale had said before, even though Devilia''s moans echoed inside the room, not a single sound reached outside the room. There was complete silence outside the room while there was a storm of euphoria inside the room. Just like that, two hours passed away before the storm inside the room calmed down. Devilia and Ryder were lying on the bed. None of them had any clothes on their body. " That was amazing. No wonder people praise it so much," Devilia said as she smiled while looking at Ryder. " It was certainly good," Ryder muttered as he gave her another kiss before he sat up and started getting dressed. " It should be the time to leave for Death Domain. I''ll go to High Duke Oris and the others. You take care of the matters of this Duchy. Oh, right. Keep an eye on the matter of the dead Marquis and his Minister handling the Marquis Manor''s matters. I should be back soon. I''ll tell High Duke Eston to stay back in the palace. If you face any problem in the next few days, you can take his help," Ryder told Devilia as he finished getting dressed. Devilia also got up and started wearing clothes. I''ll take care of everything," she said as she nodded her head. Ryder left the room and met up with Rale, who looked at him with an interested gaze. "Why are you looking at me like that? Don''t that me that the news about the walls being soundproof was a lie," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. Rale couldn''t help but chuckle as he heard Ryder''s words. "That wasn''t a lie. I really heard nothing, but it''s obvious," Rale said with a subtle smile on his face. "Don''t tell anyone. We''re leaving for the Death Domain. It''s time to be serious," Ryder let out as he started walking away from the room. Rale followed after him. Ryder and Rale met up with other High Dukes. After some more time, all the preparations were completed. High Duke Oris held Ryder and Rale''s hands before he disappeared from Devilia''s Palace. **** Far away from the Demon Realm existed a place that seemed like an entirely different world. It was a place that was occupied by Death Dwellers. A place where the biggest Enemy of Demon Realm stayed. The sky of Death Domain was a lighter shade of green with a tint of blue that made it look strangely charming. There was no sun in the sky, yet there was no lack of light. Ryder and High Duke Oris appeared just outside a city inside the Death Domain. The city was surrounded by a barrier that seemed to be made from lightning. Ryder could see the flickering lightning forming a net outside the city. "That city... Is that the Royal City of Death Domain?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "Yes. That''s the Death City. It''s the Royal City of Death Domain where Death Envoys and the Royal Family lives," High Duke Oris replied. "Interesting. Have you ever been here before?" Ryder inquired. "Yeah, before the War between Death Domain and the Demon Realm, I came here. After that, things started going sideways. The relationship between our two Realms started getting bad, and ultimately, there was the war. It''s my first time coming here after the war," High Duke Oris replied. "Oh. By the way, Why didn''t we Teleport straight inside their palace? Why are we outside the Death City? We are here to show off our strength and fierceness. It wouldn''t be good to just walk to the Palace," Ryder inquired with a confused look on his face. 289 Chapter 285: Class Upgrade "Is this similar to our barrier? From what I know, our Royal City also has a similar barrier that prevents Teleportation inside. Only Demons can Teleport inside and outside. Similarly, only Death Dwellers should be able to Teleport inside and outside here, am I right?" Ryder asked as he found similarities between this barrier and the barrier that was covering their Royal City. As the barrier needed a large amount of resources to maintain constantly, these kinds of barriers were only used in Royal Cities. "Yeah. It''s kind of similar. The same person made both the barriers after all," High Duke Oris muttered. " Same Person?" Ryder let out in confusion. "Yeah. Neither a demon nor a Death Dweller made the two barriers. It was made by someone else," High Duke Oris explained. "Anyway, that''s for a different time. We should be entering now." "How can we enter the city with that Giant Barrier?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "It''s impossible to Teleport inside, but we aren''t going to Teleport. We are going to blow a hole in that barrier and enter while the Barrier repairs itself. When we''re done here, we can just Teleport outside since the barrier doesn''t prevent Teleportation going outside. It only blocks Teleportation coming inside," High Duke Oris said as he smirked. "Interesting. Are these barriers that easy to break? I seriously worry about the safety of Demon Realm now if these barriers are breakable," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "These barriers aren''t that easy to break, but for people like the Death Envoys and us, these barriers are breakable as long as they keep attacking at the same point constantly. It might take a few minutes, though," High Duke Oris said as he pulled a bow out of his Spatial Storage. " You use a bow?" Ryder inquired as he saw the beautiful bow. "Yeah. I''m pretty good at it as well. Anyways, I''m just using it because it''s easier to strike the same point in the barrier with a bow and an arrow," High Duke Oris said as he smiled. He aimed the arrow towards the barrier and fired. While the first arrow was still midway, High Duke Oris fired another arrow. One after another, he kept shooting out the arrows. In just a second, he managed to shoot around ten arrows, all of which managed to hit the same spot on the barrier. Just as the tenth arrow hit the barrier, a giant opening appeared in the barrier. The striking of the arrows on the barrier had also alerted the Death Dwellers inside the Royal Death City. The three of them entered the city through that opening just before the opening closed as the barrier repaired itself. High Duke Oris landed on the ground just inside the city. As soon as Ryder''s feet touched the ground, a notification appeared in front of him. \u003cCongratulations. You have become the first player to step inside the Royal City of the Death Diamond\u003e \u003c5000 Fame Points received\u003e \u003c+10,000 Exp\u003e \u003cError: Class hasn''t been updated. Experience Points can''t be absorbed\u003e "What the heck? What class update? Is this some bug that''s stopping me from getting experience?" Ryder muttered as he frowned. He opened his stats screen to see what it was all about. As he opened his stats, his mouth opened wide in shock with what he saw. [Name: Hades Title: Successor of Salem Species: High Demon Class: Demon Monarch Level:100 Experience: 0/0 HP: 89000(+74000) Mana: 56000 Strength: 1362(+2553) Defense:1375(+2570) Speed: 1280(+2537) Stamina:1400(+2950) Dexterity:1300(+1803) Intelligence: 998(+2357) Available stat points: 200 Skills: Ruler of Time: Level Not Defined Enraged Slash: Level 4 (55% mastery) All-Seer: Level 4 (59% mastery) Flame blast: Level 6 (62% mastery) Shadow ball: Level 5 (72% mastery) Stealth: Level 4 (11% mastery) Sand Storm: Level 3 (19% mastery) Strengthening: Level 3 ( 13% mastery) Taunt: Level 2 ( 10% mastery) Intimidation: Level 5 (71% mastery) Dreimaia: Level 0 (0% Mastery)] [Tap to see more Skills] [Weapon Related Skill: Absorption: Level 2(3% mastery) Transformation: Max Level Items: Moon Scythe: Unique Grade Bracelet of Immortality: God Grade (sealed) (1/25 fragments collected) Crown of Royal Demon: Unique Grade Robe of Royal: Unique Grade Wing Shoes: Unique Grade] [Tap to see more Treasures] Ryder looked at his status screen for a brief moment, getting even more shocked. ''Just how did I become level hundred out of nowhere? Did Janus give me some crazy amount of Exp in the time I don''t remember? Was that the reward of the mission I performed in the time forgotten?'' Ryder thought as his frown became even deeper. '' No wonder I couldn''t get the exp just now. There''s a compulsory class upgrade available at level hundred, and it''s impossible to get exp without going through it. Sigh, ten thousand exp points wasted. If I had known about this, I should have accepted the level upgrade before coming here,'' A deep sigh escaped his mouth, making High Duke Oris look at him with concern. " Is something wrong?" High Duke Oris asked Ryder. "Ah?" Ryder came out of his daze as he heard High Duke Oris''s voice. "It''s nothing. Just wait a few seconds." He opened his character upgrade screen and saw a notification there. \u003cClass Update available. Would you like to update the class?\u003e \u003cY/N\u003e He tapped on yes. \u003cCongratulations. Class upgraded from Demon Monarch to Blood Demon Monarch\u003e \u003c Two New Skills Received\u003e \u003c Skill: Blood Demon Wings Skill Grade: Class-Specific Skill Type: Active Skill (Consume Mana when being used) Description: Player can bring out the Blood Demon Wings and use them to fly\u003e \u003c Skill: Rage of the Blood Demon Skill Grade: Class-Specific Skill Type: Active Skill (Consume Mana when being used) Description: The special Bloodline Skill of Blood Demons Effects: Double HP for ten minutes, Twenty percent more Mana Warning: Using this Skill might affect with thoughts of the player and make them more prone to anger\u003e "Two class-specific skills. Not bad," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He tried using his Blood Demon Wings to see how they looked. As soon as he used the skill, two black wings appeared behind his back. There was a strange red pattern all around the wings that made them look devilish charming. The Wings were similar to the wings of Rale, but they were giving a strange bloody aura that was enough to intimidate even Rale. "The Blood Demon Wings," Rale muttered in shock as he took a step back. "Your Highness, please hide the wings. We can''t let the Death Domain people know that you''re from the Blood Demon Species. If they find out about it, they can use it to sabotage you. Only the Dukes and High Dukes know about it, and we have all taken an oath not to tell anyone about it because we know how damaging it can be," High Duke Oris told Ryder as he hurried him to hide the wings. Ryder canceled the skill immediately, and the wings disappeared. "There will be chaos everywhere if the normal citizens find out that their Prince is a Blood Demon. We definitely can''t let our enemies know about this," Rale told Ryder as he calmed himself down. " I''ll keep that in mind," Ryder let out as he nodded his head. He had forgotten entirely that his Species was High Demon, but even inside that, he was a Blood Demon. Blood Demons were also a part of High Demons, but they were hated by everyone, and people feared them for their ruthless history. Almost all Blood Demons were extinct now, so it was understandable that it was going to be chaotic if people find out about this. Now that he was reminded about it, he decided to make a note to himself. "Let''s continue ahead," he told High Duke Oris. "Hold my hand. We are teleporting straight outside their Palace," High Duke Oris said as he reached out his hand. "Teleporting? Oh right. I guess you can Teleport now that we are inside the barrier," Ryder muttered as he held High Duke Oris'' hand. Rale did the same. All three of them disappeared and appeared outside the Royal Palace of the Death Domain. As they appeared there, they saw all four Death Envoys standing outside the entrance of the palace. "You took a really long time to get here after breaking our barrier. I guess the Great High Duke of Demon Realm is really getting old," One of the Death Envoy muttered in a mocking tone. " That''s not it. I was just taking the time to see the city that we are going to destroy if we don''t get a satisfying answer," High Duke Oris let out as he smirked. 290 Chapter 286: Double Trouble "You can try. You''ll see what happens next." Before High Duke Oris could reply, Ryder did in his casual tone that gave the feeling of confidence. "You!" The Death Envoys were stunned as they heard Ryder''s tone. They thought that Ryder would at least look a little bit worried now that he was in enemy territory and outnumbered, but the way he talked back, they couldn''t help but wonder what he was hiding. "Call you Prince outside to meet me if you don''t want to see your palace being destroyed. I''ll count to ten. This time, you dared to attempt to kill me, and you expected us to sit behind? You expected us to wait for your explanation? I''m here to ask for an explanation myself. Bring him out," Ryder thundered as he brought the Moon Scythe out of his storage to look then more intimidating. "You! Are you really looking for a war? We told you that we weren''t responsible for it. It was something done by a rogue element of our Death Domain!" one of the Death Envoys told Ryder as he glared at him. He also released his suffocating aura, but before that aura could even get near Ryder, it was stopped by High Duke Oris'' aura. "Why should I care who did it! A Death General of your place was involved along with a Crown Candidate that holds the Inheritance Weapon of your Demon Emperor! This is as official as it can get. Bring your Prince out now! I only have ten seconds. Seven Seconds have already passed," Ryder replied as he kept tapping his foot on the ground with the passing of each second. Just as he was about to tap his foot for the tenth time, he heard the sound of a clap. He stopped as he looked ahead. He could see a young man in his late 20s walking towards him. The man had a staff behind his back that far a red diamond in the shape of the skull on the top. The body of the staff seemed to be made of wood. The man wore a dark green robe. His grey hair was long enough to come down to his shoulders. The man had a pale face that made him look really serious. ''The description matches perfectly. He should be the Bloodline Prince of Death Domain, Amadeus,'' Ryder thought as he looked at the man who was walking out of the palace. The man matched the description of Bloodline Prince Asmadeus that was given to him by Devilia''s Father. "Just one High Duke is enough to destroy this city. Want to see that?" Ryder inquired as he fired back. "Are you sure of that? You might be underestimating my Death Domain a lot, Prince Hades. It''s not as simple as you may think it is. As for trying, even though I''m not interested in testing that, we both know that it will simply result in your death. Why are you after death and destruction so much?" Asmadeus inquired as he looked into Ryder''s eyes as if he was trying to gaze deep down in his soul. "My Death? Well, you should forget about that. One of your Crown Candidates already tried. It''s not that easy to kill me. Ask that stupid girl. She thought that she was always one step ahead of me, but she was two steps behind. It might be you people that underestimate me," Ryder replied as his fingers roamed on the blade of his moon scythe. "I''m not her, am I?" Asmadeus responded. "You''re not her, but you''re not me either. Anyway, I''m not here to show off my abilities. If it came to that, we would be here for days. I am here for something else. I am here for an explanation and to return something," Ryder said, looking at Asmadeus "Return something?" Asmadeus inquired with a frown. Ryder opened his inventory and pulled out something. Two bodies landed in front of Asmadeus. "Ah, so it''s these two," Asmadeus muttered as he sighed. The two bodies lying in front of him were the two people that Ryder had killed¡ªMaster Lu and Master Mao. Asmadeus waved his hand gently. A green ball of flame appeared out of thin air and landed on the bodies. In the blink of an eye, the bodies were turned to ashes. "You should''ve burnt them yourself. These people dared to do something like this without asking for my permission. They deserved death," Asmadeus muttered as he looked back at Ryder. "Elisia did the same thing. Why did you save her then? You should''ve left her with us if you were really that serious," Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face. "Elisia, she''s a bit special. Even though she''s chaotic and she''s looking to take my crown, I still can''t let her die," Asmadeus responded as he sighed. "Anyway, I forgot to introduce myself. I''m the Prince of Death Domain, Asmadeus. I''m sure I already know what happened. Elisia made this stupid plan without consulting anyone. By the time I found out, it was already too late. This wasn''t the official stance of Death Domain towards Demon Realm. Even though I don''t like the Demon Realm, I would never think of doing something so sneaky. I would always attack from the front whenever I jump into a war," He added as a strange glint appeared in his eyes. " It doesn''t matter who did what. What matters is that it happened, and it happened because of your people," Ryder replied in a grim tone. "You people tried to kill me, but that''s not all. You even put the lives of my people in danger." "What do you want?" Asmadeus asked, straight away. He knew that Ryder wasn''t here for an explanation. He was here to ask for some benefits for himself in exchange for forgetting that this happened. "I want Elisia. Give her to me, and I''ll leave," Ryder said instantly. "That won''t happen. I can''t give her to you," Asmadeus said, shaking his head. "Oh? Is her life more important to you than the lives of your millions of people?" Ryder asked with a hint of threat in his tone. "Are you threatening me?" Asmadeus asked back with an expressionless face. "You can take it any way you want. I want the girl, and I''m..." Ryder was talking about something when he felt something. A strange aura was coming in his direction. "Ah? He''s already here? He''s pretty fast," Ryder muttered as he looked back. "Vampire King Atlas?" Asmadeus muttered as he saw the Vampire King flying in his direction. The Vampire King landed besides Ryder. "Vampire King Atlas, gave you joined the Death Domain, against us?" one of the Death Envoys asked the Vampire King as he saw him standing beside Ryder. "I haven''t joined anyone. I am here to get my answers, though. Bring the girl called Elisia outside! I want to ask her what she did to my General!" The Vampire King thundered. His voice was so loud that it was heard far and wide. "Your General? This stupid girl. Just how many people did she mess with," Asmadeus muttered as his frown deepened. " What did she do to your general?" he asked the Vampire King. "That''s what I want to ask her. He is missing from the Undead Region, and she is behind it. If I don''t get my answers today, then you should be prepared for the consequences. I want my General alive. And if she has killed him, I want her life!" Vampire King Atlas said to Asmadeus. Asmadeus looked at the Death Envoys in confusion. Even he was having a hard time now. Just how much did Elisia screw him up? Not only did she mess up with the Death Domain, but she messed up with the Undeads as well? He could handle it if it were just demons, but if the Undeads joined the Demons, then they were going to be in trouble. He knew that he couldn''t afford a war yet, at least not until he succeeded in what he wanted to do, but he couldn''t give up Elisia as well. 291 Chapter 287: Taking Asmadeus Hostage No content 292 Chapter 288: Fourth Fragmen No content 293 Chapter 289: Ruler of Water No content 294 Chapter 290: Promise or Challenge? " Prince Asmadeus, I''ll talk to Elisia as well, but I need your answer too. Did you know anything about her going to the Undead Region for any purpose?" Ryder was thinking about his skills, but his attention was attracted by the Vampire King, who began talking to Prince Asmadeus. ''The Vampire King seems very calm here, completely unlike the time he met me for the first time when he barged inside our place. It seems strange,'' Ryder thought as he glanced at the Vampire King with a frown on his face. "No, I had no idea about any of her actions. As you may already know, we act separately. We''re kind of rivals in that sense, after all, so I don''t know what goes on through her head and what she does," Prince Asmadeus let out, shaking his head. " Why are you protecting her so much then? If she is your rival and you didn''t scheme anything together, why did you take the risk of sending Death Envoys to Demon Realm to bring her back? Why do you still refuse to surrender her to the Demon Realm for punishment?" the Vampire King inquired in a grim tone. "I can''t. It doesn''t matter what she did. If she were wrong, she would get punished here. I won''t give someone from my Death Domain to the Demon Realm. They are not the only ones that have the dignity they need to protect. Also, she''s also an inheritor of the Previous king. I just can''t do what you''re suggesting," Prince Asmadeus said, shaking his head. " If she is really responsible for the death of my General, how far are you willing to go? Because I''m willing to go till the end of the universe to take her back to the Undead Region with me. I will let her die in the hands of the Daughter of General Viden personally for her sin," The Vampire King told Prince Asmadeus in full seriousness. His words were filled with a subtle threat too. " How far am I willing to go for her? Sigh, that''s an interesting question that even I''m curious about. Whenever I have questions like this, I always think about what my father would have done in this situation, and I get my answers. If it were my father, he would never have let you take her even if you had arrived with a bigger force than him," Prince Asmadeus muttered as he sighed. "With that thought in my mind, I guess the answer is clear. If she did something wrong, she would be punished here by us, but I won''t let you take her even if that means a fight to the death. I''ll follow my father''s principal even though I don''t wish to go down the path of war yet," he added. " Not at all. What I meant is that I don''t want to go to war now. I can''t say about the future or what circumstances might exist, but the circumstances now are not bad enough for a war. A little back and forth between two opposing sides is but a reason for a war either. That''s what I meant," Prince Asmadeus clarified without even a single frown forming on his face. It seemed like he was telling the truth, but Ryder had some information about Prince Asmadeus trying to increase his strength, which made him feel like he wasn''t being entirely honest. After a brief moment, Elisia was escorted to the discussion hall by a Death Envoy. She seemed to be walking freely. There didn''t seem to be any restraint placed on her, but there was a barrier around her that had been made by the Death Envoy to protect her. The Vampire King and Ryder looked at her as they frowned. It didn''t seem like she had even a shred of regret on her face for what she did. The Vampire King stood up. "Vampire King, please don''t do anything that would make us take action. Stay seated. We allowed you to ask your questions to her, but as I said, we can''t let you hurt her. If you try getting close to her, we would be forced to stop you and take that girl back, so please follow your words," Prince Asmadeus raised his hand and gestured for the Vampire King to stop moving. The Death Envoys also appeared before Elisia, surrounding her. "Fine," the Vampire King let out as he sat down. Ryder had stayed seated since he already knew that something like this was going to happen. With the intensity, Asmadeus was saying that he wouldn''t let them take Elisia, it was obvious that he wasn''t going to let anyone get close to her. Elisia was escorted near Prince Asmadeus. She was made to stand near Prince Asmadeus while still maintaining a safe distance between them. "Elisia, you have entered the Demon Realm and tried to harm the Prince of the Demon Realm. Do you have anything to say about that?" Prince Asmadeus asked Devilia. " I regret it. I regret that I didn''t succeed," Elisia said as she sighed. " He has come here to get some answers, and he will leave after that. Be truthful with him, alright?" Prince Asmadeus told Devilia. "Hmph," Elisia rolled her eyes, but she didn''t reply. " Elisia, you said you regret you failed in killing me; I would like to ask you, how does it feel to fail twice? You''re a kid, little girl. Don''t show that attitude to me. You''re just a kid who''s being babysat by the adults. If it weren''t for the Death Envoys that barged I''m suddenly, this wouldn''t be the place we would be interrogating you. You would''ve been in our cell, regretting even more things than just failing," Ryder responded in an annoyed tone. " Anyway, what happened has happened, so let me ask you what I came here to ask. It''s good that both you and Prince Asmadeus are here. It is better this way," he muttered as he nodded his head. "So, my first question is why you wanted to kill me? We had no enmity. Even when we met for the first time, you tried to kill me but failed and ran away. Then now again, you tried to kill me. Why are you so after killing me? Our two realms are not at war. I didn''t do anything against the Death Domain either, so why? Is this just because you''re salty that the Death Domain was defeated in the last Great War? Do you blame me for that?" Ryder asked Elisia. "Hah, you act to be so noble while carrying that Scythe of Death if that monster. An entire town..." Elisia muttered as she paused. "An entire town?" Ryder inquired in confusion. "Our entire town was wiped in the last great war from an attack of that weapon! I have the one that used this weapon to cause so much destruction. My entire family was wiped in that place. Only I managed to survive. You know who used this weapon? The Demon King! I want to kill him, but that bastard disappeared. You''re his Inheritor, so I want to kill you instead," Elisia told Ryder. As Elsia called the Demon King a bastard, Ryder felt a strange aura around him. It seemed as if both High Duke Oris and Rale were about to attack Elisia in anger. He couldn''t let them do it but he couldn''t ignore what Elisia had just said either since he had told everyone that Demon King Salem was his master. Elisia had just finished her words when Ryder stood up. "That''s enough. She insulted my master by calling him a bastard. I don''t want to ask any questions anymore. I''m taking her with me. I was already conflicted over what I should do. Even though most of my important people and I survived her assault, many innocent demons lost their lives because of her. I already wanted to kill her, but she was brought here." "I still considered letting her live in exchange for an apology, but this is too far. She dared to disrespect the Demon King. Give her to us," Ryder told Prince Asmadeus in a grim tone. "She''s an ignorant girl that doesn''t know what to say and what not to say. Ignore her," Prince Asmadeus told Ryder in order to calm him down. "It doesn''t matter. I''m taking her today and that''s my promise as the Prince of Demon Realm," Ryder told Prince Amadeus. 295 Chapter 291: High Dukes Arrive His words made people confused. Just where was his confidence coming from? Did he really think that he could push around the Demon Realm so much and take someone that wanted to protect so easily? Prince Asmadeus and the Death Envoys couldn''t understand Ryder''s thinking at all. "Now," Ryder muttered casually as he snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the roof of the room was broken as one of the High Dukes barged inside. It was none other than the strongest High Duke, High Duke Magna. High Duke Magna had entered the promise of the discussion hall, breaking every wall in between. Right as he entered, he went after the Death Envoys that were surrounding Elisia. Another wall was broken as High Duke Mila arrived in that place as well. She flew towards Elisia. She punched the barrier that was surrounding Elisia, breaking it instantly. "Time to leave," She told High Duke Magna after she got a hold of Elisia. High Duke Magna teleported beside High Dike Mila and caught her hand. He also caught the hand of Elisia and disappeared as he teleported away. High Duke Oris also held Ryder and Rale''s hand as he disappeared. Only Prince Asmadeus, the Vampire King, and the confused Death Envoys were left behind. "Well, that was surprising. I must say, he even shocked me. This Prince Hades is really interesting," The Vampire King muttered as he smiled. " Since there''s nothing left here, I''ll take my leave as well. It looks like I''ll have to go to Demon Realm to interrogate Elisia," he added as he casually left the Royal Palace. Prince Asmadeus was still sitting on his throne. He clenched his fist. "We''ll catch them," The Death Envoys said as they got ready to chase after them. "Don''t bother. They used their Teleportation. They should already be back in the Demon Realm now. They''ll hide Elisia as well. It wouldn''t be plausible to get her back. This Prince Hades, he really is bold," Prince Asmadeus muttered as he stood up. **** Ryder, Rale, High Duke Mila, Elisia, High Duke Magna, and High Dike Oris appeared back at the Devilia''s Palace back in the Demon Realm. "I''ll go back to bring Eston back," High Duke Magna said as he disappeared again. After a few seconds, he appeared again with a tired-looking High Duke Eston. High Duke Eston saw Elisia and smiled. "Well, looks like this crazy plan worked," He muttered as he smiled. " You made us go through so much. I''ll be keeping you in my space prison. Enjoy the isolation," he told Elisia as he sent her to his Spatial Prison in the meantime. He wasn''t sure if the Death Envoys would chase after them, so he took protective measures. **** Two hours ago, "High Duke Oris, I have a different plan. I think that it would be better and easier if all of us go, but we can''t let the Vampire King know about it. I still can''t completely trust him. Please contact High Duke Magna," Ryder told High Duke Oris. After that, Ryder told High Duke Magna everything, including the plan. He had come to know that High Duke Oris and High Duke Magna were the only ones that could use the long-distance Teleportation, and each of them could take two people with them. His plan was that he would go to the Death Domain with Rale and High Duke Oris and go to the Royal Palace. And twenty minutes after his leaving, High Duke Magna will enter the Death Domain with High Duke Eston and High Duke Mila. High Duke Eston was a vital part of this plan. His job was to coordinate between two teams using Dreimaia. High Duke Magna''s team stayed out of the Death City, and High Duke Eston used Dreimaia to form a link with Ryder, Rale, and the other High Dukes. He acted as a hub for their conversation. Using him, Ryder was able to give his real-time commands to the High Dukes who were staying outside the Death City to make the Death Envoys think that Ryder came only with one High Duke. The plan was to ask for Elisia to be given to them and, if they disagreed kindly, then finding an excuse to take her forcefully. As soon as Elisia was brought to the discussion hall, over ninety percent of Ryder''s plan was already completed. **** "It was fun, I must say. Seeing the shock on their smug faces. They took someone from right in front of us, and we did the same. This truly makes me feel satisfied," High Duke Mila said as she smiled after coming back from the Death Domain. "Hahaha, yeah. We definitely showed them that they couldn''t mess with us this easily," High Duke Eston added as he chuckled. "It''s all good and well, but we can''t ignore the risk of their retaliation. We should get back to the Royal City. It''s completely unprotected right now," High Duke Magna said in his usually grim tone. "I''m going first. Who wants to come with me?" he inquired. " Your Highness, do you want to come back to the Royal City? We can cancel your visits to the Demon Realm Dukedoms," High Duke Oris asked Ryder. "Nah, we can''t do that. People are restless, still unaware of what happened. There should be many rumors going around. It''s the time to get out more and show them that everything''s right instead of staying in the Royal Palace," Ryder replied, shaking his head. " You should go back with High Duke Magna. The Royal City needs protection. As for me, High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston will accompany me," He told High Duke Oris. "Alright," High Duke Oris said, nodding his head. "You guys should contact me if something happens. I''ll be here instantly. Keep him safe. I''m leaving," High Duke Oris told High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston before he left with High Duke Magna. "I''m going to rest in my spatial realm since I''m tired. You guys should go rest as well. Stay on guard, though," Ryder told the High Dukes before he logged out. This whole event about him being attacked and the aftermath had taken a lot of his time. Normally, he logged out of the game at night when it was early morning in the real world, but it had already been twelve hours over that. It was early morning in Demon Realm and night in the real world. Still, he knew that he needed to log out. He hadn''t taken any nourishment pill that could provide him nutrition for spending days without eating safely. He knew that his body must be very hungry at the moment since he had gone for over twenty-four hours without eating. He didn''t want his body to suffer. Ryder logged out of Divinity. **** It was already night in the real world, and Ryder could hear knocking on the door of his room. He placed the Divinity Glasses in his inventory before he stood up and walked over to the door where he heard the calls of Alice. He opened the door. "You''re finally up. I thought you were going to spend days gaming. The butler just called us for dinner. Let''s go. Elder Brother Shu is also waiting downstairs," Alice told Ryder. "Ah, sorry. I got kind of too immersed in a quest. Just wait, I''ll be right outside," Ryder told Alice before he turned back and went inside the washroom. He washed his face with warm water before coming out. After wiping his face, he left his room with Alice. They walked downstairs and reached the dining table, where Shu was already waiting. The Dinner was already served as well. "Ah, brother Shu. You''re here. Awesome. Come fast; the food will get cold," Shu called out to Ryder. Ryder and Alice took a seat at the dining table. They all started eating the lavish food of Maxwell Mansion. "Ah, brother Ryder, We are leaving tomorrow, right?" Shu asked Ryder. "Leaving where?" Ryder asked in confusion, not understanding what Shu was talking about. "That birthday celebration you got an invite to? Did you already forget?" Shu inquired as he smiled wryly. "Ah, that''s tomorrow? I completely forgot. It''s good that you reminded me. I need to attend that," Ryder let out as he thanked Shu. This birthday celebration was the place where he was going to get a clue about the Cultivation Family, most probably to complete the Mission which was given to him by Janus. "Good. We''ll leave at around ten," Shu told Ryder. "Around ten? Isn''t the time to get there at twelve in the afternoon? Shouldn''t we leave early?" Ryder inquired. 296 Chapter 292: Lost Control " Anyway, I''m sure you don''t know much about the people that are throwing the party, right? You heard of the Silva Family?" Shu asked Ryder. "Ah, no. I didn''t. I don''t think there''s any Silva Clan amongst the business tycoons that I read about," Ryder let out, shaking his head. "Well, it would be wrong to call them Business Tycoons since they don''t get involved in a business that would typically get covered by the mainstream media. They are more like an ancient medicine family. They create their own medicine and sell them. The strange thing, though, is that they don''t sell to the general public," Shu told Ryder. "Oh? Who do they sell to then?" Ryder inquired curiously. "They have something like a membership. Most of the wealthy people are part of that membership. Also, that membership can''t be asked for or applied for. You can only get a membership if they offer you. I don''t know what other businesses they have. Besides that, they are pretty mysterious. They do have a high authority, though," Shu told Ryder. "Do you have that membership as well?" Ryder asked Shu. "Yeah, I got the membership. That''s why I got the invitation as well, which I lost," Shu let out as he chuckled. Ryder couldn''t help but smile wryly since that invitation of Shu was with him. He had taken this invitation from the Assassin that came to kill Alice''s friend. He had to lie to Shu and say that he found the invitation. "Anyway, the Party is in Lavender Town, which is the hub of the Silva Family. The entire town is owned by them, and no one is allowed to enter the town without their permission. Also, you''ll be seeing a lot of big people there, I''m sure," Shu told Ryder. "Most of the powerful people that aren''t too busy will attend the party. It can be a good place for you to establish your collections," he agreed. "Yeah, it would be good to attend the party. I''m quite curious about the people I''ll meet there and if they can get me to my goal," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He picked up the glass of water to drink and noticed that he could feel something. It was as if he could feel the water in the glass before even drinking. ''Is this because of the Ruler of Water? Now that I think about it, I didn''t test it. I should at least test the weapon-making," Ryder muttered as he looked at the glass of water. He activated his Blessing of Nature and placed all his focus on the glass of water. He wanted to make a tiny trident inside the glass of water. The water in the glass started shaking and rising. Ryder had placed the glass near his knees to hide it from everyone''s view as he did it. He didn''t want anyone to see. The water became more and more unstable with time until the glass shattered, and the water spilled everywhere. A few pieces of glass also stabbed Ryder''s hand making him give out a pained noise. "Are you fine?" Alice and Shu stood up as they heard the sound of glass cracking. Ryder stood up as well as he wiped his pants that were wet from all the spilled water. His hands still had glass stabbed in them, but he couldn''t let them see it as his hands were going to recover as soon as the glasses were taken out. He couldn''t let them see his incredible healing. "I''ll be right back after changing clothes," Ryder told them as he ran towards the stairs to go back to his roof while keeping his hands out of the view. Alice looked at the shattered glass on the ground suspiciously. "The water spilled on his pants, so glass must be in his hands when it happened. I wonder if he got hurt and is trying to hide it. We should go see," Shu told Alice as she started walking after Ryder. Alice followed after him. **** Ryder entered the room and hurriedly took the glasses out of his hand. He threw the pieces under his bed before he ran into the washroom to wipe his hands of the blood. As he wiped his hand, he could see that his hands were already healed. He took his pants off and hung it in the corner before he turned back to leave, but he stopped as he looked back towards the water droplets falling from the tap. His curiosity again got the best of it as he decided to try again. He opened the tap again and let the waterfall into the sink while he looked at the water. He reached out his hand and pointed his finger towards the water as he tried forming a trident again, but controlling this power wasn''t as easy as it seemed. Even though he had all the requirements for this, he still lacked the practice. He remembered the time it took for him to learn flying after getting the Flying Skill from the Ruler of Wind. He lacked practice, but he still had confidence that he could do this. Ryder placed all his focus on the water to form a trident. The water seemed to be taking the shape of the Trident. Ryder could see himself near the success, but that''s when things started going south as he heard a sudden knock on the door. His concentration was suddenly broken as he lost control of the water. A needle made of water flew everywhere in the room. One of those water needles hit the mirror, shattering it. Another one of these water needles came in the direction of Ryder''s neck. Having no time to Dodge, Ryder bent his elbow and brought it close to his neck to protect it. He knew that he was in danger at this point in time. He was sure that the water needle would penetrate his hand with the strength he had seen when the mirror was broken, but something completely unexpected happened. The Water needed to touch his hand and changed into a gentle splash of water that didn''t harm him in the least. It only made his shirt wet. 297 Chapter 293: Miraculous Medicine No content 298 Chapter 294: New Update No content 299 Chapter 295: Entering Lavender Town No content 300 Chapter 296: Thief No content 301 Chapter 297: Cute Little Thief No content 302 Chapter 298: Showing Arrogance No content 303 Chapter 299: Young Miss No content 304 Chapter 300: Searching Mansion No content 305 Chapter 301: Five Ancient Families He looked at the ground for description. "The bathwater in which Queen Afsana of Kingdom of Riamsi bathed in 1200AD." "What the heck? How did they even get this item," Ryder looked at the small vial with an annoyed look on his face. He moved over to the third item on the shelf. "The Gauntlet of Manushh," He read the name of the item as he liked at the silver gauntlet on the shelf. He read less description. "The Gauntlet which the Brave Warrior King Manushh wore when he commanded to wipe half the population of his enemy Kingdom. Only women and kids were spared," Ryder muttered. "So much history here. How the heck did they even find these things. I wonder if they made up most of it," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "Are you calling my Family Liar?" Ryder had just said about these descriptions being made up when he heard a female voice. "Cute Little Thief, what are you doing here?" Ryder asked without even looking back. "I should be the one asking you this question. Why are you interested in old stuff?" Keia asked Ryder. "You should answer my question first, little thief," Ryder told Keia as he shook his head. " No one seemed to be interested in these old things. I was walking by when I saw little Dan standing outside. He told me that one guest selected to see the Museum of Ancient. I wanted to see who in this day and age decided to see this place," Keia told Ryder. " Now, answer my question." "I am just more interested in things of the time forgotten. There''s nothing wrong with this," Ryder answered. "Anyway, it''s good that I got you alone. So, Cute Little Thief, tell me. Why did you steal my wallet? Looking at you, I don''t think you lacked the money or food. Was it for fun? Or were you especially targeting me?" he asked Keia. "Hmph, why would I target you. I was just out to have fun. I had hidden myself, so I could freely walk through the city when I saw you. You were walking in such a swag like a rich idiot; I couldn''t control myself from thinking of trying to teach you a lesson. Who knew that you would be such a stubborn person," Keia replied as she shook her head. " You were able to catch up to me despite the fact that I tried so hard to shake you off. You''re definitely not a normal person. The way you jumped off the roofs, even Chu Clan members weren''t able to do it when they chased after me. Who is your master?" She inquired with a frown. "My Master?" Ryder let out in confusion, not understanding what she was talking about. " Yes, your master. The person who taught you cultivation," Keia clarified. "Why should I tell you about my Master? Anyway, how did you find out that I learned cultivation?" Ryder replied, without clearing the fact that he was not a Cultivator. " Are you kidding me? There''s no way you don''t know about my family. If I wouldn''t know it, then who would?" Keia asked. "Hah, your family? Why don''t you tell me about your family from your own mouth? I don''t believe what I hear from vague sources. I want to hear what the Young Miss of the Silva Clan knows about her family," Ryder asked with an interested look on his face. "Hmph, what''s there to not believe? Do you have any doubt that our family is really a Cultivation Family?" Keia said as she rolled her eyes. " Oh? Just a Cultivation Family? I don''t put much mind into things other than my cultivation, so I don''t know much about the outside world, but I did hear a rumor that the Silva Family was an Ancient Cultivation Family?" Ryder said with an interested look on his face. "Ancient Cultivation Family? There are only Five Ancient Cultivation Families in this country and only one in this part of the country. Even though our family is close to that level, we still can''t qualify as an Ancient Cultivation Family, so someone was probably messing around with you," Keia replied, shaking her head. It was generally prohibited to spill the secrets about the cultivation world before mortals. Still, as Keia misunderstood Ryder as a Cultivator, she thought that it was normal for her to talk to him since he was a part of the same world as her. "Cute Little Thief, as I said, I don''t put much focus on the outside world generally, so I''m unaware of such things. Would you mind telling me which Ancient Cultivation Family is in the vicinity?" Ryder asked Keia. He knew that this mission of finding the ancient cultivation family had something to do with saving Bastion''s life, and the family that placed his life in danger should be from the same vicinity, most probably. " Oh, that family would be..." Keia was about to answer when the door of the hall was suddenly opened as another person walked inside. "Hmm? Miss Keia, you''re here," the person greeted Keia. "Uhmm? I''m sorry, but I don''t know your name," Keia replied, shaking her head as she looked at the young man that had just barged inside. "This little kid is Rahil. He''s the son of Major General Raul. Don''t put any focus on this kid," Ryder said casually as he waved his head towards Rahil. " Why are you here? Shoo, little kids should stay with their parents. Learn your manners with your daddy and then roam around," Ryder stood to Rahil. "Pfft." Keia couldn''t help but laugh as she saw Ryder addressing a man who clearly looked many years older than him as a kid. "You! You''re looking to die!" Rahil yelled at Ryder as his face turned red. " Master Rahil, this is a party of the Silva Clan, and everyone here is our guest. I don''t appreciate you threatening a guest like that. Please go back to the hall," Keia told Rahil in an annoyed tone. "Ah, Miss Keia, it''s not that. I just heard that you were here and I came to talk to you about something. It was his fault as he started mocking me. Still, I apologize for losing my composure," Rahil started apologizing as he saw Keia getting angry. 306 Chapter 302: The Be " I don''t think I''m a kid that you need to find. Anyway, since you came here to see our Ancient Museum, you can see it. I''ll be leaving now," Keia said to Rahil before she glanced at Ryder. "Come, let me show you something," She told Ryder as she held his hand and pulled him with her. Ryder wanted to see what weird things this museum had, but he needed to get to know about the Ancient Cultivation Family, and only Keia could tell him about them. He let himself be dragged by Keia without resisting even a little. "Ah, Miss Keia, wait," Rahil called out as he reached out his hand, but Keia didn''t stop and continued walking away. "This bastard! He took Keia with him!" Rahil muttered as he cursed under his breath. Even though it was clear that Keia took Ryder, he placed all the blame on Ryder. He stomped his feet on the ground before he left the Ancient Museum. **** " Where are you taking me?" Ryder asked Keia. "Outside. To have some fun," Keia said as she chuckled. "Hmm?" Ryder couldn''t help but frown. "From what I have seen, stealing is your fun. Don''t tell me that you want to take me outside to steal," Ryder inquired with a weird look on his face. "Hehe," Keia looked at Ryder and grinned. Even though she didn''t say anything, Ryder could feel that he had received his answers. ''This weird girl. She''s so rich, yet her hobby is stealing. I can''t believe her family doesn''t know about it. They must know it as well, yet they let her do it,'' Ryder thought as he sighed. " Your family knows you like stealing things?" Ryder asked Keia as he walked beside her. " My mother knows, but other than her, no one in my family knows," Keia said as she shook her head. "You''re a really weird girl, you know. Were you a thieving cat or something in your past life? You have all the money one could hope for, yet you find pleasure in stealing," Ryder told Keia as he shook his head. " I am the way I am," Keia let out as she raised her hand innocently. "How about we gave a contest?" She asked Ryder. "What contest?" Ryder inquired in confusion. "There are many big people here today, and most of them came with their guards that they left outside, right?"She asked Ryder. "That''s right," Ryder said, nodding his head. "The guards must have weapons as well," She said. "Yes, they do," Ryder replied. "Half an hour," She said to Ryder. "Half an hour, what?" Ryder asked in confusion. "What if the guards discover you and they shoot? I can protect myself, but you might be in danger," Ryder asked Keia. "Don''t worry about me. I will be perfectly safe. I have many ways to protect myself," Keia said, shaking her head. " If you say so. Anyway, What will I get if I win?" Ryder asked her. Keia thought for some time as she looked at Ryder. "Uhmm, You''ll get a promise," Keia said to Ryder. "What promise?" Ryder inquired curiously. " You can ask for anything from me. Even if it''s about killing someone, I''ll make it happen," Keia replied. "Oh? A promise like that from Young Miss of the Silva Clan? The offer is pretty tempting. What will you get if you win?" Ryder asked again. "Hmph, isn''t it obvious? I''ll get the same thing. If I win, you''ll do any one thing I tell you to," Keia answered. " Oh? And what might that one thing be?" Ryder asked her. "You''ll know after you lose," Keia responded with an amused smile on her face. "This competition does sound interesting, and I would agree to take part in it, but first you need to finish what you were telling me about the Ancient Cultivation family in this vicinity. I don''t like leaving things hanging in the middle," Ryder told Keia. "Oh, that. I had completely forgotten about that. One of the Five Ancient Cultivation Families, the Jacksons," Keia answered. "Jacksons? I''ve never heard of them. Where is their family established?" Ryder inquired. "The Jackson Family is one of the Five Ancient Families, but they are near the bottom of that ranking. They mainly deal in the assassination. I can give you their entire address but first, let''s not delay. The ball will begin soon, so we should finish the competition fast," Keia told Ryder as she refused to answer. "Fine. Let''s finish our bet faster. After that, you can give me the address," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "Yeah, leave the Mansion and wait at the door. I''ll come out after getting into the old clothes. This dress is not comfortable for stuff like this," Keia said as she turned back and went away. " Hah, this girl is a real character, but she seems like a nice person. After winning the bet, I can use that promise for many things. I''ll have to think carefully about what I want from her," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He continued walking towards the exit. Ryder left from the main gates of the mansion and looked inside. He could see the guards of various guests spread out throughout the long Boundary of the estate. Ryder stood at the entrance of the mansion as he waited for Keia to arrive. After a few minutes, Keia appeared beside him like a shadow. "I''m ready," She said. Ryder looked at her and noticed that she was once again dressed in entirely black clothing that fit her perfectly. The only difference was that she had changed her mask. "The same clothes? Doesn''t matter. Let''s share the playground, so we don''t get in each other''s way. I''ll take the left side; you take the right side. The person that comes back with most weapons at the end of 30 minutes will win," Ryder said as he nodded his head. "Wait a minute; I have something to say," Keia stopped Ryder. "It won''t be easy to hold onto all the weapons until the end, so I have thought of something," Keia said. " Look behind you," She told Ryder. Ryder looked back and realized that a young man was standing behind him. The man had blonde hair, and he looked like he was in his late 20s. Ryder was surprised as he looked at the young-looking man. The man had managed to appear behind Ryder without him finding out. Ryde couldn''t help but wonder if it was because the man was genuinely talented or because Ryder''s mind was diverted by the thoughts of the Jackson Family, and he didn''t notice it. "This is Saleyn. He is my most trusted guard. He protects me from troubles and many more things. The rules are that after stealing each weapon, the person must come to him to submit the weapons before going out to steal more. This would help in safeguarding the weapons as well as giving you the freedom to act freely without having to worry about the weapons," Keia introduced the young man briefly before she started telling him the rules. "I agree. Let''s just start now," Ryder told Keia. He wanted to finish it as fast as he could without having to wait for it. **** Both Ryder and Keia went their separate ways as the competition began. Ultimately, it was decided that Ryder was going to steal towards the Right side. Ryder walked around, wondering how he should deal with it. He was athletic, but he didn''t have any experience in theft. His powers also didn''t come in handy at this point. His healing was useless when it came to stealing. His flying was also useless. As for his blessing of water, he couldn''t even form the weapons of water correctly, let alone using them for anything. He didn''t have anything that could help him in this competition. "I don''t have the talent, but I have something that will make up for that lack of talent in this situation," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "My dear Janus, Open the store for me," Ryder told Janus with an amused smile on his face. Janus was Ryder''s biggest weapon and his biggest strength, and he was going to use it. Ryder realized that Janus was a supernatural system, but he didn''t know how it came to exist or why it chose him only. 307 Chapter 303: Theft Competetion Even though there were many questions regarding Janus, and there were many things he didn''t like about Janus, overall, he had many things that made him happy for being able to possess Janus. Janus was just like a guardian angel to him, and he fully understood it. The System Store opened before Ryder. Ryder looked at the screen before his eyes and started scrolling through to go to the items he needed. He had finished a few minor missions, so he had a few Origin Points, which he felt to be more than though for him. "There it is, the Art of Theft," he muttered as he found the thing he was looking for. Long ago, he had seen this item in the Store, but he never felt the use of it. It was not a physical item but more of a Spiritual Item. It was a small booklet that gave the user all the knowledge and experience that was in the booklet. When Ryder had first received the system, he had learned a skill from something similar. The Lower Martial Arts that he used to kill his first target was learned just like this. He purchased the Art of Theft. \u003cArt of Theft Received\u003e \u003cWould you like to learn it directly?" \u003cYes\u003e \u003cNo\u003e Ryder tapped on yes despite knowing that direct learning costs some origin points. He didn''t have time to go read the entire book and try to understand it, so he paid the origin points for the comfort of learning it without putting much effort. As soon as he tapped yes, he could feel a large amount of Knowledge entering his head. It took him five minutes to assimilate all of the knowledge that he had absorbed. " Never ceases to amaze me," he muttered as he smiled. Ryder walked up to one of the guards that were walking casually. Their gun was in their pockets. Most of the guards were just standing casually here and there, waiting for their bosses to come out. Until then, they didn''t need to protect anyone. Ryder ran at full speed and hit one of the guards. Both of them fell down. Ryder hurriedly stood up. "I-i''m sorry. I was running to get some exercise when my feet hit a stone. I lost control and hit you. I don''t hurt you, did I?" He asked the guard as he reached out his hand. The guard looked at Ryder for a brief second before he shook his head. "I''m fine. Don''t worry," the guard said as he stood up himself without taking any help from Ryder. "That''s good. Have fun," Ryder said as he waved his hand and started running again. He ran back towards the mansion. Saelyn was standing at the entrance with his arms folded. He saw Ryder coming back. Ryder stopped before Saelyn and gave him the gun that he had stolen from the guard when he collided with him. "Here, My first weapon," he said while giving the gun. "Young Miss submitted her first weapon before you," Saelyn replied as he nodded his head. "She''s fast. I can''t fall back either," Ryder muttered as he ran away again. He had started a few minutes later than Keia since he was purchasing things from the store and assimilating the knowledge after that for over five minutes, so he didn''t find it strange that Keia had arrived before him. It didn''t mean he couldn''t leave her behind, though. For the next twenty minutes, Ryder increased his efforts. He didn''t dally for even a second as he stole weapons from the guards and submitted them to Saelyn for scorekeeping. There were only a few minutes remaining before their decided time for the contest was about to be over. Ryder looked at the watch as he frowned. "Only two minutes; I should be able to get another catch if I''m fast," he muttered as he ran towards a guard. **** Thirty Minutes were over since the contest began. Both Ryder and Keia had arrived back. Both of them stood before Saelyn as they waited for the results to be announced. "Young Miss Keia has collected 6 Weapons," Saelyn announced first. As soon as Ryder heard it, a smile appeared on his face since he knew that he had collected more. "Young Master Ryder had managed to collect..." Saelyn took a pause as he reached her. Keia waited with a curious look on her face since she didn''t know how much Ryder had managed to collect. "... ten weapons," Saelyn declared, stunning even Keia. He looked towards Keia. "Young Miss, you lost." "Wow, I thought you were only a good Cultivator, but looks like you''re a better thief than me," Keia said with an amazed look on her face. "I lost by such an impossible margin," she added as she sighed. "Now that we''re done, let''s go inside," She told Ryder. She looked back at Saelyn. " Thanks for the help. You can take the guns to the guards and have them collect it for themselves," She said before she went inside with Ryder. " Congratulations on winning. So, what do you want me to do? A bet is a bet. I''ll fulfill my side of the bet since I lost," Keia told Ryder as she walked with him. "I want all the information about the Ancient Cultivation Clans. The more information you can collect, the better. I want to increase my knowledge about the outside world now that I have finished my training. Can you do that?" Ryder asked Keia. He couldn''t think of any use of Keia other than this. He didn''t want her to kill anyone for him. He had already killed enough people, and he could kill more if he needed. As for money, he had ways to get that too. All he needed was information. The Ancient Cultivation Families were the side of this world that he hadn''t known about. According to legends, Cultivators were the humans that managed to increase their potential and gain various powers through intense training and Knowledge. He wanted to know more about them. "That''s all? I can easily do that. Give me a week. I''ll collect everything I can. Where do you stay? Tell me the address; I''ll come there myself with all the information," Ryder said to Keia. Ryder gave her the address of Shu''s house since that''s the place he was living at currently. He didn''t want to go back to the old house with Alice where she was unsafe, so he had decided to stay with Alice at Shu''s place until he got a better and safer place. 308 Chapter 304: Raging Shu Maxwell Both of them bid farewell to each other before Ryder went inside the Hall. As he entered the Hall, he could feel a hostile gaze looking at him. Rahil, the son of Major General Raul, was standing in the distance, glaring at him as if he wanted to eat him. ''What?" Ryder asked Rahil as he frowned. "You didn''t do the right thing. It would be best if you didn''t mess with me, or you will regret it," Rahil threatened Ryder as he pointed his finger towards Ryder''s face. "Sigh, little guy. I know you''re in the army, and you think you''re tough, but don''t point your finger at me. You might find yourself on the floor if you didn''t stop with this idiocy," Ryder let out in an annoyed tone as he slapped the man''s hand away and sat on the table in front of Shu. *Thump* "You Bastard! You dare to show off!" Rahil yelled as he smashed his fist on the table in front of Ryder. Shu was eating comfortably when Rahil''s hand smashed on the table, making the glass of water that was in front of Shu fall down. Shu was already annoyed that Rahil was disturbing him and Ryder, and this finally made his anger reach overboard. He stood up as he wiped his hand from a tissue paper. He didn''t look towards Rahil; instead, he looked towards Major General Raul, who was Rahil''s father. " Major General Raul, you should keep your son in control. I''m not saying anything, but that doesn''t mean he can do whatever the hell he wants with my brother and me. Don''t forget who I am! You''re not the only Major General that I know and deal with! I came here to have fun with my brother and take part in a birthday celebration, not to face a bickering kid! This is my last warning! If he still doesn''t calm down, then he won''t be in the army by tomorrow, and you damn well know that you can''t stop me from getting him removed from the army!" Shu thundered. His voice echoed in the entire chamber. Most of the people that were present here knew about Shu and knew his strength and power. Some of them had even worked with him, as well. They were shocked to see Shu like that. Shu had been the calmest and calculating person that had known. To see him get angry was the first time for them. Almost everyone knew that Shu was the Owner of the Dream Corporation, which was one of the largest weapons suppliers in the world. They Were a giant conglomerate, and Shu Maxwell was on top of this massive Giant. When they heard Shu''s threat to have Major General Raul''s son removed from the army, they knew that it wasn''t just a fake threat. If he came to it, he could actually achieve it. Major General Raul looked at Shu with shock as well before he shifted his gaze to Rahil. "Rahil, come back! Why do you keep annoying them? Come sit at your own table!" he scolded Rahil. "But dad-" "No buts! Come sit down at your table! We''re at someone''s birthday celebration here! Don''t you know how you should behave! Stop messing around and sit down silently." Rahil was about to argue that it was Ryder''s fault, but Major General Raul cut off the sentence of his son as he continued scolding him. Rahil looked back at Ryder before he snorted. He went back to his seat, begrudgingly. "I apologize for my son''s behavior. He seemed to have forgotten how he should''ve behaved," Major General Raul apologized to Shu as well. Shu didn''t reply as he simply sat down on the table. He continued eating the tasty food placed before him again. Major General Raul walked back to his table and sat down beside his son. "Man, that was my first time seeing you angry. I like it," Ryder smiled as he praised Shu. " That kid was just too arrogant. I don''t like being arrogant or showing off, but when someone like him messes with my eating, I can''t control my temper. I''m sorry for showing you this unsightly sight," Shu told Ryder with a wry smile on his face. "I can understand how you felt. I was about to smack his face on the table when you stood up, shocking me. I must say, I think your approach was much better than I would have chosen," Ryder said to Shu as he laughed. "Hahaha, now I regret standing up. Watching his head on the table would have been much better," Shu started laughing as well. "Finish fast. It''ll soon be the time for the ball dance," Ryder told Shu as he looked at his watch. " It''s my last plate. I''m done after this. I must say, I don''t eat this much since I want to get slimmer, but this stuff is really tasty, and I can feel my body getting stronger as well. I''m impressed at the food they have," Shu said as he smiled. Rahil was still looking at Ryder. As he watched Ryder and Shu laugh, he could feel his heart burn. He was getting angrier and angrier. ''I''ll teach you a real lesson one day. You should pray you never get in my hands alone,'' Rahil thought as he glared at Ryder. Ryder could see Rahil glaring at him. He simply raised his middle finger towards Rahil as he smiled to annoy him even more. "This bastard!" Rahil let out as he clenched his teeth. **** A member of the Silva Household arrived in the Hall and told everyone to shift to another Hall for the Ball Dance. Everyone stood and followed after the person who escorted them to a different Hall. The Hall was even larger than the last hall. There were chairs placed near the wall, but most of the center portion of the hall was empty for dancing. Ryder and Shu were standing together, waiting for the hosts of the function to arrive. "Brother Ryder, I am curious about something," Shu suddenly asked Ryder. "Sure. Go ahead. What do you want to ask?" Ryder inquired as he wondered what Shu was going to ask. 309 Chapter 305: Rejected "Is this your first time in parties like this as well?" Ryder asked Shu in return. Shu had been rich since the beginning. The only information Ryder had about Rich People Ball dancing was what he saw in the movies. He had seen one in the Demon Realm in Divinity, but there were more girls there as well. Also, that was more like a meeting and less of a ball dancing. This event, on the other hand, was purely ball dancing here, so this did feel confusing. " I went to a few of those but very rarely. Nothing was as unorthodox as this one, though," Shu replied, shaking his head in confusion. "Who knows what they will do. Maybe only the ones that came as come can dance. They didn''t say it was a ball dance for everyone. The others can just talk and watch," Ryder replied as he raised his hand innocently. "True. Oh right, Do you want my help in setting up a dance between you and Keia Silva? I can act as your wingman?" Shu asked Ryder as he smiled. Ryder shook his head. "Don''t worry. I think I have that base covered already." Shu was surprised that Ryder was so confident, but he didn''t find it suspicious. The hosts of the event also arrived after some time. It was just as Ryder had expected; they didn''t bring any more people with them. As the ball dance began, most of the couple started dancing. Even the two sons of the Silva Clan started dancing to the slow music. There was only a single girl in the entire hall that wasn''t dancing yet, and she was Keia, but it wasn''t like she didn''t have any offer. Many young guys that came with their families walked up to her to ask her to dance. "Aren''t you going to ask her to dance with you?" Shu asked Ryder after some time. " What''s the hurry? Let the others get rejected first," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "What if she says yes to one of them? You shouldn''t lose any opportunity," Shu told Ryder with a concerned look on his face. "Don''t worry. I''m not losing any opportunity here," Ryder replied as he smiled. "She won''t say yes." "If you say so," Shu muttered as he took a sip from the wine glass in his hand and watched Keia. He could see guys walking up to her and coming back dejected. It seemed to be going just as Ryder had said. Keia was saying no to everyone. Shu still wasn''t entirely free of concern for Ryder. Seeing Keia reject everyone didn''t mean she was going to say yes to Ryder. He was curious if Ryder would actually succeed. As soon as Rahil reached near Keia, he dropped down to his knees as he reached out his right hand to ask for Keia''s hand for a dance. "That idiot watched a lot of movies," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. Everyone watched Keia say something to Rahil as she shook her head. After that, they watched Rahil stand up and walk back. Most of the guys were laughing by now. They were amazed at how proudly he went and how fast he came back. "She probably doesn''t like dancing," Rahil gave an excuse to others as he stood near the wall with his back resting against it. "Everyone has been rejected except you and me now. Are you going now, or you want me to go and get rejected first?" Shu asked Ryder with a wry smile on his face. Ryder shook his head as he said, "I''m going." He held the wine glass in his left hand as he walked up to Keia. "Cute Little Thief, are you going to dance with me?" Ryder asked Keia as he smiled. Every guy standing in the back expected Ryder to fail and come back, but they watched Keia hold Ryder''s hand. Both of them walked to the center of the room together, shocking everyone. Ryder placed his right hand on Keia''s back while Keia placed her left hand on Ryder''s shoulders. They held their free hands as they got into the position and started dancing. "You''re looking good in this dress," Ryder complimented Keia as they danced together. " Thank you. I wish I could say the same about you," Keia said jokingly. "Oh, right, I expect my wallet back. Don''t think I didn''t notice when you were taking it from me after I won our bet," Ryder suddenly said as he remembered something. When he had won the very with her, and they were coming back, he noticed Keia stealing his wallet but he didn''t stop her. He had just received a victory, and he wanted to give her a little win. He had already taken his cards and other things out of his wallet and placed them in his inventory already. "Hah, liar. You probably found out later. There''s no way you wouldn''t say anything if you had known about this at that time," Keia said as she rolled her eyes. "Oh, really? Did you check my wallet?" Ryder replied with an amused smile on his face. "I didn''t say anything because I already emptied it. Still, you should give it back now that you played around with it," Ryder said as he smiled. "Ouch, hey, what was that for!" Ryder let out as he felt pain in his shoulder. Keia has pinched him in annoyance. "You deserved it for being so annoying. Just when I thought I got one over you, it turned out you were one step ahead," Keia said as she rolled her eyes. " I am not anymore. You got one over me just now," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. Keia had pinched him so hard that he still felt pain. " As I said, you deserved it," Keia said as she grinned. Ryder roamed his gaze all around the room as he smiled. "You deserve it too for trying to steal twice from me then," Ryder let out as he loved his hand and pinched her butt lightly before raising his hand up to her waist again. 310 Chapter 306: Auction "You touched me there twice now," She said as she glared at Ryder with a red face. " And you stole twice. We''re equal now, and you still owe me one for that pinch," Ryder said as he rolled his eyes as well. "I''ll say it too. You deserved it," he added. "Hmph, you''re lucky we''re here or..." She mumbled to herself. "Or what?" Ryder asked with a curious look on his face. " Nothing," she said as she smiled cheekily. " When you come after one week with the information I asked for, we won''t be here. Then you can show me," Ryder said to Keia. "Hmph," Keia rolled her eyes as she shook her head. **** Soon, the Ball Dance was over. It lasted for an hour only. Ryder wondered what was going to happen next since they talked about dinner after the Ball Dance, but it was still too soon for Dinner. As Ryder was wondering what they were going to do for the next few hours, he got his answers as the Master of the Silva Clan announced that he was going to show them some of the new medicines they had created. There was also going to be a small auction of those medicines right now, which was said to last for a few hours. "Did you know about this?" Ryder asked Shu. "I wasn''t told about this, and I believe no one else was either. They probably wanted to keep this auction for the ones that attended. If they had announced it before, everyone would have attended. Maybe they wanted to see who would come just to celebrate their family member''s birthday and who wouldn''t," Shu replied as he shook his head. He was just told about the birthday celebration in the invitation and nothing about this auction, but it didn''t matter since he always carried his Black Card with him. He didn''t lack money. "These medicines should be good. I guess it doesn''t bother me to see them at an auction since I''m already here," Shu said. Everyone was escorted to the auction hall that was made inside the Silva Clan Mansion for private auctions long ago. This place had seen billions of dollars of exchange throughout its existence, and today was going to be another such day. Ryder and Shu sat together as they waited for the auction to begin. Soon, the auctioneer came on the stage who was someone from the Silva Clan but not a part of their main branch. "Alright. I would like to welcome everyone to today''s special auction. This auction was kept a secret, and it''s only exclusive to the people that bothered to take time out of their busy schedule to attend this birthday celebration. From the Silva Family, I would like to thank you once again," The Auctioneer said as he smiled. The servant came to the Stage with a tray in his hands. The tray was covered in a red cloth. The Auctioneer removed the cloth from the tray and revealed a small glass bottle that had ten pills. "Here, we have ten Nourishment Pills. These pills can make your body become younger by one month by rejuvenating your aging cells. Each pill can help you become younger by a month; unfortunately, you can only take one of these pills every three months. And you can only take twenty of them throughout your entire lifespan. Any more than that would be useless." "Even though you can only take 20 of these, that is enough to make you close to two years younger, which matters a lot in some circumstances. In previous auctions, it had been one of our bestsellers," The Auctioneer explained to everyone. " The Base price of this bottle, including Ten Nourishment Pills, is only Two Hundred Thousand Dollars. Each increment in the price can only be of fifty thousand dollars," The Auctioneer said to everyone as he smacked his wooden hammer on the stand in front of him gently, signaling the start of this trial. " Interesting, but it''s useless for me," Shu said, shaking his head. " Interesting pill. It must have taken a lot of research to make something like this. The Silva Clan is really interesting indeed," Ryder muttered as he looked towards the stage. People kept bidding on the pill as it''s price kept increasing. Ultimately, it became a fight between two people. One of them was a bald man who looked to be in his seventies, while the other person seemed to be in his sixties and had a head full of white hair. It had become a showdown between them, which managed to bring the price of the pills to five million dollars. Ultimately, the pill was purchased by the bald man for Five Million Two Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars. Ryder was surprised that people spent this much just to gain ten months of their young back. Was the fear of death so bad? What about him? He was going to be old one day as well, and he was going to die of old age. He couldn''t help but think about that time. The Old age wasn''t going to let him live, and the Bracelet of Immortality wasn''t going to let him die. He could see a painful life ahead of him where he lived his last day again and again. He could only hope that he would find a solution to this problem as he collected more and more bracelets of immortality fragments. The Next Item was brought on the stage, which was another pill, but this time, it was a pill for making people look younger but not actually making them younger as the last pill did. Surprisingly, this pill was sold for even more. In the end, this pill was sold for Eight Million Dollars. Ryder was amazed that people desired for younger looks more than they desire for younger age. Shu once again didn''t bet since he didn''t care about looks, and he was only in his early twenties. He didn''t need anything to look younger. He already looked young enough. He wanted to look more manly instead since his chubby body made him seem more cute than manly. Soon, the third item was brought on the stage. "What the heck? That?" Ryder''s mouth opened wide in shock as he saw the third item. 311 Chapter 307: Bidding War There was a weird look on his face as he heard the Auctioneer explained about the item. "This is the feces of the Antarctic Spirit Mammoth. As you all may know, the Antarctic Spirit Mammoths is a rare to find species that are said to have gone extinct, but we have managed to find it''s feces by using our extensive resources," the auctioneer said. "For those of you that may not know about it, the Antarctic Spirit Mammoths are said to be special Spirit Beings whose bodies store the most amount of natural energy, and their feces have the ability that many may find useful," He added. ''What the actual heck. I can believe he''s talking that proudly about feces of something,'' Ryder thought with a weird look on his face. He was working really hard not to let his disgusted expression show on his face. " When you consume this item, it will give you the energy of a dragon. Your strength would double for an entire week. More importantly, your little guy would become like a Mighty mammoth when you''re in bed with your partners at night," the Auctioneer further explained. " So it''s like a natural performance enhancement drug that works as a viagra. I never thought I''d see something like this. I''m glad the System Store doesn''t have items like this," Ryder muttered in an inaudible tone. "The Bid will start at One Million Dollars. Each increment in the bid shall be of hundred thousand dollars at minimum," the Auctioneer started the auction of the third item. Ryder watched people bid on the item in such excitement that it surprised even him. "Those guys? Don''t they know that they would have to eat the feces to get the effects? Paying millions of dollars to eat feces, I can''t believe it''s really happening," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "For some people, the effects outweigh the things they have to go through to get them. Look at Major General Raul. It seems like he really wants it. He''s bidding so fiercely. That makes sense, as well. He''s in the army. He would look for items that can make him strong at times of need," Shu muttered, shaking his head. " He can win this bid. If he wants to eat it that badly," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "I have a plan," He said to Shu as he grinned. "What plan?" Shu asked Ryder in confusion. "Old Zhu, stop bidding against me. We in the army need something like this more. Don''t bid against me," Major General Raul said to a bald man who was competing against him. These two were the only ones that were still bidding as the price reached Eight Million Dollars. "I need it as well. To show my wife that I''m not weak. Don''t bid against me!" the bald man replied as he refused to budge. Major General Raul glared at the man in anger. "Nine Million Dollars! I''ll buy it at any cost! I''ll see how you stop me! If you want that, get ready to pay a lot!" Major General Raul said as he raised the bid again. "9.5 Million Dollars!" The bald man said after some hesitation. "Ten Million Dollars," Major General Raul said as he raised the bid again. The bald man looked even more hesitant than ever. He didn''t raise the bid again as he fell in deep thought. "Hmph, you can keep it. I''m not going to fight you over it," He ultimately said as he pulled himself out of the bidding wars. A smile appeared on Major General Raul''s face as he folded his arms. "The Current Bid is at Ten Million Dollars. Is there anyone willing to raise the bid?" The Auctioneer asked as he glanced at everyone. "Ten Million... 1." "Ten Million... 2." The closer the Auctioneer reached to finalizing the bid, the happier Major General Raul became. "Ten Mil-" The Auctioneer was about to finalize the bid when he stopped as he heard another Voice. "Ten Million Hundred Thousand Dollars!" Ryder let out loud right at the last time. His voice managed to shock everyone, including Shu. "What are you doing? Do you want this item too?" Shu asked weirdly. "Maybe," Ryder muttered with an amused smile on his face. Major General Raul looked at Ryder as he clenched his fist. "Father, that bastard is intentionally making it difficult for us! We can''t lose to him!" Rahil told his father as he glared at Ryder. He didn''t want to lose to Ryder. "We can''t compare in money to the Maxwell Family, but I''m not going to give up. If they want a bidding war, they''ll get a bidding war!" Major General Raul muttered. " Even if they win in the end, they''ll have to pay a massive price." "Why is everyone so shocked? Continued the proceedings," Ryder said as he saw everyone looking at him. " This Gentleman here bid Eleven Million for this marvelous item. Is there anyone willing to bid higher? Just remember, it might be the last Antarctic Spirit Mammoth feces that will ever be discovered. Your only chance to get this historic item," The Auctioneer said. Ryder wanted to laugh out loud as he heard the words of the man. He described this item in such an interesting way, ignoring what it actually was. " Twelve Million Dollars," Major General Raul said as he bid again. His face was covered in anger. "Twelve Million Hundred Thousand Dollars," Ryder let out. "You!" Major General Rahil muttered as he clenched his fist in anger. He was controlling himself a lot. "Thirteen Million Dollars," Major General Raul said instantly. "Thirteen Million Hundred Thousand Dollars," Ryder let out with an innocent smile. The Bidding Wars continued as Major General Raul kept increasing the bid by a million every time in anger while Ryder bid with only a Hundred Thousand more than him. "Twenty Million Dollars!" Major General Raul said. Even he was starting to hesitate at this point. "Twenty Million Hundred Thousand Dollars," Ryder casually raised the bid. "You little boy! Stop this instant! I need it more than you do!" Major General Raul said as he looked at Ryder. "It''s not about needing. If the world worked on needs, people wouldn''t be dying of hunger every day. Here, it''s about bidding. You have money, bid. If you don''t, then you can sit back calmly," Ryder replied as he rolled his eyes. 312 Chapter 308: Blocked "This guest here, I would suggest you sit down and not disturb the proceedings. Otherwise, I would be forced to make you leave," The Auctioneer said as he saw Rahil standing up and arguing with Ryder. "Sit down," Major General Raul told Rahil, making him sit down. " Major General Raul, aren''t you going to raise the bid? I thought you had some money since you''re in such a high position, but I guess I was wrong," Ryder let out as he chuckled, trying to pin the man in the army uniform to raise his bid. "You!" Major General Raul became even more frustrated at the taunts. Previously, he was thinking about pulling out since he didn''t have much money left, but now it was about his reputation and about revenge. He knew that he didn''t have enough money to buy this item anymore, but he still wanted Ryder to suffer a loss. He knew that the Maxwell Family had tons of money. They could buy even if he bid a Hundred Million Dollars, so he wanted to make them bleed. He could feel that Ryder wanted this item as well. There was no way that Ryder was going to let him win, which he wanted to use to his advantage. "Twenty-five Million Dollars," he raised the bid, but this time he was calmer. He knew that Ryder would outbid him, so he didn''t need to worry about paying the money. Everyone in the hall was gasping at the massive bid. He had raised the bid by close to five million dollars at once. An item that was priced at 1 million dollars was not at twenty-five Million dollars. The Silva Family members that were watching it were surprised as well. "Twenty-six Million Dollars," Ryder raised the bid again. The bidding war once again continued and reached a massive Fifty Million Dollars in an instant. The Current Bid was from Major General Raul, who had bid Fifty Million Dollars. There was not a speck of sweat on his face despite budding so much money since he knew that he didn''t need to pay as Ryder would increase the bid again. He just wanted Ryder to pay over Fifty Million Dollars for this item. After this bid, he was going to pull out from bidding since his goal was going to be completed. He was seeing this as his revenge on Ryder. While he was waiting for Ryder to raise the bid, his face turned pale as he heard Ryder''s next words. "I pull out. Fifty million dollars is too much for me. Congrats on winning the feces," Ryder said innocently. Shu was getting concerned for Ryder for bidding so much, but after hearing his words, he understood what Ryder was trying to do. He had to work so hard to control his laughter. "Ah, You''re right. We don''t have fifty million dollars to spend on that marvelous item," Ryder said as he sighed as if he was really disappointed that he couldn''t buy this item. "Have fun with this. You were willing to pay Fifty Million Dollars for this. I think this Antarctic Spirit Mammoth feces deserve to be in your hands. I''m impressed by your convictions. I can''t bid against you after knowing you want to do much anyway," he continued. " Alright. Master Raul had bid Fifty Million Dollars. Is there anyone willing to raise the bid?" The Auctioneer asked everyone. Major General Raul''s face was as pale as it could be. He knew that he couldn''t afford it, but he couldn''t pull out either. He had bid, and this was the Silva Clan household. He wanted to cry, but no tears came out of his eyes. While the Auctioneer started counting, he kept trying to make Ryder irritated and bid more, but nothing worked. "Fifty Million Dollars...3." "I would like to Congratulate Master Raul for winning this item for Fifty Million Dollars. You can pay the money at the time of leaving and collect your item," The Auctioneer said with a smile on his face as he looked at Major General Raul. **** The Auction continued throughout the day. Ryder could constantly feel a murderous gaze towards him. He knew where it was coming from, but he chose to ignore it since he already knew who it was from. He was more focused on the items that were being shown off in front of him on the Stage. There were many interesting items. Many of them had the same effect as a few of the Items that Ryder had seen in his System Store. Even though the items were rare, they weren''t something that either he or Shu found useful. None of them bid for anything in the auction. Soon, the Auction was over, and it was late in the evening. Everyone was escorted to the dining hall. Many tables were arranged so that people could have dinner separately with the ones they came with. The dishes were also the special ones from the Silva Family that used the full knowledge of their medicine into the food to make it more useful for them. Ryder ate them, and he found them to be one of the tastiest dishes he had tasted. He also felt his strength increasing as he ate them, even though only by a negligible amount. "It would have been so good if Alice could taste these too," Ryder muttered as he sighed while remembering about Alice, who was alone at the estate. **** The Dinner passed away peacefully without anything exciting happening. Before anyone knew it, it was time to leave. The Hosts of the Silva Clan thanked everyone for coming and bid them farewell. Ryder left the mansion of the Silva Clan with Shu as he walked towards the entrance of the estate where their guards were standing, but along the way, he and Shu had to stop as they saw Major General Raul and Rahil standing before them. "Ah, right. We''re outside the Silva Family Mansion. Anything goes here," Ryder muttered as he smiled while looking in the eyes of Major General Raul, who was staring back at him with a murderous gaze. 313 Chapter 309: The God of Time ''I wonder how much experience I would get if I beat up a Major General. That would only work if he attacks me first, though,'' Ryder thought as he looked at the man. " Maybe he''s here to show us the Fifty Million Dollar item that he purchased," Ryder replying to Shu while diverting a taunt towards Major General Raul in an effort to get him to attack in frustration. " Master Shu, if memory serves me right, you don''t have a family member who''s living. May I ask who this young man beside you is?" Major General Raul asked casually as he looked at Shu. "I don''t think that you need to know that," Shu responded, shaking his head. "Oh, nothing. I was just curious about it. The world outside is a scary place. You never know what people might do and when someone might die. I was just wondering who he was so that if I ever had an opportunity to help him, I would be able to do that," Major General Raul said as he glanced at Ryder. Ryder could feel a subtle threat in the tone of Major General Raul, which simply made him smile. His smile irritated Major General Raul even more. "If he would need help, the entire Dream Corporation and I will be there to help him. You don''t need to bother. Now, if you''ll excuse me, we need to get going," Shu said, casually shaking his head as he started walking away. ''Man, I thought that guy would be more of a badass and attack us. He just wanted to threaten me? I guess he needs to maintain the army decorum, at least in public,'' Ryder thought as he followed after Shu, leaving the Major General behind. Ryder and Shu met up with the Guards who surrounded them as they went towards the Helipad. They entered the helicopter of Dream Corporation, which started flying, soon leaving the airspace of Lavender Town. The helicopter flew through the air, only getting down in the Helipad in front of Shu''s Mansion. Ryder and Shu entered the mansion. "Your Booking of Dinner with Alice is of tonight. You want me to get it rescheduled to tomorrow since you already ate?" Shu asked Ryder as he sat on the couch in the main hall beside Ryder. "There''s no need. I can still eat more. Also, I know that girl. She must be excited about it since she hasn''t been out like this in quite some time. Also, I''ll get scolded to hell by her if I get it rescheduled," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "Hah, Brother Shu. I know you said that you''re going to look for a new place to stay but how about you stay here with me? I don''t have any family, and it gets pretty lonely here with just me. There''s so much space as well. Just stay with me," Shu casually suggested. "I''ll think about it," he told Shu as he nodded his head. **** While Ryder was sitting in Shu''s Mansion, something big was happening in this universe. Far Far away from the earth, existed a mystical place. It was a Garden that had beautiful green grass. There was a strange thing inside that garden, though. No wind was flowing inside that garden. A squirrel could be seen in one corner of the garden, but it wasn''t moving. It seemed as if the Squirrel was paused in space and time. Right above the garden, a little bird was also stuck in a similar way. It was stuck in the middle of the air right above the garden. Its wings were still open as if it was flying above the garden when the time had stopped suddenly. There was also a small pond inside that garden that seemed to have Crystal clear water that seemed to be nothing like anyone had ever seen before. The water was so pure that it was on the edge of being completely transparent. The bottom of the deep pond could be seen with the naked eye. A young boy was sitting at the edge of the pond with his feet inside the water. The boy seemed like he was only twelve, but there was an aura of ancient surrounding him. It was giving the feeling as if the boy had lived through centuries contrary to what his age and looks portrayed. The boy had short white hair. His eyes were pitch black, creating a contrast with his snow-white hair. If one was to see carefully, they could see three golden needles of various sizes inside each of his eyes as if they were the hands of a clock, continually moving. There was also a shadow behind him, but strangely enough, it was the Shadow of a clock as well. The young big looked inside the water as he moved his feet. "There has been some disturbance in time recently. It usually happens whenever there''s a natural shift in the energies of the world but this has been happening a lot recently. It can''t be natural. Is this just that or something else?" The young boy muttered as he curiously raised his head towards the sky. "No one can control time like me, but there are a few that can mess around with time. Are they the ones doing it and having some fun? There''s Pluto, Fiona, and Janus. Those three are the only ones that can control some aspects of time. Is it one of them?" The young boy muttered as he sighed. "Well, if it''s only minor things like this, I don''t mind. I just hope they don''t try to mess around too much. It took me some effort to get him to create this separate space for me where I can stay in peace. I don''t want to have to go outside to clear their mess and punish them," he muttered. He stood up and walked to the center of the garden, where a chair was placed. He sat on the chair as he closed his eyes. "Sigh, it''s so peaceful here. I don''t ever want to have to leave this place. After the chaos of last time where all of us had to come together to handle that person, some peace is nice. That crazy person, hah. I''m glad we don''t have to worry about him anymore," he muttered. 314 Chapter 310: Terrifying Plan He left the mansion and walked on the road outside casually. "What did you find out?" he muttered casually as he walked through the neighborhood. If there was any person here, he would think that Ryder was talking to himself since there was no one around him, but there was indeed someone near Ryder. It was Stanner who he had sent to collect information on the girl he saw Spying on him since the moment he came back from the Library Club reunion. "That girl is indeed spying on you. She has a lot of expensive equipment and a gun as well," The Spirit of Stanner told Ryder. "Did you manage to find out who she''s talking to?" Ryder asked Stanner. "She talked to someone called Ray. In fact, I only saw her talking to the person called Ray," Stanner told Ryder. "Ray? I only know of that FBI agent who was called Ray. Did you hear her say something about the FBI?" Ryder asked Stanner. "I didn''t hear her say anything like that, but she did say to Ray about how his organization was useless if they needed her to trail you," Stanner told Ryder. "That doesn''t explain anything. The police is a big organization as well. I wonder if I should just go talk to her face to face," Ryder muttered as he frowned. " That Police Chief would have someone trail me, probably to find something against me or to know my habits so he can''t scheme against me. The FBI also has a big incentive to do it if they find me suspicious and think that I''m related to the Dark Uprising," Ryder let out as he shook his head. "Oh, right. I do remember the number of that Ray she talked to. Maybe that can come in handy?" Stanner suggested. " Ah, right. I can use the number to find who this Ray is. Give me the number," Ryder asked Stanner. Stanner gave Ryder the number of Ray, which Ryder saved in his phone. **** Far away from Ryder, the girl that Ryder and Stanner were talking about was still keeping an eye on him using her Binoculars. She did seem confused as she saw Ryder talking to himself, though. "Is that guy going crazy? Just why is this person making my brother so obsessed? He doesn''t seem special at all. He only seems crazy," the girl muttered as she shook his head. **** "Continue keeping an eye on her," Ryder told Stanner after he saved the number. He started going back to the mansion. He entered the mansion and noticed that Shu was still sitting on the couch, lazily. " I need some help," Ryder said as he sat beside Shu. "What help?" Shu asked in confusion, wondering what he wanted. Shu looked at Ryder blankly before he started laughing. "Only that? That''s easy. Give me the number. You''ll have the details by the time you come back from your dinner," he said. "The number is 9..." Ryder gave Shu the number. Shu noted the number on his phone and sent a message containing that number. He dialed a number. "I just sent you a number. I was hoping you could find the details and that number and the details about the person who''s using the number. Be fast," Shu said before disconnecting the call. "Done," He told Ryder as he smiled. "Only a little bit of wait, and you''ll have the things you need." "Is there anything else you need?" he asked Ryder. "Nah, that''s already a great help. I''ll handle the rest," Ryder said, shaking his head. "If you say so. By the way, how did you get that number without knowing who it belongs to?" Shu asked Ryder. Unless it was a number of a prank caller or some unknown person calling him and bullying him, the chances of Ryder asking about the owner of an unknown number were almost negligible. He wondered if someone was threatening him or creating trouble for him using this number. "It''s nothing. I just met a person and got his number. I''m curious about him, but I can''t directly ask certain things. That''s why I''m using this method," Ryder said, making an excuse. He didn''t want to tell Shu that the FBI was after him for being related to the Dark Uprising just yet. He felt like he could handle it alone. "Ah, it''s getting time to leave. I''ll check on Alice to see if she''s ready," he suddenly said as he changed the topic. He stood up and walked to Alice''s room. He knocked on the door and started waiting for the door to open. After a few minutes, the door opened. Ryder saw Alice, who seemed to be already dressed for the occasion. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress that seemed to be perfectly matching her beautiful eyes. "Ah, you''re ready," Ryder muttered after being dazed for a while. "Yes. Let''s go. We''re already pretty late,* Alice said to Ryder as she held his hand and started dragging him with her excitedly. Ryder was amazed to see him so surprised. **** In a different Place inside a city, a meeting was taking place. A few people in black clothing were standing in a circle. There was one person standing in the middle of the ring. "Our Masters have given their command! Today is the day this city sees the first glimpse of the Uprising. The FBI killed our fellow members in Washington, and they have been acting very proud since then. Not only that, their hands even reached here to Jameson! They have been getting very bold lately. It''s time to show them what happens when they start messing with things they don''t understand. Tonight, this city will see the wrath of the uprising! The Entire city will shake tonight!" The man standing in the center declared proudly as he started laughing. "You all know the locations. Make sure that you get as many people as you can! The world should tremble in fear when they hear about the Dark Uprising from tomorrow! No failure shall be tolerated!" the man said as he grinned. The other people who were surrounding the man started chanting proudly. "Uprising! Uprising! Uprising!" 315 Chapter 311: Master is here "Everyone, take the things you need! May the Goddess of Destruction be with you all!" The man standing in the center let out loud as he started laughing. Everyone who was present in the room walked over to the wall that had a few carry bags placed near it. Some bags were small while some were big. Each of them carried a bad. "Go out and make the whole World Tremble! There are Fifty of you. Looking at the resources, at least twenty thousand people should die tonight, or it would be a waste of the resources we gave you! Master is in this City as well! Make sure that you succeed! He will be watching," the man thundered as he started loading his gun. **** Ryder left the Mansion of Shu with Alice. He had taken the keys of the Ferrari from Shu already. He opened the door for Alice. He sat on the driver''s seat and started the car, taking it in reverse. He got the car out of Shu Estate, got it on the road, and started driving away. " Ah? He''s leaving at that time?" the girl who was spying on Ryder was shocked to see him leaving this late. She hurriedly ran out of her house and entered her car as she started chasing after Ryder while keeping a safe distance. Ryder was driving the car, but he lowered the speed as he heard the voice of Janus. He knew that Janus mostly talked to him when it was for a mission. He didn''t want to be in an accident by hitting the car on some pole if the mission was frustrating, so he had already lowered the speed in advance as soon as Shu said the first word. \u003cA Mission has been issued to the Host\u003e \u003cMission Take Alice on a date outside the City\u003e \u003cMission Reward: A fulfilling experience with Alice\u003e \u003cMission Reward: Hundred Origin Points\u003e \u003cPunishment For Failure: Death\u003e ''Hmm? Death? Whose death? It didn''t say whose death this time. Is this a mystery threat or something? I can''t die, so it can''t be me. I won''t let Alice die, and Janus wouldn''t hide it if it were a threat about her death,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''Whose death?'' Ryder asked as he frowned. Unfortunately, Janus didn''t answer. "Sigh, This guy is really irritating sometimes. His habit to not answer me is so frustrating," Ryder mumbled as he sighed. "Whatever, I might as well not take a risk this time. It doesn''t matter if I have dinner in this city or the next. It''s just that the booking Shu made for us will go to waste. I''ll have to think of an excuse when I go back," he muttered. "Did you say something?" Alice asked Ryder as she looked at him. " Hmm? Nothing. I said nothing. I was just talking to myself," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He increased the speed of his car. **** "We''re going to dinner, but it''s not dinner in this city. It''s the next city. It''s not often that we''re out like this. I thought that if we go to the next city, we''ll get a long drive as well. The more time I get with you, the better," Ryder muttered as he innocently replied. "Also, I heard that there''s a really great hotel there. It has some great reviews. I always wanted to try it," He said, making up an excuse. " Ah, Didn''t Elder Brother Shu book for us nearby?" Alice inquired in confusion. "Don''t worry about that. Everything''s placed," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "If you say so," Alice replied as she nodded her head innocently. **** Ray''s Sister was still chasing after Ryder in her car. " He''s leaving the city at this time? That''s pretty suspicious," she muttered as she kept her eyes on Ryder''s car while following it. *Ring* *Ring* "Hmm?" the girl was surprised as she felt her phone vibration. She placed her earphones in her ears and picked up the call. " Brother, you called at the right time. I was just about to call you," the girl said after picking up the call. Ray was on the other side of the call, speaking from the headquarters of the FBI. He wanted to take an update on how her mission was going, and if she found something. "Hmm? Why? Did you find something suspicious?" Ray asked the girl. "I did not find much yet. The guy spends most of his time inside, but today he went out of the mansion three times. In the morning, he left with Schumacher Maxwell on his helicopter. I couldn''t follow them, so I don''t know where they went, but it seemed as if they were going to some official business from their clothing. They came back in the evening," the girl replied. "Oh? Don''t worry. I''ll find out where they went in the morning. Where did he go the next two times?" Ray inquired. "The second time he left the mansion was right after coming back. He took a walk on the street outside the mansion. Oh, I did notice something strange at that time. It seemed like he was talking to himself," The girl replied. " Are you sure there was no one nearby? Some people can hide in the shadows pretty well. Don''t screw this up, alright. It would be best if you didn''t miss anyone this guy meets alone," Ray told the girl. "Hah, are you doubting my abilities? I know what I saw. That guy was alone. There was no one nearby. He was definitely talking to himself," the girl replied, shaking her head. "He went back after a few minutes." "And the third time?" Ray asked. "He left the mansion just a little while ago, and this trip is what I''m just suspicious about. It seems like the man is leaving the city. I don''t know what his objective is, but it doesn''t look right. No one would leave the city this late at night in a car if they had the helicopter of Schumacher Maxwell for their travel," the girl replied. "Are you following him?" Ray asked. "Yeah, I''m on his tail," The girl replied. "Good. Something does seem fishy about this. It might be the time I was waiting for, where he leads me to someone. Stay on his tail without getting caught. See who he meets and what he does." Ray said. 316 Chapter 312: The Attack " Alright. Now stop disturbing me and let me do my work," The girl said as he disconnected the call. **** Soon, Ryder left the city with Alice. " Alice, Can you open the net and search for the best hotel for dinner? Since we''re going there, we might as well go to the best one," Ryder told Alice while keeping his eyes on the road. This was an abrupt plan that had to be made because of an abrupt mission given by Janus. He didn''t have the time to do any research, and he didn''t want to stop the car. He didn''t want to delay any further by stopping the car since he knew Alice must be hungry. It was already very time consuming to travel from one city to another by car. He gave the task of searching for a hotel to Alice. "Ah, didn''t you say that you are going there because that''s a nice hotel there which you want to eat at?" She asked Ryder in confusion. If Ryder already knew where he wanted to eat, why was he telling her to search? She was confused. "Ah, right. I do know a great hotel, but now I think that it would be better to go to one selected by you. Choose one and give me the location," Ryder said, shaking his head. "It''s fine. I don''t have a preference. I want to eat in the place chosen by you," Alice answered as she smiled. "Ah, don''t worry about that. Select one, or we''ll spend the entire night like this since I am not dripping this unless you first a hotel for dinner," Ryder insisted as he smiled wryly. After a little more back and forth, Alice agreed to do it. She started browsing through the internet to find a hotel she wanted to have dinner in. "This one looks good, Hotel Luxia. The reviews of the critiques are good," Alice said as she selected a place. "What about the people''s republic review? You know some hotels pay the critiques to give nice reviews. You should focus more on the public reviews," Ryder said as he chuckled. "The public perception is good too. All I hear is praise for their dishes," Alice said as she smiled. "Alright. Hotel Luxia it is," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "Oh, right. How''s that friend of yours? Estonia, I believe she was called?" Ryder suddenly said as he started some light-hearted talking. "She''s good. I met her in college. She was shocked to hear that I was attacked, and she offered to help. She said that her father was rich and had plenty of security. She suggested that we stay with her to stay safe," Alice replied. "Yeah, her father is Rich indeed. What did you reply?" Ryder asked, even though he knew what her answer was going to be. " Hahaha, It should be the opposite. You''re in more danger with me around. Danger always seems to be following me. I try to keep it away from my family, but it finds its way. The guys who kidnapped you did that because they wanted to blackmail me. If it were not for me, it wouldn''t have happened," Ryder replied, shaking his head. " Don''t say that. It all started because I was arrested first, so it''s because of me," Alice said, shaking her head. "Oh, right. Shu said that we should stay with him. He said he would be alone if we leave. I want to ask your opinion about it though. Should we get a nice mansion for just the two of us or stay with Shu? There won''t be any compromise in your security either way," Ryder asked Alice. "What do you want?" Alice asked back. " I''ll do what you say. I''m fine with any of the two options," Ryder replied. He didn''t take his eyes off the road throughout this conversation. "I-i think we should stay with Brother Shu. If he says that he would be alone when we leave, then it would be bad to leave. Also, it''s more fun with the three of us. It''s like our family just got bigger," Alice replied as she smiled. " Yeah, Our family got bigger," Ryder replied. " Shu is a great guy. He''s just like us. It''s like all our destinies were written with the same brush. All of us lost our parents at a young age. The only difference was that he had money, and we didn''t. But that doesn''t change the fact that we all suffered. All three of us lacked a family. There will always be that empty spot in our lives," He muttered as he sighed. "Fortunately, I had you, but he didn''t have anyone except a few loyal employees," he added. "We should stay," Alice said, nodding her head. "Yeah," Ryder muttered. "Oh, right. I completely forgot about that. I wanted to buy some clothes for myself. Let''s get some on our way back," He said as he remembered. Soon, Ryder reached the neighboring city. ''That car has been chasing us throughout the way. That girl is such an idiot. Did she think that I wouldn''t notice her? That idiot spy. She''s doing such a bad job. She''s lucky that I''m pretending not to know, or she would''ve been in deep trouble,'' he thought as he looked at the car chasing him through the mirror. The girl that was chasing him didn''t know that Ryder had already discovered her. Ryder drove through the roads of the city that were empty since it was so late at night. He stopped his car near Hotel Luxia and stepped out of the car. He gave the Valet the keys to part the car before he entered the hotel while holding Alice''s hand. Ryder entered the Hotel and booked a table. It was pretty expensive since it was a Seven-Star Hotel, but Ryder didn''t care about that much money. He was escorted to the table, which was in a private room. The food was served inside the room for them. There was a TV in the room which was showing a news Channel. " Breaking News! We have just received information that there has been a terrorist attack in Hotel Durham in New Jersey!" Ryder was just about to take his first bite when he heard the news. He looked to his side and stood up, shocked. 317 Chapter 313: Shaken City "Hmm? We are getting the information that another blast occurred, but this time at Hotel Fionas in the same city!" " This seems to be a coordinated terrorist attack," the Anchor said. "I would take you to our men at the spot. They''re bringing you the visuals of Hotel Durham from the top. You can see how terrible the blast was. Smoke can be seen everywhere!" "We''ll show you the visuals of Hotel Fionas in just about a minute. Our second team is on their way to Hotel Fionas!" the Anchor said. "Hotel Durham, isn''t this the place Shu booked a room for us? It looks terrible there," Ryder muttered as he looked at the visuals taken from the helicopter by the News Team. "S-should we go back?" Alice suggested as she stood up. Ryder was about to reply when the news channel started showing another headline, informing of another attack. " This is just in, but the Third Seven-Star hotel in the city has suffered a blast as well. The whole city had been placed on red alert. All the borders of the city have been sealed! The President has just given the Orders to send the National Guards to help the city authority." "We have received the Statement from the FBI Director of Operations! He said that he''s dispatching his teams to the city as well." "This is terrible! A fourth blast has occurred, this time in a Club. According to the sources, it was one of the most famous clubs in the city that was always crowded!" The News Anchor kept giving updates one after another. Ryder simply stood there blankly, looking at all the terrifying visuals. "The Former Director of FBI joins the line with us to share with us his expertise about what the people of the city should be doing now! Mister Dion." The News Anchor brought an Expert on the Channel. Ryder was surprised at how fast the news Channels were in bringing experts. "Look, Jaily. According to the pattern I see here, it seems to be a large scale coordinated attack by a terrorist organization. We have seen Four Terrible Terrorist attacks in the city at the moment, but that doesn''t mean there won''t be more. I have a feeling that this is going to be a long night. So from your channel, I would like to tell all viewers not to go outside and stay where they are. Let the Government do its job. Keep yourself safe and as far away from harm''s way as you can," the Former FBI Director replied to the anchor. "That''s right. We would also urge our viewers to stay indoors and not go out. This..." The Anchor was saying the same thing when she stopped. She went blank for a few seconds before she said again. "Even Police Station?" Ryder muttered as he frowned. "These Terrorists... It doesn''t seem like they want anything. They just want to destroy," He muttered as he turned back. Suddenly, his phone started ringing. He looked at the screen and noticed it was Shu calling. "Hello?" He picked up the call. "Oh, thank God you''re safe. I just heard the news of the blast in Hotel Durham. Are you still there? I''m sending my people to bring you back. That place is not safe anymore," Shu said as soon as he heard Ryder''s voice. He seemed to be somewhat relaxed to know that Ryder was safe. "Don''t worry. I''m perfectly fine. Also, don''t bring anyone. I''m not inside Hotel Durham. I''m outside the city. We had a change in plan midway and decided to come to the Luxia hotel in the neighboring city. Since the borders are sealed, we can''t come back, but we''re safe. I''m more concerned about you, though," Ryder replied as he frowned. "The whole city is under attack. Anything can happen. Tighten your security and stay safe. Don''t go out at any cost," he continued. He turned back to glance at the news. His face turned blank as he saw the visuals on the channel. They were talking about a Bar suffering the same attack, but that was what made Ryder the most worried since it was a place he knew. It was the Bar where Esmi''s base was. "Ah, Shu! I''m going to have to call you later. Someone I know might have been affected by the blasts. I''ll check up on you later," Ryder said as he disconnected the call. He dialed Esmi''s number as he stepped out of the room. "The Number you''re trying to reach has been switched off." He called again and again, but he got the same reply. The more he heard this automated message, the more concerned Ryder became. He dialed the number of Bastion instead to ask what the situation was. Fortunately, the ring of Bastion''s phone was going on. Soon, Bastion picked up the call. "Ryder?" Bastion replied. "Yeah, it''s me. I saw the news. There was a blast at your bar. I was concerned. How''s everyone? Is everyone safe?" Ryder asked in a concerned tone. "Ah, not really. A lot of our people died in the blast. Fortunately, I was at home with my aunt. We''re also trying to find more information about it," Bastion replied. "Ah, I am glad that the two of you are safe. Stay indoors and stay safe. I''ll take later," Ryder said before he disconnected the call. "Those two are safe, and Shu is Safe as well. That''s good," he muttered as he stepped inside his room. As soon as he stepped inside, his focus was attracted by the News Anchor''s Words. "There have been Thirteen blasts throughout the city and three instances of Shooting. Looking at the situation in New Jersey, all the states have also sealed their borders. Every city is on High Alert. According to our sources, the President will deliver a speech in a few hours regarding these terrible attacks," the news anchor said in a solemn tone. Ryder walked over and sat in front of Alice. "Shu and Bastion are safe," he told Alice. "My friends are safe too," Alice replied, nodding her head. "That''s good," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "Anyway, all the nearby cities are under lockdown. It looks like we won''t be able to leave tonight," He said. 318 Chapter 314: Bai "You don''t step out," he told Alice before he stepped out of the room and walked up to the reception. "Uhmm, hey. I would like to book two rooms," He told the receptionist. The receptionist started looking at his computer before he shook his head. " Ah, sorry, sir. We don''t have two rooms. We only have one room available. All the other rooms have already been booked by guests," the receptionist replied apologetically. "Ah, Fine. Give us that one room. Here''s my card," Ryder said, agreeing to get one room. He didn''t have any choice either way. He got the room keys before he started walking towards the cabin where Alice was waiting. As he was walking towards the Cabin, he suddenly realized something. "Hey Janus, this abrupt mission that you gave? Was that to get us out of the city?" Ryder asked in confusion. Janus didn''t reply. "Why didn''t you give me a mission to stop the attacks instead?" Ryder asked again, after not getting an answer. " Do I have any chance of being able to stop them if I went back in time?" He asked again, not letting Janus'' silence sway him. \u003cNo\u003e Janus finally replied with one word. "I know I can''t solve it at once, but I can try again and again until I find a way to?" Ryder suggested as he frowned. \u003cIt''s not safe. The chances of successfully stopping the attacks are only 0.01 percent. Also, doing it too many times in the same timeline will make time unstable. If that happened, he would be forced to come out. That won''t be safe for anyone\u003e Janus answered Ryder. "Who will come out?" Ryder asked again, but this time Janus didn''t reply. "0.01 Percent chances of success, huh," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "That means that I would have to go back in time over ten thousand times to have a chance of success without dying, and even that wouldn''t guarantee success," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "That would be ten thousand timelines in which all these people will die because of my failure," He muttered as he fell in deep thought. Ryder entered the room and sat down as he sighed. " Have dinner. Don''t think too much. There''s nothing we can do about it," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "I am not hungry anymore," Alice said, shaking her head. "You can''t do anything. Eat now. That''s an order," Ryder said as he glared at her. After a little more insistence, Alice finally started eating. **** From the Capital City, a federal plane was about to take off. The Plane was filled with FBI agents. The plane was about to take them to the city that was shaken by the blasts. There were over Thirty agents on the plane, and the plane had just taken off. Three FBI teams were going for this investigation, and each of them had a different leader. They were told to work separately. The Red-haired man was one of the three-team leaders. He was called Reylon Marvels. "It seems like this, but we can''t be certain before investigators. But according to my assumption, it seems to be their work. They''re probably taking revenge because we got to one of their men and because we killed their members in DC," Ray replied as he sighed. " At the moment, I can only say one thing. Whoever did this can''t be a human. Taking so many innocent lives," he muttered, shaking his head. "That''s true," Raylon said as he nodded his head. ''Is this just a coincidence, though? Ryder left the city, and blasts happened? Did he know about this? Was he involved in these? So many questions, but the only thing I can see is that Ryder is at the center of it,'' Ray thought as he closed his eyes. He was wondering why Ryder had left the city so late and just to go to a hotel to eat when he heard about the blasts. It made him link Ryder with the blasts. He felt like Ryder knew about these, but he was still confused. In his eyes, Ryder was someone who hated these Terrorists and stopped them as he did in DC and like he did outside Jameson''s house. He couldn''t understand why he didn''t stop it this time, instead of leaving the city right before the blasts. Could it be that Ryder had finally joined the terrorist organization? Or is it that the terrorists were waiting for him to go out of the city before starting this mission since they were worried that he would stop them again? It also had a third thought. He wondered if these attacks were just a ploy to bring out Ryder and catch him, but Ryder knew about it and ran away. All these assumptions kept floating in his head. He was curious to determine which of these assumptions was true and who the mastermind behind these attacks was. The Plane flew through the clear skies towards the city, the sky of which was covered in smoke from all the blasts. **** The city was burning. There was fire everywhere. The sound of cop cars and ambulances could be heard everywhere. Fire Brigades were working hard to get the raging flames under control. The peaceful city was filled with the noise of vehicles and the cries of people. No one knew, but right in the middle of this city, a man was standing at the top of a tall building. " It''s so pretty. The blazing city," the man muttered as he laughed. The man seemed to be enjoying the destruction all around him. He was relishing in the cries and the screams of people. Only sheer pleasure could be seen in the eyes of the man. "Where are you, little guys? You killed our men in the DC. You were pretty brave. I thought that if I made a blast big enough to attract some attention, you would appear again. Where are you hiding? Come out. Come out so I can kill you and take you to our supreme lord," the man muttered as he looked at the burning city. 319 Chapter 315: To do or not to do Ryder did occasionally keep watching the news, just to make sure that nothing terrible happened in the neighborhood of his loved ones. After finishing the dinner, Ryder took Alice to the room that was assigned to them. The room had a single bed, but the bed was big enough for two people. As it was a Seven-Star Hotel, there were many facilities in this room, including chairs, couches and a big TV. "You can go, get fresh first," Ryder told Alice as he sat on the bed and turned on the tv. He started watching the news. Alice went into the washroom. "So much destruction. Almost half the city is destroyed," Ryder muttered as he sighed at the sight of the visuals in the news. He was feeling very uncomfortable as he simply watched it, unaware of the fact that this destruction was caused for him. The female FBI agent Riya that Ryder had killed outside Jameson''s Mansion was the spy of the Dark Uprising organization that was behind all the missing bodies and the conflict with the Agents in Washington. Ryder had already known that Riya was an Uprising member after she had come back to life despite being shot in the head, but what he didn''t notice was that Riya was a part of the Raid by the FBI inside DC in which Ryder had his first open conflict with the Dark Uprising. Ryder had killed all their members in that place that he saw, but he didn''t kill one. That was Riya, who was an Agent of the Dark Uprising, working as an FBI agent. Riya had given the information about that attack to her heads already, and that was why the Dark Uprising members were so prepared at that place. That''s how they knew they were going to be raised by the Feds. The Dark Uprising wanted to make a show of force in DC through this. That''s how they were aware enough to prepare a trap for the agents. They brought their Undying Soldiers, and they placed Snipers on the buildings. Riya knew that it was a trap, and she intentionally led the FBI agents to their death; unfortunately, she didn''t expect that Ryder would come there. Ryder destroyed the trap from inside out. He openly killed all the Dark Uprising members, including the snipers. Fortunately, Ryder had kept his face hidden during that confrontation, and no one knew about it. There was only one person in the FBI that suspected Ryder as the masked man who destroyed the Uprising in Washington, and that was Ray. Ray sat beside Ryder on the trip back from Washington, and he started suspecting Ryder, but he didn''t tell his fellow members. The only time he told anyone about Ryder was after Riya''s death, and that was to his partner and best friend, Jacob. That made the Dark Uprising higher-ups attracted to Ryder as they wondered where Ryder got all his powers from. How could Ryder not die after being shot so many times like their shoulders, and why did he have such battle prowess? They had decided to catch Ryder after all this. They also wondered why Ryder stopped their men. They thought that Ryder either had a hero complex or he knew about the Dark Uprising and hated it. Whatever being the case, they knew that Ryder would appear again if they made another boom. That''s why they sent their men to the last city Ryder was seen. As Riya''s death happened in this city and it was claimed that a masked man who couldn''t die after being shot killed her, they thought that Ryder was here. Their plan was simple. Make a big noise and attract everyone. This would be their revenge, and this would also make Ryder come out of hiding. They had many high ranking Members inside the city, merely waiting for Ryder to appear so that they could capture him. The formation inside the city was undoubtedly overkill to capture one single guy, but the Uprising didn''t take Ryder lightly. They had sent one of the Thirteen Kings to the city personally. **** Ryder sat on the bed, unaware of the giant trap that was placed for him as he watched the news channels and saw the Visuals of the Terrifying Attack. All the cities were sealed. The whole country was under some sort of curfew. Not only the city that was under the attack but all the other cities, far away from that place, were shut down. Cop cars had begun patrolling extensively to make sure that nothing bad happened in the city. All the civilians were inside their house, watching the terrifying scenes on various news channels. Various international media outlets had started to cover this, as well. **** "The President is holding the Press Conference at the moment. We will take you straight to the Press Conference," the News Anchor said as the scene switched to the White House. The Current President was sitting behind his Table, looking solemn. The Current President of the United States was a woman who was only the second woman to ever become the President of this country since its formation. The Woman was called Clara Davis. She was the President of the United States. She was only in her late Thirties, which made her the youngest woman ever to become president of this country. Even though she was in her late thirties, she still looked like a young lady in her twenties. She had beautiful light-green eyes and thin lips. Her brown hair came just a little lower than her shoulder. The Tip of her hair was colored red. She was wearing a white shirt and a black coat as she appeared on the television. Ryder had already seen the lady on TV many times, so he wasn''t surprised after seeing her. " My Fellow Citizens of this Brave and Great Country. Tonight, we are under attack! We are under attack by terrorists that believe they can intimidate our prosperous and great nation through these acts of Terror, but I promise to you all that we will not be intimated. I''ll make sure that the people who took the lives of our innocent citizens pay for it." "These times are challenging, and I urge the citizens to remain calm and inside their homes..." The President continued her speed as she talked about the events tonight. She also gave people courage. As for the city that was facing the attacks, she gave them the assurance that the help was on the way. The whole speech lasted for only ten minutes before the broadcast from the Whitehouse was over, and the focus returned to the news anchor. Alice came out of the washroom, and Ryder went inside. He took his clothes off and turned on the shower, letting the water droplets fall on his body as he placed his hand on the wall. His head was aching. He couldn''t get the thought out of his mind. The thought to go and help the city, but the problem was the mission of Janus. Janus had given him the mission to leave the city. He had finished the mission in this timeline, but if he went back in time, Janus would again give the same mission. He was not worried about the rewards but about the failure. Janus had said that if he failed in completing the mission, then there was going to be a death. The problem was that he didn''t know whose death. It couldn''t be about him, and Janus wouldn''t talk about strangers'' death since he wouldn''t care. The only possible answer was that someone close to him could die if he didn''t leave the city. He placed his hand on the wall as he frowned. "If I go back in time, someone close to me might die, and the chances of me being successful are almost negligible. Should I take the risk? Most probably, I''ll keep going back in time again and again and watch people die right before my eyes. The city would be destroyed in front of me. To top it off, someone close to me would die, and I don''t know who," Ryder muttered. "If I don''t go back in time by dying in the next twelve hours, the previous timeline would be fixed, and nothing would change. The city will stay destroyed." "On the other hand, if I did go back, the timeline would become unstable. The more I tried this; the more unstable this timeline will become, which Janus warned me about again. Should I do it or not? Can I watch thousands of people die again and again? Can I watch people close to me die?" Ryder muttered as he sighed. 320 Chapter 316: Lord of Time and Space It felt like he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to help, but not helping was more beneficial for him. He couldn''t help but fall deeper and deeper into this thought. Ryder shook his head as he sighed. "What the hell am I even doing here. Why am I having second thoughts about saving thousands of people? If I can save even one of them, it should be worth it. As for someone close to me dying, that is my assumption. Janus only said death would be the consequence. He didn''t say whose death. He would''ve said the name if it was the death of someone close. He never hesitated as he talked about the death of Alice previously. I can at least try to see what Janus meant?" Ryder muttered as he clenched his fist. " The only problem is the timeline," he muttered as he frowned. "Janus, how many times can I go back in time to the same day without disrupting the timeline too much to get noticed?" Ryder asked Janus and started waiting for a response. \u003cI don''t know how serious he is taking each disruption. The Lord of Time is resting in a special place created by the Lord of Space. He wouldn''t come out for minor disruptions. It should be fine if you go back three times. If you were stronger, it would have been different, but for now, you should only go back to the same day three times. Any more than that, and he would probably come out. That won''t be good. It''ll be too soon\u003e Janus told Ryder in an emotionless tone. "The Lord of Time and the Lord of Space? Are they like the gods?" Ryder asked with a frown. \u003c I believe that''s what you people call them\u003e Janus replied. " Awesome. So even gods will start trying to kill me if I took the wrong steps. Don''t they have anything better to do than mess with a normal mortal?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. \u003cNormal Mortal...\u003e Janus went silent after saying these two words as if he was speechless. If any other person had heard Ryder and knew what powers he had, he would probably choke at him, calling himself a normal Mortal. "Anyway, I have less than one in a thousand chance of success and only three tries. That too is overcounting since if someone close to me died the first two times, I wouldn''t mess around the third time. I''ll take Alice and leave the city, letting the same events take place. So, in reality, I only have two tries to stop all these attacks. That''s definitely not enough," Ryder muttered as he sighed. \u003cYou should think carefully. In any case, it''s too much to do and no chance of success. Take your time and think carefully. This timeline is as good as it can get\u003e Janus told Ryder in a grim tone. " First, I''ll collect all the information I can about the attacks. The attacks happened at around Eleven in the night. I should have till tomorrow afternoon to collect all the information I can about the attacks before taking a step. I only have two chances; I can''t waste one of them," he added as he turned off the shower. He wiped his body from the towel and stepped out of the washroom after getting dressed. He walked to the bed and saw that Alice was still watching the TV with concern. "Go to sleep now. It''ll be over by the time you wake up," Ryder said as he rubbed her head. "I-i''m scared. Watching everything I''ve known being destroyed. It is heart-wrenching. I feel like I went through something like this before. I want to cry, but I can''t cry either," Alice muttered as she looked at Ryder. "That''ll happen. These attacks are horrifying, after all. There''s nothing you can do about it, though. Just calm your head and let the authorities do their work. I''m sure those who did these sins will get what they deserve," Ryder muttered as he turned off the TV. "Get to sleep now," he told Alice. "I can''t sleep now," Alice said, shaking her head. "You can definitely sleep. Come. Lie down first. I''ll turn off the lights," Ryder told Alice as he stood up and went to turn off the lights. Alice laid down on the bed. Ryder turned off the lights and walked back to the bed, and laid beside Alice. He wanted Alice to sleep first before he started watching the news again. Just as Ryder laid down, he felt a warm body sticking closer to him. Alice had come closer to Ryder. She held his hand. Ryder used his left hand to rub her cheeks gently. "Everything''s going to be fine. I''ll make sure everything is fine soon," Ryder muttered softly. "Hmm," Alice whimpered as she nodded her head. After half an hour, she fell asleep. Ryder released his hand from Alice''s hand as he stood up. He placed his earphones in his ears and turned on the news channel on his phone to stay updated on the latest happenings without being disruptive to Alice. Fortunately, there were no attacks after that. There were Fifteen attacks at different places throughout the city. It was around Four in the night, and the National Guards had started arriving inside the City in their armored vehicles. The Special'' Plane of FBI'' had also landed within the city. Most of the flights leaving the city were canceled. It was as if the city was completely halted. Cops cars could be seen roaming the streets. The Fire Brigade was still busy putting out the fire. Homeland Security was also involved, along with many other organizations. The City had become a hotspot for investigation. According to the News Reports, three FBI teams were sent to the city to investigate. Unfortunately, the city authorities hadn''t managed to capture a single person involved. ''As long as they can pinpoint the blast location and spot, I should be able to deal with it. The first try will be about going to one of the blast locations before the blast and catching the person responsible before he can do anything," Ryder muttered. 321 Chapter 317: Coming Clear He kept listening to the news, trying to see any new development. He wanted to know all he could. "Wait a minute, that spy on my trail. If she''s working for Ray, that number she called would be his. If I can get in contact with Ray, I should be able to get more insider information. I still have 7-8 hours to collect information," Ryder muttered as he stood up. He walked to the hall and dialed the unknown number. He didn''t wait for Shu to confirm who the number belonged to. He didn''t have enough time. He was mostly sure that it was the number of Ray from the FBI who was after him. Either way, since he was going to erase this timeline, it didn''t matter who this number belonged to. There was not going to be any consequences after all. He called the number. The phone started ringing. Ray and his fellow teammates were at the blast location inside one of the Seven-star hotels that suffered the attacks. They were checking the CCTV footage to see what happened before the blast. "Fast forward it," Ray told the operator, but that''s when his phone started ringing. "Pause it right there. I''ll be right back," he said as he turned back. He looked at the number on his phone, which was showing Ryder''s name. Ryder didn''t know about it, but Ray had already found his number and even saved it. " Ryder? Interesting. Let''s see what you have to say," Ray muttered as he smiled. He had a feeling that Ryder could help him get to the culprits faster. Ray picked up the call but didn''t say anything. "You''re Ray from the FBI, aren''t you?" Ryder asked straight away. "Yes," Ray replied. "Look, Ray, I''m pretty sure you know who I am by now if you send your little spies after me," Ryder muttered. "You should be glad I''m letting the little bird live despite knowing that she''s spying on me." Ray was shocked to hear Ryder''s words. "Don''t harm her! She didn''t mean anything bad," Ray replied instantly. "I''m not harming her. She still doesn''t realize that I already know about her," Ryder replied casually. "I''m not interested in that little bird." "Why did you call me?" Ray asked with a frown. " I called to tell you something. Now, I don''t care if you''re recording this call or whatever. It doesn''t matter anymore. I''m telling you straight away. You were right. I am Ryder, and I am the guy that saved your life in Washington and in front of Jameson''s house," Ryder said in a stern tone. "I knew it. Don''t worry; my calls are not being tapped. Your secret is safe with me. Did you call me regarding today''s attacks? What do you want to talk about? Is this the work of the same people? Why did you leave the city just before the attacks happened? Did you know about the attacks?" Ray fired all his questions one after another. " It all depends on you now. If you help me, we can save thousands of lives together. If you don''t help me, those lives will be as good as gone," he added. "I''ll help you. What do you need?" Ray nodded his head as he said. "Good. All I need is the information regarding the attacks. I''m sure you''ll check CCTV footage and ask the witnesses about what they saw. I want you to send me the pics of all the culprits you can find in the CCTV along with the information on where they appeared and where they placed the bombs. The faster you get me the information, the more I''ll be able to help," Ryder said in a grim tone. "It''s 4 in the night. You have till 4 in the morning. I need the information I asked for. These twelve hours are the most crucial. Any delay will result in the loss of lives. Be fast," he continued. "I''ll call you in 6 hours to check up on you." Ryder disconnected the call. Ray went back to the monitor and started looking at the footage. **** Ryder called Esmi once again, wondering if her phone was on right now. Fortunately, this time, the call was connected, and Esmi picked up the phone. "Are you fine?" Ryder instantly asked. "Ah, yeah. I''m fine. I was home at that time," Esmi replied. "That''s good. Why was your phone turned off when I was calling you before? Also, how many people did you lose in these attacks?" Ryder inquired. "My phone? Ah, It ran out of battery. I was ignorant and forgot to charge it. As for the losses, many men died. There were over fifty of my men inside at that time," Esmi replied as she sighed. "It could''ve been worse. At Least you''re safe," Ryder said as he sighed in relief. "What about you? Everyone is fine on your side, right?" Esmi asked. "Yeah, fortunately, no one close to me was harmed," Ryder replied. "Also, outside the city, so there was no way I would have been harmed." "That''s good," Esmi said, nodding her head. "Do you have any clue who is behind these attacks and why your place was targeted? Most of the places that were targeted had at least a few hundred people. Only your place had less than a hundred. Why does it seem like they just did it for some reason, especially with your place?" Ryder asked as he suddenly thought of something. He was wondering if the people that attacked had some link of enmity to Esmi. That could be the reason they went out of her place to destroy her club instead of targeting more populated places like they did in other attacks. "You mean one of my enemies could be involved in these attacks? I guess I didn''t think from that point of view at all. This does make sense now that I think about it. The problem is that a person can make many enemies in this business. It''s impossible to pinpoint one," Esmi replied as she sighed. 322 Chapter 318: Thin Line "Ah, yes. I''ll try to find the person responsible for this while staying inside. If it were really a targeted attack of one of my enemies, I''d make sure he pays for my damages," Esmi muttered as she sighed. "As long as you don''t leave the house, everything''s fine. Keep a strong security around your house, though. Don''t let any stranger enter. Whoever did this managed to get inside your club with a bomb," Ryder responded. " Ah, yeah. I''ll keep that in mind," Esmi said, nodding her head. Ryder disconnected the call. He rested on the sofa as he stretched his arms. This is going to be a long night indeed," he muttered as he sighed. "The world is trembling, time is cracking, and I''m walking over a thin line between Terrorists and God of Time that can come after me at any time for messing around with time. Sigh, why can''t I be allowed to live a nice and peaceful life? I thought things were finally in control," he let out as he unlocked his phone. He turned on live tv again and started listening to the news. There was nothing new, fortunately. No new blasts happened. As for the information about the investigation, the news Channels didn''t know much about what the authorities were finding since it hasn''t been a long time since the attack. Most of the channels were discussing the attacks inside the country. The Fires were finally under control, though, but the damage that was left behind was heart-wrenching to see. Even though the news channels blurred the bodies, the blood that was everywhere was screaming about the innocent lives that were lost here. Ryder sighed as he watched the scene. "This is so bad. I must stop this at all costs. I must succeed," he muttered as he frowned. The number of estimated dead people in these attacks was over ten thousand. The number of seriously injured people was even more. As for the ones with minor injuries, they were in tens of thousands. Throughout the night, Ryder kept watching the news and reading the articles about the attacks online. He even tried finding all he could about the attacks on social media, including videos captured by the people that were at sight. The night passed away just like this without him getting even a minute of sleep. Soon, it was 8 in the morning. Alice was still sleeping as she slept late. Ryder put his phone down and went to the shower to refresh his head that was starting to get sleepy. He knew that he only had to take up for 8-9 more hours before it was the time to go back in time. At that point, his body should also be back to the condition it was in 24 hours ago, and he wouldn''t need any sleep. He spent ten minutes inside the shower before coming out and getting back to work. "Breakfast!" The person outside the door said. "Come on in," Ryder replied without standing up. The hotel staff entered the room and placed the breakfast on the table. "We would like to apologize for the delay in breakfast. It''s been pretty chaotic here as well with everything that has happened last night," The person apologized to Ryder respectfully. "Don''t worry about this. It''s fine. I''m sure everyone slept late last night after what happened. It''s nothing," Ryder replied casually. The man nodded his head before he turned back and left the room, closing the door behind him. Ryder stood up and walked back to the bed. He was about to wake Alice up to get her to have breakfast, but as he saw her peaceful sleeping face, he couldn''t bear to break her sleep. "She looks so cute when she''s sleeping," he muttered as he shook his head. "Sleep as much as you need, little girl. Stay in the dreamland for some time." He walked back to the couch and got back to his work. Soon, it was ten in the morning. Alice hadn''t woken up yet. It had been only seven hours since she fell asleep. Six hours had passed since Ryder had talked to Ray, and only six more hours were left in the deadline he had given To Ray for collecting all the information. He called Ray''s number again to get an update on every Ray had found so far. **** Ray was sitting in front of a laptop, going through some information on the screen. His friend and fellow team member Jacob were standing behind him. "Ray, why don''t you go get some sleep? You haven''t slept in over twenty-four hours. Take a few hours of nap. I''ll go through the rest in the meantime," Jacob suggested. "Ah, no. It''s fine. It''s only a day. I can go on for longer. It''s not the time to rest anyway," Ray muttered as he shook his head. "Can you contact Reylon and Mias to get the information that they had managed to collect so far? Tell them that I''m asking for it, and I''ll share what I collected in exchange," Ray told Jacob as he glanced back. "Ah, right away," Jacob said as he turned back and left the room. "This is intriguing," Ray muttered as he watched a video of CCTV that he had managed to collect. It showed the person that was probably responsible for placing the bomb. *Ring* *Ring* "Hmm?" Ray frowned as he shifted his focus from his laptop screen to his phone screen. "Ryder? Ah, half time had already passed. He seems pretty punctual," Ray muttered as he picked up the call. "Hey," Ray said. " Did you manage to find anything?" Ryder asked straight away. " Yeah, I found a few people. There were fourteen blasts. I''m investigating five locations. Other nine are being handled by other teams. I have managed to find the location of the bombs in all five of the places in investigating," Ray told Ryder. "What about their faces?" Ryder asked Ray as he frowned. "Amongst the five blast locations, I have managed to find the face of the culprits in four. The fifth-place seems to be impossible for now since the CCTV room and everything else were destroyed there. We''re trying to find witnesses so that we can make sketches," Ray explained. "So you have the faces of four of the terrorists that placed the bomb. That''s pretty good so far." Ryder said. 323 Chapter 319: Help "I''ve sent my people to get the information the other two teams have managed to collect. I''ll be able to get you everything that you asked for before four o''clock," Ray told Ryder. "That''s good. Send me everything that you have collected so far. I''ll go through that. Send the rest as soon as you get that. My Share ID is..." Ryder asked for the information as he had Ray the ID that could be used to send his laptop all the information that he needed. "Alright. You''ll get that in ten minutes. I''ve circled around the ones that are responsible for the attacks, and I''ve added my notes. Go through the videos and my notes to get a better picture of what has transpired here," Ray told Ryder before he disconnected the call and got back to his work of going through the last video, which he wanted to share as well. **** Ryder waited for the information to get on his laptop. Soon, there was a popup on his laptop. [User Ray wants to share videos and text files. Would you like to accept?] Ryder clicked accept on the prompt as he allowed his computer to review all the videos and the notes that Ray sent for him. While Ryder watched the information arrive on his laptop, he heard footsteps behind him. "You''re up," Ryder muttered as he glanced back. "Breakfast is here already. The coffee might''ve been cold. I''ll ask for more coffee. You can start eating in the meantime," He added as he looked at Alice. " Have you eaten anything?" Alice asked Ryder. "Not yet. You start first. I have a little work to do. I''ll eat lunch directly," Ryder replied, shaking his head before he picked up his laptop and walked back to the bedroom. He sat on the bed and placed the laptop on his lap. The Transfer was already completed. All that was needed was to go through the data. He started with the text file to read everything that Ray had managed to find out about this, including the locations of the bomb and how those people managed to get inside. It took him half an hour to go through the pages. "This is quite detailed. I do understand a few things, but this doesn''t say anything about how those terrorists managed to pass through the security without being caught," Ryder muttered as he frowned. He wondered if he should call Ray and ask this directly. "I''ll ask him later. If he knows, he should be able to tell me later," Ryder muttered, shaking his head. He moved on to the videos of the CCTV footage that Ray had sent. There were four videos. Each of these videos showed a different targeted location in various parts of the city. Ryder placed the earphones in his ears and started playing the video. "Good. He did mark the videos to help me recognize the guys faster," Ryder muttered as he placed all his focus on the guy who was marked. The guy looked like he was in his middle age. He was wearing a casual t-shirt and jeans. There was a bag on his back, which seemed like a laptop bag. The guy sat on the seat in the casino inside the hotel as he looked around. He even played a few games in the casino. After around twenty minutes, the guy left the place. Ryder did notice that the guy left his bag behind. There were some words on the video that showed the location and the timing of the blast at that location. "So it''s the first place that saw the blast. It happened at ten, but the guy entered the casino at 9:30. Just half an hour before the blast," Ryder muttered as he rewinds the video and paused it when it was showing the face of the guy clearly. "Little devil, you think you escaped, didn''t you?" he let out as he tried to save the face of the man in his head. After the first video, Ryder watched the second one and then the third one. Soon, he was finished with all four. "Four videos, five blasts, five different locations," Ryder muttered as he frowned. "And this is just the first part. There are more locations of the blasts, one of which is Esmi''s club. Oh, right. Instead of going to a hotel with stricter security and trying to catch a guy there, it would be much easier to catch the terrorist at Esmi''s club since I''ll even get some help there." Ryder picked up his phone and dialed a number. "Ah, Esmi. You had CCTV''s in your place?" Ryder asked. He hadn''t really put his focus on it before since he didn''t care about it. He wasn''t even sure if that place had CCTV or not. The only thing he knew was Esmi''s office didn''t have CCTV. "Your place didn''t? Ah, it''s fine," Ryder replied in disappointment. "Ah, no. I was just curious. I wanted to see if I could get any clues about this attack from the videos. Anyway, I''ll get back to what I was doing. Stay safe. I''ll call later," he said before disconnecting the call. "That sucks. Her place didn''t have any video Security. It would''ve been much easier to catch a terrorist for interrogation there. I guess I have to take the guy from a more secure location," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "It''s fine. It''s my first try, after all, and I''m only doing this to get information. I can catch the guy, get information, and go back in time to stop it seriously. It doesn''t matter if I break a few laws on my first try. It''s not like that timeline would sti-" Ryder was talking about something when he stopped. "Wait a minute! Why didn''t I think about it! I don''t have to waste my first try like this. Fourteen locations! I can''t be at the fourteen of them to stop the attacks, so I was thinking about looking for the guys before they separated. How could I be so stupid to even think about wasting this first attempt! So what if I can''t be in fourteen places at once! I have people I can use. We can stop it and save people on our first try!" Ryder let out excitedly as he suddenly thought of a new idea. An idea that was going to involve many people. 324 Chapter 320: The Guy who died Without waiting for even a second, he picked up his phone and called a number again. Soon, the person he called picked up the phone. "No, I don''t have that information yet. I told you I''d send you as soon as I get them," Ray replied instantly as soon as he picked up the phone. "No, I didn''t call for that. I wanted to talk to you about something else," Ryder said. "About something else? What?" Ray inquired. " Tell me one thing. If I had called you five hours before the blasts and told you about them and their location, would you be able to help me stop them?" Ryder asked. " Five hours before the blast? I don''t think I could have. I was in the headquarters at the Capital City. Getting here alone would''ve taken over an hour, and that too after asking for all the necessary permissions. I would have been able to help in other ways, though. With my help and reach, the Police and all the other authorities in the city would have believed you and helped you stop the attacks," Ray said. "Using cops and others? Nah, that wouldn''t be as effective. I would have needed much more professional and trained people that would''ve been able to lead, not only listen," Ryder muttered as he frowned. "Also, the cops here and I aren''t on good terms. They wouldn''t trust me, let alone support me. Also, I don''t have faith in them," he added as he sighed. "A single mistake could have resulted in hundreds of lives lost, and in the end, I would have been blamed because I warned them about this." ''These options seem bad. Even if I succeed in stopping the attacks, I would be on everyone''s radar. If Ray were able to lead his teams and deal with these while I acted from the shadows, it would''ve been possible, but with cops, it''s not as easy,'' Ryder thought. ''Should I go with Shu''s help?'' he wondered. " No, you wouldn''t be blamed. I would have handled everything. I wouldn''t take your name. You would''ve worn your mask and acted as a secret FBI agent. As for the necessary permissions, I would''ve tried handling it," Ray replied to Ryder. " Even if I gave you no evidence about how I knew this or if it was actually going to happen?" Ryder asked. " Ah, I would''ve believed you even if you didn''t give any proof since I know who you are, but my Higher Ups would''ve needed proof of this information and the validity of it. Without that, I don''t think I would''ve been able to get the permissions on time. I don''t have enough authority after all," Ray said as he sighed. "Alright. It''s useless then. I''ll handle it myself. Get me the information I need as fast as possible," Ryder said. "Wait!" Just as Ryder was able to disconnect the call but he was stopped by Ray. "What?" Ryder inquired with a frown. "Why were you asking it? Did you know about these attacks?" Ray asked Ryder. "No. I was asking so that I know what I could do if something like this were about to happen again, and I knew about it," Ryder answered before he disconnected the call. "Asking for help is useless. There''s too much questioning involved. If Ray was the Director of FBI or in some higher position, he could''ve helped without any questions asked, but the current heads will not believe anything without questioning, and I don''t want to go through that," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "If only I were close to a person of authority I could take help from, like the President or the Secretary of State," He let out as he looked down at his laptop screen. ''Shu is powerful, but getting him involved is not a good idea. He''ll be blamed if things go wrong. It doesn''t take time for rumors to spread after all. His company''s reputation might suffer, as well.'' Ryder thought. ''It''s going to be a try, so I might as well try seeing what would happen if I take his help. He should have trained men that can deal with this while staying undercover. If things go right, I can follow the same pattern in the next trial. If things go wrong, but we still succeed, I can improve it on the next try. If things go horribly wrong, I can go solo on the second try and go with my original plan,'' he thought. He laid down on the bed and started forming up a plan in his mind regarding the information of the five attacked spots that he had received from Ray. **** Back in the city, the flames had died down, but the damage caused was still there. The rescue operation was ongoing. The bodies were still being collected and taken back to hospitals from under the rubble. The scene was horrifying. On one tall tower of the city, a man was standing, looking down at the cop cars going back and forth from one place to another. He roamed his gaze all over the city. ''Sigh, the party is over, but our guest still isn''t here. Did he not live in this city?" the man muttered in an emotionless tone. "No worries. We have many more cities left. We''ll keep destroying the cities and leaving our mark behind until we find the person we''re looking for." The man said. He glanced back as he heard the sound of footsteps. "I don''t think that''s possible. You''ll never get the permission to do that from Master. Just getting the permission to target this one city without being involved ourselves was already hard, let alone trying to get the permission to destroy the country," the newcomer said as he looked at the masked men. "What can I say? To find that guy, we need to do it. I''m sure Master is interested in the guy as well. The guy who can not die," The masked man muttered as he laughed out loud. 325 Chapter 321: Going to Hell "Hahaha, why don''t you tell it straight? You''re dying to fight with that person. I''m too! He seems to have the potential to become a king in the Uprising," The masked man said. "Yeah, I want to fight him. Too bad, he didn''t come. If he had come, he wouldn''t be able to leave," the second man said as a creepy smile appeared on his face. There was a strange aura surrounding both of these men. The aura seemed to be warning that these two people were dangerous. The aura around them made them seem like a powerful deity that looked down on normal humans who had no strength. "Yeah, if he had come once..." The masked man muttered as he clenched his fist. **** Shu was sitting in his hall, looking at the news as well, wondering who would do such a thing. The security guards around his mansion were even more alert tonight. The guards were guarding with the mindset that this place was definitely going to be targeted so that they had no lax in security. The news channels started showing the visuals of the hotel where Ryder was about to go before he changed his plan. "Sigh, it''s so good that he didn''t go there. Who would''ve thought that the hotel that''s known for its security would not even be able to stop a bomb from getting inside? Not only this one hotel but even other seven-star hotels. They have such great security; just how were the bombs brought inside? Did someone make a bomb that''s tough to detect even by them? It could be a good technology," Shu muttered as he frowned. He picked up his phone and called a number. "Yeah, it''s me. Get in contact with the government. Have them bring us a sample of the remains of the bomb that was used in today''s attack. I want that to be analyzed. Find out how these bombs were made and how they weren''t detected," Shu said as soon as the call was connected. "Yes, Sir," The other person said before Shu disconnected the call. " These guys are getting really advanced," Shu muttered as he sighed. **** Time kept passing, and soon, it was four in the evening. Ryder was just about to call Ray as he still hadn''t revived the information regarding the rest of the locations, but that''s when he felt a notification sound. He looked down at his laptop screen and saw a small window asking him to allow the permission to receive video and text files. Ryder clicked allow and waited for the information to arrive. His phone started ringing. He looked at his phone and saw that it was Ray calling. "I sent everything I found. There were 14 blasts, and out of the fourteen, I managed to get information about Thirteen. There''s still no information about the fourteenth place as everyone died there and there was no CCTV. Forensics are still there, trying to analyze everything, but that might take some time," Ray informed Ryder. "By fourteenth, do you mean the bar that was targeted?" Ryder asked, thinking about Esmi''s club. " Yeah, it was a bar. How did you know?" Ray asked in surprise. " That doesn''t matter. So, let me get this straight. I have the face of four terrorists from the five attacked locations that were under your jurisdiction? Did you manage to get the sketch of the fifth person at least?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, I sent the sketch along with the files," Ray replied. "That''s good. As for the other nine places, except the bar, I should have the faces of all attackers, right?" Ryder inquired. "Ah, not all. They don''t have the face of another person. I sent you a sketch of that person as well," Ray said. "Alright. So there''s only one person I have no idea about, and that''s the person that targeted the club. I''ll go through the content you sent me. Thanks for the help," Ryder said. He was just about to disconnect the call when he remembered that he had something else to ask Ray. "Oh, right. I had another question," Ryder said abruptly. "What question?" Ray asked. "About the bombs. How were they brought inside the hotels despite their checking and seven-star security?" Ryder inquired. "That... Even I don''t have the specifics about it yet since the guards that handled the gates died in the blasts. But from the videos I saw, it seemed like the bags that had the bombs did go through the scanner, but they weren''t detected. It might be a new component they used to make the bomb or some new tech in the bad that hid it. We''re still investigating that," Ray answered Ryder. "Alright, thanks." Ryder disconnected the call. He put his phone down and started going through the text files that he received first. He moved over to the videos and started looking at the clips he received. He had finished looking through everything in forty-five minutes. It was only 16:45 when he finished with this. He closed his laptop and got off the bed as he cracked his knuckles. " Hah, finally I''m ready to go," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "I sure do hope that this going back through time works if the death is intentional. Otherwise, I''d be screwed big time," He let out with a wry smile as he stepped out of the room. "Are you going outside?" Alice asked Ryder. "Ah, yeah. I''m going to the reception. I''ll be right back," Ryder said as he smiled. He left the room and went into the lift. Instead of going down to get to the reception, he went up. He went to the top floor of the hotel and went to the roof through the stairs. The door to get to the roof seemed to be locked, but Ryder broke the lock before he opened the door. He stepped on the roof and walked over to the edge. The hotel had seventeen floors. As Ryder looked down, he couldn''t even see anyone clearly. There was no one on the road. "I''m going to hell, aren''t I?" Ryder muttered with a wry smile on his face before he took a step forward. 326 Chapter 322: Dying He stopped as he turned back to look who it was. "Why did you stop? Go. Jump. Kill yourself. You think no running away from your problem helps, right? Go, do it. I won''t stop you." Ryder could see a girl standing near the door who was looking at him like he was an idiot. She was gesturing to him to jump. He didn''t recognize the girl. The Girl seemed to be slightly older than him. She seemed pretty, but her pretty face had a frown on it. "Why did you stop? Go, jump," the girl said as she saw Ryder looking at him blankly. " Just remember one thought, though. It doesn''t help. Once you take a step forward, you''ll die. You still have the opportunity and a long life ahead of you. You''re still young. I''m sure whatever it is that''s troubling you can be solved. It might take a short time or longer, but it can''t take longer than the life you have ahead of you," the girl said. "Think Carefully. You want to jump and give up everything or life and face whatever problem you have so that you can live a better life after that," she continued. ''Ah, so she''s doing it this way. Trying to save me,'' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. "How did you get to the top, though?" Ryder asked the girl. He didn''t bother asking who the girl was. " Does it even matter? I live on the 17th floor. I saw you going upstairs to the roof and decided to follow you. Listen, Dude. I know you must have some problem to make a decision like this, but still, you can talk to me about it. I''ll help you. Don''t give up your life for this. We only have one life after all," The girl said to Ryder. "Hahaha," Ryder started laughing as he heard her words. "You wouldn''t think that if you knew about me. Anyway, You''re a nice girl. I''m glad I got to meet you, even though this meeting would never happen now. As for my problem, you can''t help me. My problem needs me to jump. Thanks for trying, though. If we meet again, I''ll remember you," Ryder said as he waved his hand. "Bye, pretty lady," he said as he tilted his body backward. "Wai-" The girl reached out her hand as she ran forward, but she was too late. Ryder had already fallen down. **** This is going to hurt, isn''t it?" Ryder muttered as he fell down the roof. He was falling down, feeling the rush of wind against his back. He was scared of dying like this, but he didn''t want to shoot himself either. He had already died from being shot before. Since he had the ability not to die, he wanted to try experiencing what each death felt like. So far, he had only experienced being shot. This time, he wanted to try experiencing death through falling from a height. He was scared, but he was kind of excited as well. Soon, he reached near the ground. His body crashed on the concrete floor. **** He looked around and noticed that he was sitting beside Shu. They were in a helicopter together. The noise was from the fans of the helicopter. "Isn''t that right?" Shu asked Ryder suddenly. "Huh?" Ryder let out as he looked towards Shu. " Right. That stock is a good option," he continued as he remembered what they were talking about at this point in time. "You look stressed suddenly. Did something happen?" Shu asked Ryder as he frowned. " Yeah, something did happen. Shu, I''m going to need your help. I need Trained Soldiers that can take care of any enemy. People''s lives depend on it," Ryder said as he looked into Shu''s eyes. "Ah, did something happen?" Shu asked Ryder as his frown deepened. He could see that Ryder looked serious. "Did you see some bad dreams?" he asked. " I didn''t see any dreams. I just remembered something really important. Anyway, I''ll tell that to you later. I need Thirteen teams of at least two soldiers each. People that can take the lead and think in critical situations, and I need them in an hour," Ryder said. "What did you remember? What''s it about?" Shu inquired, still not understanding what was happening. The Guards and the butler also looked at Ryder. " Tell me one thing first. Do you trust me? Anything I say?" Ryder asked Shu in a grim tone. "I do," Shu said without taking even a single second to think. "That''s good. Don''t ask any questions about how I know it. Just know that there is going to be a terrorist attack on our city tonight, and I need your help to stop it," Ryder said. "You ten," he continued as he looked at the guards of Shu. "You''re taking part in this mission." "Now we need at least sixteen more people," He muttered. "Ah, You can take all the guards that are protecting our mansion. It''s not like anyone will attack me anyway. There are over sixty guards there. All of them were former army members. They''re all fully trained. That should make enough," Shu said, nodding his head. Ryder looked at Shu. He was seriously thinking about it when he remembered the mission of Janus that talked about death. He didn''t want to take the risk of taking the guards of the Estate and put Shu and Alice''s life in jeopardy. "Ah, no. I can''t put the security of the Estate at risk. This night won''t be safe for anyone. The more guards you have, the better," Ryder said, shaking his head. "It''s really fine. I have my ways to protect myself. Take the guards. I can call our private security as well, but those people aren''t in this city. They''ll take some time to reach here," Shu replied. '' Looks like I underestimated how difficult it is to bring people in such a short time," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He was also concerned since he didn''t have any ways to show the sketch of the people that were going to cause the blasts either. He couldn''t sketch what he saw. He could only tell the guards about the location of the attacks and where the terrorist would sit or be. Even that required him to be personally there. "Shu, you mind if I borrow your helicopter for a little while right now?" Ryder asked Shu. 327 Chapter 323: Final Place Ryder stood up and walked to the pilot. "Young Master, these sudden talks about attacks? Do you seriously believe it? He probably saw some dream and thought it''s going to happen. You don''t have to play along," The Butler said softly to Shu. " It''s fine. I believe him. I''m sure he knows the difference between dream and reality. And even if it doesn''t happen, so what? It''s just one day. There''s no trouble," Shu said as he shrugged. Ryder walked back after a few minutes and sat beside Shu. Shu could feel the helicopter changing direction. "Where are we going now?" Shu asked Ryder. "Hotel Verison," Ryder replied. "What''s there?" Shu inquired. "That''s the first place that is going to be attacked. I know the most about it, so I personally want to leave people there to teach them what they need to do," Ryder explained. ''Now that I think about it, taking the help of cops will not be such a bad idea since I lack people, but talking to Ray, him getting permissions from his higher-ups and that too without any evidence seems impossible,'' Ryder thought as he wondered if he how many people he should leave at each location to catch the terrorists and to stop the attacks. He had seventy people available, including the professional guards who were guarding Shu''s Mansion, and he didn''t want to take too many and put Shu and Alice at risk. ''There''s most probably only one terrorist at each location since it''s a simple sneaking inside and leaving the bomb missing for them. Two should be enough to catch that one guy,'' Ryder thought. The Helicopter landed on the roof of Hotel Verison. Shu and Ryder stepped out of the helicopter along with the butler and the guards. Ryder took everyone to a casino. He pointed towards two people after he reached the casino. "The Two of you will stay here for the next 5 hours. Look at your watch carefully. Exactly at 9:55, a bald man in a red t-shirt and black jeans will enter the casino and sit there. Your mission is to catch that guy and take the bag to the roof. Try to get that guy to deactivate the bomb, and if you can''t, put the bag inside the helicopter that will land on the roof soon after," Ryder explained to the men. "Oh, right. It''s not a joke. Take it seriously. You aren''t here to gamble or drink. People''s lives are at stake. Set a reminder of 9:54 so you don''t forget. Just do this one thing carefully, and tomorrow, you can enjoy all you want," Ryder told the men before he left with Shu and others. "Man, that guy isn''t even our boss, but he''s ordering is around," one of the two men that were left behind muttered as he rolled his eyes. **** Ryder and the others went back to the roof and entered the helicopter, which was taken to the roof of another hotel. Ryder did the same thing again and left two men behind. He did the same thing on the third place as well as the fourth and the fifth. After he finished with the fifth place, he told the pilot to take them to the Shu Estate since he had run out of people. There were ten guards in the helicopter, and they were all left at one of the attacked locations. The Helicopter landed on the helipad in the Shu Estate. He collected Sixteen more trained guards from the Estate before he left again, leaving Shu behind. He told Shu to stay inside the mansion and to not leave the place tonight for whatever reason. He also told him to keep Alice inside and to make up some excuse as to why he couldn''t take her to dinner tonight. The Helicopter left. Shu stood on the ground, watching the helicopter leave. " I hope it''s not true. If it''s just you, taking your dreams seriously, it''s fine. But if it''s really a terrorist attack, then it''s really serious. It''ll be a dangerous night," Shu muttered as he looked into the distant horizon before he turned back and walked inside the mansion. **** Ryder assigned the sixteen guards at the rest of the eight locations as well. He had covered almost every location. Now, thirteen of the fourteen blast locations had guards waiting there for the terrorists to arrive. As for the fourteenth location, Ryder wanted to be there himself. It was the club of Esmi. He at least knew what the terrorists at other locations looked like, and he could give their description to the guards, but the one that targeted Esmi''s place was unknown. There was no sketch of that guy and no recorded footage. That''s what made this place more tricky. He wanted to handle it himself. Ryder gave the helicopter pilot a paper that had the schedule as to where he was supposed to be at what time. He had thought of everything and formed a thorough plan. He had arranged a pattern in which the helicopter could get the bags of bombs from various locations in one place if the bombs weren''t disabled. After that, it was much easier for Ryder to take care of the bombs by simply putting them in his inventory as he did before. The Pilot took the schedule before he flew away, leaving Ryder near the Club of Esmi. Ryder walked towards the club. As he reached the entrance, he was greeted by familiar faces. The guards of the club recognized Ryder from his previous visits and allowed him to enter without any trouble. As Ryder entered the club, he saw Mak standing nearby. Ryder couldn''t help but remember the last time he saw Mak. He had used his pills to turn Mak into a mental child to take his sign on the property papers for a mission. He didn''t do anything with the papers since he didn''t need that little bit of the money, and he didn''t want to be seen as a bad guy. He just kept the papers in his invention if Janus ever gave a chain mission that needed those papers. 328 Chapter 324: Split Personality "Ah, Ryder? You''re here. I''ve been thinking about meeting you for quite some time," Makk said to Ryder. "Why?" Ryder asked innocently. "Just what happened when I met you last time. I remember everything up to that moment, but I don''t remember what happened after that. I only hear people saying that I was behaving like a child. That probably started after I met you. Did you do something?" Makk asked Ryder. "You were behaving like a child? Not at all. You were perfectly fine. We talked, and I left to meet Esmi before I left the place. You seemed to be perfectly fine up to that moment. I''m not sure about what you''re saying," Ryder said as he shook his head. " If it''s true, it seems like you have some neurological disorder or some Split Personality type thing that made you behave like a kid. I did hear that when a person has a split personality, his one personality doesn''t remember what happens when the other personality is controlling that body. From what you said, that seems to be the case," he continued. "I-i have a split personality?" Makk asked in confusion. " That seems to be the most plausible explanation. You should really meet up with a doctor later on. He can do some tests and tell you in more detail," Ryder said as he sighed. " Oh right, Is Esmi here?" he inquired without giving Makk any chance to ask anything else regarding the topic. "No, Boss is at home today. There''s some renovation work going on there, so she won''t be here," Makk said, shaking his head. ''Oh, so that''s why she wasn''t here at the time of the blast. It''s good,'' Ryder thought. "Did you need something?" Makk asked Ryder. " Ah, nothing. I was just here to spend some time. I need a place to pass some time. You can do what you were doing. I''ll just sit and relax," Ryder said as he waved his hand and walked up to a table. He sat on a chair at an empty table and started looking around casually. It was only eight in the night at the time. The Blasts were going to happen at ten. He still had two hours. He believed that the terrorists wouldn''t come before nine in most cases; still, he sat alert. "Come on, Mr. Unknown. Be fast. Don''t make me wait for long," Ryder muttered as he tapped his fingers on the table. Two beer bottles were placed on the table of Ryder. "Here. You don''t seem good sitting empty. Have some drink since you''re already here," Makk said as he sat in front of Ryder. "It''s fine. I won''t be drinking before ten," Ryder said as he waved his hand lightly. He wasn''t going to get drunk at this time since he was on a critical mission. He didn''t want to be drunk and miss out on the opportunity. He needed to be in his proper condition to recognize and catch the terrorist. Makk didn''t force Ryder to drink. He drank the entire bottle himself. Soon, it was nine. Ryder messaged all the guards once again to remind them that time was near and to check if everyone was alert or not. **** It was 9:20 pm when Ryder finally noticed something suspicious. A man had entered the club. He had the same bag that Ryder had seen with the terrorists in the CCTV footage. "There you are," Ryder muttered as he stared at the man subtly. He watched the man go to the bartender and order a beer bottle. The Man took the bottle and walked to the end. He sat on an empty table. He placed the bag under the table and opened the bottle as he started drinking it. Ryder could see a phone in the man''s hand. He wondered if that was a trigger or something which prevented him from going up to the man straight away. He kept observing the man, and only when the man put the phone in his pocket did he relax. He stood up and walked towards the man. "You mind if I sit here?" Ryder asked the man with an innocent smile. "Sorry, but you should sit elsewhere. I like drinking alone," the man replied in a grim tone. "Fine. I just thought you seemed like an interested person. I won''t disturb you if you don''t want,* Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. He was about to turn back before he noticed that his shoelaces were untied. "Ah, how did my laces open? These guys are so annoying. I am this close to getting laceless shoes," Ryder said to the man as he laughed while he bent down and started trying his shoes. The man kept his eyes on Ryder. Ryder finished tying his laces, but before standing up, he looked at the man. "Ah, there''s a bee behind you!" Ryder called out with a shocked look on his face. The man hurriedly looked back in fear, not knowing that in that small timeframe, Ryder had managed to touch his bag. Ryder placed the bag in his inventory before standing up. "There''s nothing," The man said as he looked at Ryder in anger. "I swear it was there. It flew up when I shouted," Ryder replied as he shook his head. The man had still not noticed that the bag was missing. He subtly looked down and realized that the bad wasn''t there. "Ah, My bag!" the man called out as he stood up in shock. "Bag? Ah, Do you mean the black back?" Ryder inquired in surprise. "Yes! What did you do to my bag!" the man let out as he caught Ryder''s collars with both his hands. Ryder smiled like a child. "Thank you," He said as he moved his hand and pulled out the phone from the man''s pocket while both his hands were busy with the collars. "Ah, My phone!" The man called out, but he saw his phone disappear in Ryder''s hand. "Now, there''s nothing I need to be careful about. Let me tell you everything now. Your bag, I took it. It''s where it is supposed to be. As for you holding my collar, I sure do hope that it counts as you attacking me," Ryder muttered as he packed his fist and punched the man, making him fall down on the ground. Makk ran up to Ryder as he noticed a man lying on the ground. He wanted to make sure that Ryder wasn''t in trouble. 329 Chapter 325: Success or Failure "Everything couldn''t be better," Ryder replied as he smiled. "I just met a long lost friend, and he got a little too drunk. I''ll be taking my friend with me. See you later," He said as he picked up the unconscious man on his shoulders and left the club. Makk stayed behind, looking towards the door. "I guess he met his enemy. I didn''t know Ryder was like us. That guy would probably be dead soon," Makk muttered as he smiled. He went back to his work. **** "It didn''t give me experience. Apparently, holding someone''s collar isn''t an attack. It should''ve been. It was hostility targeted to me when my collar was held. I should''ve received my exp," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He stood outside the club and called the pilot. Since he got the men faster, he decided to spend the rest of his time in the helicopter, guiding everyone from the air and to Teleport the bombs to his invention without any delay as soon as the guards got it. In a few minutes, the helicopter arrived and flew right above Ryder. A rope ladder was hanging from the helicopter. Ryder adjusted the man on his shoulder before he started climbing the rope ladder. As he entered the helicopter, he tossed the man on the floor and told the pilot to go Higher. "It''s 9:30. We have half an hour more. All the terrorists should be at their location soon," Ryder muttered as he looked at the time on his phone. "Uhmm..." Ryder was about to Call the guards again to make sure that they were alert when he heard a whimper. "He''s waking up," he muttered as he looked the man wake up. Ryder stood up and walked towards the man, but his face turned pale as he heard a loud blast. He stood near the door of the helicopter and looked outside. He could see smoke and a cloud of dust rising in the sky at the place where one of the targeted hotels was supposed to be. "T-this can''t be! It''s not the time yet!" Ryder let out with a shocked look on his face, but that''s when he heard another blast. It was only 9:35, but Ryder could hear blasts at various locations of the city. Soon, he had heard thirteen blasts. He tried calling the guards, but the calls weren''t connecting. Ryder didn''t understand what was happening. Why was the future different? He just took one piece of the fourteen terrorists without leaving any chance of anyone finding out. The other terrorists shouldn''t know about this. Why did they blow up so early? He couldn''t understand anything. All he knew was that his first try was already a failure. He didn''t even know what went wrong. Everyone seemed to be going so perfect, yet it went down the drain suddenly. He didn''t understand why it happened. All he knew was that he was feeling angry at this unexpected failure. **** Shu was at home, but he was also shocked when he was informed about the blasts. He didn''t know what to think. He watched the news talking about the blasts. "He was right. The blasts did happen. Just how did he know? Is he really someone who can see the future? The blasts happened at the locations he talked about. Only the timing of the blasts seems to be different. I hope he isn''t hurt," Shu muttered as he pulled out his phone and called Ryder. **** Ryder looked back at the terrorist he had caught. He walked up to him and caught him by the neck, raising him in the air. That''s when Ryder''s phone started ringing. He held the man''s neck in his right hand and picked up the call with his left. "Hello?" He called in a severe tone. "Ah, brother Ryder. You''re fine. I''m so glad. I thought that something might have happened since the blasts happened half an hour before the assumed time. There were only thirteen blasts, though. Did you stop the one at your location?" Shu asked Ryder. "Yeah, I was wrong. I could only save one place. Everyone else is dead. I couldn''t save people. I even caused the death of your men. I failed," Ryder muttered in a grim tone. "Ah, don''t think that! So what if you couldn''t save everyone? Even if it was the government, it''s impossible to stop the attacks in such a large quantity in such a short time. You already did well. You stopped one blast and saved so many lives," Shu comforted Ryder. " Alice, and you are safe, right?" Ryder asked Shu. "Ah, yeah. She''s in her room. I told her that you had to cancel the dinner plans because of an important meeting that just came. She''s in her room since then," Shu replied. "That''s good," Ryder said, nodding his head. " Anyway, I''ll call you later. I have one of the terrorists in my hand. I''ll talk to you after I finish interrogating him," Ryder said before he disconnected the call. **** " Are you going to speak, or should I kill you directly?" Ryder asked the man who was in his hand. "Kill me! I''m not telling you anything," The man told Ryder firmly. "Sure. If that''s what you want, then I''ll do it. I should let you know that I like taking my time when I kill people," Ryder said as he brought a knife out of his inventory. The man glared at Ryder and said, "Do your worst!" "Sure. I didn''t need your permission, though. I''m already in a very pissed mood. I''m going to enjoy it," Ryder said as he smiled. He gripped the knife firmly and stabbed it in the elbow of the man. The knife penetrated the elbow of the man, making him scream loudly. "You''re screaming with just that? Control yourself. I don''t want you to lose your voice before we get to the main course," Ryder said as he looked at the knife that was stabbed in the elbow of the man. He held the knife firmly before he started sliding the knife lower without pulling the knife out. The Knife had completely penetrated the hand of the man, and it kept sliding lower, slicing the man''s hand in half longitudinally. The man screamed like a dying pig. His eyes were red as tears kept falling down from her eyes. 330 Chapter 326: Powers at Play Ryder watched the man''s face that was filled with agony. "Scream. Scream all you want. Now that people are already dead, I have all the time I need to have fun with you and make sure that you feel pain worse than death," Ryder muttered as he changed his hand and caught the man''s next with his other hand and switched the knife to the hand that was holding the man''s neck. "So, do you want to do yourself a favor and answer me whatever I ask, or you want me to go on?" He asked as he made the pointy end of the knife touch the left elbow of the man. "D-don''t do it. I''ll tell you everything," the man said as he stopped Ryder. He was already in extreme agony because of his right hand. He didn''t want to go through the same pain again. "Good. So tell me. Why did the bombs go off so fast? Weren''t they supposed to blast at ten?" Ryder asked the man. "H-how do you know that?" The man asked with a horrified look on his face. The was supposed to be the secret. He didn''t know how Ryder knew it. **** Twenty Minutes Ago, Ryder had just placed the bomb in his inventory when he was using the excuse of tying his laces. He hadn''t known, but that has changed everything. Far away from the building, a masked man was standing at the top of a roof. He suddenly frowned as his phone started beeping. He picked up the phone. "Hmm? Has a bomb already gone offline? It''s not even the time. How can someone find the bomb this soon? Someone is really getting involved in our matters. Who could it be? Is it you, Mr. Undying Hero? Did you finally decide to come out?" The Masked man muttered as he grinned. "You really think you can save everyone, can''t you? Let''s see where you are," the man muttered as he tried to trace the number that was with the person who had the bomb that had gone offline, but that number was also untraceable. He called the number, but it didn''t connect. It was as if the phone had disappeared from this world. Coincidentally, it was also the time when Ryder had placed the man''s phone in his invention as well. " He''s really an Idiot. He doesn''t know that by disarming a bomb, he didn''t save anyone; instead, he just decreased the time of other bombs. Other guys don''t know. They''ll probably die in the blast of the bombs they''re carrying. Whatever, they''re just ants. It doesn''t matter if they die," The masked man muttered as he grinned. He dialed another number on his phone. "Yeah, get me the location that was assigned to bomb number 11," The man said. He knew the number of the bomb that had gone offline, but he didn''t know where the bomb was supposed to be. He decided to ask his men directly. **** Ryder hadn''t known that his half-knowledge had caused the bombs to boast faster. He was standing inside the helicopter that seemed to be flying away from the bar and in the direction of Shu Estate. He was waiting for the man to answer him. "The bombs blew up faster because of you. I don''t know what you did and where you kept the bomb, but it probably cut off its signal, which was synchronized with the other thirteen bombs. That decreased the time, and this happened," the man told Ryder. ''Putting one bomb inside my inventory made every other bomb blow up? What the heck? My entire plan rested on putting the bombs in my invention to stop them. How can I stop the bombs without that? I can''t put all 14 bombs in inventory at once. I can only do that one by one, and if I did that, others would blow up. What can I do to succeed in the next time jump? It seems impossible," Ryder thought as he looked at the man with a frown on his face. ''There seems to be only one way. I must go with the better option and my initial plan. Targeting them at their base before they activated the bombs,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "At what time were the bombs activated and synchronized?" he asked the man. "Ah, that... Just half an hour before we left the facility. That should be at around 7 Pm," the man answered Ryder. ''Slightly over two hours. I can''t stop it without dying," Ryder thought as he sighed. "Tell me where this facility was and everything you know about it, including the people that were involved with it and how many people were there," he commanded the man. The man started explaining everything to Ryder while Ryder listened carefully and tried to visualize everything. **** Back at Esmi''s Club, a masked man had just landed in front of the club. The man walked towards the club. "Show us your ID Card and take off the mask!" The guards stopped the masked man at the entrance as they asked for his ID card. "My ID Card? I seem to have forgotten it at home," the masked man said as he grinned behind his Mask. "Sorry, you can''t enter then," The Guards said, shaking their heads. "Please go back and come with your ID card next time." "Oh, I can''t go back. How about I show you something else?" The masked man asked the guards. "Show what?" the guards inquired in confusion. "Your Death!" The Masked Man let out as he laughed. The Guards were shocked at his words. They were about to pull out their weapons, but before they could do anything, their necks were caught by the masked men. It didn''t take the masked man even a second before their necks were crushed. The guards fell down to the crowd. "Bloody Insects," the masked man snorted as he pushed the door open and entered inside. "Who is the leader here?" he asked the nearest person. "The leader isn''t here, but he''s the person of authority at the moment," The person answered as they pointed towards Makk, who was drinking on a table. "A person of authority, huh. Let''s see if his authority can help me," the masked man muttered as he walked towards Makk. 331 Chapter 327: Instant Death "Shouldn''t you ask my permission before sitting at my table? Also, who allowed you to enter the club with that mask. It''s not allowed," Makk raised his gaze and looked at the masked guy. "I''m looking for a person. He came here with a bag. From what I heard, he was wearing a black t-shirt and black jeans. He had red hair. " Are you a cop or what?" Makk asked the man, suspiciously. "Nah, I''m just a friend of that guy. He called me, saying that he was waiting for me here," the masked man replied. "Yeah, I saw him. He sat here waiting for someone, but he left after a few minutes. I don''t know where he went. You can leave and try looking for him," he said as he waved his hand. "Oh? So he left. I wonder why he didn''t call before leaving," The masked man muttered. "Are you sure you''re not lying to me?" he asked the Makk as he chuckled. It was clear that the man didn''t believe Makk at all. " I know you don''t believe me. It doesn''t matter to me. What can you even do even if I''m lying?" Makk said, glaring deep into the eyes of the man. "Kekeke, that''s right. What can I even do," The Masked man chuckled as he shook his head. "I can only kill you," He muttered as he moved his hand. The man''s hand was moving so slow, but in Mall''s eyes, that slow speed was already lightning fast. He couldn''t fudge the hand. The hand caught the back of Makk''s head and smashed him on the table. The guards inside the club saw this happening. "Hey, that man is attacking Makk! Kill him!" One of the men inside the club said as he pulled his gun out, but before he could even aim, his face turned pale. A red mark started spreading across his neck. He looked down blankly, but his head didn''t stop when he tried to stop it. His head fell down on his feet. Somehow, his neck was sliced in half without him even knowing; by the time he realized it, it was already too late. The same thing happened to others. In less than a minute, everyone inside the club was dead. Only Makk and the masked man were safe. Five people appeared at the back of the club. They stood calmly with their backs resting against the walls. "Heh, those guys dared to show their weapon at the Thirteenth King. They were lucky we killed them. If the Thirteenth King had moved, they would''ve wished for death instead," one of the five people said with a grin. " Isn''t the obvious? He''s the Thirteenth King of the Uprising after all," another person said casually. "I still don''t understand why his Majesty sent the Twelfth King here as well. The Thirteenth King would''ve been enough. It''s not like, whoever this mysterious person is, would be able to face our Thirteenth King," the first person said again. "Where is the Twelfth King, though? I hadn''t seen him over a day," The first person said. "Shouldn''t you be more respectful to the Twelfth King? You''re talking like he''s your friend and not someone in a higher position than you," The Second Person chimed in as he glanced at the first person. "Oh, come on. Why should I treat the Twelfth King like that when he''s not even here. It''s not like we''re the subordinates of the Twelfth King. We belong to the Thirteenth Kinh and to his Majesty," the first person said as he snorted. "Ah, Twelfth King! H-he was just joking! Please forgive him!" the Second Person abruptly said as he bowed his head in the direction of the first person. "He''s here?" the first person was shocked. With a horrified look on his face, he turned back. "I-i didn''t mean that. Please forgive me! I''m an Idiot," the first person said as soon as he turned back, but his face turned blank as he saw no one standing here. He could hear the laughter of the other four people behind him. "So much for the bravery," the second person said as he looked at the first, who was acting all brave previously. "You idiot," the first person snorted as he stopped looking towards the others. **** "Are you going to answer me or not?" the masked man asked again as he removed his hands from the face of Makk. Makk raised his head. His nose was broken and bleeding. He looked around, wondering why no one came to help him until now, but his face turned pale as he watched the dead bodies lying all around the club. "Stop looking around. Answer me before I smash your head again," The Masked man said as he smirked. "Y-you killed them all?" Makk asked the man. "I didn''t. The little ones in the back did. I''m too lazy to move at the moment," the masked man said as he laughed. His words were enough to scare Makk to hell and back. He looked at the back of the club and saw five people standing there with grins on their faces. He was horrified as he saw their smile after knowing that they were the ones that killed everyone in under a minute. "So, tell me. Where is the guy I was asking about?" the masked man asked again. "This is the third time I''m asking. If I don''t get my answer now, you''ll be missing an important part of your body the next time I ask you," he continued. "He was taken! He got into a fight with someone, and the other person took him out of the club. I don''t know what happened after that," Makk answered as he wiped the blood that kept coming out of his nose. "Oh? Who was that person?" the Masked man asked Makk. "I-i don''t know that person. It was his first time in the club," Makk replied. He didn''t want to talk about Ryder. "Hahaha, interesting. You''re lying. So you did know that person. Tell me who it was. I''ll count to three. Believe me; you wouldn''t like me when I''m Angry. I''m being quite patient right now," the Masked man said in a grim tone. He glanced at Makk as he waited for an answer. Makk opened his lips to answer. "It was..." 332 Chapter 328: Revealed "Sigh, some people never learn. Didn''t I tell you that you shouldn''t lie to me?" the masked man told Makk as he sighed. He had simply sighed and didn''t even move when Makk started screaming as if he was going through excruciating pain. Makk was now also missing his left hand. The hand was lying on the ground, away from his body. Blood kept falling from the shoulders of Makk as he screamed until his voice turned hoarse. "You son of a b****! You cut my hand! You Bastard, I''ll kill you!" Makk screamed. "Why are you screaming like you lost everything? You just lost one hand. You still have your other hand. Then your legs. What about your family? Do you have a family you would like to see die before you? We can make that happen as well so that all of you go to hell together if you don''t answer me!" the masked man said. "You Bastard! You dare talk about my family!" Makk screamed. His face was already pale, as if someone had sucked all his blood dry. "I will ki...aaa!" Makk was about to curse the masked man as he was furious at his family being threatened when he found his right hand detached from his body as well. His right hand fell down on the ground. "Scream, little any. Scream even louder. I have the entire night. Let me hear your scream to my heart''s content. I won''t let you die. All so I could hear your scream," the masked man said as he laughed. "You! What do you want!" Makk thundered. His eyes were blood red. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t stop tears from falling from his eyes. " You know what I want. Tell me who took my men," the masked man said in a grim voice as he looked at Makk''s neck. Makk was horrified as he saw the man looking at his neck. He was scared that the next item falling on the ground won''t be his leg but his head. As for the man''s claim about keeping him alive, he didn''t believe it. "It was Ryder! Ryder Flynn took your man when he was unconscious after the beating!" Makk blurted out the truth. "Oh? And where will I find this, ah, Ryder Flynn?" the Masked man asked Ryder. "I don''t know! I fucking don''t know where he lives! He''s a friend of our boss! Only she can know where he lives!" Makk said. "Oh, that seems to be the truth. It''s good that you learned not to lie. Now tell me, where can I find that boss of yours?" the masked man asked. Makk told the masked man the address of Esmi without taking even a single moment to think. *Tap* *Tap* *Tap* Since the entire club was so silent, Makk could hear the footsteps of the masked guy, going away from him. He was in so much pain that he felt like dying, but he wanted to live when death was in front of him. He didn''t want to die. He wasn''t making a single noise now since he didn''t want to attract the man''s attention and die. The Masked Man soon left the club. The five black-clothed men left as well. Makk finally breathed a sigh of relief as he stood up to go to the hospital, but as soon as he stood up, he felt the entire world turn upside down as his head turned over and fell down to the ground near his feet. His body soon followed and fell down on the ground. Makk''s eyes lost their shine when everything turned dark. **** The Masked Man stepped out of the club. " I wonder if it''s the place dear to the Tenth King or a place of his close aid. It''s unfortunate that I need to go against him, but oh well, it''s good that mission. I need to find our Undying Hero, after all. The best I can do for the third King is to not Kill anyone in that place," the Masked man muttered as he smiled. He turned back to look at the five shadows that were following after him. "Little Kids, the next place we''re going to is special. That place is related to the Tenth King. So try to keep your hands in control. No killing anyone important in that house," He told his five subordinates. "We understand," the five responded. "Good Kids," the masked man said as he laughed. **** Esmi''s house was so big that it was no less than a mansion. There were guards all around the mansion, guarding it with their weapons. Something strange happened, though. One minute, over twenty guards could be seen standing and patrolling but the next minute, not a single one of those guards could be seen. Only their headless body could be seen lying on the ground. The masked man casually walked up to the door of the mansion and kicked the door open. "We''re home," he let out as he spread his arms. Esmi and Bastion were sitting in the hall, within the news channels that were covering the blasts. "The Thirteen Blasts were horrifying! The people who witnessed it are still shaken just like every person of this country," the News Anchor said. "Oh, it wasn''t supposed to be Thirteen, though. There was one less," the masked man said as he laughed. Esmi stood up and looked at the masked man. "Who are you? How did you get inside?" Esmi asked as she talked towards the nearby table to bring out her gun. Before she could even get to the table, a black-clothed man appeared before her. "Little Lady, you should be careful. If His Highness hadn''t told us not to join you all, you would''ve been dead by now. I do appreciate this order, though. It would''ve been such a pity to kill a lady with such a hot figure," the black Clothed man said as he laughed. 333 Chapter 329: Little Hero "Ah, I apologize, Your Highness," the clothed black man apologized. "Who are you all?" Esmi let out as she walked back to Bastion to protect him. She had a good sense of danger, and she had realized that she wasn''t the opponent of these people without her weapon. "Oh? That boy behind you, he looks familiar," The masked man ignored Esmi''s question and placed all his focus on Bastion. "Hahaha, now I get it! I understand why the Tenth King didn''t want us to come here. That bastard!" The masked man started laughing as he stared at Bastion. "Who are you?!" Esmi asked again. "Are you the mother of this guy?" The masked man ignored the question again as he asked a question of his own. Esmi looked at Bastion briefly before she lied, "Yes, I am his mother." "Nah, you''re lying. But you seem pretty close to him. I guess I won''t kill you unless I have to," the masked man said as he shook his head. He caught her lie instantly. " Who the hell are you?! What are you doing here?!" Esmi asked the same question for the third time. "It doesn''t matter who I am. What does matter is what I want! As for what I want, that''s pretty simple. I want the address and phone number of someone called Ryder Flynn. I heard that you know him," the masked man said. Bastion and Esmi, both of them were shocked as they heard the name of Ryder. They were both close to Ryder and thought of him as their family. They were worried for Ryder after knowing that these people were looking for him. " Why are you looking for Ryder?! What do you want from him?! Are you looking to harm him?!" Both of them said at the same time. " Oh? The two of you are in perfect sync. It seems that this Ryder Flynn is very close to both of you. It doesn''t seem like you''ll answer my question without me having to harm you. As for harming you, I don''t wish to do that. I already have my plate full with my own work. I don''t want the Tenth King to come to annoy me as well. I guess I''ll choose a more moderate way," The masked man muttered as he sighed. "Little Four, How about you bring me her phone? Oh right, the unlocked phone," He continued as he glanced towards one of the five subordinates. The man known as little four stepped forward and picked up the phone that was lying on the couch. He walked over to Esmi and forced her to touch the fingerprint to unlock the phone, but it showed incorrect. "It seems to be the boy''s phone. Where is your phone?" The man asked Esmi, unaware that Esmi''s phone was out of battery and in her room. "Yes, Your Highness," Little Four moved over to Bastion and forced his finger on the fingerprint sensor of the phone to unlock it. He carried the unlocked phone to the masked man. The masked man took the phone and started tinkering with it. "Ryder, here it is. The person we''re looking for. Now Mr. Ryder, are you the Undying Hero that we''re looking for or just a stupid ant that''s caught in its web by accident? It would be interesting to see," the man muttered as he dialed a number of his man and gave Ryder''s number to the man. He told the man to track the number. Next, he called Ryder''s number from Shu''s phone. **** The man Ryder had caught explained everything to him. "So the place where I would find you all," Ryder muttered. The man looked at Ryder weirdly. He wondered if Ryder was an Idiot who didn''t know about past and present. How could he find everyone there when they were there in the past? He thought. "My next question. Are-" Ryder was about to ask his next question when his phone started ringing. Ryder brought the phone out of his pocket and looked at who was calling. " Bastion? Why is he calling me? Did something happen?" he muttered as he picked up his phone. " Yeah, Bastion. What happened?" Ryder asked as soon as he picked up the call. "Nothing happened yet, but a lot will happen soon, my Undying Hero," The Thirteenth King said. "You''re not Bastion! Who are you? Why do you have his phone?" Ryder asked as he frowned. He had also placed his focus on the word, Undying Hero. Did someone really find out that he couldn''t die? He decided that it was best to ignore that and not give away any clue. "Who I am? I''m someone who wishes to meet you. As for why I have your friend''s phone, it''s because he graciously allowed me to use his phone. By the way, little hero. If you''re really the Undying Hero, why do you hide? Why don''t you come clean?" the Thirteenth King asked as he started walking towards the exit of the mansion. He left the mansion. The other five people also left, leaving Esmi and Bastion behind but not before tying their hands and legs. "Are they safe?" Ryder asked in a grim tone. "They are. I don''t want to face you by keeping hostages, little hero. I''ll get to you on my own, and then I''ll make you see the destiny of heroes," the Thirteenth King let out a creepy laughter. "Who are you? Why are you trying to find me?" Ryder replied casually. "Well, I''m not trying to find you. You tried to find us, and now I''m making your wish come true. Don''t worry, little guy. It won''t be too long before everything''s over," the man muttered as he laughed. "Sure. Fine me," Ryder said as he disconnected the call. "So the Uprising wasn''t as useless as I thought. They did find me. They didn''t find me in the last timeline. It must be because of this guy I kidnapped that they knew about me," Ryder muttered as he looked at the man whose neck was in his arms. He walked to the Pilot and told him to change the direction of the helicopter. Since he was being trailed, he didn''t think about going to Shu''s estate and bringing trouble there. 334 Chapter 330: The Destination He walked closer to the Pilot. "Take the helicopter to the south block of the city. I''ll tell you where to stop when I''m there," he told the Pilot. Ryder didn''t know that as he turned off the phone, he made it so that Esmi couldn''t contact him either. Esmi was currently calling him to tell him about what happened and that a powerful person was after him. He was right about one thing, though. His phone was being tracked, and he cut off the tracking by turning off the phone. **** The masked man and his five subordinates were at a fast-food shop. The Five subordinates were having cold drinks inside while the masked man stood outside as he waited for the call. Soon, his phone started ringing. He picked up the call without even looking at the caller ID. He stood straight as he asked, "You found him? Tell me his coordinates?" "Found who? Who are you looking for?" The person on the other side of the call inquired in a deep voice. "Oh, it''s just you, Twelfth King. What do you want?" The Masked man said as he rolled his eyes. He recognized the voice of the person and realized that it was the Twelfth King. He didn''t seem much interested in talking to the Twelfth King. "I want some answers. Where are you right now?" The Twelfth King inquired. "What does this have to go with you? You''re not my babysitter. Focus on your own work," The Thirteenth King replied in an annoyed tone. "I am doing our work. It''s you who''s not where we were supposed to meet. Tell me, where are you, and why was it that I only heard Thirteen Blasts. Did you screw this up again?" The Twelfth King asked, straight away. He was supposed to meet the Thirteenth King at the top of a building, but he didn''t find him there. He decided to call him to inquire about his whereabouts and why one bomb didn''t go off. "Look! I''m here doing what I''m supposed to do. Even if I did screw up, you can''t do anything, so keep your mouth shut. This mission is my responsibility, and I got the permission for it. You are just here to be of useless help in case of emergencies that I''ll never need. So stay where you are and stop trying to put your nose in what I''m doing," the Thirteenth King let out before he disconnected the call. The phone again started ringing. He picked up the call again. "What now?" He said. "I was tracking the number, and I have some updates for you," the person on the other side of the call said. His voice sounded a little nervous. "Oh, it''s you. Tell me where he is," The Thirteenth King said as he started walking. "He''s moving, huh. Let''s see how long he stays in the helicopter. He''ll come down pretty soon when the helicopter runs out of power. Tell me where he is right now," the Thirteenth King said. "He''s going towards the South. I am not sure if he''s leaving the city or going to come down there. I''ll tell you when he comes down," The person told the Thirteenth King as he kept his focus on the computer screen in front of him, which was showing the satellite imagery of Ryder''s helicopter. "The South Block, huh. It doesn''t matter," the Thirteenth King muttered as he disconnected the call. **** Far away from the city where the commotion was taking place, a Jet was getting ready to depart with the agents of the FBI that were being sent to investigate the blasts. The President had also given the speech by now, which was the same as last time. All the cities were under curfew. The borders were sealed, and the National Guards were sent to the city that suffered the terrible attacks tonight. **** Ryder was sitting inside the helicopter with the terrorists, whose hand was still bleeding, but Ryder wasn''t doing anything to help him. Ryder watched the man cry in pain. He was more concerned about getting his answers. "We''re in the South Block," the Pilot suddenly informed Ryder. "Good," Ryder muttered as he dragged the terrorist close to the door of the helicopter and made him look outside. "Now tell me! Which was the building where you all met before leaving for the attacks and the place where the bombs were synced?" Ryder asked the man. "T-that one!" The man said as he pointed with his only hand that was still intact. Ryder looked in the direction he was pointing at and saw what seemed like an abandoned building. The most shocking thing was that this building was right beside his building, which he purchased and got renovated for his business. ''These bastards. Planning such a thing right beside my building,'' Ryder thought as he cursed the Uprising in his mind. "Will anyone be inside at this time?" Ryder asked the man. "There shouldn''t be anyone inside now. The mission is completed. The blasts happened. I don''t think anyone would stay here anymore," the man replied. "That''s good. We''re going inside, and you''ll tell me the location where the bombs were kept and where you all stayed together," Ryder told the man. "Land the helicopter on top of that building," He walked up to the pilot and told him to land the helicopter on the target building. The Pilot nodded his head and followed the commands. He landed the Helicopter on top of the building. "Stay here. I should be back soon," Ryder told the pilot before he got off the helicopter with the man in his hand. He walked to the door at the end of the roof, which supposedly led downstairs. 335 Chapter 331: Face to Face "Hmph," Ryder muttered as he took a step back. He brought his gun out of his invention and fired at the lock. Two bangs resounded in the air as two shots were fired. The lock was broken and the door opened on its own. "Easy," Ryder smiled cheekily as he stepped on the stairs and started going down. "Which floor?" Ryder asked as he kept going down. "I don''t know what you''re looking for. There would be no one here!" the man cried out in pain. " I already told you everything. Let me leave now! I''ll die of excessive blood loss otherwise!" "You''ll die when I tell you to die! For now, you''re going to do what I say," Ryder declared as he glared at the man and tightened his grip around his neck. "You realize that, don''t you?" "I-i can''t breathe," the man muttered after some struggle. "If you can speak, then you can breathe as well. Tell me which floor and which rooms were the bombs kept in and where you guys met," Ryder replied with a stern look on his face. "T-third floor! Go to the third floor!" the guy said after struggling to speak. "That''s like a good boy," Ryder let out as he smiled. He went into the lift and tapped on the button of the third floor. The doors of the lift didn''t close, and the loft didn''t move down. "Oh, right. No power. I thought you guys arranged for power since you were doing something so important here," He let out as he looked at the guy. He stepped out of the lift and went back to the stair. " Looks like I''ll have to go down the steps myself. Sigh, Twelve floors to go down," Ryder muttered as he started going down. After some time, he reached the third floor. He had the man show him every location and tell him what happened here and how. **** While Ryder was looking at the third floor and getting to know the terrain for future reference, something else was happening at the roof. The Pilot was sitting in the helicopter, checking things. "I must say, this model is really nice. Way better than the one we use." While the Pilot was looking ahead, he heard someone''s voice from the back. He turned back, only to find five black-robed people sitting inside the helicopter. "Who are you?!" the Pilot asked as he stood up. "Sit down, old man," one of the five people said as he stood up and walked towards the pilot in slow steps. "Hey, Don''t mess with him. He can take us back after we''re done here. It won''t take more than a few minutes anyway," another black-robed person chimed in. "Oh, right. Old man, you''re lucky. Stay here. We''ll be right back," the men said as they stepped out of the helicopter. They didn''t forget to tie up the pilot so he couldn''t take the helicopter away. " Are we not going down?" the five asked the masked man. "Nah. He''s downstairs, trying to do something. Let the little one play around a little. He''ll come here in the end anyway. I want to see the look on his face when he comes here. I want to see the sheer unfiltered emotions of the man. This Little Undying Hero, will he be scared or will he be brave," the masked man muttered as he walked to the edge of the roof and looked at the city from the top of the building. He could see fires at some distance. The Fires that were caused by the blast were still not completely dead. The Fire Brigades were trying to get the fire under control. The Cop cars were extensively patrolling the city. Sirens could be heard everywhere. "It is so beautiful. The chaos and the commotion. How beautiful would the world be if all the places in this world were like this," The Masked man muttered. "If every place was like this and there was no peace everywhere, then it would''ve become boring pretty soon. It''s not the goals that are beautiful but the destination," A deep voice said. "Ah, you''re here. How did you find me?" the Masked Man said without looking back. "It was easy. I had my people track your number," the person who stood back said. " Ah, Clever. This phone thing is really stupid. It helps us get to others and help others get to us," the masked man muttered as he sighed. "Are you here to take the credit?" he inquired as he finally turned back. "Twelfth King." "I don''t want any credits. It''s your mission. It was clear from the start. I''m just here for assistance. Also, I wish to see this Little Undying Hero as well," the Twelfth King replied as he smirked. "I''m warning you. It''s my mission. I''ll handle it my way. If you interfere, I''ll forget that you''re on my team. Under l I''ve worked hard to find an interesting prey," the masked man said as he stepped forward and placed his hand on the Twelfth King''s shoulders. The Twelfth King''s smile disappeared as the Thirteenth King touched him. He moved the Twelfth King''s hand aside. "I know you''re insecure and all, but if you ever touched me again, you''ll find your hand at the bottom of the ocean," the Twelfth King said as he stepped back. He walked over to the give black-robed people who were standing near the helicopter, not moving at all. The Twelfth King stopped before then. "Will you move aside on your own, or should I move you myself?" the Twelfth King asked the five men. The five guys realized that they were standing at the entrance of the helicopter. The Twelfth King probably wanted to sit inside more comfortably as he waited. They hurriedly stepped aside without saying anything. The Twelfth King stepped inside the helicopter and sat inside comfortably. **** Ryder finished the search of the building. It was exactly as the person said. There was no one inside. As he finished seeing all the important places, he started walking back towards the stairs. He climbed the stairs and again reached the top floor. In a few seconds, he was standing in front of the roof door. Ryder opened the door and stepped on the roof. 336 Chapter 332: Fighting Thirteenth King As he stepped on the roof, he was stunned to find people already standing there. At some distance, he saw a man standing at the edge of the roof. The man was wearing a mask. Near the helicopter, Ryder saw five black-clothed men standing. Everyone was looking at Ryder, and no one said a single word as if they were more busy trying to observe Ryder. "You''re from the Uprising, I assume?" Ryder inquired casually as he took another step forward. "I must say I''m not happy. I was hoping to see you at least shocked," the masked man muttered in a grim tone. "Why would I be shocked? You guys are from the Uprising; if you couldn''t even track me after all this, you would''ve been too useless. I''m standing at your previous base after all, and we talked over the phone," Ryder replied as he rolled his eyes. He didn''t bother with anything as he walked over to the edge of the roof. He looked at the burning city. " Now that you''re here, can you tell me one thing? Why did you guys do it?" Ryder inquired. "What do you guys get by destroying the city and by killing people?" "What do we get? Do we need to get something? Watching people cry in pain, the chaos, and the destruction, it all feels so amazing. It gives such satisfaction when we watch people burn, cities destroyed. It''s not as satisfactory as killing them with my own hands and watching life slowly leaving their body, but it''s not bad," the masked man said. " You''re a psychopath, you know?" Ryder muttered as he sighed. The masked man looked at Ryder and didn''t say anything. Ryder abruptly closed his eyes and clenched his teeth to stop himself from making a noise as he felt heart-wrenching pain. His left arm fell down on the ground, cut from his soldiers. "Are you satisfied now?" Ryder inquired as he saw his arm on the ground and blood falling from his shoulders. "You''re boring. Not even a single noise," the masked man let out in a disappointed tone. The same thing happened to Ryder''s right arm. His right arm was also cut. Ryder kept his mouth closed and didn''t let out a single noise. He didn''t want the man to get the satisfaction he needed. He did seem surprised, though. ''How are they doing it? I thought the people from Uprising only had strength, resources, and the power to not die? But this? None of them got closer to me. I didn''t even see anyone move. How did they harm me?'' Ryder was confused about how his arms were cut. The masked man walked closer to Ryder, but he stood still as he saw arms grow out of Ryder''s shoulders. In no time, Ryder was in his perfect condition. "Amazing. Such incredible healing," the Masked Man muttered. "There''s no doubt about it. You''re the Undying Little Hero," the masked man let out as he laughed out loud. "Since we already established that, let''s have a little more fun," he let out as he started walking towards Ryder. "That''s enough fun for you. You would need to work a little harder if you want more," Ryder muttered as he took a step forward and jumped down. While Ryder was falling down the roof, he opened his inventory and brought two guns out. Each of his hands had a gun now. "Let''s see how well you handle the pain," Ryder let out as he started flying up. He had just started flying towards when he saw the masked man coming towards him. The masked man had jumped down as well, after Ryder. "Is he crazy?" Ryder muttered as he moved away so that the masked man didn''t hit him. He wanted to watch the man fall flat on the ground. The Masked Man continued falling down and soon reached the same level as Ryder, but he didn''t stop falling. He looked towards Ryder. He was surprised to see him flying. "The more I see, the more surprised I get. Let me see everything you have, little guy," he muttered as he grinned. Ryder saw that smile on the man''s face and felt like something was wrong. "Urgh!" he let out a pained noise as both his legs were cut. "This freaking Bastard!" Ryder cursed out loud as he started shooting towards the man who was already falling down. He didn''t know why, but no Bullets were hitting the man. It seemed as if the bullets were chanting their direction whenever they got near him. All the bullets missed him. The masked man landed on the ground. A deep crater appeared on the ground as he landed on the ground. Even after falling from the eighteenth floor, the man was standing comfortably as if he had jumped from a height of a few centimeters. The man raised his head as he looked at Ryder. Ryder''s legs fell near him. He stepped forward and stomped on Ryder''s legs as he gave a hearty laughter. "This is fun. I''m going to enjoy it," the man muttered as he laughed. Ryder stayed mid-air as he waited for his legs to heal. "I guess this was what Janus said when he talked about me having low chances of saving people," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "It''s because of these people being involved. It seems to be impossible to defeat them. I don''t even know what freaking powers they actually have. If it weren''t for my Nature of Healing, I would''ve been dead multiple times already. When I go to the building, I can''t stop anything if these people are guarding the place," he let out as he frowned. "I need to find their weakness. I need to know everything about them that I could. Even if I can''t save anyone and let the events take place as last time, it would still be good to know about enemies that are this strong. I have a feeling that even if I don''t do anything, one day, we''ll still face each other. It''s better to be prepared and know everything while I can," He muttered as he looked towards the sky with a frown on his face. 337 Chapter 333: A battle to win His legs had healed, and he was in his perfect condition. "Oh, right! Fuck, why didn''t I think of this? This bastard attacked me first! If I defeat him, I will get a lot of Exp in the real world. Even if I die later and go back in time by 24 hours where it didn''t happen, I''ll still have the Exp I already earned," Ryder muttered as he found something optimistic in this entire situation. "I''ll give it my all. A victory is all I need," he let out as he smiled. He cracked his knuckles as he got ready for a serious battle. "Those other five guys didn''t attack me yet. It would''ve been easier to kill them from what it seems, but I won''t get any Exp if they didn''t attack me first. I should egg them on. I can heal anyway," He chuckled as he started flying upwards. Ryder flew in front of the helicopter that was stationary on top of the building. Ryder gazed at the five people that were standing near the edge of the roof, casually looking at Ryder like they weren''t worried in the least of him. "What are you chimps looking at? Never saw a good looking person? I know you all look ugly as hell, but that doesn''t mean you will stare at me," Ryder let out in a mocking tone. "Is that incel talking to us?" one of the five black-robed guys muttered casually. "It seems that way," Another guy replied. The Twelfth King was still sitting inside the helicopter, watching things play out. "Interesting," He muttered with an amused smile on his face as he folded his arms. "Let''s see how he deals with things," he muttered. "He does seem to have the potential to be the Fourteen King." " If he doesn''t die in the hands of the Thirteenth King accidentally," he muttered. **** Outside, Ryder was still mocking the five people. " Man, I pity your parents. They must have abandoned you five when they saw your faces," Ryder said as he laughed. " Oh wait, The Uprising is big on experiments, from what I heard. Did they create you five in the lab? There''s no way an actual human can look so ugly," He continued. "That''s it! I don''t care! I''m killing him," one of the five said as he took a step forward. "Wait, he''s Thirteenth King''s prey. He''ll kill you if you interfere," another man stopped him from taking action. **** While Ryder was busy mocking the five black-clothed people, he didn''t notice the masked man who was looking straight up at him. The Masked man raised his right leg in the air slowly. He stomped his right leg in the ground, which propelled him upwards. The Thirteenth King jumped so high that soon, he reached near Ryder. He caught Ryder''s legs. **** "Hahaha, are you all the pets of the person you call the Thirteenth King? You are good dogs, I must say. Come work for me. I''ll pay you two extra dog biscuits," Ryder said as he laughed out loud. He was about to continue mocking the five when he felt like someone caught his legs. He became unstable as the extra weight was added to him. He looked down and saw the masked man holding his legs. The masked man was still moving upward, and Ryder couldn''t stop him. The Thirteenth King rotated his body as he threw Ryder in the direction of the helicopter. **** The Twelfth King was sitting on the helicopter when he saw Ryder coming towards him. "He can''t let me watch in peace, can he?" he muttered as he stepped out of the helicopter. A few seconds after he stepped out of the helicopter, Ryder crashed on it. Ryder could feel like his back was broken as he fell on the helicopter. The guns he was holding were released from his hands. His back was broken. He rolled down the helicopter and landed on the roof, with his back facing the sky. He felt like crying. He had died, and he was shot, but the pain of having his back broken was new for him. He didn''t know how he could cope with it. He hoped that his healing would take care of it fast. The masked man landed on the roof. "You didn''t have to get out. It''s not like he''s made of stone, which would''ve flattened the helicopter," the masked man said as he looked at the Twelfth King. "You don''t know what this guy is capable of. It''s better not to take him lightly," the Twelfth King muttered softly. "You worry too much," The Thirteenth King said as he walked towards Ryder. "I agree that he has a few unorthodox strengths but nothing extraordinary other than the healing and that flying. I wonder how he got the flying, though," he muttered as he stopped near Ryder. "Wake up, kid; I know you aren''t down. It''s impossible for you to not heal from this light thing if you could regrow your limbs," the masked man muttered as he stepped closer. He was about to kick Ryder when Ryder caught his legs. Ryder made the masked man fall down as he stood up abruptly. He flew upward and. The masked man was hanging upside down as his leg was caught by Ryder. Before he could do anything, Ryder did the same thing that he did. Ryder threw the Thirteenth King towards the helicopter. They were only ten meters high from the helicopter. "Hahaha," the Twelfth King burst into laughter as he saw the Thirteenth King like this. The Thirteenth King came crashing down on the helicopter. As he crashed on the helicopter, the helicopter was dented. It seemed as if something extremely heavy crashed on the helicopter. The Twelfth King walked towards the Thirteenth King. " Can I say I warned you?" "You! Stop enjoying it!" The Thirteenth King said as he stood up and glared at the Twelfth King. "I was just not careful enough," he said. He looked towards the sky in the direction of Ryder, who was flying above his head. "Enough playing around. Let me show you the read wrath of a king," The Masked man muttered as he clenched his fist. 338 Chapter 334: Breaking News Ryder could see his guns lying on the ground near the helicopter, but he didn''t have time to pick the guns up. He also didn''t bother with getting the guns back. He had a few more guns in his inventory. Ryder opened his Inventory and brought two more guns out. One of these two guns was a special gun that he had purchased from the System Store previously, which didn''t need any reload of bullets. "You want action; I''ll give you action," Ryder muttered as he flew even higher to create even more distance from the Thirteenth King. "Janus, little bro. I know you don''t help me much outside the missions but can you at least help me with your knowledge?" Ryder inquired. "Just tell me if I have any chance of winning and gaining experience," he continued. \u003cThe chances to win this battle? You have none\u003e Janus straight away crushed Ryder''s hopes. "You idiot, can''t you motivate me, at least?" Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. The only way he was getting out of this fight was by dying, and he wanted to get all the answers he could before dying. He still had some hopes of winning before they were all crushed by Janus. \u003cYou want me to lie?\u003e Janus asked in a curious voice. "At Least don''t crush my hopes so brutally, you idiot," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. \u003cYour chances of winning? They''re a hundred percent. You''ll win this fight and all other fights here\u003e Janus listened to Ryder and lied. "Even though I know that it''s a lie that I told you to say, that still gives me some motivation to fight," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. He was fifty meters above the Thirteenth King when he finally stopped going upwards. **** Somewhere in the South Block of the city, a news helicopter was going towards a blast location to capture some footage. "This day is so brutal. So many people died. I never expected I''ll be spending the day shooting thousands of dead bodies and the destruction," The Reporter who was sitting inside the helicopter muttered. "Me too. This day was so unexpected. I just hope I don''t vomit at the sight of all that blood," the cameraman muttered. He was sitting near the female reporter. He stood up as he stretched out his arms. He walked towards the door of the helicopter to get some fresh air. He looked outside. "Hmm? What''s that?" He suddenly exclaimed as he noticed something in the air some distance away from him. "What the heck? Is a person flying? How is that possible? Man, it looks like I''m already starting to get some hallucinations because of tension," the man muttered as he sighed. "What are you talking about?" The News Reporter asked the cameraman as she stood up. "A man flying? I guess you really are hallucinating. Come back and rest a little," the news reporter told the cameraman as she walked towards him. She placed her hands on his shoulder as she looked outside. "See? No one is the-" She was just about to say that no one was Flying when she suddenly stopped. She could see a man flying some distance as well. The man was wearing what seemed like a tuxedo that was split in places. The man seemed to be in his early twenties. The man was looking down towards a building. She looked in the direction he was looking at and saw a damaged helicopter on top of a building. A few people were standing near the helicopter on the building. "I know, I know. There''s no one there. I''m just a little tired, and I''m seeing things. You don''t have to mock me now," the cameraman said with an embarrassed smile on his face as he walked back. "N-no!You aren''t hallucinating. I see the same thing. It can''t be that the two of us are hallucinating the same thing. No matter how strange, but that seems to be the truth," the Reporter said with a blank look on her face. "Stand up and come back!" she told the cameraman. The Cameraman was shocked to know that she was seeing the same thing. He hurriedly stood up and walked towards her. " Look there and tell me what you see. If you''re seeing the same thing that it''s the truth! These things are happening! Hurry, tell me what you see," The Reporter told the cameraman as she pointed towards the building where she saw a few people standing. "I see a helicopter there. There are seven people standing there, looking up towards the man who is flying in the sky!" the Cameraman said. "You''re exactly right! This is really happening. Open the camera and start recording. I''ll contact the head office. If they see what we''re seeing in the video as well, we can go with this as a live telecast! This can be breaking news! Blasts all around the city, appearance of the flying humans. Is this the dawn of evolution or the dawn of destruction?" The Reporter exclaimed as she hurriedly ran inside. She got her phone out of the bag and called her head. **** "Are you an idiot? What the hell are you talking about? Flying humans? Have you lost all your sanity?" The female reporter had just explained everything to her boss. Just as she expected, her boss didn''t believe a single word she was saying. Instead, he called her crazy and many more names. She was already prepared for that, and she didn''t feel angry. If she were in her boss''s position, she would''ve reacted in a similar way. Flying Humans? That sounded preposterous! Not a single sane person was going to believe it after all. "Sir, please listen to me. I''m not the only one who''s seeing this. I know how preposterous it sounds, and believe me, I wouldn''t have called you if I wasn''t sure if it. You can see the live footage from our camera. If you see what we can see, you can broadcast it live! Just think of the commotion we''ll cause if we showed this. Our TRP would jump through the roof," the girl said with a fawning smile on her face even though she knew that the boss couldn''t see her. 339 Chapter 335: Ruler of Water "I promise I won''t disappoint you. I''m starting the transmission," the news reporter muttered as she disconnected the call. She opened her laptop and started transferring the live footage to her boss at the head office. As soon as the boss saw the footage, he stood up in shock. He couldn''t believe it. Even though he was seeing it himself, he still couldn''t believe it. "She''s telling the truth. Humans that can fly exist! Gold! We''ve found true gold! If we go with the narrative that these flying Humans could be responsible for the blast, we can create even more publicity and attract more attention!" he let out as a big grin appeared on his face. "You''re right! I see it! Good work, Mei. Get ready! We''ll be broadcasting the footage live in 5 minutes! Make sure you get a good focus on what has been happening!" he said before he disconnected the call. **** While Ryder was flying in the sky, looking down at the Thirteenth King, a camera was focusing on him. He didn''t know that in a few minutes, his face was going to be on the television all across the country. After a few seconds, he did hear the sound of the helicopter at some distance. He looked to the side and saw a news helicopter. He could also see the camera looking in his direction. "Awesome! Only you guys were left! Can''t you let me fight and die in peace? You want the whole world to see my ass get kicked, don''t you?" Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "Whatever! Since you''re already watching, make sure you watch everything. Let the world see the true strength of Ryder Flynn!" Ryder muttered as he smiled. He raised his hand towards the sky. "I haven''t used this power. It''s going to be my first time using it. I don''t like getting wet, but if it''s what it takes to get a better chance at victory, then so be it!" Ryder muttered. "Heavenly Rain! Bless me!" he shouted loudly as he used the Ruler of Water''s first Active Skill. Even though he didn''t get to say these words, he still said these as it made them feel a little cool in front of the camera. He was feeling like he was a superhero, fighting against evil with the fate of the world at risk. The entire world was watching him. He wanted to experience this feeling once since he already had the opportunity now. The skill was very simple. It caused rain in the surroundings of Ryder. Those who were inside the range of the rain had their speed decreased while Ryder had his speed increased by half. It was already night time, but the sky was very clear. The bright moon was visible in the sky, which was providing light to the earth and increasing the visibility at night. However, soon the clear sky was covered in a dark cloud. The bright moon became invisible. It was only within a certain range where the skill was effective, though. Outside this range, the sky was still clear. Those that are outside the range of this found this whole phenomenon to be strange. The Dark Clouds soon started raining. Ryder''s clothes were wet. He opened the buttons of his coat and took it off. He threw the coat towards the ground in a cool fashion. He was only in a shirt and pants now. The people from the uprising were also wet, but they didn''t seem phased. "It seems to be only raining around us. Outside this small range, there are no clouds, and there''s no rain. This must be one of the strange abilities of this guy as well," The Twelfth King muttered as he looked around. "Doesn''t matter! It''s a child''s play. It''s just rain. What does he think he can do with this? Give me pneumonia? He underestimates me too much! He''s too arrogant," The Thirteenth King let out as he stared at Ryder. "Well, he does seem to have the capital to be arrogant, though. Most of the abilities he had shown were proven to be absolutely amazing. And we can''t be sure that those are his all. The boy has good skills, albeit he doesn''t seem like he can tap into their true potential yet. He''s too young and inexperienced," The Twelfth King replied. "Hah, so what? He''s still a kid who''s wet behind his ears. He is a little too arrogant. Does he really think he''s the only one who''s special? He thinks I can''t get to him?" The Thirteenth King said as he stepped onto the air. "What the heck? He can fly too? Who the heck are these people?" Ryder exclaimed as she saw the Thirteenth King step into the air. "Oh wait, he''s not flying! He''s walking into the air. It seems like he can create some kind of invisible surface under his feet, which he uses to walk on air. Can he freeze air, or is it something that? Whatever it is, this seems to be his power. He probably used this save ability to divert my bullets and to cut my hands and legs previously," Ryder muttered. "You think you can get to me this easily? You can dodge the bullets? How many? Ten? Hundred? What about a thousand? Let''s hear it," He let out as he grinned. He didn''t need to worry about the bullets since it was a special gun he had purchased from system storage. All he had to do was maintain his distance. With a wide grin forming on his face, he aimed his gun towards the Thirteenth King of Uprising. "Knock Knock M******," He muttered as he started firing with both his guns while he flew back to maintain his distance from the Thirteenth King. The bullets he fired reached near the Thirteenth King, but as soon as they were near him, they changed their trajectory and missed him, but Ryder didn''t stop at just that. Ryder kept shooting. Soon, his second gun was empty, which was a normal gun. He kept the empty gun in his Storage and continued with his Special Gun. 340 Chapter 336: Live He flew back as he saw the masked man jumping through the air on what seemed like steps created from the wind. "The Thirteenth King is going to enjoy torturing the kid in this battle," One of the five black-robed men chuckled as they saw the Thirteenth King running towards Ryder. Surprisingly enough, the speed at which the Thirteenth ran was faster than the speed at which Ryder ran away. "Hahaha, that''s what it seems like. I''ll give it five minutes before the kid is lying in front of us, begging the Thirteenth King for forgiveness," Another person said. "I''ll give it ten minutes. The kid is persistent and unorthodox. I''ll give him the benefit of the doubt. In ten minutes, he''ll be licking dust off the roof," The third guy said. "Come on, guys, aren''t you underestimating him too much? Stop underestimating the Thirteenth King. In two minutes, the kid will be lying on the ground, groaning in pain," the fourth man also chimed in. "What do you say?" he asked as he looked at the fifth guy who hasn''t chimed in yet. "I''m not sure. I don''t want to underestimate the Thirteenth King, but that guy has been proven to be quite unorthodox. It''s better if we just wait and watch. Any number we throw at the moment is just going to be useless since he''s not a normal human, and we don''t know everything about him," the fifth black-robed man said as he chimed in. The Twelfth King was also standing silently. He glanced in the direction of the helicopter that was shooting everything on camera, but he didn''t do anything. He had long since covered his face with a mask even before the helicopter got near that place, so he didn''t bother with anything. The five black-clothed men had also covered their faces with masks. The only person who didn''t have a mask was Ryder. **** Shu was sitting in his room, talking to his men about finding out the origin of the bombs and how they were taken inside these high-security places without being detected. He disconnected the call and placed his focus on the TV that was muted. He didn''t hear what the news anchor was saying, but there was a headline about flying humans at the bottom before the scene on the TV was changed. He increased the voice on the TV. "You can see the live footage from our correspondent at the scene. There, you can see two people flying in the air. This event is taking place just a short distance away from the nearest blast location where the blast occurred." "Who are these people? How can they fly? Why are they near the blast location, and why are they fighting? We don''t know the answer to any of these questions, but the circumstances make us believe that these people did have a hand in what happened here," the news anchor said. "They are going to get in so much trouble if they''re showing fake footage. I don''t think they''ll take the risk. This should most probably be true, but how. Who are these guys? I can''t see their faces. Get the camera closer, you idiots," Shu muttered as he cursed at the TV. "We can also see six people standing on top of the nearest building looking at the fight. All of them are wearing masks on their faces that are similar to the mask of one of the flying guys. It makes us believe that they''re a part of it as well. It seems like a one on one battle between two people who can fly, but one of them seems to have a big backup." The news anchor continued her narration of the event, including the buildup of excess hype. " Can the other six people fly as well? Will they join the fight to help their fellow friend? Keep watching so we can find out together. You''re seeing something that hasn''t been seen before. The rise of a new era," the Anchor said, hyping it even more. "Wait! That helicopter! Isn''t that mine? Something that Ryder was using?" Shu suddenly exclaimed as he noticed the helicopter on top of the roof; even the focus of the camera was on the six people on the roof. He stood up in shock. He picked up the phone and started calling Ryder. "The number you''re trying to reach has been switched off. Please try again later." As he called, he only heard a computerized message that notified him of the phone being switched off. He called again just to be sure, but the same message was heard again. He called the number of the pilot who is operating the helicopter. The pilot''s phone was also on silent. It was ringing, but there was no sound. Even if there were sound, the pilot wouldn''t be able to pick it up since he was tied up. **** Alice was excitedly waiting for Ryder to return from the birthday celebration so he could take her to the promised dinner, but only Shu came back. Shu told Alice that Ryder couldn''t come today since he had to go to an important meeting for business purposes. Alice was disappointed, but she didn''t say anything. She walked back to her room and stayed there. She didn''t know anything about the blasts. It wasn''t until now that she found out about the blasts when she checked her phone. She called Ryder''s phone, but the phone was turned off. She hurriedly got off the bed and went downstairs to meet Shu and to get more information about where Ryder went to and if she needed to worry. As she came downstairs, she saw Shu standing in front of the TV, looking at it with a frown on his face. "Brother Shu," Alice said as she walked closer. "Ah, Alice. What are you doing downstairs? Go and have rest," Shu told Alice as he turned back. "I read about the blasts. I tried calling his phone, but it''s off. I don''t know why, but can you tell me where his meeting was?" Alice asked Shu with a concerned look on her face. "Don''t worry; I talked to him after the blast. He''s perfectly fine. He''s outside the city. Because our borders are sealed, he can''t come back soon enough," Shu lied to Alice. 341 Chapter 337: Forming Triden "Why is his phone switched off then?" Alice inquired in confusion. "When I talked to him, he was in a hotel, and his phone was on low battery. It probably turned off. He must''ve placed it on the charger and fallen asleep. It was a tiring day for him after all," Shu replied. He kept his expressions straight, not letting out even a single clue that he was lying. "Oh," Alice muttered as she nodded her head. She looked towards the tv and saw the headline. "Flying humans?" She exclaimed in surprise. "Yeah, it seems to be that way. They seem to be fighting for some reason," Shu told Alice. "Anyway, you go and sleep. Brother Ryder told me to tell you to sleep early tonight," he said innocently. "I''ll sleep later. It''s not a daily event to see flying humans," Alice muttered as she sat on the sofa and looked at the TV. Shu sighed as he sat beside her. He knew that he couldn''t force her without having her be suspicious and think that he was lying about something. He was more concerned about her, though. He was sure that Ryder was somewhere around that place since the helicopter was there, and he didn''t want Alice to see him there. **** Ryder didn''t know what was happening. None of his bullets were hitting their target. Also, despite being affected by the effect of the rain created by the Ruler of Water and even after having his speed reduced significantly, the masked man was closing the distance between him and Ryder. The strange thing was that that man wasn''t even flying, instead running in the air towards him, and he was flying; still, he was slower than the man. "I don''t know what his abilities are, but from what it seems, He is able to solidify the air or create invisible wind blades. No matter which ability it is, the solid bullets are hit by it and change their direction. I need to try a different approach along with trying to make him tired and make a mistake. He can make the solid objects miss him, but what about the liquid objects. Wind blades can''t cut water. Even if it did, it can''t make it change its direction," Ryder muttered as he frowned. "I''ve never been able to create it successfully, but it seems to be finally the time to do it. I''m the lord of the water, so I''ll have my trident! Let''s see if he can do the same thing with my water trident!" Ryder muttered as he flew back. His hair was wet because of being in the rain and covering his forehead. He used his left hand to move the hair back and clear his view before straightening his left hand. "Hmm? He can control water as well?" The Thirteenth King muttered as she saw a water sphere near Ryder''s hand. "Control of water? Just who is this guy? How many abilities does he have? Where did he get these abilities from?" the Twelfth King was also surprised as he saw this. He was expecting Ryder to have more abilities that he hadn''t used, but still, he was shocked to see him coming up with a new ability. "Interesting kid. There seem to be so many mysteries surrounding you. We''ll have to uncover all the mysteries ourselves," he muttered. The Five black-robed subordinates of the Thirteenth King were also shocked. "It''s been over ten minutes. All of you were wrong," the fifth black-robed man muttered as he sighed. When everyone was guessing how long it would take before Ryder was defeated, he was the only one who had stayed silent and said that they didn''t have enough information to guess that. "This kid is not ordinary. We can''t treat him like a normal person and judge him on that criteria," the man continued as he glanced at his fellow teammates. **** Just when the sphere was big enough to form a Trident, Ryder stopped collecting the water. "I hope it won''t blast everywhere like the last few times. Just let me create one Trident successfully. I won''t call myself Poseidon, but let me create it once," Ryder muttered as he started manipulating the sphere to take the shape of the trident that he wanted. The Sphere started taking shape, and it became a thick staff at the bottom with a smaller water sphere at the top. It seemed like a magical staff that had a mystical orb at the top, the only difference being that the top was a sphere of water. The top sphere of water also started changing shape. Soon, it was starting to look like a trident. The only thing that was still lacking was that the trident wasn''t sharp enough. Ryder kept flying back as he continued shooting at the Thirteenth King while still keeping enough focus on the trident to stop itself from blowing off while getting its edges sharp. As Ryder was flying away, he was getting awfully close to the news helicopter. The camera crew was finally able to get a focus on his face. Finally, the entire world was able to see the face of the first flying human. Most of the country and the world was watching this. As Ryder''s face became visible, not only one but many people were shocked. Esmi and Bastion were amongst them who stood up in shock in front of their TV. Shu and Alice had the same reaction. There were more people who were watching it than Ryder could''ve expected. On a dark Island, a palace existed. A man was sitting on the throne inside the palace. Eleven people were sitting on seats that were a little lower than the main throne. "Why isn''t the Thirteenth destroying the news helicopter first? He''s showing this to the whole world?" one of the eleven people muttered as they looked at the holographic screen in front of them. "It''s good that he isn''t destroying that. So what if the world knows. At Least we can see the kid in action. The kid who spoiled our plan. He''s quite special; I must say," another one of the eleven people said. 342 Chapter 338: Success "I think so as well," another person said. "Is it just me, or the Thirteenth seems a bit slower?" he suddenly noticed something strange and pointed out. "He does seem slower, but it should be intentional. He is probably toying around with the kid," Another person replied. While most of the people were agreeing, the person sitting on the throne opened his lips to speak something. "It''s not intentional," the person on the throne said. Even though the voice was low, everyone was able to hear it clearly. "If it''s not intentional, then that must mean it''s the boy''s doing. He can even do that? Amazing." "So limit the speed of thirteenth? This kid deserves even more credit than we were giving him." "Man, I really want to take this boy apart and see what makes him so special." "Watching him groan in pain right in front of me would be so amazing. I can''t wait to see tears on his face as he''s brought here." The Eleven Kings started talking amongst themselves while the person sitting on the throne folded his arms and continued watching the TV. **** "How the hell is it him? How is he there, flying and fighting! Didn''t you say he was sleeping in a different town!" Alice thundered as she looked at Shu. "I-i don''t know how he''s flying. I''ll need to ask him myself," Shu said with a blank look on his face. Even he was shocked, not understanding what was happening. "What happened to him? Why does he have these abilities? Just what did he go through?" Shu muttered with a frown. The Aircraft in which the various intelligence agencies were traveling also saw the live telecast. Ray and Jacob also saw this. "Bro looks like that guy isn''t trying to hide his powers anymore. What the heck is with the flying, though? Can a person fly with genetic engineering? Even becoming undying was impossible but still explainable but flying? Are we really dealing with humans here?" Jacob muttered in Ray''s ears. "Even I wonder that sometimes. But what are we doing then? What are they, if not humans?" Ray muttered with a frown. "They could be Seraph," Jacob muttered. "Seraph? What''s that?" Ray inquired in confusion. "In mythology, the Seraphs are the angels of the highest orders that are closest to the gods and have godlike powers. In some stories I read online, it was said that Seraphim would appear on earth to cleanse all the sins," Jacob told Ray as he frowned. "So you''re saying these people are Angels of destruction who are here to destroy us?" Ray said as he glanced at Jacob. "Yeah, Ryder must be a rogue Seraphim. Who doesn''t care about the other angels and is trying to save this world," Jacob said, nodding his head. "You''re not telling me the plot of some strange novel you read, are you?" Ray asked suspiciously. Jacob was stunned for a brief moment before he started smiling, embarrassed. So what if it sounds the same as a story I read? It doesn''t mean that it can''t be true!" Jacob replied. "Maybe," Ray muttered as he glanced at the screen. "Seraphim, huh. Let''s see if these angels are really set on destroying us." **** In another corner of the country existed the New White House. It was created in the new Capital City. In the cabin of the White House, the president of the United States was sitting in her chair, watching the live footage. The Secretary of State was also beside her. " Did you contact the Martials in the city and ask them what''s going on?" The President asked the Secretary. "I did. He says even he has no idea. The Army is on standby to take action. The surrounding area is being emptied while these people are busy fighting. Fortunately, that place is not a place where the general public lives, so it should be over soon," the Secretary replied. "Good. By the way, did you find out who this guy is? His face was visible clearly on the screen. You should''ve been able to find him," The Woman in the main seat inquired. "I was already on it, Madam President. Also, we got a hit. This man is called Ryder Flynn," The Secretary of State explained. "Ryder Flynn? Why does this name sound familiar?" the woman muttered as she frowned. "Where is he from?" She asked. "He''s a resident of New Jersey where everything is taking place. According to what we are able to find in such a short time, he''s been living there since his childhood," the Secretary of State said. "New Jersey? Ryder Flynn? Is it possible that...?" the woman muttered as she gazed at the two people fighting in the air. "Do one thing for me," She said to the Secretary of State as she stood up abruptly. **** Ryder was still trying to maintain his distance. There were only twenty meters of distance between him and the Thirteenth King now. "Almost there," Ryder muttered as he noticed that the water Trident was almost ready. He was also pleasantly happy that the Thirteenth King wasn''t using his abilities while he was forming his Trident, which made him believe that he found a limitation in the Thirteenth King''s strength. He believed that the Thirteenth King probably had a limitation where his powers could only go as far as a certain range. Even though Ryder didn''t know what that Range was, it was definitely less than twenty meters. Ryder was happy that his delaying the battle was helping him know the limitations of the Thirteenth King''s abilities, which was his main goal at this point. "Kekeke, Can you only run away, little ant?" the Thirteenth King inquired as he laughed while chasing Ryder. "Can you only chase? You dumb idiot," Ryder replied mockingly. His reply was enough to make the Thirteenth King annoyed. "Wait for a little. It won''t be long before I catch you. Then I''ll show you what I can do," the Thirteenth King said as he glared at Ryder. He didn''t know why, but he was very frustrated. He wanted to catch Ryder fast, but somehow, his speed was way lower than it was supposed to be. He was sure that if it were his normal speed, Ryder''s neck would''ve been in his hands by now, but that wasn''t the case. He was sure that his speed was fifty percent slower. "This must be one of this annoying kid''s abilities. He can do this as well! I must catch him fast and not give him any opportunity," the Thirteenth King muttered as he frowned. The distance became shorter and shorter for them. Soon, only fifteen meters were left between the two. Right at that time, the water trident took shape successfully. It became a proper trident that was sharp enough to break through human bodies with ease. "Finally, it''s here," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He held the trident in his left hand as he flew back while he kept shooting with his right hand, but no bullets were hitting. ''Now it''s diversion time,'' He thought as he changed the angle of the gun and pointed it towards the black-robed men who were standing on top of the building, watching the fights in comfort. He started firing blindly without even aiming. All he wanted was to make the Thirteenth King look back, but it didn''t happen. Even though what Ryder wanted didn''t happen, he did manage to annoy the five people who had a barrage of bullets bombarded on them. However, they seemed to have an ability similar to the Thirteenth King. Whenever the bullets got close to them, they changed their trajectory and hit the ground. "You Bastard! You''re really hateful, aren''t you?" One of the five black-robed men said. "Hahaha, the kid is interesting. He''s running from the Thirteenth King, but he still has time to annoy us," another person muttered. "He''s not annoying us. It''s as obvious as day to anyone with an eye. He was trying to distract the Thirteenth King so he could attack with his trident. Such a childish strategy," the fifth black-robed man said as he sighed. "Did you really think I would be dumb enough to look back?" the Thirteenth King asked Ryder with a smirk on his face. "That wasn''t my goal, though. I already succeeded in what I wanted to do. You''re dead," Ryder muttered as he smiled. 343 Chapter 339: New Skill " Yes! Do it now!" Ryder let out loud as he glanced behind the Thirteenth King. Even though the Thirteenth King was very careful and knew that Ryder was trying to distract him, he didn''t know that Ryder possessed the Art of Bluffing, which he had received from the Mystery Box of the system. It made his lies more believable, so much so that finding if he was bluffing or not was impossible. The Thirteenth King unwillingly looked back. As the Five Black Robes men saw the Thirteenth King turn back, they were surprised. They thought Ryder would never be able to fool the Thirteenth King but watching the Thirteenth King look back made them realize how wrong they were. The Twelfth King smiled as he glanced at Ryder. He was getting more and more impressed with Ryder the more this fight progressed. He couldn''t join the Battle and finished it instantly, but as the Thirteenth King was a hot-headed person, he wasn''t going to put his feet in his matters until he was actually needed. He was simply watching and observing Ryder, which was enough to make him know how special Ryder was, more so than the Thirteenth King. Ryder smirked as he saw the Thirteenth King turn back. He raised his Trident into the air and used all the strength he had collected to throw it towards the Thirteenth King. The Thirteenth King glanced back and soon realized that he was fooled. He instantly turned back and saw the three points of trident coming towards him. "You think that can get me?" The Thirteenth King snorted as he rolled his eyes. Ryder observed carefully to see what the Thirteenth King did. He couldn''t see if it was invisible wind blades with the bullet, but with the trident made of water, he could see if something like an air blade passed through the water, which was going to be visible for a brief second. Ryder was waiting to see how the Thirteenth King was going to react and what his range was. As the trident entered within the Ten Meters range of the Thirteenth King, Ryder was finally able to see something. He could see many cuts appearing in the Trident. It didn''t seem like a giant wind blade, but what seemed like a wind blade that was the length of a knife. Not only one, but he saw tens of cuts appearing in the Trident like these. It was obvious that the masked man could form tens of invisible blades like this. These were the things that were keeping his bullets away by hitting them precisely and changing their trajectory. Unfortunately, these blades weren''t able to harm the trident as the Trident was made entirely of water and wasn''t solid. Its direction didn''t change at all. Moreover, whatever damage it suffered was healed instantaneously. It meant that his weapons were even more amazing than he could have hoped. Even the Thirteenth King was surprised as he saw the Trident being unaffected. The Thirteenth King was stunned, yet he moved fast. He moved his body to the left, dodging the Trident. Even though he was fast, the Trident still managed to graze his shoulder. The Thirteenth King stood straight and glanced at his shoulders. He could see a light blood wound on his shoulder. "Hahaha, you finally managed to wound me. Are you happy? Let me guess; you think you forced me out of my tricks and manager to wound me. You might even think you found a way to beat me, don''t you? You forgot one thing, though," The Thirteenth King muttered as he sighed. "So what if I can''t use the old way. I still have thousands of ways to stop your attack, but I''m not going to waste them on you. I won''t use those and give you the right to brag that you forced me to use all my abilities. Go on, kid, show all your tricks. What else do you have?" He added. "I''ll give you ten minutes. Try everything. I won''t use any other abilities except the ones I''ve already used. Kill me if you can, and you win. If you can''t kill me in ten minutes, the eleventh minutes will be the moment of your death!" the Thirteenth King said as he continued chasing after Ryder. "Just what kind of monster is he! I have offense, but he can Dodge. I have bullets, but he can divert. I have speed, but he''s faster! Is this even a battle or a chase?" Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "Janus! Do you have any defensive skills that can protect me?" Ryder asked Janus as he frowned. \u003cThere is a Skill that can protect you for a short amount of time\u003e Janus''s words ignited hope in Ryder''s mind. If he could get close without dying for even a single minute, that could be game-changing for him. "Good. I can''t open the store right now. Can you get that skill for me and make me instantly learn it? You can take the Origin Points," Ryder said to Janus. He was glad to have some hope. Janus had previously made him instantaneously learn the skills in exchange for some origin points, which made him know that he could do it again. "What are you waiting for? Get me that skill," Ryder said as he didn''t get anything from Janus even after all this while. \u003cOrigin Points insufficient to buy the skill\u003e Janus replied straight away, crushing Ryder''s hopes. "If I don''t have Origin Points, give me a loan and get me the skill. Please, I need that. Not only for right now, but for the next time I face him as well!" Ryder insisted again. He had previously taken a loan of Origin Points from Janus, which he had managed to pay off, but in return, he lacked the Origin Points to buy the Skills he needed. He decided to take another loan to get the skill. \u003cLoan can''t be taken. It can only be taken once every three months\u003e Janus once again crushed all of Ryder''s hopes as he said no to giving out a loan. 344 Chapter 340: The End The Thirteenth King was laughing. He was within the Ten kilometers range of Ryder. "Ten minutes are over," the Thirteenth King muttered as he chuckled. Ryder raised his gaze and looked at the Thirteenth King when he suddenly coughed out a mouthful of blood. He blankly looked at the Thirteenth King as blood spilled out of his lips. He lowered his gaze and looked down at his chest. There was a big gaping hole where his heart was supposed to be. It was easy to look through his body through that hole. The Camera of the News Crew caught sight of it and telecasted it live as well. Esmi, Bastion, Shu, and Alice all of them stood up with pale faces as they saw Ryder''s chest being penetrated. Shu had already called for help to get to Ryder. He had also sent his own mansion guards in another Helicopter with heavy weapons to help Ryder. The help was on the way, but Ryder was already like this. Shu felt like it was all over. There was no way to save Ryder. Back in the plane, Ray also stood up, shocked as he glared at the screen, but he soon realized that Ryder was undying, so he didn''t need to worry. There was another person that seemed to stand up from their seat, and that person happened to be the strongest person in the country. The President of the States was standing up. She glanced back at the Secretary of State, who was looking at Ryder. He didn''t know why, but he was shocked to see the President standing up. "It is indeed shocking. These people are fighting and killing," He said as he smiled wryly. The lady in a black suit looked at the Secretary of State and nodded her head before sitting down. **** Ryder started falling down as his body lost all its strength. He could only see the ground coming closer and closer to his face as he fell down. His vision was turning darker, but his wounds had slowly started to heal. ''Second Death in 24 hours and that too from getting flat on the ground. I should look for some variety if I''m going to do this ever again.'' This was the last thought in Ryder''s head as his head smashed on the ground. **** Ryder slowly opened his eyes and found himself in his bedroom. He picked up his phone and looked at the clock and time on it. "It''s Five in the morning. Sigh, my second try. The last try, I can attempt to save people. After this, I''ll be on the radar of the Lord of Time. I must succeed," he muttered as he got off the bed. He walked into the washroom and cleaned his face before he came out. He walked out of the bathroom and got dressed before he left the room. He went downstairs and found the server. He wanted to use these 5 hours carefully and, if possible, solve the problems right now. He found the butler of the Mansion and asked him for the key to Ferrari. Shu was still sleeping, and the butler didn''t bother to ask him either. He knew how Shu treated Ryder. There was no way he would say no to sharing the car, so the butler gave the keys himself. Ryder took the keys and left the mansion. He stepped inside the Ferrari and turned the engine in as he took the car in reverse and got it out of the Estate. He left the Mansion and went towards the South of the city. Ray''s sister was up early and keeping an eye on the mansion. She saw the Ferrari coming out of the mansion and Ryder sitting inside it. " He''s leaving so early? This is suspicious," She muttered as she hurriedly jumped down from the balcony and landed on the ground. She entered her car and started the engine. She started following after Ryder. "This idiot! Does she never stop chasing?!" Ryder let out in frustration as he noticed the girl following him. He turned the car and blocked the road in front of her car. The woman also applied a break as she stopped. She was frowning as she wondered if Ryder had realized that she was trailing him. "This can''t be! He must be suspicious at best!" she muttered as she opened the door of the car and stepped out. "Are you crazy! Why are you blocking the road! I have somewhere to be, you idiot!" The woman said to get any speck of suspicion that Ryder might have on her without even giving him a chance to speak. Ryder didn''t reply as he walked closer to her. The woman was standing in front of her car, but she took a step back as she saw Ryder not stopping. "What are you doing?! Move your car aside and let me pass!" She said as she kept stepping back, but Ryder didn''t stop. Soon, her butt was hitting the Bonnet of her car. There was no way to move back. Ryder stood just half a meter away from her as he gazed into her eyes. He reached out his hand, scaring the girl. He placed his hands on the bonnet of the car on both sides of her. His chest was just a few inches away from her. He brought his lips close to her ears. "Little lady, didn''t someone tell you that it''s not good manners to follow someone?" He said in a soft tone. "I''m not following you! You were driving ahead of me! I was on my way to meet my friends!" the woman said to Ryder without budging. "Little lady, the school that taught you how to be a spy was established by me. Tell Ray to stop keeping an eye on me. I''m not someone you people can use for your benefits," Ryder said in her ears softly. The woman''s face turned pale as she heard Ryder''s words. It was clear that he knew everything. The only question was how. Before she could ask anything, Ryder started talking. "Don''t think how or what. Just remember one thing. If you don''t stop this childish play, I won''t be this civil next time," Ryder muttered as he softly kissed her cheeks before he turned back and started walking towards her car. "Remember my warning. I don''t like to repeat things," Ryder said as he waved his hand without looking back. 345 Chapter 341: Cost of Power Under the blank gaze of the girl, he reached his car. Entering the car, he started driving away. "This guy... how shameless!" The girl stomped her feet as she started cursing Ryder. She picked up her phone and called Ray. She informed him about everything that just happened. "Hmm? He managed to find you out, and he even knows that I sent you? Hahaha, interesting. Very interesting. He''s sending a clear message that he knows, warning me to stay away. Unfortunately, I can''t take his advice," Ray told the girl as he started laughing. "He is trash! Human trash! Why don''t you just arrest him instead of doing all this? Get the answers out through force since he already knows about you," the girl told Ray as she sighed. "You say that because you don''t know who he is. He''s not someone that can be messed around with easily. The Dream Corporation is behind him. It''ll become a national issue if that Shu Maxwell takes action. Also, I don''t want any hostility with Ryder. You didn''t see what I saw. This one man is equal to an entire army. It''s good that he''s on the outside. I don''t want to push him away by taking action against him," Ray replied in a grim tone. "What do you want me to do now? He knows about me, so it can get risky if I follow him," the girl inquired. "That''s a problem indeed. I can''t use our satellites without explaining to higher-ups why I need them. Wait, why didn''t you place a tracker on his car?" Ray asked the girl abruptly. " I did," the girl answered. "You Idiot! If you have a tracker in place, why were you trailing him!" Ray exclaimed. "The tracker can only track the car, you idiot brother of mine. It can''t see what he''s doing! I need to be near him to see what he''s doing," the girl replied as she rolled her eyes. "You are the idiot! I told you to keep an eye on where he goes! Why did you need to trail his car if you already had a tracker on the car? You should''ve gone there after his car had stopped. It''s easy to see who''s trailing on certain occasions!" Said Ray in an annoyed tone. " I know that! I was going to follow that strategy the second time. It was the first time I was trailing his car, so it shouldn''t be possible for him to know that I was trailing him! He knew about it already for some reason. I don''t know why!" the girl replied. **** While the girl and her Ray talked about what to do and playing the blame game, Ryder reached the south block of the city. He didn''t go straight to the building where he knew terrorists to be hiding, though. Instead, he entered the building, which was near it. Even though the two buildings were near, there were still two hundred meters of distance between the two. Ryder parked the car in the parking, but he didn''t step out of it. He sat in the car as he glanced at his phone. It''s six in the morning. 4 more hours before I need to leave for the party to make sure that everything else goes according to the first time. "I should be able to finish it in 4 hours. It''s just simple infiltration and assassination. What could be so tough about it? As long as those masked men aren''t there, I should be fine. Even if they are there, I still can''t be scared," he muttered as he sighed. " I have such determination, why then? Why is it that I feel scared? Why are my hands shivering? Why do I want to leave and never see the faces of these people? I can''t die. I shouldn''t need to worry about anything as long as I don''t mess with time too much, according to Janus, then why?" "Why is my heart beating so fast? Why is the thought of dying like last time scaring me so much? I''ve died so many times, I never once felt scared of death, then why now? The only difference I can see is that I died of my heart being destroyed. Is this it? Is this why I am scared? Is that my fear? Losing my heart?" Ryder seemed as if he was talking to himself as he placed his hand on his heart. He didn''t understand why he was so scared whenever the thought of dying like last time crossed his mind. He felt as if this was definitely not what he wanted. Why was he scared of losing his heart? Why was his heart such a concerning matter for him? He didn''t understand. "It might just be something from dying twice in a day. It should only be that, yeah. I''m thinking too much. But if it''s that, does that mean, the more times I die, the more I''ll feel like this? Does this mean I''ll be changing with each death? What price does each death come with? What price would I need to pay for this power?" Ryder wondered as he placed his head on the steering wheel and closed his eyes for a brief moment. "Janus, are you here? Can you listen to me?" said Ryder, breaking the silence inside the car. \u003cYes\u003e Janus'' voice was emotionless like always. There were only a few times when Ryder felt emotions in Janus'' voice. Most of the time, his voice was just emotionless. This seemed like one of those times. "Janus, be honest. Are you hiding things from me?" Ryder asked straight away. \u003cYes\u003e Janus answered without taking any time. " I won''t ask you what you''re hiding since I don''t think you''ll tell. Can you tell me if each death changes me? Is there a price to pay every time I revive without knowing?" Ryder asked straight away. \u003cYes\u003e Janus once again replied. "Can you tell me what cost I''m paying with each death?" Ryder asked in a calm tone. \u003cNo\u003e Janus once again replied but this time with a different answer, refusing to tell anyone. "Is my fear related to that?" Ryder inquired as he frowned. \u003cNo\u003e "Then why do I feel this strange unknown fear?" Ryder inquired. \u003cThe past leaves a mark on the future while the future changes the past\u003e Janus answered in vague terms. "The Past leaves a mark on the future, and the future changes the past?" Ryder muttered as he sat straight. " The first line must mean the recent death being the reason for my strange unknown fear. As for the second line, what does that mean?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "The future changes the past?" Janus didn''t answer this time, though. He didn''t say if Ryder was right or wrong. "Did you go missing again? Tell me that much, at least," Ryder replied again, but he didn''t get any answer. " Sigh, he did go silent. This guy always disappears at important times," Ryder muttered as he sighed. His hand was still on his chest as he felt the beating of his heart. "It''s going to be fine. So what if I feel like that. I won''t let fear control me. I''m the person who went through so many deaths. So what if I have this fear? At the end of the day, fear is simply fear. It can''t control my life! It can''t kill me! I''ll keep coming back. As for the cost of each revival, why should I be scared of it? I don''t even know what it is. I can only be careful not to die. I thought that I was immortal, but this immortality comes at a cost. The less I use it, the better," Ryder said with determination filled face as he sighed. He opened the door of his car and stepped on the concrete floor of the parking. His heart was still beating fast, but it was a little better now since he had stopped thinking about what will happen if he met the masked man again. He walked towards the lift that was in the parking. Pressing the button of the top floor, he watched the door of the lift close. The lift had a special code that a person needed to enter to use it before it moved up. Ryder pressed the code, which happened to be 1223. The lift started going up as sweet music started playing. The lift stopped at the top floor, and the door opened. He was greeted with the sight of a beautiful space with proper furnishing. "They did great work," Ryder muttered as he noticed how everything was arranged. He went to the stairs to get to the roof. 346 Chapter 342: Infiltration He brought his binoculars and started looking towards the building where his enemies were supposed to be. "I see no one. The roof is clear. The windows are covered, and the entrance seems to be locked¡ªno Uprising member on sight. Sigh, I sure hope that they aren''t inside this place," he muttered as he brought a mask out of his inventory. It was one of the many masks of famous characters he had brought before. This time, he was using a mask that seemed to have the face of a green monster. It was one of the famous characters of current times that was used in superhero movies. A man who could turn into a green monster and smash everything, including the villains. He was called Bulk. Ryder wore the mask to cover his face. Since he was hoping to make it a reality and save everyone so that he wouldn''t need to die again, he took all the necessary precautions to make his life easier in the future. After wearing the mask, he also wore a black cloak that came down to his knees. He only had one loaded gun in his inventory now since his other guns were emptied in the last battle, but he didn''t reload them as that would''ve taken time. He was sure that his special gun was going to be enough for most. It was a gun that didn''t need to be reloaded after all. As for the masked people, even ten guns wouldn''t be enough for them, so he didn''t bother. He looked at the time on his watch. "Slightly over three hours. It should be enough if I play my cards right," he muttered as he stood on the edge of the roof. He started using his Ruler of Nature and flew straight to the next building. Fortunately, it was early morning, and this section of the city never had any traffic anyway. Landing on the roof, he walked straight towards the door. He was sure that it was going to be locked like it was last time when he opened it using his gun. Unfortunately, he couldn''t use his gun as the noise might attract their attention. This was the problem he was going to face, so he had already thought of it. Before he left the Maxwell Estate, he had taken a gas cutter from there, which he kept in his inventory. Bringing the gas cutter out of his invention, he started cutting the lock on the door. He had never actually used the gas cutter, but he had seen it being used before, so he felt like he knew what he was doing. Soon, the door was open for entry. Ryder stepped on the stairs and started going downstairs, placing his foot gently on the stairs, not to make any sound in case someone was near. He also had his gun in his hand, which was attached to a silencer so that he could shoot people without the noise of a gunshot. He walked through the floor and looked around to find if someone was there. He wanted to clear each floor as he went down so that no one could create any problem later. Searching around the entire floor, he found no one. The 16th floor was completely empty. He straight away went downstairs and started checking the 15th floor. He kept clearing floors as he went down. Unfortunately, he didn''t find anyone. It wasn''t until the Seventh Floor when he finally found a person for the first time. As soon as he landed on the Seventh Floor, he saw a man in a military uniform walking away from him. As the entrance of the stairs were behind the man in the hallway, he didn''t notice Ryder in the hallway. Ryder raised his gun and aimed at the head of the man from the back. With the intent to kill, he pressed the trigger and fired the shot. The bullet traveled the distance between the two in the blink of an eye and penetrated the head of the man. "Urgh," a light noise left the mouth of the man as he dropped to the ground. He died instantly. Ryder walked towards the body of the man, checking the rooms along the way to make sure that they were empty. Soon, he reached the body of the man and passed it. He held its hand and dragged it inside an empty room before leaving the room and closing the door. He didn''t want anyone to find the body if they happened to come upstairs. He continued along the way and reached the end of the hallway. There was only one room left to check now, and that was where Ryder was standing. All the rooms he had checked so far were empty, but he was sure that this room wasn''t. He could hear the sounds coming from inside. "Where did he go? It''s been over 5 minutes already. He should''ve been here 6 minutes ago. It''s his turn to keep an eye. Am I the only one who''s punctual here? I''m always on time when it''s my turn but this guy!" Ryder was standing outside, hearing the noises coming from inside. ''It sounds like there is a guy inside. He should be waiting for the guy I killed here. What is he talking about, though? His turn to keep an eye? Could it be that the bombs are inside? But they should''ve been on the 5th floor. Did they shift it downstairs later? I need to be careful here,'' Ryder thought as he waited outside. He held his gun firmly as he knocked on the door, thinking that the man would unlock the door and step outside. That''s when he wished to handle the man, away from the explosives. "Hmm? You''re late! Come on inside," said the person from inside, spoiling Ryder''s plan. Ryder opened the door and stepped inside. A strange sight greeted him as soon as he entered, which he hadn''t expected at all. He hoped that he would only see the fourteen bombs here, but he saw something that made him stunned. 347 Chapter 343: Luck There was a man who was sitting on his chair with his back facing Ryder. " Why are you so late today," the man said as he turned back. "What the heck? Who are you?!" With a shocked expression on his face, the man stood up as soon as he saw Ryder. He walked towards his gun that was lying on the nearby table. "I''m your death," Ryder muttered as he aimed his gun. The man had just managed to touch the gun when a bullet penetrated his head. The gun fell down on the ground. Ryder closed the door behind him before he turned back to look at the twenty kids who were looking at him blankly. The twenty kids were eating something that seemed to be human limbs, which was almost making Ryder vomit. He didn''t know what was happening here. Why were kids here, and why were these kids cannibals. The kids seemed to be in their early teens, but their eyes were blank. "What should I do? Are they human or the experiment of Dark Uprising?" he muttered as he frowned. He didn''t know how to deal with this. If these were normal kids, he needed to help them, but if these were the puppets of the Dark Uprising who were actually not humans, then it was going to be much worse if they were mixed with normal kids by the authorities. "Why didn''t that idiot tell me something about this. Freaking Bastards! Messing with kids," Ryder muttered as he frowned. The kids kept eating what was in their hands without looking at Ryder. He had just killed the guy who was keeping an eye on them, but it didn''t seem like something they even noticed. They were much more focused on their food. "Whatever, I''ll think about them after I handle the bomb," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He walked over to the body and picked up the gun. Placing the gun in his storage, he left the room. The twenty kids were left alone inside the room after Ryder left. They started looking at the body of the man who was just killed by Ryder. They started crawling towards the man on their knees and surrounded the man. The sound of chewing and biting filled the room. No one knew what was happening inside the room. **** Ryder stepped on the sixth floor. He was just one floor away from the fifth floor where the bombs were kept. According to his information, the sixth floor was the place where some of the scientists and the people who carried the bombs to the blast location were kept. He was already prepared to kill a lot of people as he stepped on this floor since he believed that not many people would have been out of their room this early in the morning. Killing them in their sleep was easy too. Even though he prayed that he wouldn''t come face to face with them, he was sure that he would. In the beginning, Janus had said that he had a one in ten thousand chance of saving people successfully. There was no way killing a bunch of people could be this hard. If he were facing normal people, the chances wouldn''t be so low. The only reason it could be so low was because there was one in a ten thousand chance he wouldn''t come face to face with the masked people, and he needed to do everything right to bring that one possibility to reality. He needed to make sure that he did everything right so that this was that one in a ten-thousandth reality. He was optimistic. Even though Janus said that the chances of his success were one in ten thousand, it didn''t mean he would succeed after that ten-thousandths try. It could also mean that he would succeed on the first try and fail the next ten thousand times to replicate the same feat. It was luck for him, and he hoped that luck would support him this time as he desperately needed it. This was his last chance to save people, and he had promised himself that he wouldn''t take any more risk after this. The thought of God of time coming after him was not easy to take. He could only imagine how bad his life would be if someone who ruled over time actually came after him. He could be trapped in an infinite time loop in the blink of an eye if the lord of time wished it. At any cost, he wasn''t going to go over the third time. He was going to listen to Janus'' advice since he was a person of much knowledge. Opening the door of the first room, he stepped inside. It was good that no one locked doors here. Most probably because it was against the rules or they trusted their fellow mates. Anyhow, he entered the rooms and saw a man sleeping on the bed. The man seemed to have a white beard and looked to be in his sixties. ''Must be a scientist,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. '' If only he had put his brain to good use, he wouldn''t be dying now.'' Ryder pressed the trigger, killing the old man in his sleep. He went to the washroom to check if someone was inside or not. After making sure that it was empty, he left the room and moved over to the next room. The next room had a young man who looked like he was in his late teens. He seemed like he wasn''t even twenty yet. Noticing the gun lying on a nearby table, Ryder sighed. "At such a young age." He raised his hand and fired the shot, killing the young man without a second thought. He kept the young man''s gun in his inventory before he left the room. **** A masked man was standing in front of the building inside which Ryder was killing people left and right. Five black-robed men were standing behind him. "Where is the Twelfth King? He said he would meet me here. Cheh, that idiot. I don''t know why His Majesty chose to send him with me. I can easily handle that little undying hero if he lives in this city. I don''t need old twelfth," the man muttered in a grumpy tone. He started walking towards the building. 348 Chapter 344: Familiar Face Right after the six people entered the building, a car stopped in front of the building, and a person stepped out of the car. He looked at his watch. "Right on time. I wonder if Thirteenth is going to be on time or if he''ll be late like always," the man muttered as he started walking towards the building. **** Ryder was on the sixth floor, going from room to room, killing people in their sleep. He was entirely unaware of the fact that some newcomers had entered the building he was inside. These were the people he wished not to find inside, but it seemed as if his luck wasn''t supporting him for now. Ryder was in his Sixteenth Room. He opened the door and entered inside the room. He was happy that no one locked their rooms in this place, which made his task easier. So far, he had an easy sailing where all his targets were sleeping on the bad, but this time seemed to be different. The bed was empty, but it seemed like someone had slept there that night. The blanket and the bedsheet was enough of a clue for Ryder to know that this place was not empty. ''Who lived here? Did that person leave the room before I came?'' He wondered as he walked towards the bathroom to check. "It can also be that the people I killed on that floor to be from this room,'' There were only a few meters of distance between Ryder and the door of the washroom when he saw the doorknob moving. The door opened, and a man finally came into sight. "What the heck?! Who are you?! Why are you in my room?" the man asked Ryder with a surprise look on his face as he took a step back. The man seemed like he was very young, only in his early twenties. He had beautiful red hair that came down to his shoulders. He had a sharp-looking face and brown eyes that were looking at Ryder in confusion. Ryder didn''t even look at the face of the man before he aimed his gun at his head, but he stopped and didn''t press the trigger as he saw the face of the man. "Dixon?" he blurted out a name as his mouth opened in shock. His expressions couldn''t be seen by the young man as they were hidden by the mask that Ryder wore. " Hmm? Ah, so you''re one of us. Hah, you scared me. Did the doctor send you to me? Don''t worry. Tell him I won''t be late. Syncing the bomb won''t take long. I''ll sync them in a blink of an eye. No one would be able to disable them individually. This plan will be a success! You can go. Give me five minutes. I''ll be downstairs after getting dressed," the young man told Ryder as he breathed in relief. He was glad that it wasn''t an enemy but one of their own. "Also, lower the gun, man. You know I''m not a prisoner here." He walked over to the wardrobe and started getting dressed. His voice seemed somewhat down as if he was sad. "Of course. It''ll be used to kill a few thousand insects that infest the earth. I know it''s not much, especially since there are billions of Insects destroying this earth, but one day, we''ll get our Utopia," the man replied as he sighed. **** "Ryder, stop fighting so much, man. You know you''re not going to win. So what if they mock you a little. You can''t fall down to their level. Come with me. Let me buy you a treat." ... "Hey, Ryder. Look. This bird! Do you know how rare it is? I can''t believe that I found one. These things are hunted by humans for their fun. Poor birds. Why are we so cruel?" ... "It died! It died! Why?! How can my own father kill this innocent Bird? Why?! Why is everyone so cruel to these poor things?!" .... "Sigh, another forest fire caused by humans. So many innocent animals'' lives lost." ... "Ryder, did you hear the report? The pollution has increased so much despite the measures we took! Can we even do anything with so many people disregarding common sense?" ... Ryder looked at the man and couldn''t help but reminisce about the past. A young school boy who was more concerned about nature and animals than his own life. He remembered how the young boy who was his best friend during the young days didn''t stop talking about these things and how he wished to change the world. He didn''t know how and why both of them separated and didn''t talk since he entered College. He always wondered why his old friend stopped replying to his messages. Did he forget him? Did he get busy, or did he just remove him from his life? He never expected that he would find that old friend here. **** "Are you really fine with killing people, Dixon?" Ryder asked again. "Are you testing my loyalty to Uprising? Look, dude, you might be new, but I''ve been here since my college days. I''ve already killed thousands of people, and I''ll kill thousands more today. You don''t need to suspect my loyalty," the man replied without turning back. "You already killed thousands of innocent people?" Ryder enquired. "Hahaha, yeah. It''s so overwhelming when I think about it. Still, those people were just the first step. I won''t stop until I wipe ninety percent of humanity and bring the balance back to the world," the man replied. "You killed young, old, and even kids. How did you change so much, man?" Ryder asked as he sighed. " How did you get lost so badly?" "Hmm? Why are you talking like you know me? Who exactly are you?" the man asked as he turned back and looked at Ryder. Ryder placed his hand on his mask and slowly removed it, revealing his face to his old friend. The man looked at him for a brief period before managing to recognize him. "Hmm? Ryder is that you?" the man exclaimed. "It''s you! I can''t be wrong! You joined Uprising too? It''s so awesome! We can both work together to improve the world," Dixon said as he started laughing. "To improve the world or to destroy it?" Ryder asked as he looked into Dixon''s eyes. 349 Chapter 345: Sin He turned back and continued getting dressed. Ryder looked at the back of the man before he took a deep breath. He started walking towards the exit. "Goodbye, Dixon." "Bye, I''ll see you downstairs," With a wave of a hand, Dixon replied. Just as Ryder was near the door, he glanced back at Dixon. "No, you won''t," Ryder said as he raised his gun slowly. "What do you mean?" Dixon let out as he glanced in the direction of Ryder, but his mouth opened slightly as he saw the gun aiming at him. "Come on, Ryder. Stop joking. I''m going to get late if you don''t stop. Go and tell the doctor that I''ll be right downstairs," Dixon said to Ryder as he smiled wryly. He had just started to wear a shirt. He put his left hand inside the shirt, but before he could put his right hand inside, a trigger was pulled, a bullet was shot, and a head was penetrated. Dixon''s eyes were still wide open as his body fell on the ground. He couldn''t believe that he had just died like that. "You''re too far gone. Have a good rest," Ryder muttered as he left the room and closed the door behind him. **** Back on the first floor, the Thirteenth King had entered the lift with his five followers. The doors of the lift closed, and it started to go upwards. A few seconds after the door of the lift closed, the Twelfth King entered the building and walked towards the lift. He starts tapping the button to call the lift. The Thirteenth King stepped out of the lift on the fifth floor. "Your Highest, the Thirteenth King. You''re here," A man in white doctor''s clothes noticed the Thirteenth King getting out of the lift and went forward to greet him. "The Twelfth King didn''t come? I was here to escort both of you," he continued. "Hmm. That guy is late. Ignore him. Anyway, Where is Senia," the Thirteenth King enquired. "Boss? Please follow behind me. The boss is checking the bombs one last time. I''ll take you to him," the man said as he started walking ahead. The Thirteenth King and the others followed behind. The lift went back to the first floor. The Twelfth King entered the lift as the lift''s door opened. He tapped the button of the fifth floor and watched the door close. He stepped out of the lift on the fifth floor and looked around to see if anyone was there. He saw a man in soldier uniform standing at some distance. "You, Where is Senia?" he asked the man. The guard escorted him to the place. "I''ll handle the rest. You can go back," he waved his hand and told the guard to go back. Turning back, the guard started walking away. The Twelfth King glanced at the Thirteenth King, who seemed to be about fifty meters away from him. He disappeared from his position and appeared right beside the Thirteenth King. The Thirteenth King didn''t even glance towards the Twelfth King as he said, "You were late." "No, I wasn''t late. It seems like you were early. Well, I guess I can''t blame you. You being early is better than you being late," The Twelfth King replied in a calm tone. The seven of them were escorted to the room where they saw fourteen bombs placed in a line. A man in a black cloak was sitting with his back facing them. He seemed to be working on the bombs. "Boss, The Kings are here," the white-robed man said after entering the room. The black-cloaked man turned back and gazed at the Thirteenth and the Twelfth King. He stood up and bowed his head a little, revealing his face that seemed to be that of an old man who was in his sixties. He had a long white heart. "Your Highness, the Thirteen King, welcome," he greeted the Thirteenth King before shifting to the Twelfth King. "Your Highness, the Twelfth King, welcome." "You''re still working on the bombs? Are they not ready yet?" the Thirteenth King inquired. "Ah, they are ready. I was just checking them to make sure that everything was right. Now the only thing left to do is to sync all of them together so that no one can disable them individually," The old man said. " Why didn''t you do it yet? Are you being lazy? You know I don''t like lazy people," the Thirteenth King said as he glared at the man. "Ah, not at all. It will only take five minutes at most. We''ll start syncing soon. Our men will be here soon. We didn''t do it before because it was more effective to do it half a day before we expect them to blast. Any more than this, and it would''ve wasted the energy of the bombs," the man said. " Call him here and finish it in front of me. I don''t want any mistakes. I want our little prey to appear today, but if he doesn''t, I still expect to see a good show of screams and cries," the Thirteenth King said. "Of Course. Please take a seat while I arrange things," the old man told the two kings as he pointed towards the seats that were placed on one side of the room. "Hmph," the Thirteenth King started walking towards the seat. The Twelfth King also followed. Both of them took seats while the Five followers of the Thirteenth King stayed standing. "You go and call Dixon downstairs. That guy is going to get me killed someday," the old man told the man in the White robe to call Dixon downstairs. The man nodded his head as he left the room. He entered the lift to go to the sixth floor. **** "This makes it the Sixtieth kill of the day. At Least I don''t have to regret anything. I''m only doing this world a favor by killing them," Ryder muttered as he glanced at the dead body that was lying on the bed. " If it''s a sin, then it''s a sin I''m willing to bear," he let out as he turned back to leave the room. He stepped out of the room. 350 Chapter 346: Going Down He moved over to the next room, which was to be the last room on this floor that he needed to search before it was going to be the time to go downstairs. He opened the door and entered the room. Just as Ryder entered the room and closed the door behind him, the door of the lift opened, and a man in a white robe stepped out of the lift. The man started walking towards a certain room. He was sent to call Dixon, unaware of the fact that Dixon was already dead, and his dead body was lying on top of the bed. **** Ryder was standing in front of the bed, where two people laid bare. None of the two was wearing any clothes. While the guy was lying on his stomach, exposing his bare buttocks, the girl lay on her back, exposing everything for Ryder''s eyes. Born of them had their eyes closed as they slept in peace. Ryder raised his gun and aimed at the guy first. He pressed the trigger of the gun. Without making much noise, the bullet left the gun and entered the head of the man. Without waiting for even a second, he shifted his gun to the side and aimed at the girl. "Not bad," he complimented before he pressed the trigger, killing the woman. He turned back and left the room, leaving the two bare bodies behind. As he stepped out of the room, the white-robed man entered the room of Dixon. Ryder walked towards the stairs that happened to be right beside the stairs. "Aaa! Murder!" Ryder had just taken a few steps when he heard a scream. It seemed to be coming from Dixon''s room. "Fuck! Someone saw already!" Ryder cursed as he started running towards the room of Dixon. He was just a few steps away from the room when he saw a man dressed in white stepping out of the room. The man seemed like he was running towards the lift to get to his people. Both of them saw each other. The man stopped in his tracks, not knowing what to do. He didn''t have a gun with him, but he did see the gun in Ryder''s hand. "W-who are you?" He asked Ryder. "I''m warning you! Leave this place without creating any trouble. You are messing with the wrong people here!" " Hah, You guys were the ones that decided to mess with me first," Ryder replied as he raised his gun. Without taking a second to think, he fired the shot that killed the man. The man''s body dropped to the ground. He held the hand of the man and dragged his body towards the lift and pressed the button of the lift. He saw the indicator that showed that the lift was coming from the fifth floor. He was alert to make sure that the enemies weren''t in the lift. He had prepared to kill anyone the moment the doors of the lift opened. *Ting* If the door didn''t close, the lift wouldn''t go down, and in return, no one would be able to come up on the lift while he was on the stairs. He didn''t want something like this to happen again, where someone saw the dead bodies upstairs. If they came through the stairs where he was, he would be able to kill them, but if they came from the lift when he was on the stairs, he would be exposed. The door of the lift started closing, but it hit the body and opened again. Leaving the body and the lift behind, Ryder started walking towards the stairs. He starts going downstairs. While Ryder was carefully coming down to the most important floor of this whole endeavor, which was the fifth floor where all the bombs were kept, the two Kings waited for the bombs to be ready before they could leave. The old man who was given the responsibility of handling the bombs and the operation related to them was called Senia. He was walking back and forth, waiting for Dixon to come down. "Just where are those people? They don''t have any value of time, do they? I sent him to call Dixon down, and now he has disappeared as well. Those idiots! The two kings are here. Can''t they be punctual a single day?" Senia muttered as he looked at his watch in frustration. "After walking back and forth for a few more seconds, he turned back to look at the Two kings. The Thirteenth King was looking at him in frustration, whereas the Twelfth King was sitting with his hands folded. The Thirteenth King was looking impatient, whereas the Twelfth King was looking bored. "Your Highness, I''ll go and see what''s taking them so long. I''ll be right back," The old man said to the kings before he left the room to go see for himself why two of them were taking so long. " Looks like these people don''t know the value of being on time, just like a certain someone who is always late," The Twelfth King muttered as he smiled subtly. "Do you think I don''t know who you''re talking about? Do I need to remind you that it was you who were late?" the Thirteenth King said in irritation. " I wasn''t late. I was sharp on time; it was you who were early today," the Twelfth King replied. "Just time that I''m never late. You guys are always early," the Thirteenth King said as he frowned. Away from the two kings, the five followers were having a discussion of their own. "I''m so bored. Can''t the day be over soon so we can see the fireworks?" The First of the five muttered. " Things take time. Don''t worry. The end result should be worth it. If we''re lucky, we might even get to see that Mysterious Person appeared for whom we placed this deliberate trap," The Second Man replied. " It''s good to be optimistic, but it''s just as important to keep your expectations in control. The chances of disappointment would be less that way. Just think about the fireworks. If the mysterious person appears, it would be like a bonus in that case, and if he doesn''t, it won''t be disappointing," the Fifth man chimed in. 351 Chapter 347: Mission or Trap? **** "What happened to the lift? Why isn''t it coming down?" the Old Scientist, known as Senia was standing in front of the lift, pressing the buttons, but it didn''t seem like the lift was coming down. It was showing that the lift was on the sixth floor. " Why isn''t anything going as per expectations? Now even the lift stopped working?" the man cursed in frustration as he started walking towards the stairs. "This is where the real test starts¡ªthe one in a ten-thousandth reality. I can''t waste this chance. I''ll make it that one successful possibility," Ryder muttered as he looked at the gun in his hand. "Janus, What are the chances of my success now that I''m here? I must have eliminated a lot of those ten thousand realities by being here. My chances should be better now, right? Give me a number," Ryder asked Janus. \u003cYou have one in five thousand chances of success\u003e Janus answered. There seemed to be some impatience in his tone. \u003cWhy do you wish to take the risk to sacrifice so much to save a bunch of strangers? Did you not learn anything after the last time?\u003e Janus asked Ryder. Ryder felt as if he could sense the sadness in Janus'' words. He could see that it was probably one of those times when Janus behaved like a real being. " It''s because I can. I can save thousands of lives, so why wouldn''t I? If it''s a little harmful to me, so what? If I can save anyone without losing people close to me in the process, it''s always going to be a win," Ryder muttered as a smile appeared on his face, but that smile was countered by the sadness in his eyes. " Alice and I are both orphans, You know? It''s not fun. It was never fun. Seeing Alice cry, remembering her parents, is something I still remember. As for myself, the memories of my father and mother are still in my heart. I don''t ever wish this fate on anyone else. I can only imagine how many kids would lose their parents and how many parents would lose their families if these attacks are successful. I have a chance to stop them without any dangers to myself, so why wouldn''t I?" Ryder inquired. " You said yourself; I can go back in time three times at once without attracting the attention of the lord of time. I''m saving the last trip to save my friends and family by following the same set of events like the first time in case something went wrong, but that still gives me two attempts. I would be too cruel not to try that while I have the opportunity to save people. If I can stop even one person while keeping my friends and me safe, that would be a win for me," he continues. Ryder didn''t know if it was real or his imagination, but he seemed to hear Janus'' sigh. It was the time... the time for a mission from Janus. \u003c Ding... A mission has been issued to the host\u003e As Ryder heard that, a stunned look appeared on his face. This timing was just so strange. If it was a mission like he had received when he had killed the Dark Uprising members, then it was definitely a good thing, but if it was a mission that was going to mess with him like Janus often did, then it was going to be a bad thing. Ryder could only hope that it was going to be a good thing. \u003cMission: Stop the plot of Uprising and escape without getting caught\u003e \u003cMission Rewards: Two Thousand Origin Points\u003e \u003cPunishment of failure: You would never be able to succeed in stopping these attacks\u003e \u003cTime Limit: One Day\u003e \u003cTo help the host have a fighting chance to complete the mission, he is allowed to take the rewards in advance\u003e \u003cWarning: If the host takes the Rewards in advance and fails to finish the mission, he would have to pay back double what he received in advance\u003e \u003cWould you like to take the advance?\u003e \u003cYes/No\u003e Janus asked Ryder after explaining the mission. As Ryder heard the main and about the advance, a smile appeared on his face. "Would I take the advance? I would have to be stupid not to take it. Origin Points are exactly what I need!" Ryder exclaimed with a smile on his face. "Yes, give me the points in advance," Ryder declared. \u003cTwo Thousand Origin Points have been given to the host\u003e "Janus, you''re good. You do make my life hell sometimes, but you always come with a helping hand when I really need it. Thanks for the origin points," Ryder thanked Janus. \u003cDon''t thank me. You will have to pay me four thousand Origin points if you fail. I would have a fun time collecting those four thousand points from you\u003e "Ah, you''re trying to confuse me, aren''t you? You definitely did this to help me, right? You didn''t do it, so I would owe you an exorbitant amount of origin points, which would allow you to make my life real hell, right?" Even though Ryder said it, he was actually starting to doubt Janus'' intentions. \u003cSure\u003e Janus replied, intentionally talking as if he was mocking Ryder for being stupid. "You bastard! Do you really think I''ll give you the satisfaction of owning me? I''ll win, and I''ll win with the extra Origin Points I received!" Ryder declared as he rolled his eyes. He was halfway down the stairs between the sixth and the fifth floor. Instead of going down, he went back again. Now that he had enough Origin Points, he could prepare more thoroughly to face the powerful Beings that he might face. He knew that he couldn''t buy things from the store when he would be under the enemy gunfire. He wanted to buy on the sixth floor. No one could come up using the lift since the lift was stuck here. As for the stairs, he could kill them if any unaware enemy came up even when he was busy going through the items in the store. He stepped on the sixth floor and moved away from the stairs. "Janus, open the store," he commanded. A semi-transparent screen opened in front of him, which showed the store of the system. 352 Chapter 348: Aria The Screen had various items listed on it, which ranged from one point to Five Thousand Points. "Janus, which skill did you talk about that could protect me against the onslaught of those invisible attacks? Tell me the price range where I can find it," Ryder asked Janus as he continues scrolling down. He didn''t want to go through the description of all the items to find what item he could use for him. \u003cIt''s worth One Thousand Nine Hundred Origin Points, called Protection of Aria\u003e Janus answered Ryder and didn''t ignore him. "Protection of Aria?" Ryder muttered as he tried to find the skill. Soon, he found the skill that was called the Protection of Aria. He opened the description of the skill to understand it better. [Protection of Aria] [Description: The Skill of Goddess of Protection, Aria. Once used, it can make the user invulnerable to any harm for Sixty Seconds] [Usage: The Protection of Aria can only be used once in a day, and its effects can last for sixty seconds] "Protection of Aria, invulnerable to any harm? This is amazing," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "Even though it can only last for Sixty Seconds, that''s still pretty useful. Sixty Seconds is more than enough. I can use them for my benefits," Ryder let out. He tapped on the skill and purchased it. \u003cYou have Purchased the Protection of Aria. Do you wish to learn it instantly?\u003e \u003cCost of Instant Learning: Fifty Origin Points\u003e \u003cYes\u003e \u003cNo\u003e "Fifty? Why is it so expensive? The last skill I learned cost only Five Origin Points? Are you inflating the price instantly because I need to use the skill instantly?" Ryder inquired with a suspicious look on his face. \u003cThe last skill you learned was a low-level skill, so it didn''t cost much\u003e Janus answered Ryder without taking much longer to think. "Sigh, whatever. Take fifty origin points and give me the skill," Ryder answered in a low voice. Ryder could feel a vast amount of information entering his brain. He could also feel some change taking place in his body. His blood was heating up. It was even starting to hurt him, but fortunately, it didn''t cross his threshold. Soon, the pain started going down, and his blood started getting cold. Previously it was getting hotter than normal, but now it was getting colder than normal. With a shivering body, Ryder asked, "Janus, what is happening? Why is this skill making me sick?" Janus didn''t answer him even after a few seconds passed. His face was turning pale because of the freezing cold, but it stopped before it could get too extreme. His temperature returned to normal slowly. "Did this skill change something inside my body to be able to use it?" Ryder wondered, but he didn''t waste any time thinking. He still had fifty Origin Points remaining from the ones he has received. He decided to use them at the same time and purchased an item that he thought to be useful for him. After he finished with everything, he started to walk towards the stairs to go down but stopped in his tracks before he could step in front of the stairs as he heard the sound of someone talking. "This useless lift had to stop working right now. I hate stairs, but I have no choice. Those idiots will be getting a really big scolding for making me go through this." Ryder heard the words. Noticing that someone was coming up, he aimed his gun towards the stairs and stepped forward. "Wha-" A white-cloaked man was standing on the stairs. He grew shocked at the sight of a masked person suddenly appearing in front of him with a gun in his hand. He couldn''t even get a word out of his mouth before a bullet penetrated his head. His eyes were wide open. Dropping down to his knees, dead, the man''s body was about to roll downstairs, but it was stopped by Ryder, who placed his feet on the body of the man to stop him from falling down. He picked up the body of the man and carried it up. Placing the body inside a room, he again went downstairs. Bringing out the second gun from his inventory, he finally stepped on the fifth floor. As soon as he stepped on the fifth floor, his eyes fell on three guards that were standing in the hallway. Two of the guards were looking away from him, whereas he happened to be in the direct line of view of the third guard. The guard raised his weapon while opening his mouth to say something, but he appeared to be too slow compared to Ryder. "Int-" He had only managed to make a light noise before the bullet entered his head. Even though the noise was light, this light noise had managed to attract the attention of the guards, but that small moment of lapse proved to be much more to Ryder, who used these few seconds to take aim and fire at one of the guards, leaving only one guard alive. The last guard saw the dead bodies of his friends before he could see Ryder, which became his biggest mistake. He was overwhelmed at the sight of his dead mates to think of what to do. His mind couldn''t even come to a decision before he died in the eerie silence. Ryder walked over to each of the bodies and placed them in his inventory, leaving no clue here. "If I was an evil scientist who had taken over this building, where would I keep the bombs. Come on, Ryder, Think. This building should have the same structure as my building, more or less. Where would the bombs be?" Ryder muttered as he looked to the two sides of the hallways, wondering which side to go to. "Since it needs to be the right decision, let''s go to the right first," he continued as he started walking towards the right side of the hallway. He stopped in front of the first room on the side. "Just where is he? He is wasting my precious time!" While Ryder stood outside the door, he was able to hear the voice from inside. ''There are people inside," Ryder mumbled as he placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly started opening it. With a gentle click, the door was open. He pushed it open and stepped inside the room. Entering the room, He saw a man sitting on a chair. The man seemed to be old enough to be his grandfather, but he was sitting bare without any clothes covering his chest. Fortunately, he was still wearing pants. "You''re back? You brought the red shirt from my room, right? Next time don''t spill a drink on me," the man said as he stood up. "You even broke my glasses. Sigh, if only I had spare glasses in my room. Come, give me my shirt, it''s cold. After that, go buy me some vision glasses." the man said to Ryder as he reached out his hand. '' So he can''t see without his glasses? He seems like a harmless old man, but no person working for the uprising is ever harmless,'' Ryder thought as he observed the man. He also looked around the room and found it to be mostly empty. There were no bombs at sight. "Come on, stop wasting my time, you trash! Give me my clothes!" the man thundered. With a gentle sigh, Ryder turned back and started to leave. Before opening the door, he moved his hand back and fired a shot without looking back. The bullet left the gun, and shockingly it managed to hit the old man right on the head without looking back. "I''m back, old man." Just as Ryder opened the door, he saw a man standing on the other side who was holding a shirt in his hand. "Wrong timing, dude," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. Another bullet left the silent gun, but this time, it hit the heart of the man. Ryder pulled the man and threw him inside the room before shooting at the head of the man as well. The second bullet was also spot on. He moved over to the second room in the hallway and opened the door to look inside. The room happens to be entirely empty as well. He walked over to the third room in the long hallway. He didn''t know why, but as he reached close to the third hallway, he could feel his heart beating faster. He could feel a sense of danger from the third room. He had a feeling that this was the right room. The bombs must be inside, he thought as he stood in front of the room. He touched the doorknob of the third room and slowly opened the door. 353 Chapter 349: Escape His eyes fell on the five people standing on the side. It didn''t go according to his plan, though, since the five just happened to be looking in his direction. The situation turned a little awkward for Ryder as he was just trying to look inside, and he was already caught in the first second itself. He also noticed the masked man that he had fought in the previous timeline, sitting comfortably, looking at him. There was also another man standing beside the masked man. He recognized that man was the second person who was arguing with the masked man in the last timeline. They seemed to hold similar positions. The black-cloaked men were most probably the underlings. "Are you that Dixon who is supposed to sync the bomb?" the Thirteenth King asked Ryder, confusing him as Dixon, who the old man had gone to call. ''Are they confusing me with Dixon? He was supposed to sync the bombs, that I know, but how could it be that no one knows his face here?'' Ryder wondered as he tried to make sense of the situation. He didn''t know that the people who were inside this room were the higher-ups of the Dark Uprising who hadn''t seen Dixon. Only the scientists had seen Dixon, and they were already lying dead on the sixth floor. "Are you Dixon or not?" the Thirteenth King asked again. "I am Dixon. Sorry for being late," Ryder replied as he entered the room. "I''ll sync the bombs. It''ll be don''t in the blink of an eye," Ryder said, repeating the same words that Dixon had told him when he thought that Ryder was sent to call him down. "Get to it," the Thirteenth King replied casually before he shifted his focus to the twelfth king and continued arguing. The five black-robed people also ignored Ryder and continued discussing how they were going to deal with the mysterious undying hero if he appeared in the evening at the blast locations. Ryder heard their words and understood that they really didn''t know it was him and not Dixon. He wasn''t sure if it was the mask he was wearing, or they had actually never seen Dixon. ''Must be the mask. They think Dixon is behind the mask,'' Ryder thought as a smile appeared on his face that was hidden by the mask. That makes it easier to deal with the bombs. He glanced at the fourteen bombs. He was so close to his target, but he didn''t walk towards the bombs; instead, he turned back to look towards the Thirteenth King since he seemed to be the leader. He had a plan in his mind, and he wasn''t sure if it was going to work, but he wanted to try it. "Hmm? That wasn''t something we were told before. That idiot Senia! How dare he not tell me this," The Thirteenth King let out in annoyance as he stood up. "Where is Senia?" The Twelfth King asked Ryder as he also stood up. ''Who is this Senia?'' Ryder wondered. He didn''t know anything about any person like that, but he knew that he did need to answer something. The only thing he was sure of was that Senia was not in this room. Could he be the person he killed on this floor or someone he killed on higher floors? He wondered. " He went upstairs to check the room," Ryder replied vaguely. "Which room?" the Twelfth King asked suspiciously. "I don''t know. I met him on the stairs when I was coming down. He just said that he was going upstairs to check the room," Ryder replied calmly. "Upstairs, huh? Fine. We''ll wait outside. You prepare everything here," the Twelfth King said, walking towards the door. "I''m in charge here. Stop interfering!" The Thirteenth King scolded the Twelfth King before he shifted his focus to Ryder and repeated the words of the Twelfth King. "We''ll wait outside. You prepare everything here." He also left the room, followed behind by the five subordinates. All of them stood outside the room, leaving only Ryder inside the room. Breathing a sigh of relief, Ryder walked towards the fourteen bombs. "So you are the things that created so much trouble. You''re coming with me," Ryder muttered as he opened the inventory and kept the fourteen bombs in his inventory. Now he held fifteen bombs in his inventory since he had kept the fourteen bombs in the previous timeline. There was one problem though. The fourteenth bomb from the previous timeline was already synced with other Thirteen bombs. As he kept the fourteenth bomb in his inventory last time, the sync was broken, and the Thirteen bombs went off. The fourteenth bomb, however, didn''t because it was paused in time inside his inventory. As soon as he brought it out, it would be searching for the other bombs and not finding them; the bomb would blast in a few minutes. At most, it would take the same time as it took for the other bombs to blast in the previous timeline. After keeping the bombs in his inventory, he turned back to leave. Taking a deep breath and calming his heart, he walked towards the door. He didn''t want to fight now that he didn''t need to. Even after getting the Protection of Aria, he was not confident in killing the masked man since he only has one minute of protection of Aria. While he had only one minute of invincibility, the masked man was really strong. From what Ryder had heard last time, that guy wasn''t even using all his abilities last time because he didn''t want to be seen as weak against a kid. Ryder still didn''t know what those abilities were. On the rare chance that he killed the masked man, there was still the second person who seemed to be in the same position as the masked man. That was going to be two formidable enemies, not even counting the five black-robed men that were going to join the fight. Sixty seconds were definitely not enough for him, and he knew that. Ryder decided to leave for now but do something else instead. He had already planned two steps ahead to make sure that he would be ahead of them for the second time. He had already finished the preparation ahead of time. All he needed to do now was escape. Releasing a mouthful of breath, he opened the door and stepped out. "It''s done," he told the people who were waiting outside. "Good. Go and call Senia. We''ll go after he checks things and assures us that everything is ready," the Thirteenth King told Ryder. A smirk formed on Ryder''s face as he heard the man''s words. He needed a path to leave, and what better way but to go upstairs and leaving the same way he came. It was as if the Two Kings were telling him to escape themselves. He nodded his head before he walked towards the stairs. The Thirteenth King opened the door and entered the room to sit down, but his eyes fell on the location where the bombs were lying previously. The entire place was empty. There was nothing there at all. "The bombs? That bastard!" he thundered as he stepped out of the room. "That bastard stole the bombs somehow! You check downstairs, and I''ll see upstairs!" he informed the Twelfth King before he ran in the direction of the stairs. The stairs were going in a circle, leaving a spot one-meter diameter in the center from which the top floor could be seen. The Thirteenth King jumped to that spot and landed on the ground floor, leaving a deep crater on the concrete floor. He raised his left leg a few centimeters above the ground and tapped his feet on the ground. Even though his foot tapped on the ground lightly, it was enough to create another crater. The force propelled his body upwards like lightning. The man went from one floor to another in the blink of an eye. Soon, he reached the Seventeenth Floor. He caught the railing of the stairs and landed on the stairs. He could see that the door to the roof was open. Stepping on the roof, he found Ryder running towards the edge of the roof. " Run, little guy. Let me see where you can run to now," the man laughed out loud as he looked at Ryder running like a thief he was. Ryder heard the voice of the Thirteenth King and stopped at the edge of the roof 354 Chapter 350: Acceleration "You''re fast," Ryder muttered as he turned back. "Where are your partners?" "Sigh, do you really think I need anyone to crush you? You would be already dead by now if I weren''t curious as to who you actually are. So tell me, little rat. Who are you and why, and how did you steal the bombs?" the Thirteenth King asked Ryder as he frowned. "I didn''t take the bombs. Do you see anything in my hands? It''s still inside the room. I synced the bombs and left. Why are you after me? Let me die in peace now that I have finished my work," Ryder said as he took a step back. He was just one step away from falling down. The Masked Man didn''t respond as he started stepping closer. Ryder understood what the man was trying to do. Currently, there were more than twenty meters of distance between the two of them. The man probably wanted to decrease the distance to less than twenty meters, but Ryder knew that he couldn''t let the man do that. If the man managed to get within the attacking range, then Ryder would lose his hands and legs before he could even speak. If it happens, it would be easy for the man to know that Ryder was the person they were looking for when his body starts healing right before the man''s eyes. "Wait! Don''t come closer, or I''ll jump. You will never find your bombs after I die!" Ryder thundered just when the man was five meters away from the attacking range. The Thirteenth King''s right leg was in the air and about to land on the ground, but he stopped and placed it back. He didn''t move ahead. "So you did confess that you know where the bombs are. Tell me where the bombs are and who you are. I can let you leave," The Thirteenth King told Ryder in a grim tone. "Also, if you think you can die in peace after jumping, then you can''t be more wrong. The Twelfth King is standing on the ground. You have no path of escape," he continued as he looked at Ryder with a smile. ''Ah, his partners are on the ground? That does make things more complicated, but it also gives me a great opportunity,'' Ryder thought as a subtle smile formed on his face. ''Janus, I don''t know if what I''m to do is a part of that one in ten thousand possibilities in which I''m successful, but I''ll do all it takes to take him down,'' he thought as if he was talking to Janus. His hand was behind his back as he started walking towards the Thirteenth King. "I''ll show you where I hid the bomb. Don''t harm me." The Thirteenth King scoffed at Ryder, not knowing that Ryder had pulled out his gun behind his back that he was still hiding. Ryder continued walking closer until he was just twenty-one meters away from the man. The man took a step towards Ryder, while Ryder took a step towards the man. Both of them were within twenty meters of each other. The Thirteenth King grinned as soon as Ryder was within his range. "I don''t think you''ll need your hand to show me the direction," he suddenly let out as he waved his right finger. He waited for Ryder''s scream when his hand was cut; however, nothing happened to Ryder''s hand. His hand was perfectly fine. The Thirteenth King didn''t understand how it was possible. How could his ability fail? How was Ryder''s hand still intact? "I disagree, big guy. How would I kill you if I don''t have my hands," Ryder let out as he grinned. He flew towards the man who was still shocked. The man kept attacking with his invisible blades, unaware that Ryder was under the Protection of Aria and he was invincible for the next sixty seconds. "H-how is this possible?" the Thirteenth King exclaimed as he moved back. Even though he was stunned, he didn''t let Ryder get close to him. He kept moving back like lightning. As for the Bullets that were coming out of Ryder''s guns were also unable to hit him. Even though Ryder was invincible, it didn''t stop the Thirteenth King from using his powers to protect himself. The Thirteenth King''s speed was also a big problem. Even when his speed was being compressed, and Ryder''s speed was being enhanced, he was still much faster than Ryder. With each passing second, the distance between them only increased. " Do you think your speed can save you? I already know it''s a problem. I won''t let it save you anymore!" Ryder said as he pulled out something from his inventory while he continued chasing after the man. It was a yellow pill that he had purchased from the excess points he had left after buying Protection of Aria from the store. In the previous timeline, when Ryder fought the Thirteenth King, he had already realized that his speed under the effect of the rain was just a tiny bit slower than the Thirteenth King. He had realized that he needed a little stimulant to get himself above that threshold to get faster than the man. Seeing enough Origin Points with him, he decided to buy two things, one of which happened to be \u003cPill of Acceleration\u003e. It was a pill that could increase a person''s speed by twenty percent, but it was a one-time use item, and its effect lasted for only five minutes. Ryder didn''t care about the time, though. He only had forty seconds remaining. It was obvious that the pill would outlast his protection anyway. As he ate the pill, his speed increased, which stunned the Thirteenth King. He was surprised at how fast Ryder had suddenly become when he watched suddenly. "Alright. You have intrigued me. You can''t be that simple. Are you that little undying hero or a new obstruction that appeared in our path out of thin air? Whatever it is, you should be happy. You have forced me to use my true abilities now. You can die in peace," The Thirteenth King stopped moving back as a grin formed on his face. 355 Chapter 351: Countdown Holding the gun in his left hand, he used his right hand to thrust the water Trident towards the man. The Trident reached closer to the man, but just as it was a few inches away from the man, the Trident stopped. It seemed to have struck some kind of invisible wall that was in front of the man. The Trident couldn''t move ahead no matter how hard Ryder tried. He used his gun in an effort to break whatever invisible wall he had, but then the bullets didn''t manage to get through. The bullets hit the invisible walls and fell down on the ground. Looking at the mocking grin on the man''s face, Ryder realized that it was impossible to hit the man. There are only twenty-second left in his invincibility. He knew that it was a time to decide. A time to decide if he was going to fight this war till the bitter end and see everything he achieved go to waste or run away. He knew that running away was a good possibility but that only meant prolonging the time until he had to face the man again since it was obvious that they weren''t going to stop with a single city. There was this deep conundrum in his head, but he knew that keeping his head down was the best option for now. He stole the bombs and changed the future already. As for these people escaping and doing this again, he had already thought of something for that. He opened his inventory and pulled out the fourteenth bomb, but this was not the bomb from this timeline. It was a bomb from the previous timeline that probably had only a few minutes left after coming out before it burst. Ryder had seen the exact time when the Thirteen bombs blew up in the previous timeline after he kept the bomb in the inventory. He knew exactly how much time he had from that. ''Four minutes before the fourteenth bomb blow up. Twenty Seconds before my invincibility is over. Four Minutes and forty seconds before my Acceleration is over. Until then, I''m faster than him. I can create twenty meters of distance without dying until my Protect of Aria lasts. After that, he shouldn''t be able to harm me for some time since he can''t get me in his range.'' ''This is it. This is the time to show my true ability. If u survive, I''ll save everyone. If I die, I''ll let history take place like it did the first time. Everything for this moment,'' Ryder thought as he held the black bag in his hand. He had already put his gun back in his Inventory, and he was still trying to break the barrier with his Trident. Watching Ryder fly, the Masked Man''s eyes were opened in surprise. He couldn''t understand what exactly happened. He could fly? How? Without thinking much, he started running after Ryder. Ryder flew off the building and became visible in the sky. The Twelfth King and the Five Black Robes subordinates also saw Ryder in the sky flying. Ryder''s face was still covered in a mask, making them unable to see who he actually was, but they recognized him to be the person they were looking for that stole the bombs. The Twelfth King seemed as if he was about to take action, but he stopped as he saw the Thirteenth King running after Ryder. "Sigh, he''ll be really pissed if I help him. He should be able to deal with it, though," the Twelfth King muttered as he gazed in the sky. The Five Subordinates also did the same. They stayed there and didn''t chase after them since they had faith in the Thirteenth King. \u003cProtection of Aria''s effects are over\u003e Ryder heard Janus'' Voice after Fifteen Seconds passed. "Janus, you know why my plan is, right? Tell me what my chances of successful escape are if I manage to pull it off?" Ryder asked Janus as he continued flying away. Even though the Protection of Aria was over, Ryder was still over Twenty Meters away from the Thirteenth King, making his abilities useless. \u003cWith the current plan, the chances of successful escape are one in three\u003e Janus answered Ryder slowly. "Hah, that''s good to know. The One in ten thousand chance is back to one in three. All because of this little guy in my hand," Ryder muttered as he looked at the small bag in his other hand that was holding the fourteenth bomb. The clouds of rain seemed to be following after Ryder, bringing their rain with them. With the rain, came the effects of the rain, which made sure that the Thirteenth King''s speed was lowered. Mixed with Ryder''s fast speed with the effects of the rain and the further increase because of the \u003cPill of Acceleration\u003e, Ryder was able to increase the distance between them, albeit a bit slowly. Time kept passing, second by second. One minute was over, and soon two minutes were over. The distance between the two of them had become twenty-five meters from the initial twenty meters in these two minutes. Despite watching the distance increase, the Thirteenth King didn''t give up. "What happened, little guy? Why are you running? What happened to the bravery you showed initially. Is your invincibility gone? Stop running and show me your power. Let me have some fun, little guy!" the Thirteenth King laughed out loud as he chased after Ryder. "Don''t worry, big guy. There will come a time when I''ll face you for real, and that will be the time when you will be running away from me just like you did at the start, but even your shield won''t be able to stop then. Your Shield will shatter. Just wait," Ryder replied in a proud tone, which the Thirteenth King found funny as Ryder was still running. He didn''t know that Ryder was having a countdown under his breath. "Ten... nine... eight..." Ryder continued his countdown as his heartbeat became slightly faster. 356 Chapter 352: Over Ryder continued the countdown as he turned back and watched the Thirteenth King come close. The Thirteenth King was getting close and closed to the attacking range. Just when he was twenty-two kilometers away, Ryder threw the Water Trident Towards the masked man. The Trident flew towards the man, attracting his attention, but it was again stopped by the invisible wall and fell down. "Is that all you got?" the Thirteenth King said mockingly as he raised his gaze, but a frown appeared on his face as he saw a bag coming towards him. After throwing the bag, Ryder continued running away, but he didn''t stop his Countdown. "3... 2... 1." Just as Ryder said one, the bag was only one meter away from the Thirteenth King. Unsure of what was inside the bag, the Thirteenth King used his invisible wall to stop the bag, unaware that the bag contained something he could never have expected Ryder to possess¡ª the live bomb. Only the Thirteenth King knew the codes to activate the blowup function of the bombs. He was about to insert the Codes in the bombs after the sync was completed. That''s why he had personally come here to this building. He didn''t know that in a different timeline, he had already activated the bombs, and Ryder had already stolen one of those bombs. That was what he was using against the man. The bag hit the invisible wall exactly one second after Ryder said one. Ryder hadn''t stopped running away for even a second. The bag hit the invisible wall, and immediately it blew up, creating a large blast. The force of the blast was so powerful that it tossed the Thirteenth King far away. His invisible wall wasn''t able to protect him either. He flew back like a missile and crashed on the window of the building that was behind him. Ryder also suffered the same thing. He was propelled forward because of the blast that happened in the air. His clothes were burnt behind him. His flesh was also badly burnt as well, making him cry in pain as he was tossed forward. He flew uncontrollably and crashed into a building that was ahead of him. Fortunately, he hit the window as well and not the wall. Breaking the window, his body crashed on the concrete floor of the building. His body laid on the 12th floor of the building as if he was a burnt body. His mask was still intact as his back was facing the blast. His body was less injured from the front. On the other hand, his body was almost ruined behind him. Still having some consciousness, he used the Ruler of Nature and watched his body heal. His body started healing slowly as his flesh started recovering. His visible backbone was once again covered in the flesh, which started getting better. Standing up, he took off whatever remained of his clothes, feeling relieved that no one was here. He still didn''t take off his mask since he wasn''t sure if there was any camera here. Bringing out his clothes from the inventory, he started getting dressed. "My car is still in the building. I can''t go that way, but I still need to leave faster before his fellow mates come after me. Hopefully, they''ll be occupied with saving that guy," Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the lift. Leaving the lift, he arrived on the ground floor. Finding the door locked, he broke a window and stepped out that way. Taking off his mask, he casually started walking towards his home. He brought his phone out of his inventory and called Shu. He could hear police sirens in the background. Apparently, the cops were here after the explosion in the sky. "Shu? Yeah, can you send a car for me at Sixteenth Street near South Block?" he asked Shu. "Ah, no. It''s nothing. I''ll tell you everything after I return," Ryder replied after hearing Shu''s barrage of questions. He disconnected the call and continued working towards the Sixteenth Street where he had called the car. He was wearing casual clothes previously, but now he was wearing professional clothes as if he was an employee, going to the office. He also held a bag in his hand like an official employee. Far away from him, the Thirteenth King was lying on the Tenth Floor of a building. He had lost his consciousness. His eyes were closed as he laid unconscious. The Twelfth King appeared beside him and sighed, looking down at him. "So that person got the best of you. I told you not to be overconfident, didn''t I? Whatever, looks like we''ll both be punished when we get back," the Twelfth King muttered. He glanced back at the five Subordinates of the Thirteenth King while hearing the sirens downstairs. "You take him back. I''ll go and try to find the guy," The Twelfth King muttered, walking towards the window. "In an explosion of this magnitude, he should be injured as well. I''ll try to find him," he added as he started walking towards the broken window. **** Ryder had changed his direction multiple times as he reached the Sixteenth Street and started waiting for the car. While waiting, he glanced at his phone and wondered if he should call someone. Ultimately, he decided to call Ray. Ray was sitting in an urgent meeting that was called to talk about the explosion that took place some time ago. Even though no one died, the explosion was a serious matter, and they needed to investigate it. The teams were being selected to be sent to NJ for this mission right now. Ray''s phone was as silent, so he didn''t know and didn''t pick up Ryder''s calls. Ryder disconnected the call and placed his phone in his pocket. " I''m doing his work, and he''s the one who''s busy," Ryder muttered as he rolled his eyes. **** The Twelfth King arrived at the location where Ryder had crashed. He could see spots of blood on the ground He looked around and frowned, not finding anyone. "It seems like he was badly injured. But no blood drops can be seen in any direction. He definitely didn''t drag his bloodied body. Did someone take him, or did he heal and walk on his own? Could he be that undying hero who killed out people in DC? He can heal like our people and fly. He even has the wits to defeat the Thirteenth King to unconsciousness. Interesting, very interesting," The Twelfth King muttered as he smiled. He walked inside the window and went to the ground floor. Stepping out of the lift on the ground floor, he looked around. A smirk formed on his face as he saw a broken window in the back. He stepped out of that and looked around. There were a few people walking on the road. The Twelfth King shook his head as he casually started walking North. **** A black sedan stopped in front of Ryder. He recognized the car as the car inside the Maxwell Estate. Opening the door, he entered. The car started driving away, taking Ryder straight to the Maxwell Mansion. **** The Car stopped straight inside Shu''s Mansion. Stepping out of the car, Ryder watched Shu sitting on the couch. He seemed to be looking at the News about the blast. "You''re back. You''re fine, right? The blast happened where you were standing," Shu asked Ryder as he stood up after seeing him. "Yeah, I went to see the work at my building in the south block. It happened when I was coming back," Ryder replied casually. "Wait a minute; I''ll be ready in a few seconds. We can leave after that," he told Shu as he went upstairs. He went to Alice''s room first to see how she was. She was wearing Divinity Glasses. She seemed to be immersed in the game. Closing the door, Ryder went back to his room and dropped to his bed right away. "It was so tiring," he muttered, closing his eyes. "Janus, how does it feel to lose?" Ryder asked Janus as he smiled lightly despite being tired. "One on Ten Thousand Chance, finished in two tries. Thanks for the help, though. If you hadn''t helped me with advanced points, I wouldn''t be able to do it successfully at all," he told Janus. He knew that Janus'' help played a big role in it. ''If I hadn''t taken the bomb from the first timeline, it wouldn''t have been possible either. If I hadn''t fought that masked guy in the first timeline, I wouldn''t have known that he was faster than me even under the rain''s effect. Everything seemed to fall into place," he muttered, remembering how everything happened for the end moment. " As for your words about someone dying," he let out suddenly. 357 Chapter 353: Raid "You knew what was going to happen. You knew that this was the right way to save me and to make sure that I used the abilities I had to get that one in a ten thousand possibilities. This didn''t start from the moment I traveled back in time, but it did when you made me leave the city and stopped me from being in the hotel that was going to blow up. Everything was planned. You knew what was going to happen, didn''t you?" He asked Janus. Even though he waited for a response, he didn''t get a reply. "Fine. Keep your secrets," Said Ryder as he snorted. After resting for a few minutes, he stood up and started taking off his clothes. He entered the shower to clean his body. After he finished his shower, he stepped out and got dressed. After getting dressed, he sat on the bed. "Open Inventory," he commanded. A semi-transparent screen appeared in front of him that showed him his inventory. It showed him the items he held there. He saw fourteen inactive bombs, his gun that didn''t need bullets and reloading, his other guns that he had stolen from other people, a few dead bodies, and a few more things, including a golden mirror. Looking at the dead bodies in his inventory, he sighed. "I always forget to get rid of these bodies. I should find a place to throw these away sometimes. I can''t even set a reminder to throw away the dead bodies." Skipping on the bodies, his gaze stopped over the Golden Mirror. Tapping on the Golden Mirror, he brought it out and closed the screen. As Ryder double tapped on the back of the mirror, A map appeared inside the Golden Mirror. The Mirror seemed to be showing the satellite image of the area where Ryder was staying. He pinched in, and the map started getting bigger. He continued it until the map was showing the image of the entire city. He could see a green dot that was showing in his location. There were two red spots on the map as well. "If I''m the green one, the red ones should be that masked guy and his partner. It seems like they''re leaving the city. Good," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "It was a good idea to buy the tracker from the system and bound it to the two guys when I first saw them near the bombs. Now I can make sure they don''t get close to my family," he continued as he placed the mirror back in his inventory. He stood up and started to walk towards the door. "It sucks that none of them were caught by the cops. I knew it would be the case, but I still had some hopes." Looking at the number on his phone, he picked up the call. "Ray," he said the first word without waiting for the other person to speak. "Ryder," the other person replied. "You are pretty good. I didn''t know that you would recognize the person following you in less than a week. You''ve surpassed my expectations." "I didn''t expect you''ll doubt me despite that Lie Detector Test. You''ve surpassed my expectations as well," Ryder replied calmly. "I just got out of a meeting and saw your call. Did you call me to tell me to take off the person trailing you? Don''t worry. I already told her to leave," Ray answered Ryder as if he had guessed his intentions. "I didn''t call you for that. I called you regarding the explosion that took place some time ago," Ryder told Ray. "Oh, that. Yeah, I had a feeling that you were involved in it. Going out so early and the explosion took place near the place you parked your car. It was somewhat expected that you were involved. So tell me, was the Bio-Terror Group involved? Did you fight them?" Ray asked Ryder as he sat down on his chair. Jacob was packing their bags for departure, still hearing Ray''s conversation. He already knew about Ryder as Ray didn''t hide anything from him. " They are not called Bio-Terror Group. Stop using such show-off names. They''re called the Dark Uprising. Anyway, how did you know where my car was? I thought you had called that girl off my trail after I told her to stop. Let me guess; you got a Tracker in the car?" Ryder inquired with an amused smile on his face as he sat back on the comfortable bed again. " Ah," Ray was stunned for words. He hadn''t thought the answer to this question at all. "Hahaha, so this is it. I must say, you guys are doing something illegal. Putting a tracker in Shu Maxwell''s Car. Do you know how hard that guy can screw the FBI if he knew that you guys had placed a tracker on his car?" Ryder let out laughing. Ray was actually intimidated. Shu Maxwell was the owner of one of the biggest Weapon Manufacturing Conglomerates. He was also known as one of the top ten wealthiest people. Even though Shu''s name was always kept blank in the rankings, every influential person knew who he was. The world only knew the owner of the Dream Corporation as Mr. Maxwell, whose images were not even on the internet, but the ones who knew him knew how powerful his position was. "I did it for our country. For the safety of our country, I need to catch the BioT... Dark Uprising. We need to stop them. I took this decision on my own. The FBI doesn''t know you. That''s why FBI agents weren''t tracking you, and I sent that girl. The Tracker was my doing too. If you want me to face the consequences, you can tell Shu Maxwell about it. However, I appeal to you. Help us first. Let us catch the Dark Uprising and save everyone. I''m ready for the Punishment after that," Ray told Ryder. Even though Ray knew that it wasn''t going to be good if it was exposed by Ryder, he still didn''t back off, insisting that it was for a good cause and he was ready to take responsibility. " Sigh, you''re a fool, Ray. I know the call is not being recorded, but you would have regretted it if you were tapping my calls. Since you''ve been a good guy, I''ll help you a little. I know where the two leaders of Dark Uprising are. Soon, I''ll send you their location. You can raid that place and capture them, but remember one thing. The Dark Uprising is much stronger than you can imagine. What you saw in DC was nothing," Ryder told Ray. " I''m nothing in front of their leaders. Honestly speaking, I would die ten times if I really faced them. If I''m a rabbit at the moment, they''ll be like lions. So you must take everything you can. Destroy them from their roots. This is the last chance that I''m giving you to catch them. Do it right, and it''ll be over," he continued. "Anyway, I''m going for a birthday right now. I''ll send you their location when I get it. It should be in a few days," he said before he disconnected the call. **** Beep... Beep... Ray heard the beeping as the call was disconnected. He placed the phone on the table. "What did he say?" Jacob asked Ray as he placed two bags on the table in front of Ray. These two bags were filled with their stuff that they were going to carry. "He says that he''ll give us the location of Dar... I mean Bio-Terror''s address. He''s suggesting we go in full force and destroy them from their roots," Ray answered, looking grave. "Their location? Wow, that would make it so much easier if it''s true. Do you trust him though?" Jacob inquired after the initial period of excitement. Ray glanced at Jacob before he slowly opened his lips and answered. **** Far away from the Capital City of the states, A place landed inside New York. A young man who seemed like he was in his early twenties stepped out of the plane. "Ahh, the fresh air of a new place. I wonder what awaits me in this new place," the young boy muttered as he asked towards the gates inside the airport. He stepped out of the Airport and entered a cab. "Welcome to the States?" the can driver told the young boy with a smile. "Thank you," The young boy answered. "Are you Russian?" The cab driver asked, noticing the different accent of the boy. 358 Chapter 354: The Monster "Oh? The most expensive hotel? You must be pretty rich. It''s good that you took this cab. It would be bad if some degenerate stole your stuff on the way otherwise," The Cab Driver asked as he started the cab. He hid the little smirk on his face. "Yeah, that would''ve been bad. I wouldn''t want to lose the things inside my bag," the young boy responded as he smiled wryly. A weird glint flashed in the cab driver''s eyes as he heard your words. "Don''t worry. You and your valuables are safe now. I''ll take you to your right destination," the cab driver said innocently. He took the cab through the entire city. The boy silently sat inside the cab, looking at the beautiful city through the window until he realized that the car was stopped near a lake. Looking at the can driver in confusion, he asked, "Why are we here? Is there a hotel nearby?" "No. There is no hotel nearby. There aren''t even many houses in this area," The cab driver said as he turned back to look towards the young boy. "Hmm? What are we doing here then?" the boy asked with a curious look on his face. "We''re here because the police don''t come here. Silently give me your bag and all your valuables if you don''t want to die today!" the driver said as he glared at the young boy. The young boy didn''t frown even though he noticed the gun in the driver''s hand that was aiming at him. "Are you robbing me? Hah, Father did say that the state was filled with crooks. I didn''t know I would find one so soon," The young boy laughed as if he was entertained by the situation. "Stop laughing and give me everything. I''m not joking! I will shoot you. We''re right beside a lake where I can even dispose of your body!" The driver thundered at the young boy. **** Ryder left the house with Shu and went to the birthday celebration like the last timeline. He did everything else the same way as well. Despite knowing that the girl will try to steal his purse, he let it happen. He even chased her the same way. The only thing he did differently was he grabbed her butt even tighter when trying to find his purse since he knew who this thief was. He knew that the wallet was hidden near the chest of the girl, but he didn''t find it intentionally. Everything progressed smoothly as the girl threw the wallet towards him and ran away. After having a short dinner, he left the place with Shu and came back to the Maxwell Estate. Settings things up, he left with Alice for dinner. As he was on the way to the Hotel, he expected the same mission as Janus, and he got it. Janus gave the same mission to leave the city to maintain continuity. Leaving the city, Ryder entered the neighboring City to have dinner. There seemed to be another minor difference this time. Ryder didn''t seem to be chased by the woman like he was in the first timeline, which was something he expected since he himself changed the timeline in that regard by telling them that he knew about them to get them off their trail. Without having to worry about anything, Ryder had a nice dinner with Alice. Fortunately, there was no news about the blasts this time. The future was certainly changed. The News Anchor was only talking about minor news at the moment. "In more news, a Cab Driver''s dead body was found near the Mahasa Lake inside a cab. Police are at sight to investigate what happened. What''s shocking to the authorities is the condition of the body. The body seemed to be shrivelled as if the person has been dead for decades; however, the clothes on the man seem perfectly fine. The initial reports suggest it might be due to a chemical attack. The body is sent for Post-mortem to find more details," the News Anchor said, which was ignored by Ryder, who continued eating. The news anchor continued talking about more news as he moved over from this update. Finished with the dinner, Ryder left with Alice and went back to the city, unaware that he had changed one more thing from the initial timeline without realizing it. As Ryder left, he didn''t get to go to the roof of the building where a young woman was about to come to stop him from killing himself. The Woman went to the roof just like the first timeline, but she came back down after having a little smoke. Ryder wasn''t there, which made it impossible for their meeting to occur, not knowing how things might affect the future in strange ways. **** Ryder entered his City once again, but he didn''t go straight to Maxwell Estate. Instead, he stopped the car in front of a Mall. " We needed clothes, right. Let''s go on a shopping spree tonight," Ryder told Alice as he stepped out of the car after parking it in the parking lot. Going to the clothing section of the mall, he started buying the clothes he found fit. Alice also began selecting clothes for her own as she watched Ryder smile. "You''re done so fast? But it''s not even an hour since we entered this place. You''re not sick, are you?" Ryder asked, noticing that Alice was done with shipping. He found it to be quite odd considering the fact that Alice used to take much longer when he took her shopping before. "Yeah, now I don''t need to find the best value for money clothes, so it was faster," Alice smiled in embarrassment as she smiled. Ryder understood what she meant. Previously the two of them weren''t much rich, so Alice probably took longer since she didn''t want to waste Ryder''s money even a little bit. However, now that they had money, she could buy the clothes she needed without any worries. Ryder gently patted Alice''s head before he went to pay for the clothes he bought. **** Far away from the Mall where Ryder currently stood, the Leader of the Dark Uprising was sitting on his throne. Ten Kings stood below him on their seats. "Thirteenth failed," The Leader of Dark Uprising muttered as he frowned. "Sigh, that guy failed so bad. I heard he even lost consciousness in the battle. This little hero is really intriguing," the Sixth King muttered as he smiled. "That guy can''t even handle a single person. Does he even deserve to be called a King? He lost so badly. He should be ashamed," the Ninth King chimed in. While the ten kings were talking about the event that transpired and how their plan was stopped, the door of the hall opened as a man entered the hall. "First King," Every other King got silent as they saw a man enter the hall. "What happened? Why are you back?" The Leader of the Dark Uprising asked the First King, who was the Strongest of the Thirteenth Kings. "Your Majesty, I have some important news. Adrian Balakin has entered the states. I got the news that he arrived this morning," the First King informed the Leader. "Hmm? He left Russia and arrived here?" The Leader of the Dark Uprising asked with a surprised look on his face. "Not only that. I believe he already killed a person right after arriving here. A Cab Driver," The First King said as he gave a photo to the Leader which showed the dead body of the cab driver. The sight of this particular dead body could have been enough to make someone vomit when they first saw it, but the man on the throne didn''t even flinch. "Interesting. It seems like that Monster''s work. I wonder what brought that guy here. Find him and invite him here," the Leader commanded the First King. "Yes, Your Majesty." The First King bowed his head lightly before he left. "Adrian Balakin is here. This might turn out to be bad," the Second King muttered softly after the First King left. "Don''t worry. He might be here for sightseeing. That young man should not be here for longer," the Third King replied casually. " Sightseeing, huh. It could be that since only one person had incurred his wrath until now," The Second King muttered. "Is Adrian Balakin really that strong?" The Eleventh King asked the others. 359 Chapter 355: The Seven The way he described it made it seem like it was unclear if the young man known as Adrian was stronger or their leader. They had no idea. All they knew was that long there was a deal between their leader and Adrian Balakin. Their leader wasn''t supposed to go to Russia ever. Adrian Balakin wasn''t supposed to come to the States under the original terms of the deal. "I wonder what brought that guy here. According to the deal, he shouldn''t have stepped foot here. Second, go and check the whereabouts of Suliven, Draco, and Itsuki. Out of the other six, these three are most unpredictable and chaotic. I want to know if they are in England, China, and Japan, or they left too," The man on the Throne said to the Second King. "Yes, Your Majesty," the Second King said as he stood up and left the hall. **** The Second King walked through the hallway of the Palace on the mysterious island as he talked to himself. "Adrian Balakin is here. If Suliven, Draco, and Itsuki come here as well, wouldn''t it be a disaster? Those three are said to have the same reputation in England, China, and Japan that Adrian Balakin has in Russia. Why is everyone coming here? What could it be that''s pulling them here? Is a war on the horizon, or is it something else?" the Second King muttered as he continued walking towards the exit. He left the Place, only to find a helicopter waiting for him outside. Stepping inside the helicopter, he commanded the Pilot to leave. The Helicopter started flying away and left the island. **** Far away from the Mysterious Island country in East Asia, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It was the land known for its technology, and it''s amazing culture that had still managed to survive despite the long years. The country of Japan was known to be very advanced near the start of the 21st century, and it only got better with the passage of time. They developed many new things and achieved many technological Breakthroughs. One of the Top Five companies in this world had its origin in Japan. It was known as the Itsuki Corporation. It was not always at the top like that. Itsuki Corporation was made after joining multiple big corporations that were owned by various billionaires of the country; however, before anyone could know what happened, a piece of news arrived that all of them had sold their company to a man known as Itsuki Yamada. The previously unknown man became the owner of multiple giant corporations of Japan in a single night. His name was in every newspaper the next day. The man merged all the companies he now owned, making them one under the banner of Itsuki Corporation. The tallest building in the country of Japan was known to be the base of Itsuki Corporation. A young man was sitting in a luxurious office on the top floor of Itsuki Corporation. The man had seemed to be in his late twenties. He was sitting on a comfortable chair, looking at the screen of his Computer. He was wearing a long silver trench coat and a brown scarf around his neck. There was a sense of boredom on his face that seemed to be there for a long time. Suddenly he heard the knocking on the door. "Come inside," the man said, glancing towards the door. The door opened, and a young woman entered the room. The woman seemed to be wearing a smart skirt that barely covered her fair thigh. The woman looked so pretty that she could make a guy fall in love instantly, but the blonde-haired man didn''t seem phased. "What happened?" the man asked in a calm tone as he glanced at the woman who seemed like she could be a model. "Master Itsuki, You told us to keep an eye on six people. One of them had left their country," the woman informed the young man who was the owner of the Itsuki Corporation¡ª Itsuki Yamada. "Oh? That''s interesting. That was unexpected. At Least so soon. Who is it?" The young man inquired as a smile appeared on his bored face. "Adrian Balakin. He entered the States this morning. We just got the information," the woman informed the blonde-haired man with a grave look on her face. "Hah, that disaster went to the States. It looks like fun times are ahead. It''s his headache about how to handle Adrian since it''s his place. I don''t need to care one bit. I''m curious indeed, though. How come Adrian Balakin went there? What attracted him there," The Young Man muttered as an interested smile spread on his face. "Also, I''ve seen movement around us. It seems like people are trying to see if you''re in the country or not," the woman further said. "That''s to be expected. It must be that guy. He''s probably curious since Adrian entered his land. He wants to see if I''m involved or not," The man said, glancing back at his screen. "Yui, keep an eye on the people I told you to. Tell me anyone else of the six leaves, especially that Draco. I don''t want the fun to end so fast. It''s not every day we get such interesting situations," The young man muttered as he smiled while looking at the girl. The Woman nodded her head before she excused herself and turned towards the door. She stepped outside. " Adrian Balakin, huh. The second youngest of us but no less than anyone else. It''s going to be fun indeed," the man muttered as he glanced at the roof. **** Back in China, a man who seemed like he was in his early thirties got the same information about Adrian leaving Russia. An intrigued look appeared on his face as he glanced at the window. **** Inside Germany, a man was sitting in his expensive sports car. He was just about to start the car to go somewhere when his phone rang. "Adrian Balakin?" he muttered as his fingers tapped on the steering wheel of the car. **************************************** Author Note: For those that skip the real author note. There are Seven Crucial Characters being introduced. Their character images are uploaded on the Discord Server. Those interested can check out. Link: discord.gg / 8UKh5xvZBd 360 Chapter 356: Not interested "In the States? Interesting. I wonder if I should have some fun," the man muttered as he heard her words. **** Right beside the country of China, existed another large Democracy known as India. Inside the Capital of India, New Delhi, a silver-haired young man was sleeping on his bed comfortably, unaware of the alarm that was beeping beside his bed. The young man seemed like he was barely twenty right now. After a long time, the man finally woke up. He looked towards the clock to see the time. "What the heck?! It''s so late! I''m going to be late for college!" the young man exclaimed as he stood up and started getting dressed in a hurry before he left his house for college. Entering his average car, he started it and raced it towards his college. His phone kept ringing, but he ignored the call as he focused on the road. Reaching the college campus, he parked the car and stepped out. Looking at his watch, a smile appeared on his face. "I made it," he muttered as he walked towards the building in a hurry. "Sigh, this phone is going to be the death of me. Always ringing," the young man muttered as he smiled wryly as he looked at the phone, which had started ringing again. "Hmm? Itsuki is calling? I seem to have missed a call from Suliven too? What''s happening?" the young man muttered before he picked up the call. "Hey there, Mr. Billionaire. How''s it going?" The young man asked, picking up the call. " So what if Adrian went there? What has this got to do with me? Come on, bro. I barely made it on time. I''m going to miss my physics class because of you," the young man replied after hearing the response from the other side. He walked towards his class, listening to what the other side had to say. "So what if I''m from the Seven. I just want to study and graduate. You don''t know my aunt, bro. She''s going to kill me if I fail," the young boy replied as he smiled wryly. "The six of you can play around. I''m sure you''ll handle everything. I wouldn''t need to get involved. Let me study and graduate so I can focus on other things. Right, I''m outside my class. I''ll call you later," he said before disconnecting the call. **** While everyone was talking about Adrian Balakin, the man in question was walking around the streets of New Jersey. Finding a mall on his way, he entered to roam around. The place happened to be in the same mall that Ryder had entered when he came to shop with Alice a few moments ago. "The clothes here aren''t bad," the silver-haired young man known as Adrian Balakin muttered as he looked at the clothes in the shops. "I was right. The glasses do make me look good. Even though I don''t need them, I should wear these. These suit my looks," the man said as he smiled. He left the mall. **** Back at the Maxwell Estate, Ryder went back to his room after checking up on Alice. "Time to finish the task of visiting all Duke''s Palaces before I can be free to roam around Divinity with Shu on his mission," Ryder muttered as he wore the Divinity Glasses and laid on his bed. "Take me to Divinity," he muttered, establishing a link with Divinity. Appearing inside the Demon Realm, he continued on his task. He went from one Duke''s place to another to visit their land and comfort the citizens. Time kept trickling away as a week passed away. During the day, Ryder continued his word of setting up his office and hiring the people; Whereas, during the night, he visited the Dukes Palace. After a week, he was finally done as he and High Duke Mila returned to the Royal City of Demon Realm. **** Ryder woke up in the real world and took off the Divinity Glasses. Sitting up, he stretched his arms. "Finally, I''m done! The next time I go back, I can have some fun," Ryder said as he smiled. "I have enough money too, after winning Fifty Million Dollars from various betting places. I even won the case against the Police Department. That gave Alice ten million dollars on her own name. Life is so good. Now that everything has calmed down, it''s about time to get revenge. Did that guy think he can have my sister kidnapped since he''s the Police Chief? I won the case and money, but it doesn''t mean that I''ll let that guy go free after all he schemed," he muttered as he stood up. He stepped into the shower to get fresh and came out soon after. He has woken up early today just so he could drop Alice to college himself. "Alice, come! We''re going to be late," said Ryder as he knocked on the door of Alice''s room. "Is this girl still in Divinity?" Ryder muttered as he glanced at the door. Opening the door, he entered the door. He was thinking that Alice was in bed, immersed in Divinity, and that was why she wasn''t replying, unaware of the fact that something else was going on. As he entered the room after opening the door, he saw the room to be empty. Suddenly, the door of the washroom opened as a young lady stepped out. The girl looked to be barely twenty years old. Ryder''s face turned pale as he saw Alice standing in front of him in just a towel. Seeing Ryder in front of her, Alice stepped back in shock, her back hitting against the wall. "Ouch." Hitting the wall with force, Alice felt the pain that made her let out a voice. Ryder heard her pained voice and ran towards her, thinking that she was hurt. Just as he was a meter away from her, he saw Alice''s towel open as it fell down. With a pale look on his face, Ryder tried to stop himself, stopping only a few inches away from Alice, who was standing completely bare. Alice seemed to be blank as tears appeared in her eyes. Ryder also didn''t seem like he knew what to do as the two of them stood in front of each other like that. 361 Chapter 357: Blank Her face serene to be as red as a tomato as he looked at Ryder, whose gaze seemed to be looking down at her bare body. "A-ah, sorry about this. I didn''t know you were in the bathroom. I thought you were sleeping, so I came inside," Ryder replied, blankly without turning back. " T-that is fine, but c-can you turn back please?" Alice asked in a barely audible voice as she looked at Ryder, whose eyes finally focused on her face. "Ah, right," Ryder replied as he slowly nodded her head blankly, but he didn''t turn back. His mind seemed to be short-circuited that didn''t know what he was doing. Alice''s face kept getting redder and redder as she saw Ryder looking in her eyes; her heartbeat getting faster. #I''m on a Highway to Heaven, I''m on a Highway to Heaven# While Ryder was lost in Alice''s eyes, his phone started ringing, which brought him out of his daze. He could see Alice''s arms wrapped around her bare breast, barely hiding them. "Ah, sorry. I''ll wait outside," Finally getting some sense, Ryder told Alice as he turned back and started to leave. "Hello?" Ryder picked up the call without looking at the number as he left the room of Alice, closing the door behind him. " Hey there, handsome," the person on the other side of the call said. "Oh, Esmi. What made you call me today?" Ryder asked Esmi, wondering what she needed. " What do you mean? Did you forget? You told me to remind you about that aviation company. They did lose the code court case against their client. Their stocks have crashed like a rock. It''s at rock bottom now. The Company had almost declared bankruptcy. You said you wanted to buy it when that happened. It seems to be the right time. You can buy their stocks and become a majority partner of a falling company or deal with the Owner themselves," Esmi informed Ryder. "Ah, right. I do remember now. I was so busy at work that I completely forgot. I knew something like this was going to happen, though. It was obvious that there was a good chance, I''ll forget. That''s why I told you to remind me when it happens. Thanks for reminding me. I''ll go directly deal with their majority shareholder," Ryder said as a smile appeared on his face. "Want me to come with me?" Esmi asked Ryder. "You don''t need to. I kind of know their boss. I should be able to handle it," Ryder said as he smiled wryly. "If that''s what you say, then fine. Anyway, when are you coming to meet me? It''s been so long since we last did that. I miss you," Esmi informed Ryder. "Ah, it should be soon. I miss you too," Ryder replied. He noticed the door behind him opened as Alice stepped out. She was perfectly dressed. "Work?" Alice asked Ryder as she stood behind him. "Yeah. I''ll be going to finish an important deal today," Ryder said to Alice. Patting Alice''s head, he replied. "Come. I''ll drop you to college." He stepped out of the building with Alice and entered the Whirlwind. He had the insurance on the Whirlwind of his that was destroyed, but that didn''t cover the way he destroyed the car. Still, with the help of Shu, who had a call to the insurance company, Ryder managed to claim the insurance. With the money that he received from the insurance, he bought another car. He once again bought the same two-seater that he used to drive. Stepping inside the car with Alice, he got it out of the Maxwell Estate and got it on the road. He talked about some random things with Alice along the way. None of them mentioned about the shocking thing that happened inside Alice''s room early morning. Dropping Alice at college, he left. "Air Connect Limited, huh. The new addition to my Divine Corporation. I wonder if Herriet still remembers me," Ryder muttered as he took the car to the office of Air Connect Limited, which was an Aviation Organization that made planes. It was a company that had fallen really low, but only Ryder knew that it was about to soar like a phoenix in the near future. Without waiting for that to happen, Ryder wanted to merge Air Connect Limited with his Divinity Corporation. At the moment, Divine Corporation only had a hundred employees; only one of which was the one who was going to create a world-altering medical discovery. He had succeeded in poaching the guy who was going to become one of the biggest names in the Pharmaceutical Field. His next aim was the Air Connect Limited, which would make his Divine Corporation to be a multidisciplinary organization with a focus in Aviation and Pharmaceutical. That was not all. He wanted to do many more things, which meant including many more organizations that were going to make the Divine Corporation soar to the sky. If everything went according to the plan, the Dream Corporation was going to become really big in a few years. **** Air Connect Limited headquarters was on the north block of the city, completely opposite side of the city compared to Ryder''s Divine Corporation headquarters. Ryder stopped his car in front of the ACL Headquarters. Parking his car to the side, he stepped out. "What is this place?" he asked, wondering what was happening. He entered the building and walked up to the receptionist. " I wish to meet Ms. Herriet," Ryder told the receptionist. " Sure, Sir. Do you have an appointment?" The lady at the reception inquired. " I don''t have an appointment since this plan came up suddenly. You can tell your boss that Ryder Flynn of the Dream Corporation is here. Tell us that we came here to discuss about business," Ryder replied to the receptionist in a calm tone. " Please sit there. I''ll check if madam is free," the lady told Ryder to sit as she started dialing a number. Walking up to the couch on the side, Ryder sat down as he started scrolling through the news feed on his phone as he waited for the receptionist to finish her call. "Ah, excuse me, Sir. Madam is free. You can meet her now." While Ryder was looking through the news with a bored look on his face, the receptionist called out to him and told him that he could meet the boss. She called a person to escort him upstairs. Ryder was brought to an office on the fifth floor where the boss of ACL was sitting. "Come in." Ryder heard a female voice coming from inside after knocking on the door three times. Opening the door, Ryder stepped inside. He saw a beautiful woman sitting on a seat behind a desk. The woman seemed like she was barely in her early thirties at the moment. "Mr. Ryder Flynn, I heard you wished to meet me regarding some business," the woman said as she raised her head to look at Ryder but as soon as she saw his face, her lips opened wide in surprise. "Have we met before?" The Woman asks as if she seemed to recognize him from somewhere. "You seem to have a weak memory, Ms. Herriet. You already forgot me. I, on the other hand, never forget the people I have a drink with," Ryder said with an amused smile on his face as he stood in front of the lady. "Ah, Right! Ryder, I remember! That day I met you in a bar. Please have a seat," Herriet told Ryder as he gestured for him to sit. "So, what business brought you here? We''re already a finished organization. I wonder how you think we can help you," she asked as soon as Ryder sat down. "It''s less about how you can help you and more about how I can help you. I heard you''re in a tough spot, and I feel like helping a little," Ryder said with an amused smile on his face. "Hmm? I''m listening," Herriet said with a fascinating look on her face. "I''ll be straight. I wish to buy ACL and merge it into my Divine Corporation. My conditions are simple. I''ll buy you guys. You can continue operating normally. You''ll be the one CEO of our Aviation Branch if you wish. That''s the main gist of it. We can think about the minor details when forming the contract," Ryder told Herriet in a straight-forward manner. "Hmm? You wish to buy ACL? May I ask why? Don''t get me wrong. It''s not that I''m underestimating ACL, but even I''m not sure if we can survive this dark period and controversy. I contacted many big organizations to buy us, but they avoided me like the plague despite us offering ourselves for so cheap. I don''t get it. Why do you wish to buy?" Herriet inquired. 362 Chapter 358: Unaware " That''s because I have faith. You might not know how to turn this around, but I believe I can after the merger. Even if it''s a failure and I lose my money, I can still do this for a friend. As for keeping you as the CEO, you''re the perfect choice since this company is a result of your dream. You started it and brought it to where it is. I need people like you to handle the Aviation Branch of Dream Corporation. With my help, money, and corporation, along with your experience, I believe the both of us can reach greater heights," Ryder told Herriet as he smiled confidently. "So, do you agree?" "Huh, if you say it like that, how can I disagree? Since you''re putting your faith in me, how can I not do the same? By the way, I have never heard of Dream Corporation. Can you tell me more about it?" Herriet inquired after agreeing to place her trust in Ryder. "That''s because it''s a new company that I started recently. We are a Pharmaceutical Corporation at the moment focusing on a world-changing project that should change the long-existing problem of this world. Entering the Aviation Industry is our next aim. After this, we will spread out even more," Ryder explained to the woman standing in front of him. As soon as he said it, he noticed the calm expressions look a little uncertain. "Ah, don''t take me wrong when I say it, but you just started Dream Corporation. You might not know anything about the business world. Do you even know how much it will cost you? It won''t cost a few million dollars. Despite our down phase, we still need to pay the other investors before I can sell it. Even if I sell my shares for cheaper, It would still be too expensive for you. It would cost you Four Hundred Million Dollars to buy the ACL. Do you even have that much money?" Herriet asked Ryder, worrying about his ability to be able to buy. She didn''t doubt it before since he looked that confident, but after knowing that he''s a newbie in this field, she thought that he was someone who didn''t know how much it might cost to buy a company. She wondered if Ryder thought that he could buy the company for ten or twenty million dollars. If he thought that, then this deal had no chance of going forward since that would be like wasting the time of both parties. "Don''t worry. I might have started my own organization this year, but I have years of experience working with Owners of Corporate Giants. You don''t believe me, do you?" Ryder asked as he smiled while looking at the woman before him who didn''t express anything. Herriet didn''t know that, though. He knew that if he were in Herriet''s place, he would not believe him either. It all sounded so incredible after all. "I had already expected that price. Don''t worry. I have the resources to make it happen. I''ll pay four hundred million dollars to acquire your business," Ryder told the woman confidently. "Sigh, if you think you can arrange that and have faith, I don''t see any reason to say no. I''ll inform the other investors after you send the contact details. We can sign the day after that if both sides agree," Herriet informed Ryder as she smiled. "Sounds good. I''ll send the contract," Ryder said as he stood up and turned back to leave. He opened the door, but before leaving, he turned back to ask something. " You want to have coffee? I heard that the shop nearby sells really nice coffee," Ryder asked Herriet. "There''s a bar as well," Herriet said as she chuckled. "hahahaha, sounds good. Let''s relive our first meeting," Ryder said as he chuckled. He gestured for Herriet to follow him. Herriet stood up as a beautiful smile appeared on her face, making her seem even more pretty. Ryder couldn''t help but think that Herriet was really pretty. With just the lightest of makeup and a beautiful smile, she looked like someone that could win anyone''s heart. He still wondered about one thing, though. Why did he feel an electric current course through his body when he first met her? What was it that made it happen? Was it really what they said? He had heard a myth that when a person found his soulmate, they felt a current coursing throughout their body. He hadn''t expected that it was going to be so literal. He still didn''t believe that myth. ''It must be something else. There must be something else at play. Maybe it was Janus playing around with me at that time, or it might just be my hallucination. There''s no way for any other reason to be behind it,'' Ryder thought as he watched the woman coming towards him. He entered the lift with Herriet. Leaving the lift, he left the building with Herriet. The lady at the reception saw it and smiled. She was happy to see her boss seem happy after a long time. She hoped for that happiness to last for an eternity. Not only her but all others also liked to see their boss happy. Everyone in ACL loved their boss. They were all sad that the company was going through this terrible time. Watching their boss be sad was not something any of them liked. "Let''s go in my car. It''s right here," Ryder said as he glanced at his Whirlwind, which was parked right here. "You have a Whirlwind? I use one too," Herriet exclaimed in surprise as she saw Ryder''s red whirlwind. "Mine is blue, though." She entered the car as Ryder unlocked it. Starting the car, Ryder zoomed off in the direction Herriet told him. Parking the car in front of the bar, Ryder stepped out. He entered the bar with Herriet. Another car stopped in front of the bar after a few minutes. 363 Chapter 359: Again? The second car stopped behind Ryder''s car. "Could it be his car?" The person inside the car muttered. A man seemed to be sitting inside the car. The person stepped out of the car and walked inside the bar. Entering the bar, the person saw Ryder sitting with Herriet. A glass of beer was in their hands, and they both seemed to be laughing. The person walked towards Ryder and placed their hand on Ryder''s shoulders. **** Ryder was sitting inside the bar with Herriet. " Aren''t we sitting completely opposite to how we sat last time?" Ryder asked as he remembered how they sat last time. " Yeah, I was sitting on the right. I still remember that flirting line that you used about you getting a current when you touched me. That left a deep impression in my mind," Herriet said as she started laughing. Ryder smiled, embarrassed, but he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking back, Ryder saw a red-haired man standing behind him. "Bastion? What are you doing here? Come sit," Ryder said as he patted the empty seat on his right. "I shouldn''t. I just saw your car outside. Thought that I should say hi," Bastion said to Ryder as he patted Ryder''s shoulder. "I won''t disturb your date anymore. I was on my way anyway," Bastion replied as he waved his hand. He was about to turn back to leave when he was stopped by Ryder. "It''s not a date. Let me introduce myself," he said to Bastion. "This is Herriet. She''s the CEO of ACL. I''ll be working with her in the future. Herriet, this is Bastion, my best friend," he introduced the two of them. Herriet and Bastion greeted each other, shaking each other. They both seemed very formal, though. Bastion sat beside Ryder and ordered another glass of beer. "I heard something about the flirting line, though. What was that about? Did my friend here use one?" Bastion asked Herriet as an amused smile appeared on his face. "Hahaha, yeah. It was at our first meeting. Must say, it was the first time I heard something like that," Herriet replied as he laughed. "What line?" Bastion asked Herriet with a curious look on his face. "He was so shy in university. Let me hear how my friend has grown." Herriet looked at Ryder to see if he was fine with her sharing. Ryder didn''t oppose her telling, so she told Bastion about her first meeting with Ryder. After hearing the whole story, Bastion couldn''t help but laugh. "Bro, that was so corny, but it was cute. At Least you''re trying. If you need pickup lines, you can always come to me," Bastion told Ryder as he stopped laughing. Ryder didn''t know what to say. Even he believed that this line was stupid as a pickup line, but it wasn''t a pickup line at all. It was his genuine reaction after he felt an electric current in his body. However, Herriet didn''t believe it. Who would even believe that anyway? Ryder opened his lips to say something when he heard a blast outside. Standing up, shocked, Ryder looked behind. He ran towards the exit to see what it was. Did they again blow up the city? Those people shouldn''t be in the city now, according to his tracking. How could they use the same plan as last time? He wondered as he ran outside. Opening the door of the bar, he stepped outside. He looked to his left and saw that it was a car which was behind his car. It wasn''t the city burning but a car. There seemed to be an explosion inside the car. "A minor terrorist attack using a car? Why would they do it at an empty place, though?" He muttered to himself when the door of the bar opened again. Herriet and Bastion stepped outside along with others inside the bar. Bastion walked towards the burning car. "Wait, don''t go there," Ryder told Bastion as he tried to stop him. There might be more blasts coming inside the car. "That''s my car, though," Bastion said in confusion, looking back as he stood in front of the burning car. "Your car?" Ryder muttered at the revelation. '' Bastion couldn''t be a terrorist. That means someone else placed the bomb in his car. Why? To use him or to kill him?'' Ryder thought as he walked closer to the car as well. ''We need to know what kind of bomb it was. If it was detonated using a remote, then it must be a warning for Bastion or for me since he was with me,'' Ryder thought as he looked at the raging flames. '' If it was a time bomb, then there''s a good chance someone intended to kill Bastion in this blast,'' he thought. "Where were you going?" Ryder asked Bastion. "I was leaving the city for some work. You know Kane''s house, right? I was going to his house," Bastion answered. " That means if you hadn''t stopped to meet me, you would be inside the car when the blast occurred," Ryder muttered with a thoughtful look on his face. "Are you thinking that someone placed a bomb inside to kill me?" Bastion inquired. He was also starting to think that. " Who knew that you were leaving the city today?" Ryder inquired, trying to find a clue. " Who knew? Everyone knew. Everyone inside the club knew," Bastion answered. " It could be one of them. We need to wait for city authorities and forensics to have a clear picture. I suggest you drop your plan to leave the city for now," Ryder suggested since it didn''t seem like the right time to leave. " That''s right. Leaving the city in times like this aren''t good," Herriet also suggested as she stood near them. "You should leave him home. We can drink next time," She said to Ryder. " You..." Ryder was about to say something, but before he could finish his words, Herriet cut him off. "I''ll take a cab. Drop him off," Herriet said, knowing what he might try to say. Ryder''s car was a 2-seater, after all. Without waiting for a response, she turned back and left. She didn''t want Ryder to feel embarrassed for not getting to drop her after bringing her out. 364 Chapter 360: Meeting Adrian Ryder dragged Bastion to his car, who looked a bit shaken, thinking how close he was to his death. Opening the door of his car, he made Bastion sit down while he walked over to his side of the car. As he was walking around, he accidentally hit the shoulder of a guy who seemed to be passing through in the direction of the burning car. While Ryder was more concerned about getting inside the car, he didn''t notice the man and hit him. The man, on the other hand, was looking intrigued by the burning car, so he didn''t see Ryder coming towards him when he was hit. Despite being hit accidentally, the man didn''t lose his footing. He seemed to be quite strong despite not looking like a bodybuilder. Ryder had a strong body because of everything he went through and the help of Janus. The man, however, seemed unphased. It was as if an ant had struck him. The man was wearing what seemed like reading glasses. His short silver hair was shining brightly under the bright sunlight, making him look even more charming. "Sorry," Ryder apologized politely. "It''s fine. It''s nice to see some polite people in this country. You wouldn''t believe how bad the first guy I met was. He was a cab driver but didn''t take me to where I wanted to go," the man said as he smiled. "Ah, you are from Russia? Thanks for not minding. I''m in a hurry. Still, welcome to the states," Ryder said, noticing the Russian accent in the man''s voice. "Yeah," The man replied as he waved his hand and continued on his way. Ryder stepped inside the car and drove away while the silver-haired man watched the burning car as if he was admiring the beauty of the flames. On top of a nearby building, a man appeared, dressed in black robes. Bringing out a picture from his pocket, he looked at it before he looked at the silver-haired man in front of the burning car. Bringing out his phone, he dialed a number. "Your Highness, I have found him. I found Adrian Balakin. He''s standing in front of a burning car," The man said to the person on the other side of the call. "Good. Did he start that fire?" The person on the other side of the call asked. "I don''t think he''s the cause of that fire. He arrived here when the car was already burning," the black-robed man replied. "Should I approach him?" He asked the person on the other side of the call. "No, wait, I''m coming there. Just keep following him. My jet will be landing soon," the person on the other side said sternly. "Understood. I''ll do as ordered," the black-robed man said before he disconnected the call. Adrian looked at the flames for a brief second before he frowned and looked back. Raising his head towards the top of a nearby building, he frowned. No one was standing there. While Adrian was looking in his direction, the black-robed man was lying on the floor, not to be seen. He was surprised when Adrian looked in his direction but reacting faster; he immediately dropped down to the ground to hide himself. After a few seconds, he raised his head to look at Adrian Balakin; however, he didn''t find anyone down. "Fuck, that guy ran away! I lost him! I need to find him again," The man cursed as he stood up. "I must say, I''m kind of angry that you think I would run away from you. It feels... Insulting. I wouldn''t run even in front of the other Six, let alone you." While the black-robed man was cursing, a voice appeared from behind him. The man''s face turned pale as he slowly turned back. If one was to see into the man''s eyes, they would see a true dear of death, but before he could even see the face of the man who was standing behind him, he dropped down to the ground, dead. His body started rotting. A silver-haired man could be seen standing behind him. He was the same man who was standing in front of the burning car, Adrian Balakin. "Sigh, why are people here so rude. Can''t they be nice like that, young man?" Adrian muttered as he looked down, once again gazing at the flames burning in the car. "I wonder how long it will take me before I get what I need. I don''t like breaking treaties, but I had to come here myself. It might cause some unseen troubles, but it will be worth it," The man muttered as a longing expression appeared on his face He looked back at the phone lying near the dead body of the man and picked it up. Placing the phone in his pocket, he turned back and started walking away. **** Stopping the car in front of Bastion''s mansion-like house, Ryder entered inside with Bastion. Just as Ryder entered with Bastion, Esmi came downstairs for something. "Hmm? Bastion? Why are you back home? I thought you were leaving?" Esmi asked Bastion in confusion. She was also surprised to see Ryder here. "I get it. Did you meet Ryder on the way and cancel your plan?" She inquired as she thought of an excuse for them. "Not really. It''s true that he saw me along the way and stopped to greet me, but that''s not all. While we were together, there was a blast in his car. I thought it wasn''t right for him to go in these times, so I brought him home in my car," Ryder explained everything. "Blast? Are you fine?" Esmi asked Bastion with a concerned look on her face. " I am fine. I didn''t even get a scratch. We were far away from the car. Anyway, Ryder already contacted the authorities along the way," Bastion answered. While Bastion and Esmi were talking about what happened, Ryder was busy thinking who could be the one wanting Bastion dead. ''Could it be them? Are Janus'' words coming true? Or was it the work of someone else?'' Ryder thought as he glanced at the pictures on the wall. "Thanks for bringing him back. I know how stubborn he is. I''m sure if you weren''t there, he would have continued on his journey after getting a cab," Esmi thanked Ryder, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Ah, it''s nothing. I want him safe, though. It would be better if he doesn''t leave in the next few days until the culprit is found. Also, you should probably increase the security of this place. Someone probably targeted him. If they are stubborn, they might try again, and if Bastion doesn''t leave, they''ll probably target this Place. Both of you are in danger until the culprit is found," Ryder told Esmi as he sighed. Esmi looked at him briefly as she thought something seriously. "I can''t hide in my house, but I definitely won''t let Bastion leave until I find that person. I most certainly will find him even if he''s hiding in the depths of hell," Esmi said with a serious look on her face as she refused to listen to Ryder''s advice to stay inside. She was really stubborn in that regard. It was her responsibility to keep Bastion safe here, and for that, she needed to find that person and kill them. "I won''t stay inside either. I''m not going to hide from my enemy. Now that I know that there is someone targeting me, I''ll know to protect myself better than if I''m out. Something like this will never happen again," Bastion also protested. He didn''t want to be imprisoned inside his house in fear. "I know that the two of you are brave and that the two of you know how to protect yourself, but still! You can''t take your lives lightly. At Least wait for the forensic report to know more about it before you think about what to do. Just stay at home until then!" Ryder said sternly, refusing to let them go anything stupid. He saw Bastion opening his mouth to say something, but before Bastion could say anything, Ryder continued, "I''m not listening to any excuses! You''re either listening to me, or you don''t care for me at all, and I don''t need to be here!" "Fine! You don''t need to be overdramatic. I''ll stay inside the house until the forensic reports come," Bastion snorted as he rolled his eyes. Turning back, he went inside his room that was on the ground floor. "I don''t need to stay inside if he was targeted." 365 Chapter 361: Meeting Keia "It doesn''t matter. You''re not leaving. Stay at home for a few days! That''s final. I''ll find who did it on my own," Ryder said as he glared at Esmi. ''What will I do inside the house? I''ll get bored!" Esmi again said. " You won''t get bored. You can watch a movie or something else. In any case, I''m not letting you leave," Ryder declared, refusing to budge. Esmi glanced back towards Bastion''s door. Finding it closed, she walked towards Ryder. "Can''t you reconsider..." She said as she wrapped her hands around Ryder. Bringing her lips closer to his ears, she finished her sentence and whispered. "... Darling." Ryder felt like facepalming himself as he saw her acting like that. Slapping her butt gently, Ryder whispered back. "Do you think these tricks would work on me?" Even though Ryder said that, he didn''t remove his hands from Esmi''s butt. "I will really be bored. Please have some pity on this poor girl," Esmi said, cutely in an effort to win some leeway. " If you''re a good girl in the next few days and do as you''re told, I''ll give you a reward," Ryder said in a low voice. ''What reward?" Esmi asked seductively as her chest stuck close to his. Giving a gentle grab on her butt, Ryder whispered something that made Esmi''s face go red. "Are you sure?" She asked with an embarrassed smile on her face. Ryder nodded his head with a wry smile on his face. "Fine, I''ll stay inside. But you can''t go back on your words," Esmi told Ryder, looking deep into his eyes. "I never go back on my words. Anyway, it''s getting late. I''ll be leaving now," Ryder said as he took his hands off of Esmi''s butt. He was about to step back, but before he could, Esmi gave him a kiss. Their lips locked as they exchanged the sweet taste of each other''s lips. Esmi seemed to want a long kiss, but Ryder controlled his urge and moved himself back before he would be unable to leave. Reminding Esmi to follow his words one last time, he turned back and left. Ryder left the mansion, went back inside his Whirlwind, and drove away. "Janus, can you tell me anything about these attacks? Was this the work of that Cultivation Clan?" Ryder asked Janus, wondering if he was related to the quest that he was given by Janus, which had the Punishment of Bastion''s life. Ryder waited, but Janus didn''t reply. "Fine, don''t answer. I''ll finish the Mission soon. I already found out about the ancient cultivation clan. Soon, the girl will come with the address of the clan, and the mission shall be over," Ryder muttered as he snorted as if showing off to Janus that he had almost finished the mission in less time than he was told to. He was about to stop the car on the side to call the girl''s number when his phone started ringing. "Speak of the devil," Ryder muttered as he looked at the calendar ID. It was showing Keia Silva. "You''re really a devil, aren''t you? I was just thinking about you, and you called," Ryder muttered as he laughed. "Hmm? You made me a Devil now? And here I was, finally getting the hang of being called Little Thief. Why do your nicknames keep getting weird?" Keia asked Ryder, not knowing if she should laugh or cry. "Devil is temporary. Little Thief is permanent. Anyway, where are you right now?" Ryder asked Keia. "I''m near the address you provided me. I should be there soon. I got the details you asked for," Keia answered Ryder. "Wait, if you''re not there, you don''t need to go. I''m outside as well. Tell me where exactly you are. I''ll send you the coordinates of a nice restaurant nearby where we can meet and have dinner lunch," Ryder suggested. **** "I''m just entering the city in a car. Send me the coordinates. I''ll go straight there," Keia told Ryder. " So you should be near the northern entrance. There''s a nice restaurant just there. I''ll send you the coordinates," Ryder said before he disconnected the call. Stopping the car on the side, Ryder opened the address of the restaurant and sent the coordinates on Keia''s number. After sending the address, he started the car and drove it towards the North. It didn''t take him long to reach La Fodier Restaurant that he had suggested to Keia. Stopping the car near the restaurant, he stepped out. He noticed a black SUV standing in front of his car with two men standing in front of the car. Ryder recognized the clothes of the man as the clothes from the Silva Clan. "She''s here," he muttered as he walked towards the restaurant. Opening the door, he entered the restaurant and looked around to find Keia. "There she is," Ryder muttered as he saw the beautiful girl sitting at a table, drinking a coffee. There was a man sitting near her. Ryder recognized that man as the one who Keia had introduced as Saelyn, the trusted right-hand man of the Silva Clan who was also the guardian of Keia Silva. Walking over, he sat in front of the girl. "Welcome to the city, Miss Kiea," he said while sitting down. " A welcome isn''t enough. You''ll be paying the bill that," Keia said as an amused smile appeared on her face. "Hahaha, of course. Which man wouldn''t wish to pay bills for Miss Keia," Ryder said, shaking his head. Picking up the menu, he called the waiter and gave his order. Keia also placed an order. As for Saelyn, he just sat there silently as if he was under meditation. "I still think you wasted your time by coming here. You could have just sent me the address and the details. You didn''t even need to come personally," Ryder let out with a wry smile on his face "It''s fine. It was an excuse to meet you again after all. Anyway, here''s the address and all the details that I collected. You can go through it when you''re free," Keia said as she shook her head. She placed a briefcase on the table and slid it towards Ryder. 366 Chapter 362: Plan Closing the briefcase, he placed it near him. The Waiter came with the food they ordered and placed them on the table. " So, what''s your plan after this?" Ryder asked Keia as he took a bite of the pizza he ordered for himself. " You should decide that. You''ll be giving me a trip to your city, after all. You should know the next plan," Keia said as she chuckled. "Taking you out in the city? I am a little busy today. Can we do it some other day?" Ryder asked Keia as he frowned. He realized that he wasn''t free at all. He still needed to kill the Police Chief. He also needed to find the person that was targeting the Bastion. He also had to go to the Ancient Cultivation Clan to finish his Quest. Then he also needed to check the location of the Twelfth and the Thirteenth King to see if they reached a suspicious location or not. In the last seven days, they were moving all throughout the country, not staying in one place for more than an hour. He was sure that none of the places they stayed at was their base. He still waited for something concrete to give to Ray. He had told Ray that he would give him the address within two days, and it was the seventh day. Ray was also inside the city with his team, still investigating the origin of the blast that occurred in the sky seven days ago. He had been dodging Ray all this while since he didn''t have any answer to give to him. That wasn''t all, as he also needed to meet the lawyer whom he had tasted to create a contract for purchasing ACL. It would have been fine but he also has another major problem. He barely had a hundred million dollars, whereas the price of buying ACL was four hundred million dollars. He still needed to arrange the money. He could take the help of Shu to get the money, but he didn''t want to involve Shu in his business since he didn''t want people to think that he was successful because of Dream Corporation''s help. He needed to collect close to four hundred million dollars so he could not only have money to buy ACL but also enough cash to cover the operating cost of his Divine Corporation, which had just started. "Come on; you can be busy. I''ll just tag along. I won''t do anything to disturb you. I came so far away from you. Can''t you let me stay with you for a few hours?" Keia asked with a pleading look on her face. " Fine. You can tag along for a while. Come, finish eating, then I''ll show you the place I was planning to visit today," Ryder said, immediately modifying his plan to include Keia. He couldn''t kill the Police Chief with Keia. He couldn''t even go to the Ancient Cultivation Clan with her, but he could do something about money while keeping Kris closer. Watching Keia laugh, Ryder also felt better. He didn''t know why but he liked watching Keia laugh. Her peal of laughter sounded like a beautiful melody in his ears. He gazed at her as she laughed. " Why are you looking at me like that?" Keia inquired as she stopped laughing after seeing Ryder looking at her. "You look really pretty when you laugh," Ryder complimented, stunning Keia. Even Saelyn, who was sitting like a puppet all this while, started coughing as if he had choked on water. With an embarrassed smile, Ryder stood up as he remembered that Saele was still here. "You''re done, right? I''ll pay the bill at the counter. The Whirlwind parked outside is mine. You two can wait there for me," he said as he picked up the briefcase and started walking towards the counter to pay the bill without waiting for the waiter to come with the bill. After paying the bill, he looked back to see if the others were still there or not. Finding the seats empty, he left the Restaurant. He could see Saelyn and Keia sitting closer to the Whirlwind. "It''s a two-seater, so the two of you can''t sit inside with me. I''ll go in the lead while you two can follow me in your car," He told Keia before he unlocked the car. " You come in the SUV; I''m going with Ryder," Keia said as she walked over to the passenger side of Whirlwind and entered the car. Saelyn glanced at Ryder briefly before he turned back and left in the direction of the Black SUV. He entered the car with two people. Opening the door, Ryder sat inside the Whirlwind. "Little Thief, aren''t you afraid of sitting inside the car with me?" Ryder asked Keia as he started the engine of the car. "Hah, why would I be scared?" Keia asked Ryder in confusion. " I won our competition of stealing the weapons in your mansion. So I''m a better thief than you. Shouldn''t you be worried that I''ll steal something?" Ryder asked as he chuckled. A Ferrari Whirlwind started racing through the city while a black SUV followed behind. "Hah, I don''t have any money. You can''t steal anything," Keia answered with a cheeky smile on her face. "There are more important things that I could steal," Ryder replied without taking his eyes off of the road. "For example, I can even steal you. The people chasing us in the Black SUV won''t be able to find us. It''s too easy to take you away right now." "You might think you can, but you underestimate Saelyn. It''s impossible to trick him. The most I was able to stay out of his sight was fifty minutes. He always finds me," Keia answered Ryder, shaking his head. "Hah, I have things that even the gods can''t find without my permission, let alone your people. It''s too much work, though. If I weren''t busy today, I would''ve shown you. The next time you come, I''ll take you away for the entire day, breaking your record," Ryder said as he laughed, shaking his head. "We''re there already, anyway," Ryder said, stopping his car in front of a giant building. "This place? You want to do this?" Keia asked with a confused look on her face. "Are you sure?" She asked Ryder. "Why wouldn''t I?" Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face as he stepped out. 367 Chapter 363: Putting Money He walked with Keia towards the building. "This is called the Moneyhub Casino. It''s one of the biggest casino chains in the country, with their casinos in every state. They deal with hundreds of millions of dollars daily," Ryder explained to Keia. "Hah, I never expected that you would bring me to a Casino. This can be fun, though. Are you an expert gambler?" Keia asked Ryder. "Hah, I''m not. It''s kind of my first time coming to a Casino. You can call me an expert in Horse Race betting, though. Unfortunately, I''m banned in all those places," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. "Why? Did you do something bad there?" Keia asked Ryder as she chuckled. "Nah, I don''t do anything wrong. I didn''t even cheat," Ryder replied as he sighed. "Why did they ban you then?" Keia asked Ryder in confusion. "It''s because of my luck. I won a little too much," Ryder told Keia as he smiled wryly. He pushed the door open for Keia as he entered the Casino. He walked to the counter and bought a card and charged them with a hundred thousand dollars. Ryder had heard about when casinos used chips, but during his time, the casinos had changed. They used a system similar to credit cards. The Casinos provided the people with cards after a low safety deposit, which the people could recharge the cards with. They bet with cards and got credits in their cards, which they could directly transfer to their bank accounts. "Since you''re my lady charm, how about you choose for me?" Ryder asked Keia as he held her hand and pushed her towards a table which had a card game. The host pulled out one random card and said six numbers. The selected card was one of those six numbers. As long as the person guessed the card right during gambling, they won the money. Depending on the number of people, the earning rate changed, but on average, it was a hundred percent increase in the money if a person won. Ryder explained the game to Keia as he sat at the table with her. "Pick," he told the host as he gave him his card and bet ten thousand dollars worth of credit. The host of the table picked a card from his deck and looked at it. He placed it facedown on the table. "Six of Spades, Three of Heart, Ace of Diamond, Seven of Club, Two of Heart and Three of Diamond," the Host gave them options. " Uh, I don''t understand anything," Keia asked Ryder in confusion. "Pick a number from the ones he said basically. Oh right, Ace means one in a way," Ryder explained to Keia. "Oh, I chose Ace. It sounds nice," Keia selected. "I selected Ace of Diamond," Ryder told the Host. The host smiled as he reversed the card, revealing the Ace of Diamonds. ''What the? She actually got it, right?'' Ryder thought as he looked at Keia with a surprised look on his face. Keia also looked happy. Even though she didn''t understand what this game was, she liked the feeling of winning. Ryder also liked seeing that child-like happiness on her face. "I would like to continue. I''m putting Twenty Thousand," Ryder told the host. The Host picked another card from the same deck. Three of Spades, Seven of Heart, Two of Diamond, Seven of Club, Three of Heart and Five of Diamond," the Host gave them options again. "That was fun. I selected Five of Diamonds!" Keia chimed in without waiting for Ryder to ask her. The host looked at Ryder for confirmation since he was the one putting his money on line. Ryder nodded his head as he went with Keia''s choice. The host showed the card, once again congratulating Ryder. "I must say, Sir, your lady luck is really good," the host said as he smiled. Ryder, on the other hand, looked at Keia, wondering if she was actually lucky or if she could see the future. If she could see the future, she might know a few things about him since he''ll be coming back in time to get the benefits of his knowledge. If it were the past, he wouldn''t have believed that seeing the future was possible, but after what he had gone through in the past related to his powers and Dark Uprising, anything was possible. He decided to test her luck even more in the next hour. He kept getting her to select a card. After a while, he was sure that it was her luck and she couldn''t see the future since out of the Twenty Times he bet with her help, he only won fifteen times. '' Does she really can''t see the future, or is she losing intentionally to remove suspicions from her?'' Ryder thought, looking at her. ''This much should be enough. I know the answers to Twenty cards. These should be enough to win enough money,'' Ryder thought as he stood up. He started using his Ruler of Time''s Active Skill that allowed him to go back in time equal to the number of his levels in minutes at most. Snapping his finger, he used the ability and went back in time. He went back just enough not to waste any time repeating the same things in the past. He found himself in front of the counter, getting his card for the first time. This time he credited his card with fifty million dollars instead of the original ten thousand dollars attracting various gazes from the people inside the casino. "Ah, isn''t that a bit too much for gambling?" Keia asked Ryder in concern. "It''s fine. Come," Ryder said as he held Keia''s hand and walked towards a table. Sitting down at the table, he played the same game as last time, keeping everything the same. He didn''t ask Keia for the answers this time since he knew that he was going to win an absurd amount of money today. He didn''t want to paint a big target on the back of Keia because of that. " Pick a card. I''m betting twenty-five million dollars!" Ryder declared, attracting the attention of the host, who seemed to be shocked since no one bet this much at once. This seemed to be some type of a record of betting here on first then. 368 Chapter 364: Stopped The host of the table picked a card from his deck and looked at it. He placed it facedown on the table. "Six of Spades, Three of Heart, Ace of Diamond, Seven of Club, Two of Heart and Three of Diamond," the Host gave them options just like the first time. " I''ll go with Ace of Diamond!" Ryder said to the host. The host reversed the card with a blank look on his face. "Congratulations, you win. Your money is tripled," the Host said to Ryder, congratulating him. '' That was easy. Now I have a hundred million dollars in this card,'' Ryder thought as he looked at his casino card. ''Now, I need to lose.'' '' Pick the next card!" He told the host. The host picked another card and gave Ryder six options. Intentionally picking up the wrong choice, he lost twenty-five million dollars, finally getting the host to breathe in relief. " Hmph, what''s this little bit of money. I''ll just credit more in this card even if I lose everything!" Ryder muttered as he rolled his eyes. " Pick the next card. I''ll bet twenty-five million more!" He told the host. The host picked up the card and placed its head down. Ryder lost again, making Keia look at him in concern. "Ah, I think you should stop," she told Ryder, "Or bet in low quantity." "Don''t worry," Ryder told Keia. ''Now that I established myself, time to start winning. Five Hundred Million should be enough,'' he thought as he looked at the card in his hand. "Pick the next card. I''m placing twenty-five million again!" Ryder declared. The odd was one to three at the moment, giving two hundred percent more return. "Ace of Diamond!" Ryder said, selecting a number that he was sure of. The host picked up the card, congratulating Ryder. "Pick next card. Fifty Million Dollar this time!" Ryder announced. The host picked up the card. Ryder easily won this time, however as the odd was one to three, he made One Hundred Fifty Million Dollar instantly, which made his card have One Hundred Seventy-five Million Dollars. "Hahaha, looks like the gods are on my side today! I came here prepared to lose at least two hundred million dollars, but I''m winning! Pick the next card! I''m going all in this time!" Ryder declared proudly like a real rich boy who didn''t realize how much he was betting. Even keia was shocked. This whole day had been shocking for her. She wanted to stop Ryder, but he had already bet one hundred seventy-five million dollars. "King of Diamonds!" Ryder declared as he glanced at the face-down card. The Host''s face turned pale as he got the answer. "C-congratulations. You won," the host said as he transferred the money to Ryder. Ryder looked around the casino, noticing various gazes at him. '' I have Five Hundred Twenty-five Million Dollar now. These should be enough to handle everything. I should leave before I attract even more attention,'' Ryder thought. He was about to give an excuse to leave without breaking his character of a rich master, but he didn''t need to. "That''s enough! You shouldn''t bet more! You have half a billion Dollars! Don''t get too deep in gambling! It''s not good for your health!" Keia said as she dragged him away from the table. "Fine. I''ll stop if you say!" Ryder declared proudly before he transferred all the money in his casino card to his bank account, which now had close to Six Hundred Million Dollar. "Excuse me, Sir! Our boss wishes to meet you!" While Ryder was leaving with Keia, three black-robed people stood in their path, stopping them. "Sorry, but we don''t wish to stay here any longer!" Keia said, refusing to stay. Holding Ryder''s hand, she moved to the side to leave. "Please cooperate!" The black-robed man said as they reached out their hand towards Keia to stop her; however, before the black-robed man could touch her, someone else appeared before her. Ryder was about to step in front of Keia to help, but Saelyn was the one who arrived first. He held the hands of the black-robed man. "Young Miss, please leave. No one shall stop you," Saelyn said as he smiled. Keia kept holding Ryder''s hand and left the establishment without looking back. Ryder didn''t even think about staying back to help Saelyn since he was sure that he was more than capable of protecting himself as the Silva Clan''s chief of security assigned to their young Princess. " How long do you think he will take to come out?" Ryder asked Keia. "He should be out in a few minutes. Anyway, you really don''t care about money, do you?" Keia inquired. "You were throwing money out so casually," she continued as she rolled her eyes. "No, I wasn''t throwing money. I''m not rich at all. Actually, I needed Four Hundred Million Dollars for something. I had no choice but to gamble and put faith in my luck. I won, though," Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. "Ah, really?" Keia asked in surprise. "Yeah, come. Now that I''m done, I''ll actually take you to some nice places," Ryder said as he smirked. Opening the door of his car, he stepped inside. "Hahaha, you''re so good at acting," Keia chuckled as she walked over to the other side and sat on the passenger seat. Ryder started driving and took the car on the road, zooming into the distance just when Saelyn came out, dusting his clothes. Watching the Whirlwind racing off into the distance, he sighed. "Kids these days," he muttered as he walked over to the Black SUV and sat inside as he started following the Whirlwind. Ryder stopped the car on the side of the road. "Stay here. I''ll be right back," he told Keia before he stepped out of the car. After a few minutes, he came back with two vanilla ice cream cones in each of his hands. "Here you go," he said, giving the cone to Keia. "I like chocolate more," Keia said as she sighed. "I''ll be right back," Ryder said, turning back towards the shop again. "Hey, stop! I was kidding! I was trying to see your reaction," Keia said as she sighed with a wry smile on her face. 369 Chapter 365: Adrians destination "You sure?" He said, giving the cone to Keia. " Yeah," Keia said, smiling as she took the ice cream cone from Ryder. The two of them ate Icecream while Saelyn and others parked their SUV at some distance so as not to disturb them. After finishing up, Ryder asked Keia, "Where would you prefer to go next?" "It''s your city, and you''re the host today. It would help if you decided," Keia replied as she smiled. " I don''t go out much, and I don''t know what girls like. I''ve only been to movies, dinner, and amusement parks," Ryder asked her as he sat back inside the car. " Let''s go shopping. Buy me some gifts," Keia chuckled, sitting inside the car. "You don''t need me to buy anything. You''re a rich girl. Moreover, the wallet you stole should have enough money to buy expensive things," Ryder let out, looking at Keia with an amused smile on his face. "Hmph! Not only yours, but you know when I steal from others as well. Are you even a human?" Keia said, bringing a purse out and placing it on the dash. "He tried to stop me when I was leaving that Casino with you. I couldn''t stop myself from taking his purse," Keia replied as she smiled wryly. "You''re quite an interesting girl, you know. You have a talent that a lady of a rich family shouldn''t since you never lacked money. How did you learn to steal?" Ryder asked as he took the car towards the Shopping Complex. **** While Ryder was roaming through the city, Adrian Balakin was standing in front of a house. He looked at the paper in his hand and then at the house in front of him. "Excuse me. Is this house the right address?" He asked a nearby person as he showed him the address written on the paper. "Yeah, this is right. That''s the house," the person answered Adrian as he pointed at the house. " Good," Adrian muttered as he started walking towards the house, which happened to be the house of Ryder Flynn himself. He stood in front of the door and knocked on it. Despite waiting for quite some time, the door wasn''t opened. "Is no one inside?" Adrian muttered as he frowned. He turned the doorknob to test if the door was locked; however, it wasn''t. The door opened easily. He stepped inside Ryder''s house. With slow strides, he searched each of the rooms but didn''t find anything. There was nothing inside the house as well. The house was completely empty. There was no luggage, either. Adrian didn''t know that the people inside the house had shifted to Shu''s Estate. "Did they shift?" Adrian muttered in confusion before he left the empty house. He walked over to the neighbor''s house and knocked on the door. "Can you tell me what happened to the people who lived in that house?" He asked the person who opened the door. "Do you know where they went or any contact information of them?" Adrian asked the person. " I don''t know anything. They might have left the city. The owner of the house apparently got rich. I wouldn''t be shocked if they went to the New Capital where most of the rich live," the neighbor said before he went back inside the house, closing the door. "New Capital? That new city?" Adrian muttered as he looked in the distant horizon. "Where are you? How do I find you? Should I go to him for help? Or should I call back home and have them hack this country? That would be annoying to handle, though, all for an address," he sighed as he sat on the steps in front of the house. " I hate this country stuff. All this politics on an international level. Why the fuck do I even need to care about that. I''ll do what I want!" He thundered as he brought his phone out of his pocket and called a number. "You have been blocked from calling outside the country as long as you''re here. Please contact the authorities for more information." As Adrian called, he heard a female pre-recorded message telling him that he couldn''t call outside. "This annoying government! Do they really want me to go on a rampage here? Blocking my calls?" Adrian frowned as he stood up. " Can the really be this stupid? Or is this the work of the guy who rules this place from the shadows? Is he upset that I broke the treaty to come here and entered his land? He is so troublesome! I know I killed his men, but did he really need to do that?" he continued as he started walking. As Adrian was walking, he suddenly remembered something as a smile appeared on his face. "Oh, right! I have another phone that I took from that guy. Heh, let''s see how you block that," he muttered. Bringing his hand inside his pocket, he brought a phone outside. The phone happened to be the one that he took from the person who was following him. He dialed the number with Russian Code. "You have been blocked from calling outside the country as long as you''re here. Please contact the authorities for more information." "To hell with them!" Adrian thundered as he threw the phone on the ground. As Adrian roared in anger, the ground around him started shaking as cracks started developing on the concrete road. "Those Bastards must be tracking me using satellites! They aren''t blocking my number from calling outside the country, but they are blocking every Phone that''s in the same region as me! Those annoying trashes! Do I really need to take a trip to the White House? That Draco and Itsuki will get on my head about international integrity if I do that! Ahh! It''s so annoying!" Adrian walked in frustration as he crushed the paper in his hand. "He looks annoyed. Is he cursing someone?" While Adrian was walking in frustration, inside Japan, one of the Seven, Itsuki, was watching him on his laptop using the Japanese Satellite that was tracking Adrian. Not only the Japanese Satellite, but the British Satellite and the Chinese satellite was also tracking him, keeping an eye on his every move. The American satellites were also on his back, keeping an eye on him. 370 Chapter 366: Theft from thieves "He seems to be looking for someone. If it''s only that, we should be able to get him out of here faster. He needs to know that we can help him find what he''s looking for if he agrees to leave peacefully!" The Leader of the Dark Uprising told one of the Kings. "Your Majesty, Twelfth King, and Thirteenth King are near that state. They can get there faster. Should we send them? Adrian killed the person who tried talking to him. A king needs to talk to him," The Fifth King suggested. "There''s no need. First had already landed there. He should be able to handle it," the Leader replied in a grim tone. **** "Alright. That''s all the time we had for today. I need to go to my lawyer and have some more boring stuff to do. You should go back," Ryder told Keia after he helped her finish shopping. "Hmph, you''re so stingy with your time. Fine! I''m leaving!" Keia replied as she pouted. She turned back to leave. She had only taken two steps before she turned back. "What happened?" Ryder asked in confusion as he saw her coming back. "I forgot something. You owe me something!" Keia said as she stopped in front of Ryder. "What?" Ryder asked in confusion as Keia said that. Keia didn''t reply to him and simply hugged him tightly. "The first time we met. You did something," Keia muttered as she slid her hand down and placed her hand on Ryder''s butt. "Now we''re equal," she laughed lightly as she released him. Ryder remembered that he had done that when he was thinking that she was a thief while looking for his purse in the back pocket. He hadn''t known that the thief was a girl. ''So that''s what she meant,'' he thought as he smiled wryly. Keia turned back to leave; however, she didn''t as her hand was caught by Ryder. Keia looked back at him, wondering why he held her hand when Ryder suddenly pulled her, embracing her. "Now we''re equal," he whispered in her ear after giving her a tight hug. He freed her and went back to his car, leaving the stunned Keia standing there. Starting his car, he left. Keia looked at the car leaving before she started laughing. "Interesting guy indeed," she muttered with an amused smile on her face before she walked towards the Black SUV of her clan. She walked inside the car. The SUV started driving away, only stopping at a charging station. Saelyn went inside the restaurant nearby with Keia and others while the car charged. When it was time to leave, Saelyn tried to pull his wallet out; however, he realized that his wallet was missing. A confusion filled expression appeared on his face. "Hmm? I don''t have mine either!" "My wallet is missing too!" One after another, all of Keia''s men said the same thing. Keia didn''t reply as she looked outside the window. "Interesting guy. Is this your way of showing off?" Keia muttered as she smiled. It was when her phone started ringing. She looked at the caller ID, realizing that it was Ryder who was calling. **** Ryder was driving his Whirlwind as a couple of wallets rested on the dashboard of his car. "Little Thief, I don''t know if you realize it or not, but your men are missing their wallets. I have placed all their cards inside your purse. As for the cash, that can be my payback for what I spent on your shopping. Have fun," Ryder smiled before he disconnected the call without waiting for a response. **** Keia opened her purse and found a bunch of ID cards of her men and their credit cards. Bringing them out of her purse, she distributed them to their owners. "So, I was right. Young Miss, you''re getting better at the art of Theft. Next time, please test it on someone else, though," Saelyn said as he smiled wryly before he paid with the card. "Where are our wallets, though?" He asked after paying. "They''re with a thief," Keia chuckled as she shook her head. They left the restaurant and went back in their car before they left the city. **** Ryder went to his lawyer to get the documents ready and left only after getting the contract. Leaving the office of the lawyer, he sent a mail to Keia with the documents before calling her. "Herriet, I''ve sent you the contract. You can read it and we can talk about it tomorrow. You can mark the points you''re unsatisfied about," he told her before he disconnected the call. After finishing up the matter about the ACL contract, he took his Whirlwind towards the Police Station where the Police Chief stayed. Entering the station, he went straight to the office of the Police Chief. Without knocking, he entered the office. "It''s you. Don''t you know it''s bad manners to enter without knocking?" The Police Chief asked Ryder. "Mr. Mak Donner, Don''t you know it''s bad manners to have a guy''s sister kidnapped, especially when you''re supposed to protect the city?" Ryder inquired with equal sarcasm as he sat in front of Police Chief Mak. The Police Chief looked at Ryder with a frown. "Get straight to the point. You got the settlement longer from our department! Why are you here now? Are you still not satisfied?" The Police Chief asked Ryder. " The settlement was for you arresting Alice wrongly and not letting her use her basic rights. It wasn''t for you attacking us, was it?" Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face. "I didn''t have a hand in it. We investigated and found that they were just petty gangs who probably tried to kidnap your sister since they found her to be pretty. Unfortunately, the only man we managed to arrest alive on the case died. The case is closed. Simple," the Police Chief replied as he smiled while looking at Ryder as if trying to show him that Ryder couldn''t do anything. "You''re right. That case is closed indeed, but we both know who the real culprit was. Don''t we, Mr. Donner? Anyway, I''m here to tell you that the police department will have another case soon. The case about the suicide of Police Cheif Donner," Ryder smirked. "Hah, that''s the stupidest threat I heard," the Police Chief said as he started laughing. 371 Chapter 367: Potion The Police Chief frowned and looked back. Seeing a little crack on the wall, he started laughing. "Are you a contractor? Do you want to repair my wall?" Police Chief Donner asked Ryder with an amused smile on his face. "I was just curious. Nothing serious," Ryder replied as he smiled. He stood up and moved the chair back. "I''m taking my leave now." Ryder left the room as well as the Police Station. He sat inside his car; however, he didn''t leave the place. **** Police Chief Donner looked at the door, frowning. "That idiot. He came all the way here to threaten me? What can that idiot even do? The witness is dead. Even if he calls those Airforce generals, they can do nothing about it. Without proof, there''s nothing," The Police Chief chuckled as he shook his head. He picked up the cup of coffee that was in front of him and drank it in one gulp. He started resting on his chair after drinking the coffee. Suddenly, he opened his eyes. His eyes had changed color, and they were looking slightly pinkish. The police chief brought his phone out of his pocket and started calling a number. **** "I wonder if he drank it yet or not," Ryder muttered, looking at his clock. Watching the time, he was waiting when his phone started ringing. "Ah, Ryder baby! Did you leave?! Where did you go?! Please don''t leave me! I love you so much!" A man''s voice sounded from the other side. "Police Chief Donner?" Ryder inquired as if he was surprised. " Darling, don''t call me so fast formally. Call me Mak. Where are you? I really want to meet you, baby! Tell me where you are!" The Police Chief said from his office. "Mak, I left your office. I''m at ..." Ryder started giving an address to the Police Chief. "Come alone, alright. I''m shy if you come with others. I''ll hate you then," Ryder replied before disconnecting the call. "Ahh, that was so disgusting. I never thought I''d have to talk to a guy like that. For revenge, it''s important, though," Ryder exclaimed as he started the car and left. " I didn''t expect I''d be using the love potion. It was lucky that there was a coffee in front of him when I went there. That made it so easy," he let out as if he was talking to himself. "Even though its effects only last for a day, that should be enough for me." Ryder reached his office building and parked his car in the parking before he left. He stepped out of the car and left the building. He walked over to the neighboring building where tens of dead bodies were lying still. That''s where it was going to happen today. Ryder didn''t want to do anything inside the building he owned. As for the neighboring building, that was a good target as that was going to lead police to that place so that they could find the dead bodies of Dark Uprising members and clean that place. Ryder stepped inside the building and went upstairs using the lift. He walked through the building, remembering about the events that took place over a week ago. "Hmm? No bodies are here. Did those guys already clear the building of the dead bodies?" Ryder muttered as he frowned after finding the whole place empty. There were no bodies inside the building. It seemed as if the building had been abandoned for tens of years. "So they came back after the blast and cleared the evidence. Not bad at all," he said as he smiled. "Oh, Fuck! How could I forget that! I''m everything that happened that day; I forgot about the Cannibal Kids!" He exclaimed suddenly as he ran towards the higher floors using stairs. He went inside the room where he had left the kids, only to find it empty. "Did the kids run away, or were they taken by Dark Uprising? Just who or what were those kids? Why was Dark Uprising keeping them here? Did they need something from them? Just what was so special about the kids? I should''ve called the police to raid this place after I escaped! I made a mistake by forgetting!" Ryder exclaimed as he frowned. Stepping out of the room, he went straight to the roof and started waiting for the Police Chief. Looking around the roof, he remembered all the places he was hurt at. The roof didn''t have any blood on it since he was mostly harmed in the first timeline at this place. In the second timeline, he was more careful to protect himself. "Both timelines seem to merge into one memory. Sometimes it gets so confusing to differentiate between the deal and the fake timeline. This stuff can really get annoying," he let out as he looked down the roof, on the road, while waiting for the Police Chief to arrive. Only ten minutes had passed when an SUV stopped in front of the building. The Police Chief stepped out of the driver''s seat, showing that he had been the one who was driving. The Police Chief stepped inside the building. "He seems to be alone. Good. I wish he were sane so I could get more satisfaction when doing it, but his death is what I want. I don''t care about anything else," Ryder muttered as he glanced back at the gate, waiting for the man to get to the roof. The door opened after a few minutes as the Police Chief stepped on the roof. "Baby! There you are! You know how much I missed you!" The Police Chief exclaimed as he ran towards Ryder to hug him. "Stop right there! Don''t pretend as if you care for me! You don''t!" Ryder pouted as he raised his hand, gesturing for the man to stop. "Why are you saying that? Of course, I care for you, baby! You''re the love of my life. You''ll make me cry if you don''t stop talking like that," the Police Chief said with a sad expression on his face. "If you care for me, you''ll do one thing for me!" Ryder said as he smirked. *** "If you care for me, you''ll do one thing for me," Ryder said, looking at the Police Chief. "What do you want me to do to prove my love! I''ll do that without a second thought," Police Chief Donner said in a pleading tone. "I want you to write a letter. Write whatever I say! Only then will I believe that you love me!" Ryder said as he threw a notebook towards the Police Chief along with a pen. "I''ll write! Anything for my baby!" Police Chief Donner said as he picked up the notebook and the pen. "Say. What shall I write, baby," he asked Ryder after he was ready. "I, Mak Donner, the police chief of this city, had made a grave mistake!" Ryder started telling the man what to write. " As Ryder Flynn sued my Police Department, I started hating him!" he continued. The Police Chief raised his head as he heard this. "But I don''t hate you, baby?" He inquired with a curious look on his face. "Write what I say if you love me! It''s a test for you!" Ryder said, looking at the man. " Fine. I''m writing," the Police Chief said, nodding his head. He started writing what Ryder said. "I tried to threaten him to take the case back, but he refused to listen. Having no option left, I decided to have his sister kidnapped so I could blackmail him into taking the case back; however, he managed to save his sister." Ryder continued speaking while the man continued writing. " Our department lost the case. I''ve been feeling bad about everything that I did. As a police chief, it''s my responsibility to maintain law and order, but I tried to kidnap a citizen. I feel bad for my actions; however, no amount of apology can make up for what I did. That''s why I''ve decided to die today! My Death is my responsibility only. No one shall be blamed for it!" Ryder said. The Police Chief looked at him in confusion. "Death?" he asked Ryder. "It''s just a test. I''m not killing you, duffer. You can''t even write that much. You don''t care for me at all. I''m leaving! Please don''t talk to me again," Ryder rolled his eyes as he turned his back on the Police Chief. "Wait! Wait! I''ll write! I''ll write it!" The man said as he started writing. 372 Chapter 368: Easy Death He wrote what Ryder said. "I did it!" The Police Chief said after he finished. "Good. Tear off that page and let me see," Ryder responded as he smiled. He wore rubber gloves as he walked closer to the man and took the piece of paper that was torn off from the notebook by the Police Chief. Holding the paper in his hand, Ryder started reading. "Good. You did good," Ryder said as he smiled after nodding in appreciation. He folded the paper and gave it back to the Police Chief. "Here, keep it in your pocket," he told the man. "Why?" the Police Chief asked Ryder in confusion. "Fine! Don''t do it! You don''t trust me at all! I''ll jump off of this building and die!" Ryder said as he started walking towards the end of the roof. "Wait, wait! I did it! I did it!" The Police Chief said as he placed the folded paper in his pocket while he ran to save Ryder. Stopping right at the edge of the roof, Ryder turned back. "You did it?" he asked the Police Chief, who breathed a sigh of relief as Ryder had stopped. "I did it! It''s in my pockets!" The Police Chief said proudly, patting his chest. "Give me my pen," Ryder said, reaching out his hand. The Police Chief returned the pen to Ryder. "Good. Now that everything is fine, I believe that you''re a genuine person. Come here," Ryder said, smilingly, as he spread out his hand to give the man a hug. The Police Chief smiled happily as he moved closer to Ryder to hug him, but as he got closer, Ryder caught him by his collar "Be glad that I''m busy nowadays and can''t give you a cruel and thoughtful death!" Ryder thundered as he twisted his body. His strength was enough to pull the Police Chief in the air as he threw him off the roof. Watching the Police Chief fall down and hearing his scream, Ryder enjoyed the extreme satisfaction. He knew that he shouldn''t feel happy at the death of someone else; however, he really enjoyed killing when it involved him killing his enemies. It was as if it satisfied some deep part of his soul that wished for chaos and destruction of the ones he didn''t like. (Smash) The body of the Police Chief finally crashed on the concrete ground. His skill cracked as blood spilled everywhere. Patting his hands, Ryder played with the pen as he walked over to the notebook that was lying on the ground. Picking up the notebook, he kept it inside his clothes before he went downstairs. Reaching the ground floor, he broke the window in the back of the building and left through there while the Police Chief''s body was lying on the ground. He left the building and walked over to his building. As this place was mostly abandoned, no one found the body. "I should''ve chosen some crowded place. It''ll take so long before his body is found," he muttered as he entered the lift. Pressing the button inside the lift, he went to the Fifth Floor, the floor assigned to the Pharmaceutical Department. It was after four in the afternoon, so there were still some people in the office. Stepping out of the lift, Ryder walked towards the office of Alesons, who was a prominent scientist in the original timeline of Ryder. In this timeline, Ryder didn''t give Aleson the chance to suffer, which became a driving force of his action in the first timeline. Instead of letting the young man become big on his own, Ryder used his knowledge to hire him shortly after he graduated. Not only that, he gave Aleson the ideas of what he was going to find in the future, presenting them as his own ideas. In this way, he acted as an intermediary who stole from the future Aleson of the Original Timeline to give to the Young Aleson of this timeline. Ryder knocked on the door of the office despite being the boss. "Come in," a young voice came from inside. Opening the door, Ryder stepped inside. A young man was sitting on the chair, reading a file. Raising his gaze, he looked at the man who had just entered. Seeing Ryder, the man on the chair stood up, shocked. "Ah, boss! Why did you knock! You should''ve just stepped inside. No, no! You should''ve called me. I would have come to you!" Aleson asked Ryder in surprise. "It''s nothing. I just came to see how things are progressing with your research," Ryder replied as he sat down " It''s going great. The concepts you provided me are so amazing. I always wondered about these things, and I finally have an answer. If I follow this same line of thought and we are successful, we can really come to something revolutionary in terms of solving this problem!" Aleson replied to Ryder excitedly. " That''s great. Keep up the good work. I have high hopes of you," Ryder said as he patted the shoulder of Aleson. "A boss, I had a question," Aleson inquired as he picked up the file in front of him. ''Hmm? Does he want to ask about the research that I gave him? I wrote everything I remembered. I''m not a scientist. I can''t explain anything other than what I wrote. It''s his own research. Shouldn''t he do it on his own instead of asking me?'' Ryder wondered as he thought about what the man could be asking. "Ah, sure. Ask what you want," he said, wondering about the question he''ll receive. "I saw the concepts you gave me. They are so revolutionary. You''re so good at it. Why aren''t you a part of further research? Why aren''t you leading this department?" Aleson asked Ryder. "Ah, that''s what you wanted to ask. It''s because I have more responsibilities as the head of Divine Corporation. There are many things that take my time, which stops me from giving so my focus on research. That''s why I can''t do it anymore," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "At Least not until everything settles down." "I understand that. I have another question, though. Why am I the head? Ah, Don''t get me wrong. It''s not that I dislike having such a high position, but with the money you pay me, you could''ve hired some reputed, experienced scientist. Why did you choose me?" Aleson asked Ryder in confusion. 373 Chapter 369: Culpri "Anyway, you''ve been working for a few days only. Still, you''ve managed to set everything up. I think you''re doing good. Keep it up. I''ll leave now," he said before he turned back and left, worried that Aleson might ask some hard questions if he stayed for longer. He left the office, leaving Aleson behind, and went to the ground floor. Entering the parking, he walked back to his car and got it out of the building. As he left the building, he couldn''t help but wonder if someone had managed to find the body by now or if he would need to do it himself. As he left the building, he saw two cars in front of the dead body of the Police Chief. One of which was an SUV in which the Police Chief had arrived here while the other car belonged to someone else. He could see a bald man, talking to someone with a worried look on his face. He was pacing back and forth near the body as he talked. "A passerby found the body; it looks like. Anyway, since that''s not where my home is, I don''t have to get involved anymore. I can simply say I didn''t see the body. The Death Note in his pocket would prove it to be a suicide," Ryder muttered as he smiled. His car raced into the distance, going towards the North of the city. "Now, I should have two things left to do. Read the file that Keia gave me and go to that Ancient Clan to finish the Mission and save Bastion. I also need to get the deal signed with Herriet tomorrow. A red Ferrari Whirlwind raced through the city and stopped at the Club of Esmi. Since he had some time before night, he decided to come here to see if he could find any clues about the person that placed the bomb in Shu''s Car. "Hey, Ryder! What brought you here?" Entering the club, Ryder saw Esmi''s right-hand man, Mark, whom he had fooled to finish a Mission in the past. "What brought me here? Don''t tell me you don''t know. The attacks on Bastion!" Ryder sat on the table before Mark and started talking. "About that... I heard. I''m glad he''s okay," Mark replied as he nodded his head. "There was a bomb in his car, probably with timing. It was the work of someone who knew where Mark was going and how long his journey was going to be. It''s obvious that someone from this club was responsible for this. Did you have a hand in it?" Ryder asked straight away. "I can''t believe you would doubt me! I would never do such a cowardly thing. I would never try to kill Young Master Boss. Even if I would want to kill someone, I would never do it like that. I''ll go shoot that person from the front!* Mark replied, sounding upset. Leaving the club, Ryder stepped inside the car and left. " That bastard Mark! He did it," Ryder cursed as he drove the car while keeping his eyes on the road. " I can''t interrogate him without proof, and I can''t tell them what I used to know the truth. He did it, but I can''t prove it. He''ll vilify me in the club. Esmi and Bastion will believe me, but they''ll be a little skeptical," he continued as he sighed. "As for the person who''s truly responsible for this will escape by the time we get to it. I''ll need to be careful with how I handle it." Ryder kept trying to form a plan as he went towards Maxwell Estate. Entering the Estate, he stepped out of the cat and entered the mansion. As he entered, he saw a servant clearing the flower vase. "Where''s Shu?'' Ryder asked the servant. "Master is in his room," the servant replied. Climbing the stairs, Ryder went to the first floor and knocked on Shu''s door. After getting the permission to enter, he opened the door and stepped inside. "Shu, are you prepared for the Quest? I am finally free to go with you in Divinity tonight," Ryder told Shu, who seemed to be prepared to Enter Divinity. "Hmm? You seem excited today," Shu replied as he chuckled. "Anyway, I''m prepared for the Quest. I''ve been waiting for a long time for this moment." "Yeah, I finished a boring task inside Divinity. Now I can finally do some normal gameplay to get my head off of this real-world chaos. I feel like I really need this break to keep my sanity now," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Anyway, I''ll contact you when I''m in Divinity," Ryder said before he turned back and went back to his room. After getting fresh and changing clothes, he laid on his bed. He brought his Divinity Glasses out of his inventory and wore them as he laid down on the bed. "Take me to Divinity," Ryder muttered, allowing the glasses to take him to Divinity. Waking up in the Royal Castle of the Demon Realm, Ryder stretched his arms as he sat up. He got off the bed and left his room. He left his room and went to the Training Grounds inside the Palace, where he was sure to find Rale. He walked through the hallway with the great maid beside him. "Did anything happen while I was sleeping?" He inquired from the Head Maid; however, she only shook her head as she said that nothing happened. "Good," Ryder muttered, nodding his head. He entered the Training Grounds and saw Rale battling against his teammates as a form of training. "Rale?" he called out. "Your Majesty!" Rale and the others greeted Ryder. "Come with me," Ryder told Rale before he turned back and left. Rale and the Head Maid Miku followed Ryder. Ryder brought them to the underground where the Portals of other realms were, hiding behind old doors. "Are we going somewhere?" Rale asked Ryder, understanding his intention. "Yeah, we''re going to the Human Realm," Ryder said, smiling. "Miku, if someone comes and asks for us, you know what to do, right?" Ryder asked the Head Maid. "Yes, Your Majesty. I''ll say that you''re sleeping and keep making excuses." Miku nodded her head. Ryder smiled, nodding his head. Opening one of the doors, he entered with Rale. 374 Chapter 370: New Titles Both of them appeared in a dense forest like last time, which was near the Tiara Kingdom. The portal was able to Teleport two times at the same place before it changed the portal location. As it was Ryder''s fourth time using the portal to come to this world, he was sent to the same place as last time. He had entered the Tiara Kingdom to explore the dungeon where he got a \u003cRing of Disguise\u003e to change his looks. To keep his identity a secret, he had decided to use the ring. As he started the game at the start, he hadn''t realized that he would become such a shocking player, which would make him the enemy of the public. That was the reason why he didn''t customize his looks as much as he could and kept it similar to his real-world looks; however, as he progressed, he realized that it could be bad for him if people found his real life He had already gone on a quest where people had seen his Original Avatar''s face and knew that he was Hades; when he went to the quest with Shu. He trusted Shu, and he already knew his real life; however, the people that were with Shu could give his real one to three public, so as to discredit them and let people know about his \u003cRing of Disguise\u003e he was going out with a different face. He also happened to make the Princess of Tiara Kingdom, Aslina Windsor, fall in love with him¡ª all according to his plan to have this Kingdom to set his Guild. Even his marriage was set up with the Princess when he left after giving the excuse of a Quest. "I need to go through the Windsor City to get to Shu. It looks like I''ll be meeting Aslina again. I wonder if they''ll force me to marry her if I met her," Ryder muttered, wondering to himself. "Rale, You''ll have to stay away from me when we get to the Windsor City since everyone will remember you from the time you kidnapped the Princess. I can''t let them know that we''re together. Stay within the shadow while keeping some distance," he said to Rale before he reached out his hand towards Rale. "You''ll be carrying me," he let out. Not wanting to use his limited flying ability, he decided to ask Rale to carry him. He wanted to be able to fly when he actually needed it in the future. Nodding his head, Rale caught the hands of Ryder before he started flying. They left the forest and entered the border town of the Tiara Kingdom, which seemed empty, unlike last time. '' If it were like last time, there would''ve been many people ranting that Lucifer killed them in one place or another; however, there''s nothing like that this time. There''s no news about him killing anyone within Divinity. According to the forums, even less is known about Lucifer than about me. I''ve been seen by a few people in Divinity; however, Lucifer is even rare to be seen. It seems almost impossible to find the guy. Where exactly is he?'' The more Ryder thought about Lucifer''s whereabouts, the more frustrated he got. As he flew with the help of Rale, he decided to see his notification to see what he missed since he wasn''t able to use any of them within the Demon Realm. "What the heck? 999+ friend requests? I know my username is famous but still! How can I go through important ones within these?" Ryder muttered, frowning. Ultimately, he rolled his eyes and closed the Friend Request without accepting or going through any. He didn''t know that one of these uncountable notifications was from Alice''s account, who was using a different name as her account. Closing the notifications, he shifted his focus at all the titles he had received so far to see if he needed to equip another title. "Hmm? \u003cScamming Hero\u003e \u003cThreatening Monarch\u003e \u003cDecent Speaker\u003e" Ryder muttered as he started reading the titles. "When did I get these titles? I wonder if there''s something interesting in any of them." He opened each of the titles to know more about them [Title: Scamming Hero] [Description: A Scamming Hero who pretends to be a hero to scam people] [Effects: Once equipped, it can increase Favorability of the Player with the enemies] "Scamming Hero makes my Favorability increase with my enemies. It can come in handy in certain situations; however, I don''t see any use of it for myself." Finding the first title to be useless, Ryder started reading about the second new title that he had received. [Title: Threatening Monarch] [Description: A true monarch that threatens the enemies at their home ] [Effects: Increase Intimidation by ten percent when equipped] [Effects: Increase the chances of taming beasts when equipped] "Chances of Taming Beasts? That seems interesting. If the past is something to go by, a few special classes like Beast Tamers will be appearing. Those are the guys that use beasts to do their battle, sharing the Experience between them. There are still normal players that can learn Taming, but without the Beast Tamer class, the chances of them taming a beast are almost negligible. This Title would probably help them with their chances." Ryder thought about the second title, still not finding it worthy for him to change his title. "If I''m not wrong, I got it after I threatened the Prince of Death Domain at his own Palace," he muttered before he closed the description and opened a different screen with the description of the third title. [Title: Decent Speaker] [Description: Only a person who speaks in front of a large crowd as the main speaker more than five times can be called a Decent Speaker] [Effects: 0.1 Percent chance of people following your orders without thinking about the good or bad] "Hmm? This effect is pretty good though. If it can make people listen to my commands without thinking, doesn''t it mean I can rule everyone? It would be too much of an overpowered title. However, it only had a 0.1 percent chance of being successful. That''s too low," Ryder muttered, shaking his head. The chances of this effect taking place were almost non-existent. He did not believe that it would come in handy to him. His current title was still more worthy to him if he was to think practically; however, he still decided to equip this title as a Secondary Title while keeping the \u003cSuccessor of Salem\u003e as his primary title. After he finished going through all the titles, he closed the screen and went to check his stats to have an accurate idea about how his stats were affected. "Not too bad," Ryder muttered, smiling as he saw his stats. ''As a level hundred player, I am pretty high, but my stats make me even higher. I wonder if anyone can even take me over in the level ranking. I can finish high-level Quests while the other players are stuck at low-level Quests even without taking the help of Rale,'' he thought as he smiled. ''If I count the help of Rale and the High Dukes, I can even finish the End Bosses, I think. However, I don''t know what quests are at those stages and what are the final bosses. Still, on the assumption I should be able to finish them if they aren''t too overpowered; counting on the fact that I''m but thinking like a frog at the bottom of the well thinking I have the strongest people while not seeing the true peak yet.'' "Is something concerning you, Your Highness? You seem to be lost in some concerning thought," Rale asked Ryder, noticing his occasional frowning. "Ah, it''s nothing. I''ve been thinking about the future. Nothing concerning, just something that''s making me curious," Ryder replied, casually answering. **** Rale brought Ryder near the Windsor City, the Royal City for the Tiara Kingdom where the Royal Family stayed; however, he didn''t enter the Royal City. He and Ryder get down right outside the Royal City as they couldn''t be seen inside the city together. Ryder left Rale behind as he entered the city on his own. Even though Ryder walked alone, he was sure that Rale was nearby somewhere, keeping an eye on him to keep him safe. Ryder entered the Windsor City and went straight to the Royal Place. 375 Chapter 371: Meeting Princess Ryder was brought to the Royal Hall, where the King was sitting on his throne having a meeting with his ministers. The guard informed the Eunuch about the arrival of Ryder, who in turn entered the Royal Hall and informed the King about the arrival of Ryder. Ryder was instantly allowed inside the Royal Hall. "So you finally decided to come back? You know how much our daughter missed you? You could''ve told us if you had something to do but leaving without telling us? That wasn''t good," the King asked Ryder, frowning. Ryder took a step forward before he bowed a little, respectfully. "I would like to ask for an apology, Your Majesty. I was feeling intimidated by you, so I couldn''t get to tell you that I needed to leave; however, it was urgent, so I couldn''t stop myself either. I could only tell Aslina before leaving," he lamented. "Whatever. What''s happened has happened. Don''t do this again. Go and meet my daughter. She''s been waiting for you!'' the King grumbled, telling Ryder to go to his daughter instead. He shifted his gaze to the Eunuch and announced, "Take him to the Princess." "Yes, Your Majesty," The Eunuch and Ryder replied at the same time. Both of them turned back and left the Hall. Ryder was brought to a garden where the Princess could be seen watering what seemed like a beautiful flower similar to a rose. "You can leave," Ryder told the Eunuch in a low voice, making sure that the Princess whose back was facing him couldn''t hear. The Eunuch gave Ryder a look before he turned back and left. Ryder stepped towards the Princess in slow steps without making a noise. The Princess was so immersed in watering the plants that she still didn''t realize as Ryder appeared just a few inches behind him. Ryder brought his lips closer to her cheeks. "Beautiful flowers but none as beautiful as you," he whispered in her ears. "Huh!" Like a scared rabbit, Aslina jumped as she felt a tingling sensation in her ears. She turned back to see if the voice actually belonged to the person she thought it did. Aslina turned back and noticed that it was actually Ryder. Without thinking for even a single second, she jumped into his embrace, hugging him tightly. "You came! You actually came!" Aslina started sobbing as she hugged Ryder. Even though she hadn''t been with Ryder for long, she had fallen in love with him. As he left, she thought she could bear the wait, having faith that Ryder would definitely return for her. However, as the wait got longer and longer, her urge to be with Ryder started increasing. As she saw him standing in front of him and felt his body warmth, she couldn''t control her tears any longer. Her eyes got wet as tears started falling from her eyes. Ryder wrapped his hands around Aslina''s back, rubbing it gently. "Yeah, I''m back. I''m sorry I took longer. Anyway, I have finished my old missing. I''m even one step closer to establishing my guild in your kingdom. After that, I could be with you longer," Ryder assured in a gentle tone, smoothly floating the idea of establishing his Guild here, which was his main goal when he came to have her fall in love with him. "Yes. Create a guild here. Father will help as well. Don''t leave me ever again," Aslina asserted cutely. Her tears were somewhat starting to slow down. "Only if you stop crying. If you don''t stop, I''ll be very angry at you," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "I-i stopped." Aslina smiled as she freed Ryder to wipe her tears. "My good girl. So, how have you been? Did you miss me?" Ryder inquired, rubbing Aslina''s head. "I''ve missed you so much," Aslina alluded as she smiled. Her smile was so beautiful that Ryder couldn''t take his eyes off of her. Aslina seemed like an innocent girl who was at true peace after she got what she wanted. " I missed you too, my beautiful lady," Ryder conveyed as he reached out his hands to touch Aslina''s smooth hand and kissed the back of her hand. "Do you have more plants to water, or I can take you out with me to see the city with me?" Ryder asked Aslina, who still had a vase-like object she was using to water the flower. "I am free. I just came here to calm my mind since I was missing you," Aslina explained with an embarrassed smile on her face. She couldn''t help but lower her head to hide her embarrassed expressions. She put the watering object down on the ground before she held Ryder''s hand. She still kept her eyes down, not daring to look in his eyes. "Hah, you''re really cute." Ryder chuckled, seeing her embarrassed. He held her hand firmly before he started walking towards the exit. As Ryder walked through the city, he realized that the number of the Players in the city was getting more and more. The first time Ryder came here, he could see many players; however, right now, he could see many more players. It was very easy to recognize players in this world as the players could see a red diamond-like icon above the heads of the players who had killed another player or the ones who were being punished for breaking the laws of the game. Those players could be killed without any penalty, and they gave slightly more experience than normal players of that level. As for normal players, they had a green dot above their heads, which showed that they were players. However, only other players could see these signals. Players could also see the usernames of other players above their heads as that was a default feature. There was also a way to make your username private, making others unable to see their usernames above their heads. However, most people didn''t bother going through the settings to make their usernames private since it didn''t bother them. Instead of bothering them, it made them happier since it gave them the feeling of actually being in a game, and it made others know their name, which was a way for players to show off and get popular amongst the player community. 376 Chapter 372: Thought of attack They could make that information private too. This privatization worked really well in hiding the usernames of the ones that wanted the others not to know what their usernames were; however, there was a flaw in it. If a Player was five or more levels higher than the other player, they could see the username of another player even if it was private and hidden. Ryder kept his username private previously, and if he kept that, no one would be able to know he was Hades unless he used the treasures that gave away his identity. Despite that, Ryder made his username public now. He was using a fake face for his Avatar using the \u003cRing of Disguise\u003e, and he wanted more and more people to know how Hades looks like, which would clear suspicions of real Ryder if anyone actually saw him in real life. "Huh! Look at the name of that player!" "H-he''s Hades! The top player in Level and Treasure Rankings and the Rank 2 Player in Fame Ranking!" "He''s walking with the Princess of this Kingdom! Did he get some Quest from the Royal Family?" "That must be it! The Quest must have something to do with the Princess!" As Ryder walked with the Princess, more and more people started talking about him. They were less concerned about the fact that someone was walking with the Princess and more about the fact that it was Ryder who was doing it. Ryder''s character Hades was one of the two most known characters in Divinity, at least in American Servers. As each country had a different server where the players of that country played, none could interact with the players of other countries who played on their own servers. That''s why most players didn''t bother with anything outside the server of their own. They didn''t know who the top players of other servers were; however, they were sure that the chances of them catching up to Ryder was almost impossible. Before the Necrosis Corporation updated the system, where no one could see the level of players unless they were one rank higher or lower, everyone had seen Ryder''s level. While most players had barely become level ten players, Ryder had surpassed level fifty. The second most known player in this server, Lucifer, was number one in fame Ranking and number 2 in Level Ranking; however, he wasn''t even closer to Ryder in terms of levels before the Company hid the levels of all the players. Even though other players didn''t know how Lucifer was faring according to his levels however they were sure that he couldn''t be on the same level as Ryder. They didn''t have that much faith in Lucifer since they had seen the monster called Hades, which was Ryder''s in-game-name. "Forget about everything! Think about all the Unique Grade Items he owns! If we can kill him, we should be able to get some of his treasures! We can hunt even more fiercely if we had the same treasures as him! We should be able to reach the top of the rankings as well!" One of the bald players said, watching Ryder from behind the crowd. " Have you gone crazy? Did you forget about what happened to the last group of people that followed Master Planner to kill Hades outside the city?" Another player replied, shaking his head strongly. "Hmm? What do you mean? What had happened? Can you tell me?" the Bald Man asked, not knowing what his friend was talking about. "I read in an online forum that Hades was last seen in this city a few weeks ago. According to the thread, some players decided to do what you suggested just now. Hundreds of players agreed to do it. They were lead by a man known as the Master Planner," the other player started explaining to the bald man. " What do you think would have happened? More than a hundred strong players attacked a single Hades, and it was before the Level Rankings were taken private," he continued. " Obviously, he would die if he was attacked by hundreds of players. Even that much level difference can''t overcome the assault of hundreds of players. If that''s true, how come I didn''t hear about Hades being killed before?" The bald man asked. However, he suddenly realized something. "Wait! Don''t tell me he killed all of them?" He was shocked by his own conclusion, but he still couldn''t believe it. " No! Ah, right. How could I forget about this? He must''ve escaped! He''ll have faster speed with his high levels!" He came up with an excuse for himself. "He killed them all! Not a single one of them was left alive! This thread was written on the forum by one of the players who was killed. Many other players who were killed verified the events described in this thread. There''s no way for it to be a lie!" the other player replied, sighing. "Do you still want to kill Hades?" he asked the Bald Player. "Ahh! No, I would have to be crazy to try to kill him after knowing all that! This guy is really a monster! I want to stay as far away from him as possible," the Bald Player lamented as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead. **** "Ah, that empty land. That seems to be perfect for establishing my guild when I can. Do you have any idea how much I would need to pay to your father to get this land in my name?" Ryder asked Aslina, who was holding his hand as if she was afraid that he would leave her again. "You! You''re going to be my husband. Do you really think my Father would take money from you? Treat this land as yours. I would tell father," Aslina said as she rolled her eyes. "It''s not that. I need documents of the transfer of property to create a guild. It''s better if I pay for it," Ryder replied, pretending a little bit. "Hmph, don''t ever talk about paying in our family again. We don''t pay or take money from family, and you''re part of our family now. You want transfer documents? I''ll tell father. He will arrange for it," Aslina answered, pouting a little. "Hahaha, fine. If you say so," Ryder answered, happy that he could create a guild here without any trouble. 377 Chapter 373: Adrian Caugh This timeline was going to be different enough since he had already stolen the Princess who was going to be with Master Planner in the previous timeline. Ryder turned back and walked towards the market. "There are some good Shops in the city where you can buy equipment. Do you want to go and see?" Princess Aslina inquired as she pointed towards a specific direction. "Equipment Store? Yeah, they will have some equipment for adventures; however, the equipment will be Commons Grade. At best, we will find Silver Grade Equipment, which will be too expensive already," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "Don''t worry about expenses. I''ll afford one equipment for you. Any that you want," Aslina said to Ryder, thinking that he was worried about the price. "Ah no. Price isn''t a big deal. The problem is that the equipment is useless for me at this point. I already have a higher grade of equipment," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He patted Aslina''s head. "Thanks for the thought, though." ''Wait, I don''t know if Shu got nice equipment or not. I should ask him. If he doesn''t have a Silver Grade Artifact, I can use Aslina''s offer to get one for him.'' Ryder suddenly thought as he remembered that he was on his way to meet Shu after being done here. He felt like bringing a treasure for Shu would be good since they were about to go on a severe mission after that. " Can you wait here for a minute? I think I saw something there," Ryder said as he pointed towards the empty ground. Releasing Aslina''s hand, he walked further away from her. Opening his message box of Divinity, he messaged Shu, who seemed to be the only person in his friend list in Divinity. "Shu, what''s the grade of your treasures?" Ryder sent a message to Shu before he came back to Aslina. Holding her hand again, he continued walking through the city "Aslina, there''s something else I needed to talk to you about." Ryder started talking after walking through the city for half an hour. "What do you want to say? You want to leave again? Do you even need my permission for that?" Aslina replied as she chuckled, hiding the sadness in her eyes. "How do you know?" Ryder asked Aslina, surprised how she knew he was leaving. "I got a feeling from the way you were talking to me inside the Palace," Aslina replied, lowering her head. "Yeah, I need to leave again for some important work. I had managed to finish my first mission, but another mission still exists for me. I need to finish it before I can create a guild here," Ryder replied, vaguely. "Will you stay here for a day at least?" Aslina asked Ryder. "It''s good. Stay at the Royal Palace tonight. You can leave tomorrow," Aslina told Ryder. "That sounds good." Ryder nodded his head as he started walking back towards the Royal Palace with Aslina. "Do you think you can tell father before you leave this time, or should I tell him after you leave like last time?" Aslina inquired as to if she had thought about something. " Your father would kill me if I left without telling him this time. I''ll tell him before I leave," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. He was walking with Aslina when she got a notification of a message. Opening his inbox, he saw a message from Shu, who used the Username of Bigdaddy. Opening the message, he was stunned. "That guy already has gold grade equipment? How? Did they insert real-world currency transactions? Ah, no. He must have paid outside the game to get these from the stronger Players that got these items. It''s either that or he found these items himself," Ryder muttered, trying to understand how Shu had such high-level items already. If one was to grade treasures in levels, Gold Grade Treasure was a grade three while bronze rank treasure was rank 1. For Shu to already possess Rank three items, it was already very good. "I''m on my way. I should be there the day after tomorrow." Ryder sent another message to Shu before he closed the inbox. He entered the Palace with Aslina. "Stay here. I''ll go talk to your Father," Ryder told Aslina before he entered the Royal Hall, leaving Aslina outside. As the door was closed, she couldn''t hear what was happening inside, but she hoped that her father wouldn''t be angry. Time kept passing slowly, and soon, twenty minutes were over Unable to bear the thoughts of what bad things might be happening to Ryder, Aslina decided to enter herself. She reached out her hand to push the door open; however, before her hand could touch the door, it opened on its own. She found Ryder standing on the other side of the door. Holding Aslina''s hand, Ryder started walking away. "What happened inside? Are you fine?" She asked Ryder. "Of Course, I''m fine. What would happen to me?" Ryder asked, smiling. "Did Father scold you?" Aslina inquired. "Did he scold me? What do you think?" Ryder asked in return without answering. "I don''t know. Maybe he scolded you a little," Aslina answered. "Hahaha, whatever that scolding was, it was definitely not little. He scolded me for over an hour before he finally gave me the permission to leave," Ryder answered as he started laughing. "I''m sorry," Aslina apologized with an embarrassed look on her face. "Hey, why are you apologizing, you Idiot. You didn''t do anything," Ryder objected. "If you hadn''t met me, you would be free to do anything without getting scolded," the girl replied with an apologetic look on her face. "You Idiot, if I hadn''t met you, I would have missed out on so much," Ryder answered, thinking how he would''ve missed out on the support of a Kingdom to establish his guild. "So don''t think nonsense. I''m glad that I met you and that''s the only thing you need to know." "Alright," Aslina replied. **** The day passed away as Ryder stayed with Aslina, talking and trying to get even closer to her. The two of them only left each other when it was night. Ryder was provided a room inside the Place. Entering the room, he sat on the bed. "I wonder where Rale is. He shouldn''t be inside the Palace. He''ll be staying outside all night long. I hope he''s sensible enough to get a hotel room," Ryder muttered as he opened his system screen to logout. "I already found a room." Just as Ryder was about to two on the log-out option, he heard a voice from behind him. Looking back, he saw Rale standing there. "Ah, you''re already here. Did someone see you?" Ryder inquired with a frown. "No, they''re too weak to be able to see and catch me. I wasn''t seen at all," Rale replied, shaking his head. " Fine. Stay here for tonight. Make sure that no one sees you. I''ll sleep inside my special realm," Ryder told Rale before he tapped on the logout button and disappeared. **** Ryder woke up in the real world. Taking the glasses off, he sat up. Getting off the bed, he went to shower. After getting fresh and showering, he left the room. Entering his whirlwind, he raced towards the HQ of ACL, where he was supposed to meet Herriet to discuss the contract he sent. Parking his car, he entered the building. He was allowed to go inside as the workers of the ACL recognized Ryder. They were also told to allow Ryder to enter when he came. Ryder stood in front of Herriet''s office and knocked on the door. "Come on in." Ryder heard a voice from inside. Opening the doors, he stepped inside. **** Opening the door, the First King of Dark Uprising stepped inside a building that seemed to be a hotel. He walked over to a table and stopped in front of a young man. Adrian Balakin was sitting, eating a burger, when he saw a man coming towards him. The man sat in front of him without saying anything. "You''re stronger than the ants here. Are you from the toy Organization that guy calls Dark Uprising? Hah, your boss is a real idiot. Why not just achieve what he wants directly instead of taking such a long route?" Adrian asked as he laughed. "He wishes to meet you," the First King told Adrian in full seriousness. "Why should I care for what that guy wants?" Adrian inquired with an amused smile on his face. 378 Chapter 374: Furious Adrian The smile on Adrian''s face disappeared as he turned serious. "Are you trying to threaten me?" Adrian asked as his eyes rested on the First King. The First King felt like he couldn''t breathe. He felt like he was being suffocated, unable to even move. The ground also started shaking as if there was an earthquake. "It''s an Earthquake! Step outside!" The people inside the building started running outside. Soon, the whole hotel was empty; however, two people were still inside, sitting as if nothing had happened. One of the two had a pale face as if he couldn''t breathe while the other person was looking at him. "N-no! It''s not a threat. We know you''re looking for someone! We can help you! That''s what I meant," the First King declared after initially struggling to speak. "Hmm? You know I''m looking for someone? Ah, right. Satellites and my phone. How come I didn''t think about it. The others must be keeping an eye on me. I thought that would have better things to do than to keep an eye on little old me, but I underestimated them," Adrian replied as a smile again appeared on his face. The pressure disappeared around the First King. The intense shaking of the ground also stopped. "You have a phone? Call that guy for me. I want to talk to him," Adrian said to the First King as he took another bite of his burger. The First King pulled out his phone and dialed a number. "You must be wondering why I don''t call him on my phone. I don''t want to waste my money to call that guy," Adrian said while the First King was calling the number. The First King couldn''t help but cough as if he was choked by Adrian''s word. A guy as big as him was stingy? Or was it that he just didn''t wish to spend money on his boss? He couldn''t help but wonder. "Ah, Your Majesty. He wishes to talk to you," the First King said. The First King was about to explain more when Adrian took the phone from his hand. " Yo, Aluren. I heard that you want to help me? Don''t you think you''ve already helped me too much by sending your men after me? Do you really think I''ll come to you for help? Keep your help to yourself and don''t send your men after me, or I''ll send you their bones starting with the bones of the guy who''s sitting in front of me," Adrian said, making the First King cough again at how easily his death was being talked about. "Adrian, you that you''re in my place. I don''t want there to be unnecessary conflict. Please don''t force me to come out myself. I''m warning you. It wouldn''t be good for you. Take my help. I''ll find what you''re looking for to get you out of here faster. Let me know what you want. I''ll get that for you. In any case, I want you out of my land in a week," the leader of Dark Uprising said, threatening Adrian. "I''m finished. You can pay my bill," he told the First King before he left. "Don''t you dare come after me, or I''ll cut your legs next time I see you," Adrian warned without looking back. The First King had just raised his butt a little bit when he heard the threat. He sat down again as he placed the phone near his ears. "Your Majesty, what are your orders?" The First King asked on the phone; however, he didn''t stand up again and only watched Adrian leave. "I get it. I''ll do as ordered," the First King replied after hearing the commands. He stood up from his seat finally. He walked towards the exit only to find a large crowd of people outside that were finally starting to calm down. He looked around to see if he could find Adrian; however, he failed. He couldn''t see Adrian anywhere. It was as if Adrian Balakin had disappeared. "Cheh!" In frustration, he pulled out his phone. "You have our satellites on him, right? Tell me where he is?" he asked someone over the phone. "We don''t know. The last place we saw him enter was that hotel. Is he not there?" the person on the other side asked. " What do you mean you don''t know? How can this hotel be the last place where you saw him enter? Whatever, track his phone and get an eye on him again," the First King said after hearing the response. "We can''t. His phone is off now. He probably realized that we were tracking him with his phone," the other person replied. "He probably turned off the phone." "Ahh! You mean to say we don''t know where he is! That guy can be anywhere! How can we find him now if he doesn''t want to be found? It''s a problem. A really big problem!" the First King exclaimed as he frowned. He disconnected the call. "Come on, think. If I wanted to find something and all my resources were sealed, where would I go?" the First King muttered as he walked through the roads of the city. "Ah, f...!" he suddenly cursed out. "That guy turned off his phone. No one has his location! The signals around him can''t be jammed! That guy will definitely call Russia now to ask for help from his people!" the First King exclaimed. **** Somewhere else within the country, a secret building existed that belonged to the government. Many people were sitting there, in front of their computer screens. Various giant screens were placed there that showed the satellite images of various sections of the country. "Sir! We lost him! We can''t trace him either. We can''t seal the signals near him now. What should we do? He can call outside the country using someone else''s phone!" a lady suddenly exclaimed as she looked towards a middle-aged man. " Desperate times call for desperate measures. Block the calls to Russia from all private phones. Only level 3 leaders are allowed to call!" the middle-aged man declared. "Yes, sir!" The Lady sat down and did what she was told. "Sir, may I ask who this Adrian is? Why are we working so hard to keep him from calling? Is he a terrorist or a spy? Why don''t we arrest him straight," one of the guys asked the middle-aged man. "Even I don''t know. I have commands from upper levels to do it. All I was told is that this guy is connected to some top-level hackers in Russia who might try to hack our systems if he successfully calls," the middle-aged man replied as he sighed. "Can''t they hack if he doesn''t call? That sounds suspicious. It feels like he''s really some bigshot. I searched his face in our database, but it came as classified," the other man replied as he sighed. "Yeah. It''s max level classification. Even I can''t see it. Only the President and his closest aides can see," the middle-aged man replied, shaking his head. **** Back in the New White House, the President was sitting with the Vice President. Both of them were discussing something with grave looks on their faces. " The Seven, one of the biggest headaches of the governments of the entire world. Only six of them are known, while the seventh one has never been active, so no one knows them. Our country now hosts two of them. This can be a big problem," the Vice President said. "This world is so complicated. I never knew it was so deep before I became the President. It''s like we''ve been living in an entirely different world until now. At first, I used to think that the government hides the existence of aliens, but after sitting on this chair, I realize that it''s much worse. Fortunately, the member of Seven staying in our country doesn''t involve himself in the matters of this world," the President muttered as she sighed. She didn''t know that one of the seven was behind the Dark Uprising, scheming something that no one could have expected. In her eyes, the person from their country who was part of the seven was a Saint who only stayed in his house and lived in peace, far away from the world. "I only know about six members. Adrian Balakin is said to be the most wilful. He is just a dangerous person who doesn''t know the meaning of control," the Vice President lamented. 379 Chapter 375: Not Real Gods "Don''t be so sure. We still don''t know about the characters of others. Adrian is more like an open book, but others can be like silent bombs. As for the Seventh, we don''t even know who he is and where he is. He might be worse. I heard rumors that he''s either in India or Pakistan, but no one knows his real identity other than the Members of the Seven. Just who are these people? Why are they like this? How can they be so strong?" The President replied, not taking this situation lightly. She didn''t know that the seventh person was still a college student who wasn''t as active. That was why no one knew about him yet. "Are we doing the right thing? Would it not make things worse if we make him angry?" the Vice President inquired. "It might, but we''re doing the best we can. If worse comes to worst, we''ll be forced to take dire decisions. They might be strong, but I still doubt they can take on a whole country. I just don''t want it to come to that since many lives can be lost in that. I don''t doubt that we can kill the Seven. The one question is if the negatives are more than the positives," the President replied, sighing. "They are not real gods, after all. They can definitely be killed. Their body is still flesh and blood." "Yeah, they''re still humans. We should be able to kill them with our advanced weaponry. The loss that we might suffer is a big chain around our feet, though," she said. "I''m making you in charge of everything related to Adrian. Make sure he doesn''t bring any major harm to us or our infrastructure," she continued as she stood up. She left the room. Leaving the White House, she entered her helicopter that flew away. Although the president left, the Vice President still stayed within the room. He looked at the picture of Adrian that was placed before him. She picked up the picture. "Adrian Balakin, you might think you can roam freely in our country. Just know, we won''t go easy on you. One mistake and you''re gone," he muttered as he tore the picture in half with a ruthless look on his face. He crushed both the pieces of the image before he threw it away. **** "I''ve gone through the contract, and I must say, it''s more than fair. In fact, it''s quite generous. I''m happy with it. I''ll share it with the investors. With the situation we''re in, I don''t think they''ll disagree. We can sign the deal tomorrow," Herriet told Ryder after going through the contract. "That''s good to know," Ryder replied as he smiled. "I''ll come tomorrow then. You can tell me the time by messaging or calling," he said to her as he prepared to stand up. "Bastion? He''s fine. He''ll be staying at home until this whole thing blows over," Ryder replied casually. "Ah, that reminds me. I''m sorry that you had to come back on your own after I took you out. I hope you don''t mind," he continued as he smiled wryly. "It''s fine. He needed you more than me. Also, you still owe me that drink since we had to leave before finishing the drinks," Herriet told Ryder as she laughed lightly. "Sure. Whenever you''re free," Ryder replied before he waved his hand and left. **** Ryder left the ACL HQ. He entered the car and got it on the road. He had only driven for a little while when he saw a young man standing on the side of the road, asking for a lift. "Isn''t he the same guy I met yesterday," Ryder muttered as he recognized the young man as the person he had collided with, accidentally. He stopped the car near the man. "Where are you going?" Ryder asked the young man. "I need to go to the airport. I can''t use my phone to call a cab. Can I get a lift? You can drop me anywhere on the way when our paths diverge," the young man told Ryder as he smiled. "Sure. I''m going to meet a guy. His place happens to be near the airport. I can drop you there," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Thanks. Some people in this country are really kind. I wonder how the only kind person I met is you and that too, twice," Adrian smiled as he moved over to the other side and entered the car. Ryder started driving. "Oh, right. Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself. I''m Adrian... Adrian Balakin. I came from Russia," the young man told Ryder. "Ah, nice. I''m R-" Ryder was about to give his introduction when his phone started ringing. "Excuse me," he excused himself as he picked up the call. "Yeah. What''s up," Ryder said after picking up the call. "No. I''m on my way. Don''t worry. I''ll be there in a few minutes," Ryder continued after hearing the response from the other side. He continued talking while Driving. Adrian started looking outside the window. Throughout the way, Ryder didn''t get the time to stop the call. He reached the airport before he could disconnect the call. "Here''s the airport," he stopped the car and said to Adrian. "Ah, no. I''m talking to another guy. I was giving him a lift. I''m at the airport near your apartment. I''ll be there right away," Ryder again got busy on the phone while Adrian stepped out of the car. "Thanks for the help," Adrian thanked Ryder before he turned back and entered the airport. Ryder left in his car as well. Unaware how a big problem was stopped simply because of the call he received. As he wasn''t able to tell his name, so much was avoided. He didn''t know if Adrian had heard what his name was, what might have happened. Adrian entered the Airport and got a ticket for himself. He boarded a plane that he assumed was going to take him to the city of the one who he was looking for. According to Ryder''s neighbor, his family had probably shifted to the New Capital City since he had become wealthy. Believing that, Adrian left for the next city. **** Ryder went to his friend''s house to meet him since he was called there. After being done with the task of his friend, Ryder left. He entered his car and went back to Shu''s house. According to the documents provided by Keia, only one of the five Cultivation families was situated near this part of the city. It was called the Jackson City, which lived in the neighboring state. It was a family that specialized in the assassination of High profile targets. Based on that, they shouldn''t have targeted Bastion. Even though he was rich, he wasn''t on the same level as the people that Jackson Clan assassinated. If it were a normal situation, Ryder wouldn''t have believed that the Jackson Family was behind the attempt on Bastion''s life. However, according to Janus, not finding about the Ancient Cultivation Family meant that Bastion might die, so he believed that they might have a link to it. He decided to visit them and see for himself. He borrowed Shu''s helicopter and left the city. As he sat on the helicopter, he called Bastion to make sure he was at home. " Where are you right now?" Ryder asked Bastion. "I''m at home. Where else would I be? I''m on home arrest as I promised you," Bastion replied, sounding salty. "Hahaha, sorry bro. But it''s for your own safety. Just bear with it for a few days," Ryder replied as he laughed. "Anyway, can you give your aunt the phone? I needed to talk to her, but the call wasn''t connecting," he continued. "Alright. She should be in her room. I''ll give her the phone," Bastion said. Ryder heard the sound of footsteps that made it seem like Bastion was climbing the stairs. Ryder lied that he called Esmi and her number wasn''t connected. He wanted to talk to her from Bastion''s phone to make sure that both of them were at home. "He says your number isn''t connecting. Here, talk to him," Bastion said as he gave the phone to Esmi. "Hey, Ryder. Is my number really not connecting? Let me try calling from here. I''m it doesn''t connect, I''ll call from Bastion''s phone. Just a minute," Esmi said over the phone before she disconnected the call. She called Ryder''s number from her phone. "It connected. Yeah, what did you want to talk about?" She asked Ryder after he picked up the call. 380 Chapter 376: Flir "Hello, darling. Were you missing me? Or you wanted to see if I was at home or not?" Esmi asked as he smiled. "Of course. There is never a moment when I am not thinking of you," Ryder acknowledged, flattering Esmi. "Hahaha, you really have a sweet tongue, darling. Anyway, I hear the sound of the rotor. Are you in a helicopter?" Esmi inquired, noticing the sound. "You are very sharp. I''m inside a helicopter. I''m going outside the city on business," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Oh, right. I called you to remind you about something. I have found out who is behind the attack on Bastion. I was hoping you wouldn''t ask me how I know it, but it''s Mark. I don''t know what his role was, but he was definitely involved. Keep an eye on him until I return," he asserted. "Oh, you know it too? I shouldn''t have underestimated you," Esmi let out with an amused smile on her face. "What do you mean, I know it too? Don''t tell me you already found out," Ryder inquired with a confused look on his face. "Yeah. Want to know a secret? I''m only telling you, but don''t leak it. The phone that my men use is a custom phone that can''t be tapped even by the government. My men know that. What they don''t know is that every call of theirs is recorded, which can be listened to by me whenever I wish. I heard everyone''s call recording after the attack on Bastion. Mark''s call recording proved that," Esmi explained. "Oh? That''s pretty clever. You are pretty far-sighted to give them phones like this," Ryder responded as he chuckled. "So what did you find out from his calls? He was behind it, but I don''t think he had any direct benefits from killing Bastion. Someone definitely put him to it." "That''s right. However, he was clever. He didn''t talk about the attacks and the details over the phone. He probably had a direct meeting with the person. Anyway, the night of the blast, he called someone saying that Bastion was alive and that the plan failed. I sent my man to catch him after finding the truth; however, he was found dead with his wife when my men reached his house," Esmi replied as she sighed. Ryder fell in silence as he lost himself in thoughts after hearing Esmi''s words, trying to digest all this information. "So much happened, and you didn''t tell me at all? Why?" Ryder inquired. "I didn''t want to involve you since it''s underworld business and you were close to Mark. I didn''t think about telling you. Now that you already found out that it was him, I decided to tell you," Esmi explained. "Sigh, I can scold you so much regarding that. I told you that I would find the culprit. You found him and didn''t even tell me. Just don''t do it next time. I''m not a kid who can''t handle himself in these matters," Ryder replied to Esmi. "Anyway, you must have the number he called. We can reach the true culprit through that," he lamented. "We can''t. That number is uncrackable. I tried. Let alone tracking the number, I can''t even find who owns the number. The people behind it aren''t newbies," Esmi replied as she sighed. "So they are experienced," Ryder muttered as he looked at the address in his hand. ''Professional like the Jackson family, which is famous for assassination? Why would they go through Mark to kill Bastion? If they are experts, couldn''t they have sent a man of their own to assassinate Bastion? They wouldn''t go through mark unless they were scared of being found out,'' he thought as his frown deepened. ''They killed so many high profile people using their members. They didn''t worry about involving themselves since they barely left any clues behind. Why were they scared of Bastion? It''s not like Bastion is that fierce. The only powerful person in his Family is Esmi. Even Esmi isn''t on the same level as the people they killed. The only other person in Bastion''s family should be his father, who is a normal businessman; this doesn''t make sense.'' The more he thought, the more he found himself getting confused. "Darling, are you there?" Esmi asked again, not getting any response. "Ah, nothing. I was just thinking a little. Anyway, my deal still stays. You can''t leave the house. The real culprit is still there. Since Mark failed and died, they might try themselves. Keep Bastion at Home as well," Ryder replied. "Yes, yes, my strict guy. I promised you already. I won''t leave for three days. I''ll keep Bastion at Home as well. In that time, I''ll find the person who tried doing it," Esmi said as she smiled. "That''s good.." Ryder and Esmi talked for the next thirty minutes, with their conversation becoming more and more intimate each minute. Fortunately, no one other than Ryder and the pilot was inside the helicopter. Ryder didn''t bring Shu''s guards with him. He came alone to meet the Jackson Family to get the truth. The helicopter landed in an empty ground near the Jackson Estate while still making sure to be outside the vicinity. "Stay here. I should be back soon," he told the pilot before he stepped out of the helicopter. As he stepped out of the helicopter, he saw almost every person present in that area looking towards him, wondering who this rich person was. "So this is what VIPs feel like. It does attract a lot of attention," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. Ignoring the attention, he started walking towards the Jackson Estate. He had only taken a few steps when a young lady came running and stood in front of him. The lady seemed to be wearing a top that revealed her slim stomach and a skirt that didn''t even reach her thighs. "You''re handsome, and I''m beautiful. Our babies will be adorable. I''m not that easy to impress, but I''ll make an exception for you. So, where are we going for coffee?" the lady asked Ryder with a cute smile on her face. Ryder looked at the girl for a brief moment, surprised. Ultimately, he started laughing. "You are really cute. I like that confidence of yours. You got one thing wrong, though. Our kids won''t be cute. We won''t have any after all. You should look for someone else," he replied as he patted her head as if she was a little child, and he was an elder. Ryder started walking away, leaving her behind. "Hey, stop! You can''t leave without telling me why," the woman let out as she ran after Ryder. "Don''t you think I''m hot? Why don''t you like me?" the woman asked Ryder. "I didn''t say you are not hot. I''m not interested in you, though. I already have someone I like," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "Leave her1. I can give you every pleasure you need," the woman let out as she placed her hand on Ryder''s ass, rubbing it gently. Ryder stopped and caught her hand. Getting her hand away from him, he looked into her eyes. "I''m not after pleasure. I''m here for work," he said, shaking his hand. He freed her hand. The woman started pouting before she sighed in disappointment. "Oh, right. One more thing. I don''t like to keep debt," he continued before he slapped the butt of the lady. "We are equal now." "Hahaha, so I still have some hope," the woman chuckled as she looked at Ryder while licking her lips. "Anyway, I do have some time. Do you live nearby?" Ryder asked the lady, looking at her. "Yes. My apartment is nearby. Want to come?" the lady asked as she instantly held his hand. "Home? Not this soon. We just met after all. Let''s go for coffee if there''s a shop nearby," Ryder said. His purpose was simple. Through the lady, he wanted to know more about the Jackson family since the lady lived in the vicinity. "Yeah, there is a shop nearby." The lady nodded her head. His initial plan was to go there straight, but after seeing the insistence of the girl, he changed his plan to collect more information before he made an entrance. **** "My name is Mike. I came here to meet the Jackson Family of Jackson Estate. You must know about them," Ryder asked the lady while giving her a fake name. "The Jackson family? Not really. I do see a few cars coming and going a few times. Other than that, the Jackson family is really low profile. I don''t think I ever saw the face of people from the Jackson family," the lady replied. "And yeah, I am Mary." 381 Chapter 377: Imprisoned He took the last sip of his coffee before he stood up. "Well, Mary. It was nice meeting you. I need to get going," Ryder let out, looking at Mary. "I''ll pay the bill. You want to order anything else?" "You''re leaving? I''ll escort you to the Jackson Estate," Mary said as she stood up, finding an excuse to stick with Ryder. " It''s fine. I know where it is. You stay here and finish your coffee," Ryder objected, shaking his head. "Alright. How will we contact each other? You didn''t even exchange numbers," Mari inquired as she pouted. " Right. Give me your number." Ryder acknowledged her concern. "0133-" Mary started giving the number, but she stopped as she realized that Ryder wasn''t noting down the number. "Why aren''t you writing my number or saving it anywhere?" she asked, suspiciously. "Don''t worry. I have a photographic memory. It''s saving in my head. Continue. I''ll call you in the evening," Ryder replied. "Alright..." Mary started giving her number and told it to Ryder. "Alright. I''m leaving now," Ryder let out before he went to pay the bill. He left soon after. **** "This is the Jackson Estate. Not bad. I guess assassinations pay pretty well," Ryder muttered as he stood in front of the Jackson Estate. He walked over to the guarded gate. " Excuse me. I''m here to meet Master Elias Jackson. Is he home?" Ryder asked the guard. He had read the file given by Keia. From the file, he found out about the prominent members of the clan. The name he gave was the name of the Head of the Jackson Family. "What business do you have with the master?" The Guard inquired suspiciously. "I''m from Necrosis Corporation. I have some urgent business with him. The Jackson Family has the specialty in what I want to be done," Ryder told the guards. "Wait outside. I''ll convey the message inside," the guard replied. '' I hope they don''t ask me for identification. I had no choice, though. I can''t give my real identity. I can''t get Dream Corporation involved either. As for the other Organizations, I feel like Necrosis would have the least chance of being connected to them since their HQ is near the base of another Ancient Cultivation Family, and they rose too fast with their own invention,'' Ryder thought as he walked back and forth in front of the gate. "You can come inside. I''ll escort you to Master," the guard called out to Ryder after a few minutes as he opened the door. The guard escorted Ryder through the long Driveway of the Jackson Estate and brought him to a room where three people were already sitting on a round table. "Greetings to everyone." Ryder greeted everyone respectfully. " Hmm. Tell me about yourself. Who are you, and why did you come here," the white-haired man asked Ryder. "I am Jason Vorhees. I''m the Director of Development at Necrosis Corporation. I heard through a friend that you guys deal in assassination. I want you to assassinate someone," Ryder replied while giving false details. " Fifty Million per head," the White Haired man declared without even asking who the target was. ''Interesting. I thought they charged depending on the position of the person. The price is constant, though. How did Bastion or his family offend these people? Or is it that someone v face them the assassination contract which they dumped on Mark, trying not to involve themselves directly unless they needed to?'' Ryder wondered as he heard the price. "Don''t you want to know about the target, though?" Ryder inquired. "We don''t care who the target is. Give us a picture and their details. It shall be done," the middle-aged man, who sat on the left of the Family Head, chimed in. "I can pay what you ask. As for the target, it''s Bastion Barrel," Ryder replied while gazing at the faces of the three men to see a change in their expressions. He didn''t see any change in two of the three men. It was obvious that the two didn''t know. These two were the men who sat beside the Family Head. The only person who''s expression suffered a change was the Family Head of the Jackson Family. A stunned look appeared on the man''s face, along with a frown, which he instantly hid. "This, Bastion Barrel. Where does he live?" the White Haired man asked Ryder. Ryder could see some murderous intent hidden on the face of the man. "He has lived in Washington since his childhood. He''s a software engineer there who intends to Sue us," Ryder lied. The White Haired man seemed more relieved and calmer now. '' This guy is clearly involved in this. He must be the culprit. He was stunned after he said the name of the person who was already their target. He must be suspicious of me at that time, but he recovered after finding out that I was talking about someone else. The other two don''t know it. It means that the Head of the family is directly dealing with it without the others knowing,'' Ryder thought as he analyzed the information he received from the small test. "Give us their picture and address along with half the money in advance. Your work shall be done in two weeks," the White Haired man said to Ryder. "In advance? Fine. I''ll send money in cash when I go back. My men will also come with the picture and image of the target. It''s good to have this deal," Ryder said, smiling. "I''ll take my leave now," he continued as he turned back to leave. "Stop. Show us your ID card. So we can find you if you don''t show up with the money after wasting our time," the White Haired man asked Ryder, stopping him. "My ID, ah, I don''t have my ID with me at the moment. I came here straight without my wallet. Anyway, I already told you my name. You can inquire about me. I''m pretty famous in Necrosis," Ryder replied as he continued walking away, waving his hand. "Call your men and ask them to bring the target''s image, address, and your wallet. Since you''re already here, you can''t leave without finalizing things. This place is not the one where anyone can come and go," The White Haired man let out as his fingers tapped on the table. "Sigh, fine. I''ll call my personal assistant to bring the money. I came from the New Capital, though, so they will take at least a day to come here. Where will I stay if I don''t leave?" Ryder asked, smiling wryly. " We have a big estate. You can stay here until your men come. Our guest rooms aren''t bad," the white-haired man said as he chuckled. Ryder glanced at the old man before he ultimately sighed. " Fine. I will do as you say since I really need that guy killed. Anyway, I need to get fresh. Show me the guest room," he said. "Dray!" The White Haired Man called out. The door of the room opened as a young man entered. " Take Mr. Jason Vorhees to the guest room and place a few... servants outside his room to help him if he needs something," the White Haired Man said with an amused smile on his face. '' This idiot. Does he really think I don''t know? They aren''t keeping me as guests, but I''m under house arrest until they get proof of my identity. As for the servants, he''s clearly talking about guards to keep an eye on me,'' Ryder thought, understanding the intentions of the White-Haired man. "Yes, Grandpa," the young man nodded his head. He glanced towards Ryder and said, "Come." Ryder followed after the young man and left the room. "Old man, you really think you''re clever, but you have no idea. You didn''t stop me. You stopped your death. Today shall be your last day in this world. No one can harm Bastion as long as I stand before him to save him. Not Mark, not you, and definitely not anyone else," Ryder muttered as he glanced back. "Are you the Grandson of Master Elias?" Ryder asked the young man as they walked through the long corridor. "Yes. He''s my Grandfather," the Young Man said, nodding his head. " He''s amazing. I felt like I didn''t breathe when his eyes fell on me. He''s like a god to me. I really respect him," Ryder professed with a fawning look on his face. "Hahaha, As you should, kid. My Grandfather is really strong. Everyone is scared of him," the young man laughed as he nodded. He seemed like he was really proud of his grandfather. 382 Chapter 378: Easy "Hahaha, you''re wrong. Grandpa lives on the second-highest floor. His bedroom is there, as well. So not closest to the sky," the man replied. "Ah, I can''t believe I was wrong. Let me try again. Your grandfather is so wise. The South is a direction of knowledge, according to my grandfather. A wise person like your grandfather must follow this too. His bedroom must be in the South portion of that floor," Ryder said again. "Hah, you really have no idea. My Grandfather''s room is towards the North. In fact, his room is the first from the north," the young man replied, shaking his head. "Ah, I''m wrong again. His wiseness is beyond my means. I thought I would understand him, but I''m no small before him," Ryder replied, sighing. "I can''t blame you. It''s your first time here. Of course, you can''t understand him," the young man replied. "Anyway, this will be your room. You can go inside. Stay there until you''re called. Ask the servants if you need anything. You aren''t allowed to leave the room. The servants will bring you everything you need," the man said to Ryder as he stopped in front of a room and pointed towards the door. Ryder nodded his head and acknowledged, "I understand." He stepped inside the room and closed the door. As Ryder entered the room, he checked everywhere to make sure that there were no cameras. "Good. There are none. At least they aren''t that suspicious. They only want to keep me here until they see my identity and get money," he muttered as he sat on the bed. " This room is not bad. I guess I can enjoy their hospitality a little before I get started," he let out as he cracked his knuckles. He stood up and walked towards the door. Opening the door, he peered at the guards, " Can I get some ice tea? Oh, and I''m hungry, so bring some chips for me as well.'' The guards looked at him blankly as they said, ''Does this guy not know he is a prisoner here? Does he think he''s at a hotel?'' "We will arrange for that. You go back and rest until then," the guards told Ryder. "That''s better. Oh, I forgot. What''s for lunch? I take lunch in my room. Bring me some great dishes an hour later. I should be hungry by then," Ryder said before he entered the room again and closed the door. "I wonder how furious those guys will be tomorrow when they know what happens," Ryder muttered as he sat on the bed again. He laid down comfortably on the bed. His gaze landed on the roof. "Hey Janus," he called out. "You saw the white-haired man, right. He seemed strong. If I fight him openly, what are chances of winning?" " So I have a hundred percent chance of winning, but I will have to show all my cards to them. That''s not something I desire to do, but if it is needed, it won''t be bad." Ryder placed his hand on his chin as he lost himself in thoughts. "I need to be a clever enemy. The most crucial thing in a battle is the brain, not the strength. There are many routes to take care of the enemy. That should be the path of an assassin as well¡ª cleverly killing the enemy without getting caught. The only problem is that I don''t want to kill him only. I need him to tell me why he wanted to kill Bastion or who put him up to it?" Ryder murmured to himself. " What can I use? I already used the love potion on the Police Chief. I doubt it could be useful in this case anyway," he let out. "Janus, open store," Ryder commanded. A semi-transparent screen opened in front of him, which contained all the items of the store that he found purchase. "Sigh, the Strength Enhancing Pills are still not here. The first time I ate them, they were able to increase my strength by fifty percent. I only saw them once in the store before they disappeared. It would have been so good to have those pills now that I am already stronger," Ryder muttered as he scrolled through the items. "Janus, do the Items of the store expire? I am certain some items of the past are missing. Do these items have a limited time offering or something?" he asked Janus, finally trying to clear his doubts. Janus didn''t answer him as Ryder scrolled through the items. "You always go silent when I talk about important things," Ryder let out in disappointment. "There it is. I can use this to my advantage, I think," Ryder muttered as he smiled. After getting the item he needed, he closed the screen. Knock, Hearing the knocking on the door, Ryder stood up. He got off the bed and walked towards the door. Opening the door, he saw a servant standing outside with a tray in his hand, which contained Ice Tea and chips as Ryder had asked. Ryder took the tray from the servant''s hand. "You''re very fast. Good work. I will take it from here." He closed the door and went back to the bed. Ring! Ring! Ryder had just placed the tray on the table near the bed when his phone started ringing. "Hey, Alice. Yeah, Bastion is right. I won''t be coming home tonight. I''m staying in a hotel outside the city." "That''s right. I came for some business. I should be back by tomorrow." "Alright, bye. Have fun." Ryder disconnected the call after talking to Alice briefly before he sat on the bed. He looked at the ice tea but decided not to drink it. He had just asked for it without the intention of drinking. He couldn''t trust the Jackson Family enough to make sure that they didn''t drug his tea. He only picked up the packet of the chips. Tearing it open, he started eating it. He rested on his bed and started eating snacks as he scrolled through the feed to waste time and to wait for the night. The time kept passing slowly as Ryder kept getting bored. It seemed as if time was moving painfully slow. Ultimately, night arrived. He was also served lunch and dinner, but he didn''t eat anything due to his suspicions. The food remained on the table. As the clock struck Twelve in the midnight, Ryder finally got off the bed. He opened the door, but it didn''t open. "As expected. They locked the door at night so that I couldn''t get out." He could fly outside the window; however, the room he was kept in had no windows either. The only option he could see was to break the door. Stepping back from the door, Ryder muttered, "It would make a lot of noise if I do that. That would spoil my plans. But I have no excess Origin Points to buy something else either. I guess using force is the only path left. I thought I could be stealthy. It looks like that''s not in the cards." Opening his inventory, he brought his guns out. He tucked one of the guns in his pants while he kept the other gun in his hand. He applied the silencer on the gun before aiming it towards the lock. "It won''t be able to keep the noise down, but I should do what I can," he muttered as he closed one of his eyes. After making sure that his aim was right, he pulled the trigger. The bullet left the gun and hit the lock, breaking it. Without wasting a single second, Ryder ran towards the door and kicked it open, ready to fire at the guards that were outside; however, he found none. "They were so sure that I couldn''t leave after they locked the door. So unprofessional," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He walked towards the stairs that he had seen when he was brought to the room. He walked through the corridor to reach the stairs. Finding the entire corridor empty, he couldn''t help but wonder. Did this place have so much trust in their outer security that they didn''t have any guards inside the Estate? He reached the stairs and moved upwards. Reaching the desired floor, he moved towards the Northern section and soon reached the last room. "This should be the room of Elias," Ryder muttered as he reached out his hand towards the doorknob. He turned it as a force of habit, but the door opened. "Fuck! The security can be lax, but not this lax! This is a trap!" Ryder cursed as the door opened so easily. 383 Chapter 379: Ghost House? He looked around, still finding the entire hallway empty. ''The guards should have stormed by now. There are none here yet. Could they be inside?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. He wondered what he should do. ''I have two choices at this point. I can try to retreat and succeed, or I can go in to see what they planned. It might even be just my misconception. Maybe they really are too overconfident in their security. Whatever, I should test now that I have a chance,'' he thought as he made a determination. He clenched his fist as he stepped towards the room. His hand rested on the trigger, ready to shoot out at a moment''s notice. Stepping inside the room, Ryder looked around. He thought that he would find men standing in the darkness, aiming their gun towards him; however, he was wrong. There was no one there. There was a single bed in front of him. It seemed like a person was sleeping on the bed. ''It can''t be that simple. There''s no way it can be this simple! I don''t believe that the guy sleeping there can be Elias,'' Ryder thought, frowning as he stepped towards the bed. He stopped a few inches away from the bed as he looked around. "The Bathroom," he muttered as he noticed another room in the door. He could see specks of lights coming out of the corner of the doors, making it evident that the light inside the bathroom was turned on. ''Are they hiding there?'' Ryder thought as he looked towards the bathroom. ''If they are there, they will barge outside as soon as I remove the blanket of whoever is lying on the bed,'' he thought, taking his time to decide what he should do. "Fuck it! To hell with these idiots!" Ryder cursed as he decided. He pulled his second gun out and aimed it towards the bathroom door while he aimed the second gun, which had the silencer, towards the person who was lying on the bed. He aimed it towards the legs of the body, lying on the bed. Even though he couldn''t see the person because of them being covered inside a blanket, it could expect where the legs were. Pressing the trigger, he fired a shot towards the body lying on the bed. The bullet left the gun and hit the leg of the body on the bed; however, no person screamed or stood up. "As expected," Ryder muttered as he sighed. The door didn''t open according to his expectations, though. "This isn''t a real person." "No one barged out of the bathroom either. Just why is this whole place like a ghost town at night? Is no one there?" He let out as he frowned. He stepped towards the door of the bathroom, both of his guns aiming towards the door. Confusion filled him as he turned to leave the bathroom. "Just what is happening here?" Clap! Clap! While Ryder was wondering what was happening here, he heard a clapping sound. As soon as he stepped outside, he saw the old man standing in front of him, clapping. "Elias," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He was finally a little bit relaxed at the sight of normalcy. Until now, everything was going opposite of his expectations. He was feeling worried that no one was there even though he expected a trap. He was confused. Being in front of the enemy was better for him than not understanding anything. "Jason Vorhees, what are you doing here? Looking for someone?" Elias asked Ryder. The man folded his arms as he continued, "Did you really think I can''t inquire about Jason Vorhees in Necrosis Corporation? You really underestimated my connections, little guy." " Can''t say I didn''t expect that. Why were you hiding, though? Are you really scared of me?" Ryder asked, not trying to attack the man. The old man started laughing as he looked at Ryder. He condescendingly said, "Hah, don''t overestimate yourself, boy. Do you see any guards? I let them all have a holiday now despite knowing that an enemy is inside. Do you know why? Because I don''t want my enemies to use the excuse that they can''t succeed because of my guards." He stopped laughing, but his smile didn''t leave his face as he continued, " I can''t deny that I was curious to see what your plan to kill was. I must say, I am disappointed. You are probably a newbie in this." Ryder shook his head as he sighed, "You know what your biggest problem is? You are like a genuine villain. Top overconfident. Not only did you send all your guards away, but you even appeared in front of me. Despite knowing that I''m here to kill you, you didn''t kill me instantly." A smirk appeared on his face, which gave a worried feeling to the old man. The Old man shook his head before he humphed. "Don''t try to act overconfident. This false confidence can not scare me. If I wished, I could have you dead before you can even blink your eye. The only reason I left you alive is so I can understand who you are and who sent you here. Now get to speaking. Don''t expect your guns to be able to kill me. Those toys are useless." " Whatever the reason, I should still thank you for giving me time to be prepared. As for killing, I didn''t even try to kill you yet. Don''t you wonder why? Same reason as you. I don''t want your life, but I want your answer. Bastion Barrel, does that name remind you of something? Why do you want to kill him? Answer me, and I will let you live." Ryder replied. " Bastion! So I was right! Who sent you? How did you know it was us? Don''t tell me his father found out!" The Old man said as his face turned pale. He intensely shook his head. "No, no, no! This can''t be! If he had known, he wouldn''t just send a kid. The whole building would be burning by now. Tell me who sent you?! Who knows!" the Old man roared furiously. "I am the one asking questions here!" Ryder muttered as he started stepping closer and closer to the man. "Stay right there! Don''t you dare to act brave!" The old man said furiously as he raised his hand. Ryder smiled as he watched the man react. He opened his lips and let a single word out, "Paralysis." As soon as the word left his mouth, the raising hand of the man stopped and started falling down instead. Soon, the old man dropping down to the bed. "Elias, oh my Elias. You grew old. Your hair turned white, but you didn''t gain any wisdom. Did you dye your hair to be white, so people don''t consider you stupid? Thanks for taking care of your guards yourself. I brought this item for you only since it can only be used once. I was worried about your guards, but you solved that problem as well," Ryder muttered as he reached out his hand towards the man. He caught the collar of the man and closed the door before he dragged the man towards the bed. He pulled the blanket away, revealing a human-like puppet with a bullet mark near the leg. Ryder tossed the puppet towards the wall and placed the old man on the bed. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen. One of the biggest assasin came to such a pitiful condition. That''s what happens when you''re at your own home. Even the most alert person outside is just a careless cat at home," Ryder muttered. "Now answer me. Why do you want to kill Bastion?" Ryder asked. The man didn''t reply as if he couldn''t move his lips. "Stop pretending. I know all the abilities of what I used. You can move your head and lips. Start speaking," Ryder replied, frowning after not receiving a reply. "You were right. I''m a novice and not an assassin. You know what that means? I don''t have the patience of an assassin," he let out as he pointed his gun towards the legs of the old man. He moved forward instantly and closed the mouth of the man with his left hand before shooting with his right hand. He shot the kneecap of the old man. "Mmm!" The old man screamed; however, his muffled noise drowned inside his mouth since he was closed by Lucifer''s hands. "Since you already lost a leg, let''s make it even. You can rest your entire life now," Ryder replied before he shot another leg of the man without waiting for even a second. 384 Chapter 380: Person behind Elias''s eyes opened wide in shock. His eyes were bloody red by now; however, he couldn''t move his body. It didn''t matter how much strength he had or how influential his identity was; without being able to move his body, he was like a sitting duck. Even though his body was paralyzed, he could still feel the pain of his legs being shot. He was able to move his lips. He wanted to scream to relieve his pain; however, he couldn''t even do that as his mouth was closed by Ryder. "So, are you going to tell me, or do I need to test your hands too? You can still move your hands after some time when this paralysis is gone, but if I start with your hands, you''ll become an eternally paralyzed old man. I leave the decision to you," Ryder said in a devil-like tone. "I will remove my hand at the count of three. Answer what I ask. Any clever act will result in your grim future," he continued. Ryder started counting to three. "1... 2... 3..." At the count of three, he removed his hand from the mouth of the old man. Feeling worried for his life, the man didn''t scream even after he was freed. He still couldn''t move to save himself. He was at Ryder''s mercy to live. The only thing he could do was to listen to him. "Good boy. Now tell me, why did you want to kill Bastion?" Ryder asked, frowning. "I-i can''t tell you that. Please don''t ask me. I won''t try to harm him if you''re his friend. Just don''t ask me who commanded us to kill the boy," the old man replied, refusing to answer. "Interesting. So you''re confirming that you didn''t wish to kill Bastion, but someone put you up to it. Who could afford millions of dollars to kill Bastion? Tell me who told you to do it, or I''ll kill you," Ryder asked, aiming his gun towards the man''s elbow. "Not five or ten Million Dollars. We were offered fifty million dollars," the man answered. "Fifty Million dollars? Who could be so rich as to offer to pay Bastion? I''ll count to five. Give me the name, or you die!" Ryder declared, impatiently. "I don''t have time to play around." He moved his gun, which slowly reached the chest of the old man, resting right above his chest where his heart was supposed to be. The man saw the gun resting on his chest as his face was covered in sweat. Feeling the fear for his life intensifying, he decided against taking a risk. Opening his lips, the man blurted out everything he knew, saying, "I-i can''t answer! I don''t know myself! I only know him as the Sixth King! I don''t know his name, I promise! I don''t even know who he is or where he lives. All I know is that he was someone that everyone is scared of. That''s all I know. I swear on my life! That''s all I know about the person!" "The Sixth King? Is this about some monarchy that still exists in this world? A real king? Or is it just some codeword?" Ryder muttered, feeling confused. "Who can that be?" He looked towards the man and asked, "How did he approach you, and how were you supposed to reach him after finishing the mission? What about the money? You must have some clue that can tell me more about him?" "I don''t. I only saw a suitcase inside my bedroom one day. It had the money and Letter, claiming to be from the Sixth King," the man replied. "Where did you keep that letter? I want it," Ryder said, feeling like the letter might have some clue. "I burnt the letter. The last line of the letter said to burn it. I couldn''t oppose his commands," the old man answered, disappointing Ryder. Ryder sighed deeply, feeling tired. "Tell me what it said, at least," he said. "It said to kill Bastion Barrel. The letter came with Bastion''s address and his picture. It also said that I just needed to kill the boy, and that person would know. There was nothing else," the man answered. "So you''re a dead lead. I can''t reach that person at all," Ryder muttered, frowning. " Call your men that are in his city to kill Bastion. Tell them that the mission is canceled," Ryder said; however, he noticed that the man was already paralyzed. "Ah, I mean, tell me the number. You can talk to them," he continued as he pulled the phone out of the man''s pockets. He was wearing white rubber gloves, so he didn''t care about touching the place or leaving prints behind. "Only one person knows, and that''s Mark. He works in the club of Bastion. He already attempted to kill Bastion once. When he informed me about it, I told him to leave and that I''ll handle it on my own. I was about to tell others and sent my men tomorrow. At the moment, no one knows of this. I don''t have to recall anyone," the man replied. "You can go happily. I will drop this mission. No one will go after the head of that boy. I promise," the old man said. As soon as Ryder heard it, a smile appeared on his face. "So you''re the last person that knows it." "W-what are you thinking? You promised me that you would not kill me after I tell you everything. You can''t go back on your promise," the man let out, seeing the strange smile on the man''s face. " We''re both killers. What kind of loyalty can be between us?" Ryder replied as he chuckled. "However, I will still keep my end of the bargain." Ryder lowered the gun as he turned back to leave. The old man sighed in relief. "T-thank you," he thanked Ryder. "You don''t need to thank me. I told you that I wouldn''t leave you permanently paralyzed. I will do what I said. I won''t leave you paralyzed," Ryder said, with his tone getting grittier the more he talked. "I will leave you dead." Without looking back, Ryder raised his gun and pulled the trigger. The bullet left the gun and, within the blink of an eye, penetrated the skull of the man. " Have a safe trip to hell, old man. If you get the next life, don''t be so overconfident. It''s not like you are me who can afford it," Ryder muttered before he stepped out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Oh wait, window!" Ryder suddenly thought as he turned back. He stepped back inside the room. The lifeless body of the old man was still lying on the bed. Ignoring the body, Ryder walked up to the window. He pushed the window open before he looked outside. He could see a few guards around the Estate; however, none of them was looking upwards. Ryder was sure that no one would. Who would think that someone who could fly would barge inside or leave? Taking a deep breath, Ryder jumped out the window; however, he didn''t fall. He started levitating in the air. With a casual smile on his face, Ryder flew away from the Estate. **** A young boy got off the bed, suddenly woken up from sleep. To get some fresh air, he walked over to the window. He slid the window upwards and looked outside. As soon as he looked out, he saw a young man flying away. "Hah, I''m still dreaming," the boy muttered as he closed the window. He walked over to the bed. **** Ryder landed near the empty ground where the helicopter was parked. He walked over to the helicopter and knocked on its door. The pilot was sleeping inside the helicopter. Hearing the knocks, he opened the door. "Thanks for waiting. We can go back now," Ryder replied as he stepped inside. The pilot nodded his head as he stepped on the seat. "Heck, I wasn''t able to enter Divinity Tonight. I hope Rale or the Princess isn''t worrying about me. Should I take a fast trip inside?" Ryder muttered as he sat on the seat. "The journey will take a long time anyway." "I''ll be taking a quick nap. In most cases, I should be up before we reach there. If I''m sleeping when we reach back home, don''t wake me up." He reminded the pilot as he wore his Divinity Glasses. After the helicopter started flying away, only then did Ryder enter the world of Divinity. **** Appearing inside the world of Divinity, Ryder called or for Rale. "I''m here, Your Majesty," Rale appeared beside Ryder and answered. It was already afternoon in this world. "Did someone create a commotion because I wasn''t up on time?" Ryder asked. As soon as he said, a set of knocks started on the door. Chapter 385 - 381: Vampires Urges "Yeah, they have been knocking on the doors for hours, trying to wake you up. This is their tenth attempt," Rale explained to Ryder as he looked towards the door. "Tenth attempt already? They''re pretty active," Ryder let out as he smiled. "Alright. Get back the hiding. I''ll leave this Kingdom soon. I will catch you outside," Ryder replied as he walked towards the door. He stopped right before the door and looked back, only to find the room empty. He smiled as he muttered, "He is good." Ryder opened the door, only to find Aslina there with the guards. "Ah, sorry. I was a little too tired, so I slept longer," Ryder said, rubbing the back of his head apologetically. "Ah, it''s fine. I was just worried about you. I thought something happened to you," Aslina said, lowering her head. Ryder walked closer and hugged her gently. " Don''t apologize. I should thank you for caring for me like this." The guards started looking elsewhere, not to make the couple more uncomfortable. Ryder freed Aslina and bid his farewell. "It''s about time I leave now. Thank you for taking care of me so well. I really wish I could stay here for longer." "Can''t you stay here for just a little bit longer?" Aslina asked Ryder as she held his hand. "I wish I could," Ryder muttered, sighing. "I will be back soon. And after I establish my guild here, you will see me more often. Just a little longer," he added as he ribbed Aslina''s head. He freed his other hand. "Accompany me to the exit," he said before he started walking away. He walked with Aslina towards the exit of the palace as he asked. "Did you get the papers of the ground in my name?" Ryder inquired, thinking back to what they talked about yesterday. "Yeah. I got my father to agree. Here are the papers. That place belongs to you now," Aslina said as she gestured to one of her maids. The maid gave her the papers. Aslina took the papers from the Maid and gave them to Ryder, "Here." [You have received the Ownership Doc.u.ment of Land] [Would you like to accept?] [Yes] [No] Without thinking much, Ryder respected yes. [You now own a piece of land in the Tiara Kingdom] Ryder received the notification. "Nice," he muttered as he saw the notification on the screen. He stepped out of the Palace before he bid her farewell and left. **** Back in the Royal Palace of the Demon Realm, things were getting very chaotic. Ryder and Rale had left the palace without telling anyone. Miku was left to handle everything and to make sure that no one found out that Ryder had left. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-381-vampire''s-urges_%!d(string=51314182250887188) for visiting. As she got busy with her work, she gave the work to bring food to Mitali to another maid. Miyali happened to be the Vampire Girl that Ryder had saved from persecution as soon as he entered the Demon Realm. No one in this once except Ryder knew that Miyali was a Half Demon, Half Vampire whose father was unknown. Ryder also knew that she was able to keep her vampiric tendencies under control as long as she wasn''t left hungry for a long time. Miyali needed to drink beast blood every once in a while to stay in control. That''s why Ryder had told Miku to take care of her food, not wishing to have any mistakes. Miku didn''t know that Miyali was a vampire. She didn''t know how important food was to Miyali. She just thought of Miyali to be an important guest of Ryder, making her dump the food-related duties to another maid. The maid she gave the duties to was even more lax, though. She gave Miyali food and on time, but he forgot the commands to bring her a dead beast body every week. Ryder couldn''t tell them to bring blood for Miyali as that was going to expose the fact that she was a vampire, so he used the excuse of freshly dead beasts. Miyali sucked the blood off of them while others believed that she ate the uncooked beasts. Miyali was given cooked meat by the new maid, and it had been over a month since she was given a freshly hunted body. Whenever Miyali asked, the maid replied that she would bring what she asked for the next day. Miyali kept waiting. As each day passed, she felt the urge to bite someone''s neck to satiate her hunger. Her eyes also started to turn redder day by day, making her eyes look closer to a real vampire. Miyali was walking back and forth in her room. Her eyes were bloody red by now as her heart thumped crazily. "I-i will lose control if I don''t get blood today. I hope that maid brings me the body today," she muttered as he placed her hand on her chest. Soon, the door was opened. Miyali hurriedly looked towards the door only to see the maid standing there with a tray that had cooked meat. "Where is the freshly hunted body!" Miyali said impatiently. "Oh, we weren''t able to get one today. I will get you one tomorrow," the maid said, smiling innocently. "You! I really need it now. Please do something!" Miyali insisted, feeling the urge intensify. No matter how much she tried, her gaze was only stopping at the maid''s neck, which she felt like biting. "Eat this for now. I will send people to hunt. You will get it by the evening. That''s the only thing I can do," the maid said as she walked inside. She walked closer to Miyali with the tray and walked past her. She placed the tray on the table. As the maid walked past Miyali, her smell reached Miyali''s nose, making her urge more intense. Her eyes turned even redder. She couldn''t control herself anymore. It was already too late. Her body wasn''t in control any more as her vampiric urges took over. She didn''t care about anything anymore. Her body was filled with strength as she lost her control. She jumped towards the maid who had just placed the tray on the table as she closed her mouth and bit on her neck. The maid struggled, unable to free herself. As the maid struggled, she hit the table nearby. The tray smashed on the ground, making a smashing noise, but no one entered the room as no one was outside to hear the noise. Miyali sucked the blood of the maid, not caring about anything. The maid''s face turned pale, but she couldn''t scream as her face was closed by Miyali. Chapter 386 - 382: Murder The maid''s face kept turning paler and paler as her blood was sucked from her body. Her struggle got weaker with each passing second until she couldn''t move at all. All her blood was sucked as she died. "Rrruh!" Miyali bit off the neck of the maid, unable to control her strength as she couldn''t suck more blood. She freed the body, which dropped to the ground. As her hunger was satiated, the girl returned to her senses, only to realize the horrible thing she had done as she saw the blood-covered face of hers in the mirror. "What did I do!" She let out as her face turned pale in guilt. She hurriedly wiped her lips and all the blood. Looking down at the body, she started muttering like she was crazy. "I killed her! I killed her! I need to tell Hades! Only he can tell me what to do!" She started running towards the door. Closing the door behind her, she left. She ran all the way to the center of the palace, hoping to find Ryder. While she was running through the corridor, she saw Miku. "M-Miku! Where is Hades?!" She called out as soon as he saw Miku. "You are a guest of His Highness, but still, you should be respectful. You can''t call him by his name," Miku chided Miyali, refusing to understand her urgency. "I-i am sorry. Where is His Highness? I urgently need to meet him!" Miyali insisted. Hearing her urgency, Miku felt like something was wrong, but she knew she couldn''t tell her where Ryder was. She couldn''t just say that he snuck out of the Realm. Thus, she decided to lie about his whereabouts. "His majesty worked all night, so he''s sleeping. What do you have to talk to him about? If you have any problem, I''ll help you?" Miku asked. "Ah, the food... Maid... She..." Miyali struggled to find an explanation as she mumbled random words. "The maid? Food? Oh, is the food not to your liking? I''ll put another maid on the city. You should''ve told me before if you were having problems. Don''t worry; I''ll instruct them to be careful," Miku said, misunderstanding her." "But His Highness..." Miyali muttered, still trying to meet Ryder. "Don''t worry; I will tell His Highness when he wakes up. He would get back to you as soon as he wakes up," Miku said, comforting Miyali. "Go back and rest now. Tell us if you need anything else," she continued. Miyali looked hesitant, but she nodded her head. "Please tell her to meet me as soon as he is free." She turned back and left. She decided against telling Miku that she had killed the maid unintentionally. She didn''t know how she could explain it. She left it for Ryder to explain. **** Ryder stepped out of the Royal City of Tiara Kingdom. Even though he had only told Aslina to escort him out of the palace, she went one step further and escorted Ryder to the city exit. She even told Ryder to take one of their Royal Carriages for his journey; however, Ryder refused. Traveling with Rale was faster. He didn''t want to give that up for a bit of comfort inside the carriage. Time was of the essence for him. Ryder left the city and soon disappeared from the sights of Aslina. After he was sure that Aslina couldn''t see him, he stopped. "Rale, are you here?" Ryder called out as he looked around. "I''m here, Your Highness." Rale''s voice came from behind him. Looking back, he found Rale standing in the place which was empty a few seconds ago he saw. "You''re really good at hiding and clearing your tracks. I am overestimating myself if I believe that I can understand the true extent of the powers of such a boss level guy. I can''t even comprehend how the dragon was so powerful, which was much weaker," Ryder muttered as he laughed. He reached out his hand towards Ryder. "Let''s continue on our way," he continued. Rale nodded his head as he caught the hands of Ryder. Rale started flying in the air, carrying Ryder with him. His speed kept increasing with time as he flew towards the destination. They traveled for an entire day. Only then did they reach the city where Shu was in. Despite flying so fast, they only managed to reach that place when it was already evening. Ryder landed on the ground with Rale outside the city as it wasn''t feasible to fly inside the city without the risk of attracting attention. He entered the city with Rale following closely behind him. [I am inside the city. Where are you?] Ryder sent a system message to Shu. [Oh, you''re here. I was just about to log out, thinking that you won''t come today as well. If you''re at the entrance of the city, walk two hundred steps to the front and take a left...] Ryder received a message; however, it was incomplete. "Hah, the limitation of words on a message," Ryder chuckled as he saw the message, understanding why it was incomplete. It was because there was a limitation on the number of words that could be sent at once. [...There, you will see a bar. I''ll reach there in five minutes. If you reach there before me, wait. If you''re late, then I''ll wait.] The second message arrived soon after. Ryder followed the directions in the message and reached the bar. Opening the door, he stepped inside. He could see quite a few players inside the bar; however, he had turned off his Nametag. Because of that, his name wasn''t being shown above his head. No one could see his name either since he was a higher level than them. Ryder, on the other hand, could see the nametags of others even if they set it on hide since he was a higher level player.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-382-murder_%!d(string=51314177972692428) for visiting. "Hydra21, Kingslayer, LokiMama, FattyJoe, S.e.xyDiva, ImNotaSimp, hah, I see a few familiar names. My fellow guildmates," Ryder muttered as he saw the names of a few guildmates from the original timeline, which was erased now. "There you are!" As Ryder was reminiscing about the past after seeing the old faces, he heard a familiar voice. Looking behind him, he saw Shu. "So you got here faster than me. Nice," Shu chuckled as he patted the shoulder of Ryder. "Oh, you brought your friend as well. I remember him from the first time. Will he not take part in the quest like last time as well?" he asked. "Nah, he''s just here to accompany me. He won''t take part in the quest. At Least he won''t try to," Ryder replied, shaking his head. Chapter 387 - 383: Levels "If you say so. Is he an NPC? Or a player?" Shu asked as he sat on a chair. "I''ll tell you later. Anyway, we are in the Resuria Kingdom. You have the compass that can take us to the Ring that we need to return to the Royal Family. What are we waiting for? Let''s leave," Ryder said, smiling. "We can''t right now. The compass can''t work at night. It''s already late. So we would have to go in the morning," Shu answered, shaking his head. "Hmm? I didn''t know that. Fine, we''ll go tomorrow. I was already pretty tired today. It''s better to leave it for the morning. Oh, right. What''s your level now?" Ryder asked curiously. "I am level 40 now. I slowed down levelling in the last few days, or I would be higher. It should be enough, though," Shu answered, embarrassed at his low level. "Level forty is pretty good. Your growth has been extraordinary. Let me check the level Rankings. I am at the highest level. I should be to see how far the second closest to me is," Ryder muttered as he opened the Level Rankings. [Level Ranking] [Rank] [Name] [Level] 1. Hades. 108 2. Lucifer. 68 3. Rei. ¡ª "Right, I can only see the level of person exactly below me. This update really hid the levels of others," Ryder muttered as he went through the rankings. "Level 68, he was so close to greatness," he let out, sighing. " Level 68? So that''s his level? I couldn''t see it, but he''s pretty high indeed. The higher you get, the more exp you need. His level is only 28 higher than me, but it''s more than double the effort," Shu exclaimed, surprised. As Ryder scrolled through the list, he soon found the in-game name of Shu. "What the... You are rank 25 already? Your progress is really fast. What''s happening here?" " Just some good quests, I guess," Shu replied innocently. "Also, I got lucky. I went hunting with a group, and we met a monster boss. The entire group fought, and we killed the month monster, but by that time, everyone else was dead, so I got most of the exp and the chain quests, which were non-violent. So I got a hefty amount of exp. Still, I could only reach level forty. There are twenty-four more people ahead of me that probably rose through battle and bloodshed, unlike me who was just lucky," he continued. "So that''s it. It''s good that your ranking is good," Ryder said as he stood up. "It''s getting late." "I''ll get a room for him. I''ll see you later," he waved his hand before bidding his farewell. He left with Rale. He booked a room for Rale to stay before he logged out of the game. Taking his glasses off, he looked outside only to see that the helicopter was on the ground. They were back home. Since he had told the driver not to wake him up, the driver listened to his advice and didn''t disturb him even after they landed. He didn''t leave the helicopter either, though. He stayed inside, waiting for Ryder to wake up before he himself fell asleep. Ryder stood up and tapped on the shoulders of the pilot, waking him. "You did well. You can sleep in bed now." Stepping out of the helicopter, Ryder went back to his room. It was early morning, and the sky was still covered in darkish hue while the sun started rising in the sky. Ryder entered the Mansion and walked straight to his room, dropping on his bed. "So tired. I don''t even want to eat," he muttered as he covered his body with a blanket and made him comfortable before he fell asleep. **** Outside in the real world, Adrian was already in the new capital, moving towards the New White House where the president lived. He wished to have a talk about removing the restriction on his calls and the tracking, because of which he had his phone turned off. He was sitting in a cab that moved towards the White House, but as it got near, it changed its direction and went in a different direction. Adrian didn''t know about this place, so he didn''t know about the paths either. He also had his phone off, so he didn''t check the maps. He only realized something was wrong when he saw the car stopping in the middle of a forest.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-383-levels_%!d(string=51335191888714874) for visiting. "Don''t tell me you wish to rob me as well. I''ve been a really nice man since I entered this city, only killing a few. Why is it that the second cab driver I met is looking to die too much?" Adrian muttered, sighing. "Master, Adrian. Our Majesty wishes to meet you," the Cab driver said as he stepped out. "Majesty? Sigh, don''t tell me that guy actually left his cave? I wished to handle everything peacefully without causing much destruction. It looks like that''s not possible anymore," Adrian muttered as he heard the words of the driver. He stepped out of the can and looked around, only to find a person whose back was facing him. The cab driver stopped behind that person. "Your Majesty, he''s here." "Good work, Fifth." The person turned back, revealing his face. The person looked like a youngster who barely looked a.d.u.l.t. He had beautiful silver hair and light blue eyes. He was wearing a silver cloak and blood-red gloves in his hand. "Aluren," Adrian muttered, looking at the guy as he chuckled. "You will look like a kid after so long." "You''re still as blunt as last time, aren''t you, Adrian?" The Dark Uprising leader, Aluren, replied. "My phone is off. How did you track me? I don''t have any tracker on me either," Adrian inquired with a bored look on his face as if he actually was interested in the answer since it didn''t matter. "With a little bit of common sense. You''re someone who can''t bear to be on a leash. You probably hate the fact that your calls are being restricted. Not only yours, but the government is also blocking the entire country from being able to call Russia now. You must be furious. So it''s obvious you''ll go to the President to face a little, ah, chat," Aluren said, as he stepped closer to Adrian. " From that point, it was simple to wait for your arrival in this city. Anyway, I can''t let you meet the President. We have barely established some form of balance. I don''t care if this country is destroyed," Aluren said in a grim tone. Chapter 388 - 384: Mystery Box "I''ll even do that on my own one day. I do, however, hate that you are trying to be the one doing it. I can''t let you do it. I don''t want us to be in an all-out war yet. At Least not openly. It''s not the time. Tell me what you want. I''ll get it done. But you can''t roam freely in this country anymore," Aluren said as his deep eyes looked at Adrian. "Why should I care what you say? You''re right. I don''t like the restriction on me. I just want to talk to that president of yours. I won''t cause any war. Anyways, even if I do, what''s the worse that will happen. I''ll wipe the ones leading the war before they can even declare it. In any case, you can''t stop me," Adrian said, not caring in the least as he turned his back on Aluren. "Our fathers distributed the land to us. You''re supposed to stay in Russia. This is my land. If you didn''t listen, I would beat the hell out of you first before I drag you to your father for breaking the rules set by them. The others might enjoy this spectacle since it''s not happening in their lands, but I won''t let out happen here. Listen to me and go back!" Aluren insisted, getting impatient. "I can''t go back before I get what I want," Adrian said, shaking his head. "Sigh, I''m telling you. You''ll get what you want. Just tell me what you want. I''ll send my men to get that for you," Aluren let out, not backing off. Both of them seemed as if they were ready to kill the other person at the slightest discord. **** Ryder slept most of the day, only waking up in the late afternoon because of a call. "Yeah, Herriet. What''s up?" Ryder asked, picking up the call. "The Board has approved the signing. You can come in an hour. We will sign the papers." Herriet answered him. Ryder sat up straight, wondering how he could have forgotten it. "Oh right. I''m on my way." He disconnected the call before he entered the washroom to take a shower. Hurriedly getting ready, he left the Estate, straight towards the ACL office. He entered the office and signed the papers, becoming the owner of ACL. After signing the deal, he transferred Four Hundred Million dollars. Handling everything, he left with Herriet for a drink. He had a drink with Herriet, followed by a nice conversation before he dropped her back at the office. ****Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-384-mystery-box_%!d(string=51335190294874508) for visiting. " Hey, Esmi. Yeah, you guys don''t have to worry about anything anymore. You guys can end your house arrest. It''s safe outside," Ryder informed Esmi as he drove back. Esmi heard Ryder but didn''t outright believe him. "How can you say that? We still don''t know who Mark had called and who was behind it." "I took care of it. The guy who was behind it confessed himself after a little intimation. He is dead. Anyway, according to him, someone paid him fifty million dollars to kill Bastion. That person was someone addressed as the Sixth King. That''s all I know. Even though the person who gave the contract isn''t dead, there are no assassins after Bastion at the moment. I''m sure the Sixth King will be more wary now as well," Ryder replied. "Sixth King?" Esmi muttered. "Why, does that name ring a bell? You know who he is?" Ryder asked, thinking that Esmi probably knew who he was. "I don''t know. I''m just confused why a king would pay so much for Bastion''s death. I''ll try to find more about him," Esmi replied. After a little more talk on a lighter note, Ryder disconnected the call. He went back home when it was evening. Ryder sat on the bed. The system notification started sounding in his head one after another. "You''re slow like always. It''s the second time. I''ve noticed it. Whenever the reward contains a mystery box, you always announce it late. Anyway, what use is the Mystery Box anyway since you''ll ask me to go on another mission for the key," Ryder muttered, sighing. "Really?" Ryder exclaimed in surprise. "For once in your life, you did something caring for me. Thank you," he continued as he opened his inventory and brought the Mystery Box outside. The box was very big this time. It was as fall as Ryder, and it was two meters wide. "Don''t tell me there''s a humanoid robot inside. That would be cool, though, but a disaster to explain," Ryder muttered as he looked at the box. He walked to the bathroom and turned on the tap, letting the water fall. He used that water and his Ruler of water ability to form a water knife before turning the tap off and went back to the box. He cut the cardboard box open. As soon as he saw what was inside, his expressions turned weird. "Are you trolling me like last time? The first time you did the same. A box inside a box inside a box. Let me guess, there will be another box inside before I find the real item," Ryder let out with an annoyed look on his face as he saw the second box that was half the size of the cardboard box. This time, it was a wooden box, though. Taking off the lid of the wooden box, Ryder looked inside only to find another box that was half the size of this wooden box. "Called it," Ryder let out sarcastically as he looked at the metallic box. He opened the kid of the metallic box, hoping to finally find the real item inside. As soon as the box opened, Ryder facepalmed himself. He was wrong. This wasn''t the end. There was another box inside. It was a non-transparent glass box this time. "I swear to god, if I find another box inside, I''ll be cursing you for hours! It''s beyond irritating!" Ryder let out, angrily. He opened the glass box, finding the item inside. "This... What is this?" Ryder let out as his expressions distorted. He reached out his hand and pulled out something. "What the f.u.c.k! A bunny costume of my size? There is no way in hell I''m wearing this. Don''t tell me there''s a hidden use of it. What is it even if not a crappy costume?" Ryder cursed, watching a bunny costume inside that had bunny ears too. Chapter 389 - 385: Illusion Item Ryder looked at the bunny costume in his hand, confused. He couldn''t help but ask Janus if there was something more to this crappy costume. While Ryder was asking the question, a screen opened in front of him, showing him the description of the item.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-385-illusion-item_%!d(string=51357914429980594) for visiting. Ryder read the description of the item and understood its uses. With an understanding look on his face, he muttered, "An illusion item? Hah, that''s not bad. At Least no one will see me wearing this crappy outfit even if I ever need to wear it. This can help me get out of the terrible situations oftentimes without being caught." "Should I try wearing it?" He wondered as he looked at the costume. "To test it?" After thinking for a little while, he shook his head. "Nah, it looks too stupid." He placed the bunny costume in his inventory. He laid on his bed and started going through the latest updates of the happenings in the world to keep himself involved about things that might be changing. "Necrosis'' worth keeps going up. Should I invest in them? Sigh, I need money for my own company as well," Ryder thought, shaking his head. He scrolled to the next news and kept scrolling his news feed. "Hmm? The government banned the calls to Russia? Is there another conflict on the horizon between the two? Why so suddenly?" He kept going through his feed, only stopping when he finished reading everything. He opened his laptop and sent a few emails before putting the laptop on the side after closing it. He laid in the bed and took a deep breath. "Ryder! Hurry! Come out!" Ryder had the Divinity Glasses in his hand, ready to jump inside when he heard the intense knocking on the door. Shu was calling him out with deep urgency. He kept the glasses back before he got off the bed and opened the door. "What happened? Did someone attack?" Ryder asked, opening the door. "It''s Alice! She''s kidnapped!" Shu let out in urgency. "What the f.u.c.k?! How!" Ryder thundered furiously as he pulled out his phone and started calling Alice. "After college, she went to her friend''s house. My guards followed her there, but someone knocked them unconscious. After not getting a reply from them, I traced their phone and found them dead in the car. Further investigation shows that Alice and her friend are both kidnapped. I''m trying to track her number, but it''s impossible. Her phone was inside the car as well, switched off!" Shu explained, wiping the sweat off of his forehead. "I''ve contacted the authorities. The entire city is in lockdown. My men are searching everywhere as well. I have utilized our satellites as well. We might find her son, but until then, her life is in danger!" he said as he held his head, worrying. "I don''t know what I can do anymore." "This..." Ryder went blank for a moment, hearing all this, trying to progress this information. "How can she go missing like that. Every second she''s not with us, her life is in danger. I must find her at any cost! When did this happen? I don''t know when she was talented. According to my assumption, it has been over three hours now. We found it just recently," Shu responded. "Three hours... It''s too long. I can''t go back that long," Ryder muttered as he walked towards the stairs. ''As for going back with death, that''s risky, so I shouldn''t do it unless absolutely necessary. But it''s Alice! It''s necessary! I must find her at any cost!'' he thoughts, frowning. "What are the chances that the culprits left the city before the lockdown?" he asked Shu, who was following him. "I don''t think they could have expected such a great response. The authorities are already checking the cars leaving the city after that blast that occurred, trying to be more alert. I don''t think they left the city. The only way to leave is through private helicopters and planes," Shu answered. Ryder looked at Shu, stopping on the stairs. "The helicopters? If the people are rich, they can use the helicopters, but why would they take Alice after taking such a risk? Also, why would they take her friend as well? Could it be that the friend was the target and Alice got caught in between? Did you try tracking Alice''s friend''s number, or was it also left behind?" "Her phone isn''t in the house. So she''s most certainly carrying it. The phone is turned off, though, so we can''t track it. The last known location in it is the house where they were kidnapped," Shu answered. "Her phone is off," Ryder muttered as he started going down the stairs again. " Can we go deeper? We need to go through the history of all the signals in the city to find which numbers were inside the house in the last 5 hours. The ones that don''t belong to the guards are the kidnappers. As long as even one of them had their phones on when they kidnapped Alice and her friend, we can find her," he continued as he came with a plan. "That! Why didn''t I think of that? Yes, we can try that!" Shu said, smashing his head. "How fast can you get me the numbers and their current location?" Ryder asked gravely. "It can be done in ten minutes," Shu replied as he started dialing a number. "Good. I''ll call the pilot. We will be in the air in ten minutes. I will find them at any cost, and if there''s even a scratch on Alice...!" Ryder let out as he clenched his fist. He called the Pilot of the private helicopter of Shu, who soon came out, ready for work. Ryder and Shu were waiting outside the helicopter on updates about the numbers when Shu''s phone started ringing. Shu picked up the call. "Yeah, what''s the update." "Two numbers? Are they both in the same location now?" he exclaimed with a frown. "Alright. Got it. Send me their location and keep me updated if their location changes," he let out after hearing a response before he disconnected the call. He looked back at Shu and nodded his head. "You were right. Two numbers had entered the house and left that place soon after. The two of them are still together. I have their location." Chapter 390 - 386: Culprit? "Good. Let''s leave. We have a few bones to break," Ryder said as he stepped inside the helicopter. Shu and the other guards also entered. Shu shared the location with the pilot who started flying. The helicopter took to the air and started moving south. Ryder finally looked at the location in Shu''s phone after taking it from his hand. "This place is Esmi''s house. Was she the one behind it? Someone is really going to die today," he muttered as he frowned. "You know this place?" Shu asked, hearing Ryder''s words. "Yeah. This is Esmi''s Mansion. I mean, it''s where Bastion lives," Ryder replied, confused himself. "Bastion? I remember him. Isn''t he your best friend? Why would he kidnap your sister?" Shu asked in confusion. "I have no idea. I don''t believe he would do something like this, but this location is actually his house. I really hope he didn''t do this," Ryder muttered, clenching his fist. The helicopter soon reached Esmi''s Mansion. Ryder and Shu stepped out of the helicopter with the guards. The Guards of Esmi''s Mansion also stepped to the front, taking aims as they saw a foreign force in front of the Mansion doors. "Wait! Lower your Weapons. It''s Mr. Ryder. He is a friend of the boss," the leader of the guards told the others to lower their weapons as he walked towards Ryder. "Mister Ryder, why did you come with so many guards?" The leader of Esmi''s security asked Ryder, still being a little wary. "Don''t mind then. They are accompanying my friend who dropped me here. They will stay outside. Only I''m here to meet Bastion. After that, I will leave with them," Ryder replied, gesturing to Shu''s guards to step back. Understanding Ryder''s commands, Shu also told his guards to step back. The forward followed the same as that stepped back. "Alright. Come inside," the leader said as he opened the door, allowing Ryder to enter. "Ryder?" Shu called out to Ryder, wondering why he was willing to go alone inside. "I''ll be right back. You so wait for me," Ryder said, waving his hand as he stepped inside the premise. He walked towards the mansion with big strides and soon entered. "Bastion! Esmi!" Ryder called out as soon as he entered the mansion. "Oh, Ryder? Were you missing me? You came at the right time. Bastion left half an hour ago. I''m all alone," Esmi let out as she came down the stairs while smiling. " Where is Alice?" Ryder asked straight away. "Alice? Why would I have her? What do you mean? Was she coming here?" Esmi asked in confusion. Ryder opened the phone and noticed that the signal was still showing inside the house. "Alice was kidnapped. I think she is here. The people that kidnapped her are here after all!" Ryder called out as he walked towards the closest room and opened the door. Bargain inside the room, he started checking everywhere. Not finding anyone, he left and moved over to the next room. Esmi stayed on the stairs blankly for quite some time, blankly. After a long time, she opened her lips. She shouted angrily. "Are you doubting me? Do you really think that I can do this?! How can you even doubt me!" "I don''t have time to explain. I''ll explain later, but I''m promising you, if you have a hand in it, it won''t be good for anyone," Ryder let out as he continued checking the rooms. "Fine! Don''t trust me! Check everywhere! I will prove that I''m innocent, and then I''ll see how you explain." Esmi said as she folded her arms. She also looked furious now as she was being doubted. Ryder checked everywhere on the ground floor; however, he didn''t find anything. He walked towards the stairs and went upstairs, walking past Esmi, who didn''t even look towards him in her anger. Ryder didn''t care about her. He was more concerned about Alice at the moment. He went upstairs and started checking the rooms there as well. He walked towards Esmi''s room after checking the other room. "You didn''t find anything in other rooms. Do you still think you can find her here? But you don''t trust me anyway. Go and check, or your suspicions won''t be over," Esmi let out, sarcastically. She couldn''t believe that Ryder didn''t trust her. She didn''t intervene, though. She let him do whatever he wished. Ryder stepped inside the room, opening the door only to find something that stunned him. Alice was tied. Her mouth was covered with tape, and two masked men were pointing their guns at her, gesturing to her to stay silent. Fortunately, there wasn''t any wound on her, and it didn''t seem like she was harmed. Her friend was also sitting beside her as tears kept falling from her eyes. "You bastards!" Ryder pulled out two guns that were tucked inside his clothes and fired the shots. One of the shots penetrated the head of the man, killing him instantly. The other bullet hit the hands of the second man, making the gun fall from his hands. Ryder ran towards the man, who was roaring in pain as his hand was shot. He grabbed the man by his neck and raised him in the air before he thrashed him on the ground. "How dare you!" Ryder let out, failing to control his strength as he started choking the man. "W-wait..." Alice called out despite being scared after seeing Ryder kill one man right before her eyes. Ryder heard her words and removed some of his strength, just enough to give the man pain but not to kill him. Esmi had heard the gunshots, and she barged inside. Her face turned pale as she saw two girls in her room and a dead body. She went blank, not knowing what had happened. "Tell me who put you to it! Tell me who!" Ryder thundered. "Aa..." The man struggled to breathe. "C-can''t breathe!" he said after some struggle. Ryder removed his hand from the man''s neck and stood up. Aiming his gun at the man, he shot again, this time hitting the other hand of the man. The man roared like a dying pig as his second hand was shot as well. "I''m running out of patience! You have three seconds! I want names, or you''ll die!" Ryder said, aiming the gun at the man''s chest this time. Esmi stood in the back, frowning. "How did you even enter my house?" She asked the man. "I''m interrogating him! Don''t interfere!" Ryder roared, turning Esmi silent. He was furious to know that his friend and Esmi could do something like this, but he still gave them the benefit of the doubt and waited for an answer from the man. Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-386-culprit_%!d(string=51357906913787787) for visiting. Chapter 391 - 387: Named "Answer me this instant!" Ryder roared, showing his angry side, which he rarely showed in front of his loved ones. "W-we did it on the orders of Master Bastion and Madam Esmi. They told us to do it! I don''t know why! That''s all I know! I promise!" the man explained as his face was covered in sweat. "What the hell are you talking about! I don''t even know you!" Esmi caller out in protest. "And Bastion will never do something like this!" "Why are you lying, madam! He will kill me if I don''t tell the truth! Confess to him and ask for forgiveness. Don''t let me die! I did so many things for you! You can''t let me die like that!" the man called out. "You Bastard! You dare to slander me! Ryder, I promise I don''t know who he is!" Esmi said as she walked to Ryder and held his hand. Ryder looked at her before he looked at the man, crying on the ground. He shook his hand, freeing his hand from Esmi, who looked blankly at him. She could feel that he didn''t believe her. She took a step back, not saying anything. Ryder sat down near the man and placed his hand on the chest of the man. "I will count to three before I shoot you. I know when you''re lying. You''re definitely lying now. Tell me the truth," he said. Hearing his words, a relieved expression appeared on her face. She took a sigh of relief as she saw Ryder trusting her. Her eyes were already wet when she thought he didn''t trust her, but only now did her tears started falling as she felt his trust. She was sure that if she were in his place, even she would doubt herself after the man''s accusation. Ryder still chose to believe her. It warned her heart. "Don''t you dare lie to me! Tell me the truth! I am not falling for that. Who told you to do it? Who wanted Esmi and Bastion to be blamed and why?" Ryder asked the man as he started pressing the gun on the man''s chest "I-i swear to god! It was Master Bastion and Esmi who told us to do it!" the man said, feeling scared for his life. His voice was barely audible now in fear. **** As Ryder was interrogating inside the house, Shu was standing outside with his hands on the helicopter. His fingers kept tapping on the metal as if he was counting. There was no expression on his face at the moment as if he was lost in some thought. He didn''t look towards Esmi''s Mansion. His fingers were tapping in what seemed like a rhythm. **** "Tell me this instant. You know I''m not in the mood to joke! Answer now! I''ll count to three before I shoot!" Ryder said, sternly. "1... 2... Wha..." Ryder started counting to three, but he stopped midway as he saw white bubbles coming out of the man''s neck. His eyes started bleeding as well. His heart stopped beating instantly. "He is dead. He was already poisoned. It looks like whoever did this didn''t want him to live for longer. He must have known it too, but he still didn''t give the name of the real person. Maybe they have his family hostage or something else. Whatever being the case, it''s a dead-end," Ryder muttered as he declared the man dead and stood up. He walked over to Alice and removed the tape from her mouth. He started removing the ties on her hand as he asked, "Are you alright?" Alice nodded her head. "I am fine. They didn''t harm us at all. In fact, they were very stern about not harming us. One of them kept saying that there shouldn''t even be a single scratch on our body," she told Ryder as she rubbed her wrists. Ryder walked over to the other side of the bed and started untying her as well.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-387-named_%!d(string=51381341312312745) for visiting. "So they didn''t plan to harm you. Their only intention was to bring you here. Most probably to use you to make me against Esmi and Bastion? They could have easily killed you and left if they only wanted to frame Esmi. They kept you safe, especially so they could accuse Esmi and Bastion in front of me," Ryder muttered as he thought to himself. "Who would plan something like this? What would they get by making me against them?" he wondered as he finished untying the other girl. "I really don''t know how he entered my house and my bedroom. I was in the study room, reading something, so I really didn''t check my bedroom," Esmi said to Ryder as she walked closer to him. "Don''t worry. I know you wouldn''t be so stupid as bring her here even if you did it. Also, that man''s heartbeat gave him away. He was lying when he took your and Bastion''s name. It''s unfortunate that I can''t find the real culprit," Ryder replied as he walked over to the bodies and checked them for any form of identification. Finding none, he kicked the bodies in frustration. He pulled out his phone and took photos of the faces of both the dead bodies. He sent the photos to a number before he called it. "Yeah, Ray. I sent you two photos. Can you run these faces in the database? Try to find a match for them," he told Ray. " Alright. I will do that when I go back to HQ in the morning," Ray replied before he started telling his own problem. "That aside, it''s been such a long time. You said you''d send the address of that Dark Uprising Base. I have received all the permission thinking that I''ll do it soon, and now everyone expected me to go for that raid. You know how embarrassing it is when people ask me why I''m delaying and if I''m scared? I can''t even tell them that I don''t even have the location before I got the permission, or they''ll think that I''m crazy. Can you make it faster, please?" he asked Ryder. "I do have the location of two of their high-ranking members, but they haven''t gone back to their base from what I believe. I can give you their location, but it''ll be useless if you go after two and kiss the rest. You''ll catch the rat I left to get to the real tiger. Wait a little longer. I''m sure they will go to their base soon," Ryder replied, shaking his head. He still didn''t have any exact answer to give. Chapter 392 - 388: Brother "Anyway, don''t forget to send me the information if you find any match of these two. I need to know who they are and who they worked for," Ryder said as he disconnected the call. "Do you know how these two men brought you here?" He turned back and asked Alice. "They jumped through the wall and forced us to do the same at gunpoint. We snuck inside," Alice replied to Ryder. "It''s not easy to sneak inside this place. To find such lax security, either they are really talented, or they had insider help," Ryder muttered, hearing her words. He turned to Esmi and informed her, "I''ll take them home. Send me the CCTV footage of your entrance. I want to know if one of your men helped them enter. If one of them is involved, it''ll make it easier for us to get another trail." Esmi nodded her head. "I will send you the footage." He rubbed the head of Alice gently. He glanced at the other girl. "Let''s go. I''ll take you both home." Alice and her friend stood up and stood behind Ryder. The three of them left the room, and soon, they left the Mansion entirely. Ryder didn''t forget to observe the expressions of the guards as he left with Alice and her friend. Almost all of them looked confused as if wondering when these two girls entered the house and how come they didn''t know. The incharge of security directly asked Ryder about it. "Uh, Are these two your friends? When did they enter? I don''t remember watching two girls entering with you," he asked.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-388-brother_%!d(string=51381303462913214) for visiting. "Yeah, they were invisible when they entered. Stop finding excuses and improve your security. How can two kidnappers sneak inside this Mansion with the two girls they kidnapped without you having any clue? Do better next time. Someone can sneak inside and kill your boss if security is like this," Ryder replied sarcastically before he left the place. Ryder stepped out the entrance of the mansion. Shu stopped his rhythmic tapping on the helicopter before he turned back. "You''re safe! I''m so glad! I''m really sorry my security failed you. I promise I''ll place even more focus on it. No one shall even dare to think about getting to you from tomorrow," Shu said as he sighed a breath of relief. "It''s fine, Brother Shu. It wasn''t your fault," Alice said, smiling. She didn''t blame Shu. The security he provided was already at the top level. "Come, let''s go home. You went through a lot today," Shu said as he gestured for her to enter the helicopter. Esmi and her friend entered the helicopter. "Your brothers are very rich. They have a private helicopter. And they can kill so easily. Are they related to the military?" Alice''s friend asked her as she looked at Shu and Ryder, who stood outside, talking. "Ah, Related to the military is a right term, I guess," Alice said, nodding her head. Shu was the owner of one of the biggest weapon manufacturers for the military. That kind of made him related to the military in her eyes. " What happened to the kidnappers?" Shu asked Ryder, looking towards the Mansion of Esmi. "The two kidnappers are dead," Ryder answered, shaking his head. "Did you get the answers? Why did your best friend''s family kidnap Alice?" Shu inquired, confused. "They did not kidnap her. Someone tried to frame Bastion and Esmi using my sister," Ryder replied. " What? Did the kidnappers say it?" Shy asked, straight. "No. He didn''t say it, but I have ways of myself to know. They aren''t behind it," Ryder said as he sighed. "Are you saying it because you don''t want to believe your best friend''s family would do it? From the angle I see, it looks one their work. Why would someone frame them using your sister? What would they get? I think you might be wrong this time," Shu let out in full seriousness. "I don''t think I am. Anyway, let''s go back. Girls must be tired. I''ll find the real culprit myself," Ryder said as he walked towards the helicopter and sat inside. Shu sighed as he also started walking towards the helicopter and stepped inside. The helicopter started rising in the air. They first went to the house of Alice''s friend and dropped her there before they went straight to Shu''s estates. Ryder took Alice to her room and stayed there with her, comforting her as he was worried that she might be in trauma. Even though it was her second time being kidnapped, it wasn''t easy. He talked to her and laughed with her. They joked around as they spoke of the old days. "You look really beautiful when you smile. You should always keep smiling," Ryder said as he rubbed Alice''s cheeks. Alice looked into Ryder''s eyes, filled with emotions. She placed her hand on Ryder''s cheeks and did the same. "You too. Always keep smiling. You don''t look cute at all when you''re angry." Hearing Alice''s words, Ryder started laughing. "Hahaha, wouldn''t it be weird if I looked cute when I was angry? Why would the enemies take me seriously." "Why would you even need enemies. Just stay away from such things. Also, where did you even learn to shoot like that? You killed a man without hesitating even a little, and that too with a perfect shot to the head. How did you learn it?" Alice asked. "An army friend taught me for self-defense. I thought it was good to learn since there would be many enemies in business. It did come in handy in unexpected situations," Ryder replied, smiling innocently. "Don''t put yourself in dangerous situations even if it''s for business. We can live without money like we used to live before. You don''t have to put yourself in danger," Alice said as she gazed into Ryder''s deep eyes with care. "Hah, Yush! I will be more careful next time and try to stay away from conflict," Ryder said as he smiled gently. "That''s good. Now go, I am sleepy. Let me rest," Alice called out, smiling as she closed her eyes. "Hahaha, right. I''ll go now. Have a great rest," Ryder said as he stood up. He left the room and walked back to his room. **** Inside his room, Shu was sitting on his bed with a portrait in his hand. The portrait seemed to be of Ryder, but the man was wearing a military uniform that Ryder never wore. The man also had red hair. Other than that, he looked precisely like Ryder. "It''ll be your twelfth death anniversary soon," Shu muttered as he gently rubbed the portrait. "Brother." Chapter 393 - 389: Forgotten Egg Ring! A phone started ringing, breaking the silence spread inside the room. Shu stood up and walked towards the back wall. There was a number pad on the wall that was attached with a fingerprint sensor. He placed his left hand on the fingerprint sensor while he typed the numbers with his right. /28740/ After pressing the code, he removed his thumb from the fingerprint sensor. A door became visible in the wall that was invisible until now. There was another number pad on the door. Shu pressed a different code inside this time. After he finished typing the code, the door was unlocked. He pushed the door open and entered the hidden room. The room inside had many safes. It also had a few portraits hung on the wall. There seemed to be a portrait of a middle-aged man who seemed to have similar features to Shu. Beside that portrait was a portrait of a woman who looked slightly younger than the man in the portrait. Shu stepped closer and placed the portrait of the young man who looked like Ryder on the wall beside the portrait of the middle-aged man. After being done, he stepped back and gazed at all three portraits. Tears appeared around his eyes as a sad smile spread across his face. "Father, Mother, brother... Did you take pity on my loneliness?" he muttered.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-389-forgotten-egg_%!d(string=51381337822651793) for visiting. He turned back and stepped out of the room. He closed the door behind him, which once again disappeared into the wall. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Shu walked over to the table where a glass of water was placed. He pulled out a pill from his pocket and placed it in his mouth before he picked up the glass of water. He drank the water, effectively swallowing the pill before he laid on the bed. He was just about to pick up his Divinity Glasses when his phone started ringing again. He picked up the call. "Yeah?" "You traced the number he called when he was inside?" "Are you sure? Why would he be in contact with a high-ranking member of the FBI? It should be Bastion he called in anger!" "You know the consequences of giving me wrong information, right?" "Alright. I got it." Shu disconnected the call and placed his phone to the side. "FBI... Ray, is it? How did you enter the picture suddenly? A friend? Or a Foe?" He muttered as he looked at the roof while lying on the bed. "Only time can tell." He picked up the Divinity Glasses and wore them. "Take me to Divinity," he muttered. **** "Take me to Divinity." Ryder wore the Divinity Glasses and entered the world of Divinity. He woke up inside the room where Rale was standing, looking outside the window. "Do you ever sleep?" Ryder asked, smiling. "I do, unfortunately," Rale answered as he turned back. "I never saw you sleep. Everyone I come, you''re always up. You''re really punctual," Ryder said as he walked over to the window. "Beautiful, isn''t it? There''s no difference compared to our Demon Realm. The cities and the people are all so similar. Only the species are different," he lamented as he looked outside. "And the fact that they are weaker than Demons," Rale chimed in. "Compared to Dukes and you, they do seem a whole lot weaker, but they should have people capable of fighting normal Demons," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Anyway, let''s get going." The two of them left the hotel and walked back to the bar where they met Shu. "So, where is that location, and how will we be traveling? The Location Portals inside the city shouldn''t be activated yet. They will do it once the Real World Currency Exchange update arrives. Are we going to walk or take some carriage?" Ryder asked Shu. "We will be taking a carriage. Even if we had the Teleportation unlocked, we couldn''t go there since Teleportation can only take us from one city to another. We don''t know which city that place might be inside. We only have a compass that shows us the direction," Shu answered as he walked with Ryder. They went to an NPC and hired a carriage to escort them. They entered the carriage, which started escorting them. **** Ryder spent his nights in Divinity, getting escorted to the destination and his Day in the real world, where he continued working on his company. After the merger was completed, he owned two buildings as the ACL Headquarters was his as well now. As for the information about the two people that kidnapped Alice, their identity wasn''t found as Ray didn''t find any match in the database. Ray only came to the conclusion that these people didn''t have a criminal record, and it was almost impossible to find their identity now without putting a lot of resources that he couldn''t at the moment. Ryder could only give up on the lead as he failed to find the real culprit. Bastion returned to his everyday life, where he went out and partied often. Esmi also returned to normal. She and Ryder started spending more time together as they went out to eat every once in a while and even indulged in their romantic sessions often. **** Rale and Ryder were standing at some distance from the carriage as Ryder waited for Shu to log in. "It''s already the fifth day. We can''t stay out for too long. If someone finds out that we are missing, it would be very troublesome to handle." Rale expressed his concerns to Ryder. "I know, but this shouldn''t take longer. We''ll be done as soon as we get there. Also, I have faith in Miku. She''s a clever girl who knows how to handle things. If things get worse, I even gave her a sure-fire excuse to use," Ryder replied, smiling. "What excuse?" Rale inquired. "If people come to her with real urgency, I told her to lie to them and say that I left," Ryder explained. "Isn''t that the truth? If she told them that we left, we would be in trouble." Rale let out, not understanding. "No, we would only be caught if she told them that we left the realm. I told her to lie that we only left the Palace. She will tell them that it was my wish to roam the kingdom while being undercover to see the real situation of the kingdom and the lives of citizens," Ryder replied. "Ah, as expected of Your Highness. Your plan had such depths! Someone like me could never comprehend your wiseness!" Rale said, bowing his head in praise to Ryder. "Let''s continue. I''m here." Shu said as he appeared inside the carriage. "Right. Let''s be on our way," Ryder nodded his head as he walked back inside the carriage. "According to the map, we will soon be entering the Forest of Liander. It''s said to be a good hunting ground. Do you wish to hunt along the way?" Shu asked Ryder as they reached near a forest. " Hunting? I guess we can hunt a beast or two for some fun. It has been a long time since I last hunted in this place either," Ryder replied, nodding his head. "Only one round of hunting. We can''t waste too much time here," he continued. "Hmm?" He suddenly frowned as a warning notification appeared on his system screen. [Warning: It has been Two Months since the Beast Egg Hatched. If it isn''t taken out in two hours, the Egg will be ruined] "Hmm? The Egg? What does it mean?" Ryder muttered in confusion. ''Oh heck! The Beast Egg that I found in the valley of Wandering Souls! How could I forget that?'' he suddenly remembered as he stood shocked. He opened his inventory, and in the lonely corner, he saw an Egg which has a timer on top of it. He tapped on the egg to see its status. [Item: Mysterious Egg] [Description: Hatched long ago. The beast isn''t able to come out since the Egg is in inventory. Bring the egg out to help the beast come out] [Status: Expiring in 2 hours] "Sigh, if I hadn''t received the warning reminder, I would have forgotten about it completely. Being attacked by Vampire General and then the deal with the Vampire King, I completely forgot about it," Ryder muttered as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Stop the carriage," he told the driver. Ryder jumped out as soon as the driver stopped the carriage. "What happened?" Shu and Rale also stepped out. "It''s nothing. I just remembered that my tamed beast hatched. It''s time to see what it is going to be," Ryder smiled as he glanced back at Shu. "Tamed beast? Hatched? You mean you found a rare beast egg so fast? Sigh, who am I even talking to? You''re the strongest player here. I shouldn''t be shocked at anything," Ryder replied as he smiled. "Let''s see what you received. Don''t delay," Shu insisted. "Yes." Nodding his head, Ryder opened his inventory again. Chapter 394 - 390: Ryders Beast "Let''s see what you received. I had heard that there were eggs to be found in Divinity that could be hatched, but it was said to be extremely rare. I''m so happy for you," Shu told Ryder as he smiled. "Yeah." Ryder brought the egg out of his inventory and placed it on the ground. There was a small crack on the egg, which started getting bigger and bigger until it spread out everywhere. The egg broke apart, revealing the beast inside. Ryder could see a small creature in front of him that was just like a little cat; however, it had silver fur. There was a horn coming out of this creature that seemed like the horn of a unicorn. It seemed to be made of diamonds. [You have received the Diamond Tiger. The Tamed Beast Contract is already established. Do you wish to cancel?] [Yes] [No] "I wouldn''t cancel the contract," Ryder muttered as he tapped on no. [The Contract is kept. Would you like to give it a name] [Yes] [No] Tapping on yes, Ryder gave the little creature a name. "Let''s see what you are, little guy," Ryder muttered as he stepped forward and picked the little creature in his hand, and started looking at his stats. [Name: Venus Species: Diamond Tiger Level: 1 Experience: 0/100 HP: 100 Mana: 20 Strength: 20 Defense:35 Speed: 30 Stamina:40 Dexterity:30 Intelligence: 5 Available stat points: 0 Skills: Rapid Dash: Level 1 Charged Hit: Level 1 Diamond Wall: Level 1] "Interesting. The stats are almost 5-10 times more than a normal level 1 beast should have. Not bad. It also has mana, but I don''t see any mana related skills. Most of its skills are physical skills. Maybe it would get elemental skills as it grows," Ryder observed. "It seems like an interesting beast. A rare one? Or a normal one? I have no idea since I haven''t seen many beasts of Divinity, but it does seem interesting with that diamond horn," Shu muttered as he looked at the beast in Ryder''s hands.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #%!d(string=16700033805886005)/chapter-390-ryder''s-beast_%!d(string=51432071066873284) for visiting. ''I don''t know about it either, which is strange since I have been in Divinity for a much longer time. This does seem to be a rare beast. Even in the original timeline, I didn''t know of such a beast," Ryder thought as he looked at the Diamond Tiger. He looked back at Rale, who was standing nearby. "Rale, do you have any idea about Diamond Tiger?" he asked. "No," Rale replied as he shook his head. "I would need to help it hunt. Low-level beasts don''t help me, but he can grow a lot with them. I guess we can hunt for a little longer in the next forest," Ryder muttered as he started walking back. Since no one knew the answer, it wasn''t good to waste time. The carriage started moving again and soon reached the hunting forest. All three of them stepped out of the carriage. "The forest is known for level 30-40 beasts. I don''t think it would be suitable for the little guy to hunt," Shu lamented as he walked over to the forest with Ryder and Rale. "It''s not suitable for it to hunt alone, but I can help it. I can decrease the HP of monsters and restrict their movement, so this little guy can deliver the final attack. The exp from such low-level beasts is useless for me anyway. But even half of that experience would be a big deal for a level 1 beast. It would be able to jump multiple levels," Ryder explained as he stepped foot inside the forest. After searching around for a while, they found the first monster. He found a level 40 monster that happened to be the Dark Iron Wolf, who was known for its powerful defense. " You want to take the first beast, or should I do the honors?" Ryder asked Shu as they found the first monster. "It''s the monster which is at the same level as me, so it''s stronger, and it is known for its speed and defense. I don''t think I''ll have an easy time against it, and a lot of time will be wasted. You take on this beast," Shu replied with a calm smile on his face as he waved his hand. Ryder placed the little Diamond Tiger on the ground before them and pointed towards the Dark Iron Wolf that was drinking water in the pond. "Alright. Little Guy, it''s your first fight. Go attack." Ryder commanded. The little tiger-like creature looked at the massive wolf before it, which was multiple times bigger than it. Just the aura of the wolf was enough to intimidate the little creature. The Diamond Tiger looked back at Ryder''s face with a cry-like face as if telling Ryder that it was a bad idea. "Come on, be brave. Go on. Attack," Ryder let out, smiling. Seeing that there was no getting out of the situation, the little creature gave up on pleading and started running towards the Dark Iron Wolf. The Dark Iron Wolf looked back at the small creature that was running towards it with a condescending gaze as if it was upset that even such a weak creature dared to attack him. Opening its mouth, he fired a dark shadow ball. Electricity flickered around the shadow ball as it moved towards the Diamond Tiger. Seeing the shadow ball coming towards it, the Dark Tiger closed its eyes as if it was sure that it was going to die, but it didn''t stop running. "Good work, little guy." The little creature heard Ryder''s voice and opened its eyes as it stopped running. It saw a person standing in front of him. An intimidating looking Scythe was in the hands of the man. The person slashed the scythe, cutting the shadow ball in half, destroying it instantly. "Sigh, I can''t even attack back, or I would show you the real power of a shadow ball. I don''t want to kill you in one shot, though," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He looked back at the Diamond Tiger. He patted the head of the Diamond Tiger. "Little guy, go ahead. You did well. Let me take over from here." Glancing back at the Dark Iron Wolf, Ryder disappeared. He appeared near the Dark Iron Wolf and kicked the tiger, throwing it back. The Wolf crashed on the ground, but before it could stand up, it saw Ryder''s feel landing on it. Ryder started cutting the Dark Iron Tiger with his scythe to make sure that it''s HP decreased at a controlled pace. Chapter 395 - 391: Son of Gods He wanted to make sure that he left enough HP for the little guy to finish it in one attack. After a controlled amount of attacks, he kept the scythe back. "Venus! It''s time. Use Charged Hit and finish the big guy," Ryder commanded the fellow on the side. **** "Who would have known that he would gain ten levels just from a single hunt. It got bigger as well. It''s now twice the size if I''m not wrong," Shu complimented as he observed the Diamond Tiger while they searched for another beast after finishing the Iron Wolf. "I thought it would be something similar. It would''ve been much more if I hadn''t received half the exp from this hunt," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "It was a level 40 beast, after all. It also dropped its fang. It can be sold for a decent amount," he continued. "More importantly, this little guy is stronger now. By hunting in this forest, I should be able to get Venus to level 30-40. That''s where it will slow down." "That''s true. With your help, it will be able to rise a lot. Especially due to the fact that it''s really low level and the beasts grow faster. Did it gain any new skills after reaching level ten?" Shu Inquired. "Not yet. It still has the same three skills, unfortunately," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "I am sure it will have a skill that will use mana in the future since it''s intelligence and mana limit is decently high. It''s not a physical beast only." The two of them hunted in the forest and even met a few other players that were hunting there. The other players were weaker and hunting in teams, unlike Shu and Ryder, who were traveling together but hunting solo. The other players were surprised to see a beast walking beside Ryder. They wondered if Ryder had tamed a beast? They couldn''t help but doubt if the world of Divinity had a hidden Tamer class like other MMORPG games. After hunting for a few hours, the three of them left the forest when it was evening. The Diamond Tiger beast was level 35 by now. Shu was level 43 by now. Ryder had also gained one level, and he was level 114 now. As it was almost night in Divinity and day in their country, they logged out together. **** In a faraway place, the mist was surrounding every place. A few shadowy creatures could be seen barely because of the mist. It was unclear to see them, but they seemed to be humans. A few of them seemed to have wings on their back, while some had horns. " Lord of Flames, I heard a complaint that your son has entered my son''s territory? You know we sent our sons on the mortal planes to test them. When all of them were assigned their own separate zones and their own tests, why is your son breaking the laws set forth by the seven of us?" One of them asked It sounded like a man''s voice. " Lord of Death, I had no idea that it had happened. I do have a question, however. We had all decided that none of them can contact us and we can''t contact them no matter what happens. We also decided that we won''t look at the mortal planes? How is it that you know? Isn''t your son also breaking the laws? And in an even more serious manner since he can ask for your help in his test?" Another angry voice sounded, increasing the temperature in that place. "This..." The Lord of Death seemed too stunned to answer the question. "We can call it an emergency situation! Contacting me should be allowed! It''s your son that broke the laws first!" he continued, furiously. "It''s not about being allowed or not! It''s about having a way to! My question is, how does your son have a way to contact you from the mortal plane? If you sent him down with a way to contact you when we sent them all down, it means laws were broken from your side first." The Flame Lord seemed angry, and he wasn''t backing off. "Lord of Death, I agree. A kid breaking the laws by going to someone else''s territory is a less serious matter than one of us breaking the rules that too before the test even began. What do you have to say for yourself?" Another person chimed in, siding with the Flame Lord. "Lord of War, you too? I, ah, I gave him in case of emergencies. I didn''t give him the intention of helping him in the test. You can make sure that I didn''t go to the mortal realm, and I didn''t send anyone else to help either. You can''t blame me for worrying about my son," The Lord of Death gave an excuse for himself. "Sigh, Lord of Death, Lord of Flames, you''re both in the wrong. However, it''s not a serious matter, so you should both let it go. Flame Lord, we will send a messenger down to convey our commands. Your son needs to go back to his land to which he was assigned. Lord of Death, your son, can''t possess anything to contact you. The messenger will take back whatever you have him. Tell your son not to resist with the messenger. This is the best solution. Do you all agree?" A fourth person declared. Her voice made it evident that she was a female. "I agree with the Lord of Destiny." "I agree as well." "It''s the best decision to handle it for now." Everyone agreed, and the decision was finalized. Everyone started departing from that place one after another, disappearing until only Lord of Flame and Lord of Death were left. " I hope your son doesn''t die in this test. It would be a pity," the Lord of Death let out grimly. "Don''t worry. My son isn''t so weak as to die down there. You should worry about your own," The Lord of Flames muttered as he disappeared. The Lord of Death disappeared as well. **** As all of them disappeared from that place, another person appeared there who seemed like a young boy. ''Sigh, all your sons just happened to be there when the time of his awakening is getting near. I''m trying to keep him away from their path. I wonder how long it will work,'' the Young Boy thought as he stood in an empty location. "Janus, what are you doing here?" A shadow appeared behind the young boy. The young boy looked back. "Ah, Lord of Destiny?" Chapter 396 - 392: Messenger of Gods "Lord of Destiny?" The young boy turned back, revealing his beautiful Silver hair and his eyes that had violet pupils. His right eye had white, while his left eye was pitch black, excluding his violet pupils. He seemed like a 14-15 old boy. He gazed at the beautiful lady in white that dress that stood in front of him. The lady had two semi-transparent wings behind her back and beautiful blonde hair that seemed to be full of purity. "Janus, what are you doing here?" The Lord of Destiny asked Janus. " Lord of Destiny, I should ask the same to you. Isn''t this my Family''s altar where my brother used to ponder his thoughts in his early days? Why are all of you here?" Janus asked in return. "Janus, you still call that Traitor as your brother? After all that he did against all the Gods? That Traitor got the punishment he deserved, and he''s no more. Forget that he even existed. That''s the best thing you can do. His existence itself was a source of anguish for us and his death a source of salvation. We all decided that we wouldn''t mention him to forget that he even existed, and yet you don''t," the Lord of Destiny looked at Janus as she squinted her eyes. "Sigh, Whatever. You might be strong, but you''re still a kid. It''s understandable that you''re naive. I wouldn''t fret on it. I''m leaving," The Lord of Destiny muttered as she sighed. She gave up on arguing and decided to leave. "Janus, remember. Whatever we did was for the better. He had gone crazy. We only acted to save this world from him. You knew it yourself. Isn''t this why..." The Lord of Destiny said as she started disappearing. "... you attacked him as well." Even though she disappeared, her words still echoed everywhere. Janus clenched his fist in full force, feeling the pain from her words. He looked into the distant horizon as he reminisced about that cruel moment when everything had happened¡ªthe moment when a god fell and the moment when... everything ended. **** The Lord of Destiny appeared in her Palace and called out to one of her maids. "You called, My Queen?" The maid asked the Lord of Destiny. "Freida, You are to go to the mortal Realm where all our sons are for their trials. Your task is to meet the Son of Death God, Aluren. You must get the conversation stone from him that helps him connect to his father here. Tell her it''s the Command of all 7 Lords overseeing the Trials," The Lord of Destiny commanded her maid. "Oh, and tell the Son of Flame Lord that he is needed to go back to his assigned land. It''s our command as well; otherwise, he would fail, and he would be called back," she continued. "Yes, My Queen. Your wish is my command," the maid said as she bowed her head. "I have a question, My Queen," the maid inquired. "Does your question have something to do with how you will find them?" The Lord of Destiny asked back as an amused smile appeared on her face. As soon as she smiled, it was as if the whole room was filled with blissful energy. The maid nodded her head. The Lord of Destiny raised her hand. A bright light started coming from everywhere and collected above her hand. It soon took the shape of a crystal. The Lord of Destiny three that stone towards the maid who caught it. "Take this stone. This has the location of Adrian and Aluren. Find them and carry out my commands." "Yes, My Queen." The Maid left the Palace. She left the Realm of Gods as the messenger. **** The messenger was sent from the Realm of Gods that arrived in the world where Ryder was staying. Frieda found Lucifer and Adrian, who were inside the forest, still waiting for a response since Aluren had told Adrian that he sent a message to his father. Without backing off, Adrian replied that he wasn''t scared of anyone since Aluren was wrong by contacting as well. They both started waiting, hoping that the other person will be punished instead. The Kings were also sent back, making Aluren and Adrian to be the only ones waiting there. **** Aluren was sitting on a throne that was brought here by his men. Adrian, on the other hand, was sitting on top of the cab, enjoying the fresh breath of air. Soon, a portal opened before them. "Someone is here," Aluren muttered as he stood up from his throne. Adrian also jumped down from the top of the cab and stood straight. Soon, Freida stepped out of the portal. "Who are you?" Both of the guys asked at the same time. "I have been sent by the Seven God''s that oversee this trial to declare their commands," Frieda declared as she floated above the air. "Oh, a messenger. I should''ve expected it. Fathers won''t come for such minor matters," Adrian muttered as he observed the messenger. Ignoring Adrian''s words, the messenger looked at Aluren. "Aluren, by carrying an item that helps you contact the Realm of Gods, you have broken laws. However, after deep consideration, the Lord''s have decided to forgive your mistake as it was your first mistake in this trial. They did say that no second mistake like this will be forgiven. For now, you are only allowed to give us the conversation stones back, so you''re never able to contact again before the Trials are finished," Frieda declared the commands she was told to convey. "Hahaha, I told that idiot that it was breaking laws. He''s really an Idiot," Adrian started laughing as he saw the distorted expression on Aluren''s face. Frieda turned back to Adrian as she heard him laughing. "Young Lord Adrian. By leaving your assigned territory and entering the territory of another young lord, you have broken the assigned laws as well. However, it''s your first mistake again. Although you are forgiven, you are commanded to go back to your assigned land and never to return here again, or you will be called back. You are immediately required to leave. This is the command of all Lords as well as your father," Freida announced. "If all I need to have you leave without creating trouble for me is give up on my conversation stone, then it''s worth it. Leave now," Aluren said in a gritty tone as he gave the conversation stone to Freida. "Sigh, if it''s what the lords want, I''m leaving," Adrian muttered as he turned back. "I will remember it, though," he let out as he observed Aluren before he left. Frieda disappeared as well. "Finally, we''re back to normal," Aluren muttered as he gazed at the sky. **** A person was sitting in his office on the top floor of the building he owned. It was the headquarters of one of the biggest Conglomerates of Japan and of the world. A portal appeared in front of the person who was looking at his laptop. The young man raised his head and looked at the portal before him. He watched a girl step out of the portal without feeling even the least bit of shock. "Frieda? What are you doing here? Isn''t this against the laws to have contact with people of the Realm of Gods?" The man asked with a curious look on his face. "If someone finds out, mother might be in trouble." "It''s fine, Young Prince Itsuki," the lady said as she bowed her head. "I came here as a messenger to share commands of the lords to Young Lord Adrian and Young Lord Aluren," Freida replied. "Oho, what was the verdict? I thought it would take a long time. How did they even know what was happening here so fast? Are they constantly looking down?" Itsuki muttered with a curious look on his face. "It''s because Young Lord Aluren had a conversation stone which he used to ask his Father to get involved. I guess he didn''t wish for Young Lord Adrian to interfere in his trials," Freida answered. "Oh, I didn''t think he had it. People would think he''s an Idiot to expose his Conversation Crystal that might get him punished, but he really took a calculated risk by sacrificing that in exchange for sending Adrian back. I was thinking that there would be a big commotion there. He acted cleverly by removing that possibility. Clever indeed," Itsuki chuckled as he praised the plan of Aluren. " He was probably sure that he wouldn''t be punished at first offense. No wonder he''s called the most scheming of us," he muttered. "Right. He did say that it was worth it. I didn''t understand the meaning, but it''s clear to me now. So that''s what it was," Freida muttered as she realized the intricacies of what Aluren did. "Leave that aside. Since you were coming here, I''m sure Mother told you to convey some of her message to me. What did she say?" he inquired. Chapter 397 - 393: Cyber Warfare? "What messages did mother send?" Itsuki asked the woman who stood before him, gazing at him respectfully. "She told me to convey her message that she wishes you luck and she hopes you''re doing well. Oh, she also wanted you to know something important. She said, stay away from the matters of ladies. I don''t know why she said that. Maybe she divined your destiny. I didn''t ask her. It would be good to follow her advice, though," Freida replied as she smiled. "Haha, I don''t think it''s her divination. She always says that to me. She''s worried some lady might steal the affection of her precious son. Don''t worry. I''ll be careful. I''m always careful," Itsuki replied as he chuckled. "That''s all. I will take my leave now," Freida informed Itsuki before she started walking back towards the portal. She stopped before entering the portal as she glanced back. "Oh, Young Prince, best of luck for the trial. I am sure you will do great," She wished him before she entered the portal. The Portal disappeared soon after. "So Adrian will be back in Russia, and Aluren will be back to his work. I do wonder why Adrian went there. What was he looking for? No matter how many times I try calling him, his phone is off, and he''s not picking up," Itsuki muttered as he tapped his fingers on the table, lost in some thought. "I don''t think he would tell me, though. If he was willing to tell, Aluren might have helped him instead of exposing himself to get Adrian out of that place by involving them. Just what is it? What could make him greedy? Just what is his Trial? Is it related to that? It shouldn''t be. It''s getting complicated. I don''t believe Adrian will sit silently. I have a feeling that it will be cyber warfare. Let''s see who has the last laugh," he wondered. **** Ryder logged out of Divinity and got off the bed. He got ready after showering before he left the house. As it was a Sunday, Alice didn''t need to go to the university, and even if she did, Ryder wasn''t going to leave her alone like last time. Since she was at the Shu Estate, Ryder believed that she was safe enough for him to be able to leave. Racing his whirlwind in an unknown direction, he departed from the Shu Estate. He stopped the car near the airport where he was supposed to meet someone. He sat at the driver seat of his Whirlwind, gazing towards the exit of the Airport. A beautiful lady left the airport and looked around. She wore a long dress that fit her body perfectly. She walked towards Ryder, who was inside his car. "Ah, hey. Nice car. Can I ask for a lift?" The lady inquired with a cute smile on her face. "Sorry, I am waiting for someone. You should book a cab or ask someone else," Ryder replied, not giving any importance to the lady. "Hmph, blind man. You must still be single. You can''t appreciate beauty. At Least ask me for a coffee or something. A pretty lady approached you on her own. You should be glad," the woman didn''t leave; instead, she started getting even more active. "Look, lady. If I''m single or not has nothing to do with you. I don''t have time to mess around with you. I''m waiting for someone. I told you. Stop screwing around," Ryder waved his hand, gesturing for the woman to leave. "You! You can''t be serious! I''m sure you saw me. How can you be unaffected by my charm?" The Lady continued talking to Ryder. "Sigh, I got it. You''re crazy. I wonder why they let crazy people," Ryder sighed as he heard the lady''s response. He opened the door of his car and stepped out. "Where do you want to go?" He asked as he stood in front of the car. "Hahaha, you finally appreciate me. I want to go to this address," The lady said as she showed Ryder a paper that had an address written on it. "Hmm? Oh, that place. I got it. It doesn''t matter where you wish to go anyway. I already have a destination in my head," Ryder replied as he read the address before he started gazing at the woman from top to bottom. "I say, you''re not bad looking. I can kind of see where you get that crazy confidence from. My gang would like someone like you. All us brothers were looking for a girl like you," he muttered as he licked his lips. "G-gang? All Members? Looking for one girl?" The woman''s face turned pale as she heard Ryder''s words, which he intentionally said in order to make her scared subtly. "Hahaha, yeah. In fact, I was waiting for a woman as well. You are prettier than her. I''m sure my men will like you. They''ll treat you like a princess. Get in the car. I will definitely drop you at the right location," Ryder said as he chuckled while standing with the support of his car. "Ah, N-no. It''s fine. I was joking. I have my mother coming to pick me up. T-thanks for the offer," the lady let out as she starts running away like a scared cat. "Hah, I guess we must be crazy to deal with crazy," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He gazed at the exit of the airport before he looked at the time on his clock. "He should be here by now," Ryder muttered. He soon noticed a person coming out of the airport. It was a young looking man who was in a black coat and black pants. The man walked towards Ryder after noticing him. He stopped near Ryder and reached out his hand to shake Ryder''s hand. Ryder also did the same. "Ryder," the young man said softly. "Ray, we meet again. Get in the car. I have a lot of things I need to take about," Ryder replied as he opened the door of the car and stepped inside. Ray walked to the other side and sat on the passenger seat of the two-seater sports car. The car started driving towards a certain section of the city. " You said you finally have somewhat of an idea where the Dark Uprising''s base might be?" Ray asked after sitting silently for some time. "Yeah. After observing their movement and their locations, I finally have an idea where their base might be. I think I also know where their temporary bases are. I''ll tell you everything you want to know. First I need to take you to a place. You can''t disclose what I''m about to tell you to anyone," Ryder replied in full seriousness. "I won''t tell anyone. You can trust me," Ray said, nodding his head. Ryder took the car to the building that he owned, but he didn''t stop there. He only stopped the car at the next building where he had killed the people of the Dark Uprising when he foiled their plan to cause explosions all around the city. Ryder stepped out of the car. Ray did so as well. "Why did you bring me here?" Ray asked Ryder in confusion as he looked at the abandoned building. "I remember this building. It''s where we believe you kidnapped someone. And in the nearby building, we arrested you," he let out as he smiled wryly. "Yeah, this building is pretty unlucky. Many things happened here. You remember that blast that occurred in the airspace nearby a few months ago?" Ryder inquired. "Yeah. I came to investigate personally, but I couldn''t find any clue until you told me about it." Ray nodded his head. "That''s right. They were behind it, and it was their plan to cause explosions all around the city. Their temporary residence was this tower. It was where I killed many of their people. I''m still surprised they managed to clear all the bodies before you guys came to investigate." Ryder started explaining. " Anyway, this was where I placed a tracker on their executives, which I had been using to track them. I can''t give you the device that I use to track their location since I can''t expose all my secrets, but I did create a map with their locations that I assume to be their bases similar to this place. I also believe their permanent headquarters is..." He opened a world map and pointed at a certain location on the map. "This island?" Ray inquired with a confused look on his face. "Yes. I am ninety percent sure that this is one of their bases and slightly less sure that this is their main base. I leave the rest to you. These are the maps that have the location along with the extra information I marked. You can finally begin your raid," Ryder told Ray. "This Island... We can''t touch," Ray muttered, shaking his head. His words stunned Ryder. Chapter 398 - 394: Disruption of Time "The Island... We can''t touch it." Ray informed Ryder, stunning him. " You guys can''t touch that island? Why?" Ryder asked, not understanding why it was that way. They were dealing against terrorism. Even if that island was owned by some private businessman, they should have been able to go there. "It''s not that we don''t want to, but we can''t. That island is the territory that''s outside the jurisdiction of our country. To raid places like these, we would need permission from the government. Furthermore, that specific Island is even more special. I don''t know who owns it, but I can certainly say that we won''t get permission to go there. We can only target the temporary locations that you suggested," Ray answered as he sighed. "Alright. If that''s something that you can''t do, I can''t force you. Attacking their temporary bases would also be somewhat effective. At Least it would force them to retract their forces. You can also catch their people and force them to confess. With enough proof, even if it''s outside jurisdiction, you should be able to get permission. It''s good to start even if it''s slow," Ryder said, understanding Ray''s plight. "Yeah. Thanks for understanding. And thanks for the map," Ray thanked Ryder as he took the maps. "I couldn''t have sent this data online. You didn''t have to come all the way here for this, though. I''m surprised that you decided to come," Ryder told Ray as he walked back towards his car. "I was coming here to meet my sister when you told me about this. So I thought that it was better to collect in person since I could get more information. Can you drop me off at her place?" Ray asked Ryder. "Of course," Ryder agreed instantly. Ray gazed at Ryder after he sat inside the car. "Also, I''m sorry for putting my sister in your trail last time. As you can understand, it was for good reasons." "It''s fine. You shouldn''t worry about it anymore. Just don''t come after me again. We''re on the same side, but I want to fly under the radar. You found out about me, but I don''t want it to get to higher-ups. Mine and my family''s peaceful life here is most important to me." Ryder started the car and escorted Ray to the address. Ray opened the door of the car, but he didn''t step outside. Instead, he asked, "Why don''t you come inside? Your last meeting with her wasn''t good. It would be good if the two of you got introduced properly." "It''s fine. Maybe some next time," Ryder refused politely. "If you say so," Ray muttered as he stepped out of the car. He watched Ryder leave before he entered the building where his sister was staying. **** Adrian''s flight landed in Russia. As he stepped out of the airport, he turned his phone on before he called someone. In a few minutes, many SUV''s were lined up in front of him. "Master." A man appeared out of thin air like a shadow in front of Adrian. "We weren''t able to contact you. Was your trip successful?" The man asked Adrian. " Successful? It was very successful if by success you mean a disaster. I didn''t get what I was looking for, and I got into unnecessary trouble as well. Anyway, I might have come back as I needed to, but I haven''t given up. It was my mistake to go there without preparation. I didn''t know that they were so scared of me that they would block my phone in fear. Next time, it will be with fill preparation," Adrian replied as he walked towards the center car. "First, I want you to hack into something and get me the information I need. Then you shall go there personally and bring what I want to me," he told the man who sat beside him. The car started moving. ''So what if I can''t go because of father''s orders. I have people that can do what I wish. I will get what I desire, no matter what I have to sacrifice!'' Adrian thought as he looked outside the window. ''Sigh, the other guys must be laughing at me since I was forced to come back. They will definitely bring it up next time we meet. At Least that messenger didn''t tell anyone else about the message that was intended for us. No one else can know that we were scolded like kids,'' he thought as he sighed. ''My entire reputation is ruined.'' "It''s all because it''s Aluren! The next time I meet him, I will crush him under my feet for messing with me," he muttered. **** In a different corner of the world, another one of the Seven Sons of Gods, Draco Liang, was sitting in his room. His trial was related to China so that he couldn''t leave this country like other Sons couldn''t leave their assigned countries without getting punished. He held a crystal in his hand, which looked just like the Crystal that Aluren had used to contact his father and the one he had returned to Freida. "Yes, father. Don''t worry. No one shall know that I can contact you and that I have a crystal," Draco told his father, who happened to be known as the God of War in the Realm of Gods. On the other end of the universe, the God of War was sitting on his throne, talking to his son. He seemed like a giant, but it wasn''t easy to comprehend how tall he was exactly. He had four arms, all of which were capable enough of shaking the worlds. "Yeah, what did that idiot expect after exposing the fact that his son contacted him. He is such a tactless guy. I can never be as idiotic as him," the God of War said, remembering about the act of Lord of Death in the meeting of the Seven Gods. "Father, is there a specific reason that you contacted me for? Or was it to tell me about Aluren and what happened to him?" Draco asked the father. "Sigh, you''re such a boring guy. Can''t a father contact his son? Why does there have to be a reason? You don''t contact me at all even though I gave you the Crystal. And when I do, you act like that. You know how much your father misses you?" The God of War chided his son. "I have something to do. I will be leaving if there''s nothing else," Draco replied expressionlessly. "Sigh, wait a minute. There is something that I wanted to talk about. Not many people know about it, but I did hear something strange. I wanted to tell you about this. I also need you to be aware of something," the God of War told his son. "Something strange? What do you mean?" Draco asked his father. " You know your sister. She has a few connections to space and time in this universe. She did tell me there has been some instability in time on your planet. She could sense faint fluctuations coming from that place," the God of War told his son in all seriousness. " Now, she isn''t entirely sure since it can also be because the seven of you are in that world, and it might be what''s causing fluctuations, but I still wanted to tell you to be alert. Keep an eye on the others. I gave a feeling that one of the other six might be involved in this," he continued. "Fluctuations in space and time? There are not many that can actually play around with such things. The Lord of Time is in the separate dimension created by God of Space, resting. So he can''t be the one causing it. That leaves only a few people, the strongest of whom are my sister and Janus. Did you try talking to Janus if he felt similar things? That can clear the situation. If he did, he might be able to find the cause since he is slightly more knowledgeable," Draco suggested. "Sigh, I didn''t ask him. I don''t wish to ask him either. You know that guy is weird. Also, he''s the brother of the person we killed. Even though he supported us at that time, I still don''t trust him completely," the God of War said, shaking his head. "The person you all killed? Do you mean..." "Yeah. The monster who wanted to change the world. The person who wanted to break the laws of nature. The person who wanted to give immortality to everyone using corrupt methods. We couldn''t let him do it. If everyone were immortal, we wouldn''t be the Strongest beings. If it were up to him, he would have created billions of gods from the mortals. We couldn''t let him do it, could we?" The God of War sighed as he remembered the gruesome battle that took place when one God faced all the other gods, ultimately falling to his death. Chapter 399 - 395: Tower of Prison "Making everyone immortal? Even though you mentioned it, I still can''t believe a god as powerful as him would be so stupid. Why would he care if the mortals lived or died? He died for mortals. Such an idiotic being. At least his brother Janus wasn''t that stupid and knew about the right thing to do," Draco replied, sighing. " Hah, you weren''t even born at that time, so you didn''t know that person, but he was... I don''t even know how to describe him. He was something else. I''m glad he''s dead," The God of War let out. **** It was the night time when Ryder decided to enter the world of Divinity again. He joined up with Shu and Rale as they departed on their journey again. "The Compass is pointing towards that tower. The Ring of Lexini must be inside." Shu and Ryder stepped out of the carriage as they looked at the tall tower in front of them. "Are you three going to enter this place?" The Carriage driver asked Shu as he realized that this was the place they wished to see. He hadn''t known where they wanted to go. All they said was that they would pay however much it cost for this journey. He was stunned to see that this was the place. "Do you know about this place?" Shu asked the carriage driver. "It''s the Tower of Orc," Ryder answered instead. "Tower of Orc? It''s not on the map or the details. Did you have a Quest here as well previously?" Shu asked in confusion. "You can say that," Ryder answered vaguely, not telling Shu that he had been here before in the Original Timeline. "That''s right. It''s the Tower of Orc. Despite knowing that you came here? Let''s go back. You shouldn''t go inside," the Carriage Driver suggested. "Now I understand why this Quest was a Grade C Quest. We have to take the Ring of Lexini from the Tower of Orc. Even a team of level thirty players might have a hard time finishing this quest. It''s a good thing that you''re level 43 now," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the dark tower before him. "From the name, it sounds like a tower that will be filled with Orcs. If it''s a Grade C Quest, the Orcs wouldn''t be stronger than us," Shu muttered as he sighed. "That''s true. Even the Orc Lord inside is only at Level 40, if I''m not wrong, but the sheer number of orcs present inside is the real problem. It is slightly easier for high-level players if they come in a team, but if low-level players come in teams, they''ll all get wiped out inside. Even though we''re only two people, I can clear this place myself, but we can share the prey. I don''t think there''s anything to worry about," Ryder let out as he smiled. "Do you want to do anything else, or should we barge straight inside?" he asked Shu. "Hah, what else would I need. I am fully rested. Let''s get inside and have some hunt," Shu replied as he laughed. He pulled out his dagger that he was going to use as a weapon. "Let''s go then," Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the Tower of Orc. He let Shu walk in the lead since he didn''t wish to take Shu''s opportunity to lead a quest. Walking behind, Ryder closed up on Rale. "Rale, don''t interfere in whatever happens. Just stand behind us and watch. The monsters inside are really weak. Let us handle them on our own," he said. "Understood." Rale nodded his head. "Sigh, kids these days are too overconfident. It''s the Orb Tower! Even established warriors are scared to enter this place, and these guys aren''t the least bit worried. I hope they can come out safely," the Carriage Driver thought as he watched the three people leave. Shu reached the entrance of the Prison Tower and pushed the door open. He and Ryder stepped inside the tower and heard an announcement in their head. [Congratulations. You are the first team to enter the Tower of Orcs] [Fame +200] "A good start," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "Ah, I know you said that there would be many orcs but isn''t it too many? There are more than fifty of them just on the ground floor, and all of them have a level between 20-30. It''s tougher than I expected," Shu let out, as he looked ahead while ignoring the announcement. ''Hah, only fifty. I expected more. The last time I came, there were close to a hundred. We had such a hard time clearing this place even when I came with the team from the Guild. It''s good for Shu that there are fewer Orcs this time,'' Ryder thought, remembering the past. "You can take the Orcs on the left. I''ll handle the Orcs on the right. Try to hold out for as long as you can. It''s a good opportunity to increase levels. Fall back when you think you can''t take it anymore. I''ll take over your side as well," Ryder told Shu as he brought his Moon Scythe out of his Inventory before he slept forward. "Alright! Let me show them my wrath," Shu let out, full of determination. Each of his hands held a short knife as he ran towards the Orcs that were after him. As Shu ran to fight, all the Orcs started running towards him. "Hey, are you going to leave me alone? Why are you all running to him? Some play with me as well," Ryder let out as he jumped in the middle of the Orcs while swinging his Moon Scythe. A high-level player like Ryder was not someone that these low-level orcs could face. In a single attack, he managed to kill the Orcs that he came in contact with. [Exp +500] [Exp +500] [Exp +600] The notification of additional Exp kept resounding in his head as he kept killing the Orcs one after another. He didn''t even need to use his Spells as a single attack from his Moon Scythe was enough to kill the enemies. In less than a minute, Ryder had killed more than half the Orcs on this floor. He had killed thirty orcs alone. Shu, on the other hand, had only managed to kill two Orcs while trying to defend himself from the rest of the Orcs. "I killed more than half accidentally now. I don''t think he would mind," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. Standing on the side, Ryder watched the battle of Shu. "That''s . A decent move of thieves. Not bad. It looks like he has a good mastery of that skill. His speed isn''t bad either. He can easily handle the Orcs, even though it might take some time. I don''t think I would need to interfere," Ryder let out as he observed the battle of Shu. He didn''t jump in the battle since Shu was still leading the battle. Until he was in danger, Ryder wasn''t going to chime in. Rale walked over to Ryder and stood behind him. "Rale, what do you think of Shu''s abilities?" Ryder casually asked Rale, wondering how an expert warrior of Divinity would judge a player that was using skills. " His skills aren''t bad, but they''re not polished enough either. He is a good warrior, though. He should be able to win the battle. He''s at the level of Demon kids in battle. He should be proud," Rale answered. Hearing his answer, Ryder couldn''t help but cough. '' You''re saying that he has the same level of strength as the kids of your species, and you want him to be proud?'' he thought. "Don''t tell him that," he told Rale. "Oh right, what and my skills. Give your honest opinion. How weak am I?" Ryder inquired, curious about his own abilities from Rale''s point of view. "It''s tough to judge. Your skills are way greater. I don''t think you ever showed your true strength, though, so I can''t judge. You''re a very down to earth person. I don''t think you''ve ever used more than one percent of your strength even when you were in danger," Rale answered. Ryder smiled wryly after hearing Rale''s assumption. '' It''s not that I didn''t use my strength! It''s that I only had that much strength! Just how strong do you think I am, Rale?!'' he thought to ask, but he didn''t. While Rale and Ryder were talking, Shu was busy in battle. He had killed five orcs by now, leaving only fifteen more. His level had also jumped by one level. He was now a level 44 player, giving him even more boost in his strength. Ryder wanted to drop the topic, but he didn''t as his curiosity kept increasing. Unable to control himself, he ultimately asked, "How staying do you think I am exactly?" Rale glanced at Ryder as he smiled. "That''s a tough question, but I have an assumption." Chapter 400 - 396: First floor "That''s a tough question, but I have an assumption," Rale seemed uncertain as he answered. "Interesting. Tell me your assumption itself then," Ryder asked the boy. "Hah, I believe that you''re at least as strong as the Dukes. That''s my estimate while being conservative. You might even be as strong or even stronger than High Dukes. Yes, tough to know for sure since you never show your true abilities," Rale told Ryder. '' Hah, he is so wrong. I thought he would know by now that I''m a weak person who can get stronger faster. I guess his loyalty is so high, and he thinks of me as so great that his mind automatically believes that I''m much stronger than I let out,'' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. He believed that it wasn''t a bad thing. As long as Rale believed it, he wasn''t going to say otherwise. "You might be right, or you might be wrong. I''ll leave it at just that," Ryder answered as a faint smile appeared on his face. "Are you really not going to help? It''ll be finished much faster with you helping them," Rale asked Ryder as he saw Shu, who had killed seven orcs, but he was starting to look tired. There were twelve orcs still left to kill. "Not yet. It''s a good chance for him to get stronger. And we also divided our duties. I already killed more than I was supposed to. It''s better if he kills the rest himself, or he''ll feel like a burden when he''s supposed to be the main lead of this mission," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Sometimes we must take a back seat for the better, just like I let Devilia take the lead in dealing with the missing Marquis matter. There are many things to reconsider," he continued. "Your Highness is wise," Rale said as he nodded his head in praise. The two of them continued watching the battle. As it progressed, Shu got more and more active. He was looking tired as well, but he kept getting fiercer as he showed more abilities. His level also kept increasing. By the time Rale had killed the Twelfth Orc, he had become a Level 45 player. The Twentieth kill brought him to level 46. After he finished dealing with every orc that was left, he dropped down to the ground, tired. Ryder walked closer to Shu and placed his hand on his shoulder as he said, "You did well." "Says the one that was finished in a minute," Shu answered wryly as he chuckled. "No, really. If I weren''t at such a high level, even I would be having a hard time. I can''t say for sure that I would''ve done as well as you did if I was at the same level as you. You did really well," Ryder replied as he laughed. " Even though you are saying that, you''re only being nice, I guess I should still thank you," Shu let out as he smiled. "Give me a minute to rest. I will be ready." "Don''t worry. Take your time. The Battle upstairs will be even fiercer. We need you in your best condition to be able to fight. You depleted all your stamina. Rest properly," Ryder shook his head as he answered. He also sat beside Shu with his back resting against the wall. Shu did the same. After quite some time, Shu stood up as he stretched his arms. "I am ready to go. We can fight more." " Alright. Let''s go upstairs," Ryder nodded his head as he stood up with Dale. The three of them walked towards the stairs at the end of the hall that led upstairs. Shu again took the lead, with Ryder and Rale following closely behind. The three of them reached the first floor of the Tower of Orc. There they could see even stronger orcs, but something was different. There were three doors, and two Orcs stood in front of each of the doors. All six of these orcs were level thirty Orcs. "They have seen us. Why aren''t they attacking us?" Shu asked in confusion. "None of them will attack until you go close to the door they are guarding," Ryder answered Shu. "There are only six orcs. I thought that these floors would have a tougher challenge. Why are there three doors, though? Which door should we enter? Or all three doors lead the same place?" Shu inquired, wondering about the mystery of the doors. "All three doors lead to a different place. The first door will lead to the chamber of orcs, where you will find hundreds of orcs. If you clear that chamber, a path will appear before you that will lead you to the lord of Orcs." Ryder had entered this place before and that too as part of a big team. At that time, they had entered different doors by dividing into even smaller teams. That''s why he knew which door led to where. "The second door will lead to a place that will have half the number of orcs compared to the one where the first door leads. Even though the numbers will be less, the level of monsters will be higher. In the first chamber, we might face Orcs in level 25-30. In the Second Chamber, we will face Orcs that are in level 30-32," Ryder explained. "The Third Chamber behind the third door will only have thirty Orcs, but all of them will be level Thirty-five." "They all lead to the Orb Lord after you clear those chambers. So which door do you want to enter?" Ryder asked Shu. "How do you know all this? Did you enter all three of them last time?" he asked the man. "You can say that," Ryder answered vaguely since he couldn''t say he entered with a big team. He was the top player. It would have been a big deal if he entered with a team, as someone might have mentioned it in one of the forums if it had happened. "I think going in the first door will be the best choice. Even though the monsters are slightly lower level, the number is way higher. We would have an advantage when collecting exp compared to the other rooms," Shu answered Ryder as he selected the first door. "Alright. Go and kill the guards that are guarding the first door. You will get access to open the door," Ryder answered as he smiled. He could kill the enemies in one strike, but he let Shu do it. "It''s fine. I know you want to help me, but it''s better if you do it yourself. I would have to spend a lot of energy to finish them; then we would need to rest. It''s just a waste of time. You can finish them faster, so I have the energy to put in the right place," Shu rejected the offer, knowing full well why Ryder had told him to do it. "Alright. If you say so," Ryder muttered as he raised his hand towards the orcs that stood in front of the first door. "Shadow Ball," He muttered, firing a ball of Shadow towards one of the two Orcs. Without waiting, he used another spell and fired a Flame Ball towards the second Orc. Both these attacks landed on the enemies, destroying them instantly. " So powerful. It must be really fun being such a high-level player on this hand. You''re like the god in Divinity. No one should be able to face you," Shu praised Ryder as he saw how powerful that attack was. In a single hit, he had killed the Orcs that Shu had to fight fiercely to kill. "I am strong? It''s from his point of view that I am strong, but if he sees the world from my eyes, he would realize how weak I am. I am not even as strong as the weakest guard in the Demon Palace. If it is about beings that are like gods in Divinity, the High Dukes and Rale would be one of them. I am not even close to being able to be on their same level,'' Ryder thought as a faint smile appeared on his face, hiding his true emotions. "Let''s go. A battle is waiting for us," he told Shu as he started walking towards the first door. They reached the first door. Just like Ryder had said, the Orcs that were guarding the other doors didn''t attack them even after the orcs guarding this door were killed. Ryder opened the door and stepped inside. As they entered, they saw close to a hundred orcs standing with clubs in their hands. "Oh right. I forgot to mention. This time they will have weapons as well," Ryder let out suddenly. "Haha, I can see now," Shu chuckled as he answered. "Want to follow the same pattern? We both share half, or should I take more?" Ryder asked Shu. Standing tall, Shu shook his head. "There is no need. I should be able to handle half of them." Chapter 401 - 397: Boss Battle "Alright. You take fifty on the left; I''ll take fifty on the right," Ryder told Shu, dividing the prey. "Sure. Oh, this time, don''t take my prey like last time," Shu replied jokingly as he raised his knife. "Don''t worry. I will only kill fifty this time," Ryder replied wryly. He was about to step forward with Shu when he stopped. "Oh, I have a better plan. Dividing can be confusing, so how about I go first? I''ll take my end of the Orcs first, and then you can have a good and comfortable time battling them. Stay right here," he let out, stopping Shu. Shu agreed and stepped back, letting Ryder take the lead. Ryder smirked as he brought his Moon Scythe before he stepped forward, jumping in the middle of the Orcs. "Sand Storm!" Ryder let out, using a skill that he had learned near the start. As soon as he used the skill, sand started appearing around him, creating a whirlpool of sand that started spreading outwards. Even though it was a low tier skill, when it was used by Ryder, it was enough to wipe multiple orcs that touched it at the same time. The sand whirlpool kept spreading outwards, killing more and more beasts. "Just what is his class? That Skill doesn''t seem like something any of the class should specialize in? Does he have a special class?" Shu thought as he observed the skill of Ryder. He didn''t know that Ryder''s Moon Scythe gave him the ability to absorb one of the skills of the ones it killed. Even though this ability rarely worked, it was really good when it did. Ryder stopped his Sand Storm just when it was done killing the beasts that were near him. Ryder counted the beasts that were alive and started smiling wryly. There were only ten Orcs left [Exp +2500] [Exp +2500] [Exp +2500] [Exp +2500] Notification kept resounding in his head. [Level Up] "Ah, I killed ninety Orcs accidentally. I thought this much time of Sandstorm would only be enough to kill 40-50. I underestimated its strength and range," Ryder let out with an embarrassed look on his face. He appeared beside Shu. "Hahaha, it''s fine. Ten should be enough for me. They are higher level than the ones downstairs anyway," Shu replied as he chuckled. He stepped forward and joined the battle. Ryder waited beside Shu. " Your Highness did well. I like how you sneakily killed ninety percent of the enemies even when you were supposed to take half. You did it to finish the battle much faster, right?" Rale asked Ryder, misunderstanding his intentions. "Ah, I have no comments," Ryder replied vaguely. He didn''t clear the misunderstanding that it was actually an accident. Shu kept fighting the Orcs. As the number of Orcs was less this time, the Orcs were higher level. Thus, it took more time for him to finish the battle even though he had leveled up quite a few times on the lower floor. After some time, Shu finished the battles. He killed the Orcs and walked back, tired. "I got a few drops. It was a rare tooth of Orc," Shu told Ryder as he showed the gold teeth to him. "Pretty rare indeed. These stupid orcs weren''t dropping anything at all when I killed ninety of them. You got in just ten. That''s what is luck," Ryder let out as he smiled. "Anyway, have rest. Next, we should be facing the Orc King. There should be the ring of Lexini that we need as well," he continued. Nodding his head, Shu started resting. He sat down on the ground. Ryder was still fully rested. His stamina wasn''t exhausted in the least as he only used one skill. His MP was so high at the moment that it didn''t put even the least of burden on him. "Oh, fu*k! How could I not remember it? I could''ve used the Diamond Tiger. If it killed the enemies here, it would have gained massive amounts of levels," Ryder suddenly cursed as the thought hit his head. He couldn''t help but regret about the missed opportunity. "That''s right. If you captured the enemies and let it kill them, it should have shared experience. Its growth would be too good," Shu let out, nodding his head. Even he was surprised that he didn''t think of it before. "There is still an Orc King left. You can let it deal the finishing blow and grow," Shu suggested. "If I do that, it would be less effective for you since the last one that deals the damage gets the most experience. The rest gets according to their contribution. It will get more than you, and if I join the battle as well, you''ll barely get anything. You should be the last one to attack," Ryder replied, Shaking his head. It was Shu''s quest, and he shared it with Ryder. He even decided to give the Guild token to Ryder without being greedy. After all that, Ryder didn''t wish to take the credits from Shu that could help him level up. This little amount of experience was nothing to Ryder. He could collect much more Exp by hunting high-level monsters alone. "But-" "No, but. I can let it grow later as well. I''m a High-Rank player. I''ll have many more opportunities to let the Diamond Tiger grow and way easier," Ryder answered as he smiled. "Alright. If you insist, you''re the boss here," Shu replied as he smiled wryly. After resting, the three of them left. The three of them opened the door that was at the other end of the chamber and stepped inside. As they passed through the door, they saw a Giant Orc that was twice the size of the previous Orcs. It had green skin and two red horns on its head. It also had three hands. Two of the hands were coming out of his right while one was coming from his left. Each of his hands held a weapon. One had a mace, another held a giant hammer, and the last one held a sword. The Orc King was standing with his eyes closed. "That''s the Orc King. It wouldn''t move unless we attack first. Let me get its HP down, and then you can deal the final blow and get half the experience," Ryder told Shu after taking a short glance at the Orc King. "Alright." Shu nodded. Holding the Moon Scythe in his hand, Ryder walked towards the Orc King. "It''s so tiring to fight weak monsters. I can''t even use any of my skills, or I would kill him in one shot. I can only cut him slowly to leave enough of his HP," Ryder muttered as he sighed. As he walked, his speed kept increasing before he was right before the Orc King. Raising his legs, he kicked the stomach of the Orc King. The impact of the kick was powerful enough to throw the Orc King back. The Orc King crashed on the wall in the back as he opened his eyes. Ryder hadn''t used any of his skills and simply kicked using little strength, but that itself was enough to depletion ninety percent of the Orc King''s HP. The Green HP was only at ten percent now when it turned red. As soon as it turned red, the HP kept increasing until it was full again. At the moment, the entire HP bar was full, but it was red. "Hah, the Rage Mode of the boss monster. Am I supposed to be scared?" Ryder muttered as he again appeared near the Orc King and kicked. The Orc King once again flew back like a broken doll, crashing on the different wall. He once again lost ninety percent of its HP, but he stood up instantly as he threw the sword towards Ryder''s chest. Ryder slashed his Scythe horizontally, cutting the sword of the Orc King in half before he ran towards the Orc King. "Sigh, only ten percent HP left. I can''t even attack with strength anymore. I guess I''ll simply toy with it," Ryder muttered as he jumped after getting near. He landed on the back of the Orc King and cut the three hands of the Orc King. The Orc King lost another five percent of its HP, leaving barely five percent. The Orc King started shaking his body, trying to get Ryder down from his back, but Ryder didn''t fall down. Instead, Ryder started slowly cutting the body of the Orc King. The HP kept trickling away slowly once again. "It''s ready for you. Come and deal the finishing blow," Ryder let out as he jumped to the side. Shu crossed his blade as he ran towards the Orc King. [Wrath of the Thief] Shu used his strongest skill just to be sure that he didn''t leave anything to luck. Two slashes appeared on the Orc King''s chest, drowning its HP to zero. The Orc King dropped to the ground. Chapter 402 - 398: Shus Scheme Shu gained another level as he received the experience from killing the Orc King. Ryder also received the experience, but it wasn''t enough to make him jump a level.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-scheme_51594328203642126 for visiting. The rewards aren''t bad. All three of the weapons of this guy are Silver Grade treasures. I would offer you some, but you already have Unique Grade Items, and these items taking a slot in your inventory would be a waste of slots for you," Shu told Ryder as he picked up the weapons. "Yeah. You can keep them. You are a thief, so you can''t use these items. Two of these are for warriors, while one is for archers. Keep them for when we open our guild. We can give to the ones that don''t have good weapons," Ryder replied as he agreed. "I was thinking the same thing," Shu let out as he smiled. He collected the loot but as soon as he finished, the Orc''s body started disappearing as it turned into little specks of light? As soon as it disappeared completely, a ring was revealed to be lying on the ground. "That must be the ring we are here for," Shu muttered as he stepped towards the ring. He picked up the ring. [Ring of Lexini discovered] "Hah, finally we are done. Now we can return this thing and finish the quest," Shu let out as he smiled. He expected the battle to be tough and expected himself to at least be injured to win, but with the help of Ryder, he didn''t even need to put much effort into it. He just made a single attack and won the Battle, all thanks to Ryder, which was the reason he wasn''t the least bit tired. "Let''s leave now that we are done." The three of them left the tower of Orcs and went back to the carriage that was waiting far away from the tower. "W-what? You entered, and you came back safely? How could this be? Oh right, you didn''t actually enter deep, did you? You must''ve stood near the door and ran out. There is no way that you went deep and survived. I am right, aren''t I? No wonder you''re safe," the Carriage Driver said as he saw Ryder and the others standing before him. "We killed the Orc King," Shu answered as he showed the sword of the Orc King. The Carriage Driver was stunned at the sight of the sword. He exclaimed excitedly, "What?! This can''t be! It''s actually the Sword of the Orc King? You really killed him! You three must be great warriors!" [ Five Thousand Fame Points received] Ryder heard a notification in his head. Shu heard the same in his head as well. "Just this single guy gave us so many Fame Points?" Shu asked in surprise. "It''s not just him but his reach. He will go back and spread the word in the whole Kingdom. That is probably why the Fame Points are so much. We achieved something significant after all," Ryder explained as he smiled. He tapped the shoulder of the carriage driver. "Can you take us back now? We need to go to the Royal Family as well." "Ah, right." The man let out as he nodded his head. Shu and Rale also sat inside the carriage as it started moving. When it was night, Ryder and Shu logged out of Divinity. Ryder got dressed and left the Mansion since he had a meeting with Herriet about the future of the Aviation Branch of Divine Corporation and how they could make the rise. As he went down the stairs, he noticed that Shu was also dressed and leaving the house. Curious about Shu''s outing, Ryder asked, "Where are you going?" "I will be out of the city for the next few days or even longer. We have a meeting between the board members. I should be back as soon as I am done," Shu answered as he smiled. "Alright," Ryder nodded and left the house with Shu. He stepped inside his Whirlwind while Shu sat in the helicopter that flew away. Ryder went towards his office. **** Shu was sitting in his helicopter beside his butler when he received a message. He opened the phone and saw that it was a message from a person he knew. He had received an image that showed Ryder meeting with Ray. He called the number that sent the picture. "When was it taken?" Shu asked. "We were following the officer that you asked us to keep an eye on. Just recently, he met with Ryder," the person on the other side replied. "They traveled together before Ray was dropped at his sister''s house. After that, Ray left the city." "Did you find out why he is sticking so close to him? Did he come here to meet him or to meet his sister? What is his mission?" Shu inquired. "From what we found out, his mission is classified. We were still able to dig something. Apparently, his team is handling the matter of a terror group that was behind the attack in DC and the one that was allegedly responsible for the bomb that blew up mid-air in your city," The person on the other side answered. "The blast that occurred near his building? If I''m not wrong, he was nearby at the time of the blast as well. Could it be that he is involved in something dangerous? I can''t delay for long," Shu muttered as he gazed outside the window. "Alright. Keep an eye on Ray and tell me if he contacted Ryder again. I also want to hear what they talk," he told his ken. "I am really sorry, but that''s impossible even with our resources. Ray is taking a lot of precautions. We can''t listen to their conversion. We can know when they talk over the phone, but we can''t know what they talk about. It was the same last time as well." The person on call sounded perplexed. "I don''t care how you do it. Use any resource you want. I give you permission. I want to hear what he is involved in," Shu replied, not listening to his concerns before he disconnected the call. "Brother Ryder, why are you so much alike to him? Even your bad habits are the same? Why put yourself in danger for no reason. He was an idiot too. I hope you aren''t the same. I don''t wish to take drastic measures," Shu muttered as he sighed. "Sir, do you really not wish to tell him why you are so close to him? Don''t you want him to know why you help him so much?" The Butler of Shu asked abruptly. "What benefit would it bring?" Shu asked. "I feel like he is getting more used to things and getting more complacent. I sometimes feel like he treats you too casually. You should really let him know the reason so he could, ah, appreciate things more," the Butler asked. "No, it''s fine just the way it is. He doesn''t care about money, and even without my help, I believe he could have achieved a lot of things. At first, I was stunned when I saw him for the first time, standing behind me in the line. He looked so much like him that I felt like I was dreaming. I had to work so hard to get close to him. I can''t spoil everything. I don''t want him to leave," Shu replied, shaking his head. A sigh escaped his mouth. "Anyway, how many people are going to be there? You know I don''t like crowds," Shu asked the butler. "I realized that. That''s why, even amongst the board members, I have only called the ones at the absolute top. It won''t be crowded," the Butler answered with a calm smile. "That''s good," Shu muttered as he closed his eyes. "Sir, I had a question," The butler let out suddenly. "Ask. What is it?" Shu asked while opening his eyes. "When you had his sister kidnapped, why didn''t you kill her? If you had left her dead body in the house of that guy, it would have been more effective than him finding her alive there," the butler told Shu. He was very confused about this, and he had been wondering about this reason for a long time. "Hmm! Only that? It''s very simple. I want to achieve my goals, but I don''t want to get what I want by breaking Ryder. I don''t want him to lose his family like I lost mine. I never intended to hurt him like that. That''s why I made sure that his sister wasn''t hurt in the least," Shu answered as he smiled. "Also, she called me brother with such a pure heart. How could I hurt her? It''s unfortunate that the plan failed, though. I never knew he would trust his best friend so much. That was disappointing to know," Shu answered as he sighed. "It''s fine, though. There are many more ways..." Chapter 403 - 399: Shus Past "I won''t let the past repeat itself," Shu muttered as he sighed. "I won''t be left alone ever again." " Sir, you know your Elder brother didn''t leave you. After your parents died, the company landed on his shoulders, but he didn''t wish to manage the company, instead fulfilling his military duties. He disappeared in the line of duty. It''s clear that he died. I don''t think he left you," the Butler told Shu as he sighed. "I don''t care about how it happened! I was left alone! My brother sacrificed himself for this country. He gave his life instead of spending it with me, taking care of me. It wasn''t my fault? I didn''t kill my parents? I didn''t ask for this company? I didn''t ask for money or power? It was all for him to handle! After I lost my parents, all I wanted was the brother who took care of me from little." "All I needed was my brother to comfort me. To make me feel that everything was going to be fine but he... He died!" Shu exclaimed as a single droplet of tear trickled down his eye. Seeing Shu like that, the Butler also felt sad. His heart ached. He had been with Shu since childhood. He knew how much Shu and his whole family went through. When people saw Shu, all they saw was a confident chubby young man who had everything that he could possibly want. They only saw a rich kid that possessed so much wealth that his seven future generations could be spendthrift and still not spend it in its entirety. They were jealous of Shu. People thought that what problems can such a rich guy have? People thought of him as someone who didn''t need to worry about anything. They didn''t know that even when Shu got all this property and wealth, he didn''t care about anything. He was broken. He had been broken since his parents died, but his heart wholly shattered once the news of his brother''s death and disappearance came. He started closing himself and became more silent, but he couldn''t watch the business empire his father built to fall. That''s why even when he was broken, he didn''t let it affect the business. He dealt with matters properly and made the Dream Corporation become even more dominant in the business world, so much so that his name was in the mouth of every powerful person as the business genius. Despite achieving all that, he kept his identity and name a secret. Except for the true high-level people in this world, no one else knew what the owner of Dream Corporation looked like. Even online, no one could find Shu''s name since it wasn''t public. All the general public knew was that the person was known as Mr. Maxwell, and he was young. No one else saw the struggles that went behind achieving so much. The Butler had seen Shu going confidently in board meetings and working all day but crying alone in darkness at night. He had seen Shu suffer alone while not letting anyone see his weaker side. That was the time when Shu started looking towards Video Games to find some comfort and to keep himself distracted when he wasn''t working. Even after all that, his pain and trauma didn''t seem to be healing. The day Shu disappeared from the house without telling him, he knew that Shu went to buy a video game called Divinity, trying to see if a fully immersive world of Divinity can heal him a little. That''s why he didn''t send any guards after Shu. He wanted him to be able to enjoy a day out. However, he hadn''t expected how that single outing that day would change everything. He didn''t know that Shu would meet someone who looked like his beloved brother. He was so stunned when Shu came back and told him about it. "It has been fifteen years since he went missing. I know it''s hard to get over, but that man is not your brother. He just looks like him," the butler said as he sighed. "You think I don''t know that? That day I saw him, I realized that he wasn''t my brother. My brother looked Twelve years ago how Ryder looks now, so there was no way for them to be the same. I had realized that straight away. But still, a part of me was happy, thinking that my brother returned to me in one form or another. That''s why I got close to him," Shu muttered as a sad smile covered his face. "I know, but what you''re doing now is..." the butler replied but stopped as he didn''t know how to finish his sentence. He didn''t want to make a mistake in how he addressed the situation, not to hurt Shu with his words. "Go on. Why did you stop?" Shu asked as he slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the man sitting near him. "What I''m doing is what? Crazy? Psychopathic? Mad? I honestly don''t care. He might not be my real brother, but the way he looks and the way he acts is exactly the same." "I don''t care what happens next. I can''t let him leave. My brother will never go away from me. I can''t let anyone take him away from me. I won''t let my brother leave me ever f.u.c.k.i.n.g again! Last time, he left me for duty, but this time, I don''t let that happen! He has a best friend who is closer to him than me? I will create enmity between them! Then I would be closest to him, wouldn''t I? Then he won''t leave me ever, right?" Shu asked as a crazy look appeared on his face. The Butler opened his lips to say something, but no words came out of his mouth. He just watched Shu while sitting there. "I only want him to be close to me like a real brother and no one else. Unfortunately, Alice exists as well, and it''s fine. We can be a family of three. I can think of her as an adopted sister. Only us three, closest," Shu let out as he smiled while closing his eyes. **** " Really? You live at the Estate of Mr. Maxwell, who rules the Dream Corporation?"Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-past_51594323925463866 for visiting. Ryder and Herriet were leaving the office after their meeting to go to a bar to have a few drinks when Ryder answered Herriet''s question, telling her where he lived. "Hmm? How do you know about him? I thought not many people know where he lived?" Ryder asked as he frowned. He didn''t realize that Herriet would know about the fact that the owner of Dream Corporation lived there. "Oh, I once accompanied someone to meet him. I also pitched him to buy ACL, but he refused, saying that it wasn''t worth his effort to buy a dying company," Herriet replied. "Hmm? That doesn''t sound like Shu. He is always warm and kind as far as I have seen him. He might have been stressed that day, maybe," Ryder said as he thought about it "Maybe, I am surprised that he let you stay with him. From what I heard, he is a pretty isolated person that doesn''t open up to anyone. It''s surprising to know that he is so kind to someone. I guess I really misunderstood him," Herriet let out as she smiled wryly. The two of them entered the lift and pressed the button on the ground floor. "I am surprised a little as well. I didn''t expect the rich people to be this kind. However, he is different. He is just like a kid, if that makes sense; innocent," Ryder said as he smiled. "Don''t you find it a little bit suspicious? Why only to you?" Herriet asked, invoking the curiosity of Ryder as well. "I can''t say that I didn''t ask about that before. That question also got me curious a few times. Why me? Or maybe he was always like that, kind, but he didn''t find a friend? There are many things that might have contributed to it. Anyway, it''s not like he can get anything out of me. He didn''t ask me for a single thing. I do think he will have any bad intentions," Ryder replied as he stepped out of the lift with Herriet. The two of them walked towards the car after leaving the building. Ryder opened the door of his car while he continued talking, "I don''t know how to describe it properly, but the way he talks and acts, I genuinely feel like he treats me as his brother." "I guess it is possible. I heard of incidents where people become best friends in the first meeting. Maybe it''s something like that. Anyway, I can only say that you''re lucky. With the support of Dream Corporation, no wonder you were able to establish a company at such a young age and were able to buy ACL," Herriet told Ryder as she smiled. She also stepped inside the car. Chapter 404 - 400: Reason of Meeting "With the support of Dream Corporation, no wonder you were able to establish a company at such a young age and were able to buy ACL," Herriet told Ryder as she stepped inside the car. "Not really. I might be living with Shu, but I don''t use his influence for my business. As for the money I used to buy ACL, that was my own too. He did help me a lot in different ways, though," Ryder answered as he started the engine of his car. It was complete silence. Herriet didn''t speak anything, mostly because she was stunned. Ryder was able to collect so much money on his own without the help of Shu? She was having a hard time believing. "Are you joking?" she asked suspiciously. A wry smile appeared on Ryder''s face. He wondered why he even told her that. He should have expected that reaction. Maybe because he didn''t want her to give credit for his success to someone else? He was surprised that he cared so much. '' Why did I even care if she was giving credit to Shu. It''s not like it would be harmful to me in any way,'' Ryder thought. "Hah, you''re not answering. You were definitely teasing me." Herriet chuckled as she misunderstood Ryder''s silence. Hearing her cute laughter, Ryder couldn''t help but smile as well. He slowed down the speed of the car even though the road was empty so that he could gaze at Herriet. Looking sideways, he watched the slender face of Herriet. A beautiful smile was on her face as she laughed. "You look really pretty when you''re happy. You should always be like that," Ryder let out softly before he shifted his gaze back to the road. "W-what?" Herriet immediately closed her mouth as a slight blush appeared on her face. She didn''t know why her heart skipped a beat as she heard Ryder''s praise. She took a deep breath as she calmed herself down before she said with a smile, "I must say, your flirting skills are improving. It''s way better than the line that you used at the start about getting a current when touching me." "What can I say? If you stay near me, I might become an expert at flirting," Ryder answered as he smiled wryly. "Oho? Aren''t you going to ask if I have a boyfriend?" Herriet inquired with an amused smile on her face. " Do you?" Ryder asked casually. "I don''t. You''re lucky. Keep taking me to drinks like this, and I might actually fall for you," Herriet said jokingly. "Hah, I don''t think I''ll be able to handle you. But I can''t stop taking you to drinks either. Sigh, a tough life," Ryder laughed as he joked around too. "Do you have a girlfriend?" Herriet asked softly as she looked outside the window, hiding her red face. "A girlfriend, huh," Ryder muttered softly as he fell into a deep thought. ''Esmi counts as one, I think, even though we haven''t clarified our relationship.'' he thought as Esmi''s face appeared on his head. " You''re not saying yes or no. Do you have a girlfriend?" Herriet asked again. Her fist was clenched as she waited for an answer. "I do have a girlfriend, kind of," Ryder replied vaguely. Hearing his answer, a disappointing look appeared on her face. She didn''t let it show. "What do you mean kind of? How can you kind of have a girlfriend?" She asked. "It''s complicated. Anyway, we''re here," Ryder let out as he stopped the car in front of the bar. "Complicated huh," Herriet muttered as she stepped out of the car. Ryder also left and locked the car before he entered the bar with Herriet. The two of them started drinking. **** In another part of the country, a board meeting was taking place. A wooden rectangular table was placed in the center of the room. There were chairs all around the table, and Shu was sitting in one of the chairs. His seat was the main seat that was right in front of the screen, which was used to show projects and presentations. Shu was sitting comfortably with his feet stretched out lazily. His fingers were tapping the table, creating a sweet melody that seemed to have harmony with nature itself. Other than Shu, no one else was inside the room. Shu gazed at the clock, which was showing the exact time. There were still two minutes left before 2 in the afternoon. " Two minutes," Shu muttered as he closed his eyes, but he continued tapping his finger. There were still two minutes left before the meeting time. Only one minute had passed before the door of the room opened. People started walking inside the chamber. The first person to enter was Alem Schmidt. He was someone that Ryder had met previously. When Ryder''s sister was kidnapped, and Ryder had caused an accident to save her, Alem had gone there with three Major Generals to save him from being arrested. He was the Non-Executive Director of the Defence Technology Branch of Dream Corporation. In terms of importance in the Dream Corporation, he was ranked fifth, but some people said that his actual position was technically higher since he was close to Shu. The Second was the Executive Director of the Dream Corporation''s Research Branch, Mark Quinn. The Third to enter was the Executive Director of Defense Defence Branch, Fisch Layman. They were the third and fourth in terms of importance in the organizations. The fourth person who entered the chamber was the person who held the most authority in the Dream Corporation after Shu. He was the Managing Director of the Dream Corporation, Drake Lamia. "Only five of us are here? I thought it was a board meeting?" Drake asked as he sat on the chair that was directly opposite to Shu, on the other end of the table. " Yeah. Are the others late? How unprofessional. It''s already the time of the meeting, yet they aren''t here? I''m disappointed," Fisch chimed in as he also found a seat. " They shouldn''t be late on such a special occasion. I feel like something is different. Could it be that only five of us were supposed to be here?" Mark raised a concern. Everyone looked towards Shu for an explanation, including Alem. " Mark is right. This board meeting is only between the five of us," Shu answered casually. "Well, it''s true that the five of us possess most of the authority in the company but is it right to have a board meeting without other members?" Mask asked with uncertainty. "I don''t like crowds. If you wish, you can tell them what we discussed here today after I leave. This is only for you guys and me," Shu said, clearing the concern of the man. "Alright. If that''s what you want, this meeting shall be between us only. So tell us, what is it for? You don''t generally come here personally unless it''s really important, handling the matters from the back unless necessary. What brought you here?" Drake asked as he gazed straight at Shu. Mark also looked at Shu to hear his answer while Fisch picked up the glass of water in front of him and started drinking the water. "I want to buy Necrosis Corporation." Shu only said six words, but these six words were enough to stun everyone. Fisch, who was drinking the water, spat out in shock. Drake also frowned. Mark, on the other hand, seemed to be lost in some thought. Alem was as expressionless as he was mostly. "Do you know what you are saying? Necrosis Corporation is having its best time of life right now. Even the government is getting involved in their business. Do you think it''s easy to buy them? Let alone then selling us, even if they did, can we afford it? We have such big plans for expansion. After spending so much, we would be pushed back by decades even if we managed to buy them successfully. And we will become a joke if we don''t. This is a failed endeavor from the start," Drake explained calmly. " Yeah. Think of our reputation. It would take such a massive hit if people know we failed to buy a newly risen company," Fisch also chimed in. "Could it be that you''re concerned about their rise? The government is closely working with that, so there''s a chance they will enter the weapon industry, which is our turf. They can be a direct competitor to us. Could it be the reason you want to buy them? To eliminate the competition before it gets big enough to threaten us?" Alem let out, thinking rationally. "Yeah, that''s true. I had the same suspicion as well; however, if it''s about competition, we don''t have to go all out like this. We can ruin them without even buying them. There are so many ways to sabotage their growth. It won''t be tough to spread the news everywhere that their Divinity Glasses kill people. We already have the media companies in our hands," Mark said as he smiled. Chapter 405 - 401: Shus Death? "We already have the media in our hands. As for the resources, we don''t lack them either. We can definitely bring them to ruins. Just a little bad PR for necrosis, and we can do it," Mark suggested during the meeting. Shu gazed at Mark and didn''t say anything. "Mark is right," Fisch also chimed in. "If we can create fear in the public about the safety of the Necrosis products, that would make us win most of the war easily. When Necrosis is ruined, we can buy them and take over their tech. You know how the public is. We can easily make this work in our favor. The public will never know the truth." "The trust in Necrosis would hit rock bottom. Their shares will go back to where they came from. It would be much easier to swallow than whole during their fall," he continued. "What about you, Drake? What''s your opinion?" Shu asked softly. There wasn''t a single emotion visible on Shu''s face. "I oppose this. We can use this method, but there are just too many risks and uncertainties. A single mistake can cost us big time. The US authorities are working with them even closer than they are working with us. If it comes to light that we did it, we would be the ones hit hard. Our shares might not plunge as extremely, but the authorities will be a mess to deal with, even for us," Drake answered, opposing the plan. "I''m not even talking about the number of lawsuits we will face for doing it. Overall, it''s a risky idea, and I oppose it." Drake expressed his opinion openly that he was against the idea suggested by Mark. "Alright. That''s two in support and one in opposition to the suggestion. What about you, Alem? What is your opinion?" Shu asked Alem. "Why are you asking him? He doesn''t have voting power in a matter of such importance. It should be decided by us four," Drake said, squinting his eyes. Shu frowned, but he didn''t say anything immediately. He basically ignored Drake as he asked Alem again, "Speak. What is your opinion about it?" The face of Drake distorted as he was ignored, but he didn''t say anything. "I think going down this path might be detrimental to our growth. If it''s exposed, we might be in deep waters. We would lose the trust of people instead, which we worked so hard to gain. We can take some precautions to make sure we aren''t exposed, but the risk will always be there," Alem answered after taking a deep breath. "Interesting. So the votes are tied. Alem, did you do that intentionally, so I become the final vote?" Shu asked Alem as he smiled. Alem didn''t answer. "Alright. Here is my suggestion, the plan Mark suggested..." Shu was in the middle of his sentence when his phone started ringing. Everyone looked at Shu blankly. They all wondered why he didn''t silence his phone when it was such an important meeting, but his position was the highest, so they couldn''t oppose him. "Excuse me, I''ll be right back," Shu said as he stood up and left. After Shu left, the others relaxed even more, but none of them said anything. It was pin-drop silence, and only the sound of the creaking of chairs could be heard. "Yeah, Speak," Shu said as he picked up the phone. Shu stayed silent and only heard for the next five minutes before he disconnected the call. Throughout the conversation, he hadn''t said a single word. A thoughtful look graced his face as he placed the phone in his pocket. "That''s pretty interesting." He walked back to the meeting. "Alright. Where were we?" Shu asked as he sat in his seat. He remembered instantly as he nodded his head. "Yeah, my opinion." "My stance on the matter is simple. We won''t do as Mark suggested. Drake and Alem are right. Even though it''s a good way to eliminate an enemy, this is not the right time to do it as we will not only be going against Necrosis, but we will be battling against the government that''s behind them as well." He soon declared his verdict. "Hmm? I thought you would have the same idea. So, how else do you wish to buy Necrosis? We can''t buy them like they are now," Mark replied after hearing Shu reject his suggestion. "I have a way. And I just wanted to inform you that I would be going forward with the talks with the Necrosis guys. As for the funds that we will use to buy them and where to arrange them from, I''ll tell you that as well after our first round of talks conclude," he told the others. "Alright. That was all for today. I''ll call you again when I get a clearer picture of what we''re dealing with. The meeting is over now," Shu said as he stood up. He turned back to leave but stopped just before the door. "Oh, some of you were concerned about commencing this meeting without other members. If any of you wish, you can notify them later," Shu said before he left the chamber. Without stopping anywhere, he walked to the helicopter, which was waiting at the top of the Dream Corporation Headquarters. The Butler of Shu was walking behind him. After some time, he asked, "How did the meeting go?" "The meeting went like it was supposed to go. What were you expecting?" Shu asked with a faint smile on his face. "Oh, I did get a good piece of information," he muttered as he stepped inside the helicopter. "Oh, what news?" The butler asked Shu as he stepped inside as well. "Just some information about a little rat in our Organization. It would be fun to see that rat run around. Wonder how much we can use the rat," Shu replied softly. The helicopter started rising in the air and went back. Thirty minutes had passed since the helicopter started flying. It was flying above a barren land. In a dark room at Dream Corporation, a man was standing alone, looking out the glass window. He looked at his clock. "It should be the time." "5... 4... 3..." The man started a reverse countdown as a faint smile appeared on his face. "2... 1... Boom" "Goodbye, Schumacher Maxwell," the man muttered softly. Far away from that place, a burning helicopter was falling to the ground. An explosion had just taken place inside the helicopter, causing it to blow up. What remained of it was falling down to the ground. The pieces of the helicopter crashed on the ground. **** In another part of the country, Ryder was still drinking with Herriet. After spending half an hour with her, he left with her and dropped her back at the office. After dropping her, he straight away went back home since he had planned for something today. It was Alice''s leave, and he wanted to take her on an outing as it had been a long time since they spent some time together. He reached the Shu Estate and went straight to Alice''s room. He knocked on the door a few times. "Alice, can I come in?" He asked. "Ah, yeah," Alice''s voice came from inside. Ryder twisted the doorknob and opened the door before he stepped inside. He could see Alice lying on the bed, covered in a blanket. The AC was turned on, and the room was chilled. "You''re being lazy even today?" Ryder asked as he chuckled. He walked closer to her and sat beside her. He reached out his hand and touched Alice''s cheeks.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-death_51667072064735066 for visiting. "Get up. Let''s go out today," he let out softly. "Hmm? Really?" Hearing Ryder''s words, Alice sat up in excitement. "Yeah. I know that it has been a long time since we last went out. I was thinking that it was a perfect opportunity since the both of us are free," Ryder answered. "Ah, yes. I''ll get ready now," Alice replied as she stepped out of the blanket and walked over to the wardrobe. She brought out a dress and showed it to Ryder. "How''s this?" Even though she was showing a dress to Ryder, his gaze unintentionally landed some other place. Even though the room was not hot, since Alice was lying in a blanket, her body was covered in a little sweat. She was only wearing a thin t-shirt, and even that was sticking close to her body, highlighting her b.r.e.a.s.ts. Surprisingly enough, she wasn''t wearing anything inside the t-shirt, which Ryder realized as he saw the emerging peaks at the center. He wanted to look elsewhere as it wasn''t appropriate, but he couldn''t. It was as if his eyes were protesting against him, not letting him look elsewhere. "Ah, What happened? Why aren''t you answering? Did you not like this dress?" Alice asked Ryder as she saw him not respond. She walked closer to Ryder and stood just half a meter away from him. Chapter 406 - 402: Love Hotel Since Ryder was sitting and Alice was standing, his face was facing her chest. Both were at the same height. "Say something. What happened? Is the dress not to your liking? I can send another one," Alice asked Ryder. Ryder blinked a few times in quick succession as he shook his head. "It''s a good dress. Don''t worry about anything. Get ready fast. I''ve already selected a place for our outing," he said as he nodded his head. "Hmm." Alice stood there, looking at Ryder, but she didn''t move back. "I need to change. Are you going out?" Alice asked Ryder. "Yeah. I''ll wait out the door," Ryder said as he stood up. His gaze again fell down, but it didn''t linger for longer as he turned back and left. Alice looked towards the door, and after making sure that the door was closed, she started taking off her clothes and getting dressed. It took Alice only fifteen minutes to get prepared. She stepped out of her room. "You look good," Ryder praised as soon as Alice stepped out. "Are you not getting dressed?" Alice asked Ryder, who was still in his casual clothes. Ryder was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt. "What getting dressed? I''m already dressed. It''s not like I''m going to find a wife. I don''t think I need to look fancy," Ryder replied as he chuckled. "I''m not going to find a husband either, but still... It''s good to look our best. What would I do if people make fun of me for not looking good enough to be beside you," Alice answered, smiling. She started walking towards the stairs, leaving Ryder stunned at her answer. "You already looked so pretty. I should be the one thinking about that," Ryder smiled wryly as he walked behind her. "Any guy can fall for you at first glance." " Any guy? What about you?" Alice asked subtly as if she had asked an unimportant thing. She continued walking away at her regular pace. "I''m a guy, aren''t I? I stand by my answer. Any guy can fall for you at first glance," Ryder replied as he nodded his head. "So you fell for me?" Alice inquired as she laughed. She thought that Ryder would become silent like always and pretend as if he hadn''t heard it. This had happened a few times before. Whenever she talked about something like that, Ryder always ignored her. She thought that it would be the same this time as well. That wasn''t what happened, though, as Ryder went against her expectations and answered. "Yeah," Ryder answered. Alice froze in her place, unable to take a step forward. Her face turned crimson. " What?" Alice asked. " You heard me. I said I stand by my answer. Any guy can fall for you at first glance. You''re just so awesome," Ryder said as he stopped near Alice. He rubbed her head. "Now, let''s go. We''ll get late. You''ll miss the main part," he said. He reached out his hand and held Alice''s hand. He left the estate with Alice, hand in hand. Alice could feel her heart beating irregularly after what Ryder had confessed, and holding hands now was making her even more hyper. Ryder only released her hand when they reached the car. He opened the door and stepped inside. Alice also stepped inside the car. "Were you joking?" Alice asked as Ryder started the car. "Not at all. Who wouldn''t fall for someone like you?" Ryder asked in return as he reversed the Whirlwind. A pleased smile appeared on Alice''s face as she heard him. She gazed at Ryder and softly asked, "Do you remember when we were little? My mother used to bring me to your home. I always made you play house with me. It still makes me embarrassed to this day." "Hahaha, how can I forget. You were such a brat. Even though you were younger than me, you always annoyed me so much. You made me the wife and became the husband every time. Sigh, I honestly hated it at the start," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. "Then the incident happened where our parents died. You came to live with me permanently. I already knew you a lot before that happened, but after living with you, I realized that whatever I knew about you wasn''t even close. You were so hard working. You always took care of me like my real family. Even though your mother wasn''t related to us but still, she felt like my real aunt, and you felt even closer than my real family," he muttered. The roads weren''t empty, yet he was driving at a somewhat faster speed, keeping his eyes at the door. Hearing his words, Alice started looking down. "Have you found a girlfriend?" she suddenly asked. "Hmm? Why are you asking?" Ryder inquired. "Nothing. I was just curious. You have been finding less and less time for me nowadays. It might just be work, but I wonder if some other reasons are there as well," Alice asked. Ryder didn''t feel like lying, but the truth was too complicated to tell, so he deflected the question. " Work has been my main focus nowadays, and it does take lots of my time, making me unable to take care of you properly. That''s why I ditched work today to have an outing with you." After thirty minutes of Driving, Ryder reached the destination he wanted. He stopped the whirlwind in front of a karaoke place that had recently opened. It had the highest ratings despite being so new. Most of the reviews said that it was a heavenly place. Hearing such praises, Ryder decided to bring Alice here. They could eat, sing and drink¡ªjust the two of them. "A karaoke? Not a bad place. I would love to duet with you," Alice chuckled as she realized the place they were at. Ryder parked the car and stepped out with Alice. The two of them walked inside the place. Ryder walked to the receptionist with Alice. "Excuse me; we would like your best room." "Of course. Are you guys on a date?" the receptionist asked as she saw the two people that looked like a couple. "I guess it can count as a date," Ryder replied, nodding his hand. "Hahaha, of course. I understand." the receptionist laughed as he nodded his head. "This is the key to our most expensive room. It would cost you two hundred for an hour," he said as he placed the key on the desk. Even though it sounded expensive for a karaoke room, Ryder didn''t create trouble. He paid the guy and took the key. A servant escorted them to the room since they were new here. Ryder opened the room and stepped inside with Alice, only to be stunned. Only three words left his mouth. "What... the... F-" There was a giant TV; there was a mic and everything a Karaoke room was supposed to have. That wasn''t the problem. The problem was that it even had what a place like this wasn''t supposed to have. There was a King Size bed placed in the room, which was covered in a pink bedsheet. Flower petals were placed on the bed in the shape of the heart. Beside the bed, there was a table where a bowl was placed. The bowl had something which even made Ryder embarrassed since he was with Alice. There were packets of condoms inside the bowl. "What the heck is this place? I''ll go talk to that guy," Ryder said as he turned back to leave, but Alice caught her hand, preventing him from leaving. "Don''t go," Alice told Ryder. "Why? What happened? Ah, right. You must be uncomfortable in this room. You can come with me too," Ryder said. "No, that''s not it. You don''t need to go," Alice told Ryder softly. "I have heard about places like this. I guess this is a Love Karaoke Bar. It''s like a Love Hotel but with a Karaoke facility that operates mainly as Karaoke Place. I know you didn''t know, but most of the rooms of this place would be like this," Alice asked Ryder. "Since we''re already here, why don''t we..." "It''s done. That guy is dead. We should be getting news by the morning. Since he didn''t have any family members who can inherit the company, we can take over. From now on, the Dream Corporation will belong to us," the Managing Director of the Dream Corporation, Drake, was talking to someone over the phone. "Don''t worry. I have confirmed with my sources. He was present inside the helicopter when the explosion took place. There is no way Schumacher Maxwell will ever become a roadblock in our path," he said as he nodded his head. He stayed silent for a few seconds as he heard the reply before he answered, "Right. That guy was so stubborn. Always doing whatever he wished. Now that he is gone, I can run the company as I want. Don''t worry; the real boss will only be you. I am just a way for you to rule Dream Corporation." Chapter 407 - 403: Raid "The real boss will be only you," Drake said to someone over the call. He heard the response for a few seconds. "Got it." Beep! The call was disconnected, and Drake placed the phone on the table again. "Finally... I won''t have to see the annoying face of that guy again. I can run this company much more freely. As for buying Necrosis, nope. There is no need for that." Drake relaxed on the chair as he looked towards the window. **** Back at the Karaoke Place, Alice had caught the hand of Ryder, stopping him from leaving. "You don''t need to go," she said. "Since we''re already here, why don''t we just use this place." Her words sounded so ambiguous that Ryder started coughing. "What?" he asked. "I mean, we have all the tools here," Alice said, stunning Ryder. "If we can just ignore the decoration and the, ah, stuff on that table. We can use this place for karaoke. It''s the same anyway, except those few things." " It''ll be a waste of time to go argue with the guy since he won''t be able to do anything. Also, you already paid him. Let''s just make the best with what we have," she continued. "Ah, that''s what you meant. I thought..." Ryder didn''t finish his sentence and started setting up the things. He selected the first song, which was a pop song from a new singer known as Dustin Fever, who had suddenly risen to popularity. From what he knew, girls and youngsters liked the music. It was everywhere and borderline becoming annoying for older people. Ryder started singing with Alice as the song was a duet. They continued for close to an hour. They sang pop, country, and even rap songs. The fun time soon stopped as Ryder realized it was time to leave. Alice was breathing heavily as she had been singing and dancing. Ryder, on the other hand, was only singing; however, he was still out of breath as the last song that he sang was by a rapper known for his speed, Reminem. Ryder walked over to the bed and sat down. Looking at Alice, he said, "Rest for a little. I don''t want the guy outside to see us out of breath and sweating. He would think that we were engaging in... bad things." Alice nodded her head as she did the same. She walked close to him and sat beside him. "It was fun," she said as she threw her body back and laid on the bed. "It sure was. You can sing really well. I still sound bad," Ryder said to Alice as he laid down as well. "I don''t think that. Your voice suited some of the songs really well. Especially the tapping part of the rapper 50 Dollars," Alice replied, shaking her head. " What''s the next in our agenda? Where are we going after this?" She asked Ryder. "I do have a few plans, but I want to hear yours. Where do you wish to go?" Ryder asked. "How about a movie?" Alice inquired. "Movie?" Ryder asked in surprise. He didn''t know that Alice was a movie person. As far as he knew, she barely watched movies. Alice answered, "Yeah. I heard it''s a good experience even though I personally haven''t seen one in theatres. Let''s go and watch the latest one that''s playing." "Sure. It''ll only be an hour-long anyways." Ryder nodded his head. Although his plan was different than what he had initially thought, since Alice wanted it, he agreed. After resting for a few minutes, the two of them stood up. They left the room without even looking back once. "Did you have a good time?" As soon as the two of them walked closer to the reception, the guy asked with a smirk on his face. "You are really an idiot. Don''t make me open my mouth," Ryder replied sarcastically. Ryder left the place with Alice. "Cheh, they all have fun and don''t even respect the people who provide the resources," the receptionist muttered, shaking his head. Ryder entered the car with Alice and went to the nearest movie theatre. The two of them went inside. "So the latest movie is Revengers 68," Ryder muttered as he saw the digital poster at the front. "It''s going to be a superhero movie with action. Should we watch some other movie since you''re not into violence?" "Don''t worry. It won''t have that much violence. Let''s just watch it. I heard a lot about this one. Apparently, 99.99 percent of the population is wiped in this one by the villain. It sounds like an intriguing concept," Alice answered. "Alright then." Ryder bought the tickets and entered the hall with Alice. Both of them sat near the end. The entire movie was full of realistic 4d and didn''t need glasses or any other tech to see. "It can be pretty fun to see the tech of Necrosis used in movies. If these are already so realistic, imagine being inside the movie actually," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "The Virtual Reality? Yeah, that would be fun with movies. Actually being inside that world," Alice muttered in agreement. The movie soon started. "What the f..." Only five minutes had passed since the movie started, and there was already a kissing scene between two superheroes who were barely wearing anything. He glanced at Alice to see her reaction, but she was looking down at her phone as if she didn''t see it. Only after the scene was over did she raised her head. Ryder understood what she was doing. She didn''t want him to feel awkward. A smile appeared on his face. He placed his hand on Alice''s head and gently rubbed it. **** In a different part of the country, the FBI and the related authorities were surrounding a building that was said to be a terrorist hideout. It was a raid mission that was being led by Ray. The building they were surrounding was a location given to Ray by Ryder. It was one of the temporary bases of Ryder. "Everything is ready. We are prepared to go in." People in fully protective heat were standing behind Ray, who was similarly protected. All of them were carrying their weapons with them. "Alright. You have all been briefed on what kind of enemies we might face. There may be people who are modified humans. They can''t be killed easily. You need to be fully wary of such people. If you''re attacked, and the enemy is like that, throw the explosives without hesitating." Ray gave the instructions to everyone. Chapter 408 - 404: Problem The teams entered the bindings and came out after an hour. There was a look of disappointment on their faces. "This entire building is empty. How can this be," Ray muttered as he sighed. "Maybe the information you received was wrong?" A team member asked as he frowned. "It can''t be wrong. I''m sure that my source was correct," Ray replied as he shook his head. "Who was your source? Maybe you should talk to him. If he gave false information, we need to know. We Have used a lot of resources to make this happen. Going back empty-handed will definitely not be right." Ray was also frowning as he heard the words of his team. It was true that if the information were wrong, not only him but his source would be a focus of scrutiny as well. "Let me check the other places," Ray muttered as he pulled out his phone. He called a number. "Hey, Eyu, what''s the situation there?" Ray asked. "Ah, yeah. I was about to call you as well. Are you sure that you gave us the right location? This whole place is empty. I don''t think even ghosts would be living here," the person on the other side of the call said jokingly. "Alright. I''ll call you right back. Just give me a few seconds," Ray replied before he disconnected the call. He dialed another number. "What''s the situation there? Did you find the enemies?" he asked as soon as the call was picked up. "No. Unless the rats that are inside the building are supposed to be the ones we''re here to arrest. There''s no one here," the other person answered. Ray kept calling the other teams, wondering if it was the same there as well. Unfortunately, it was. Almost every team reported that the places they were supposed to raid were empty. "Ahh, this is such a headache. The higher-ups will eat me alive. I was the one that told them not to go any reconnaissance beforehand since I didn''t want the enemies to be alert, but I didn''t know this would happen," Ray muttered as his frown depended. He walked farther from the others and called Ryder''s number to tell him of the problems that had occurred. Ryder was in the middle of the movie when his phone started ringing. "Sigh, is it working again? Can''t You silence your phone and ignore it?" Alice asked Ryder. Ryder was looking at the name of the caller on his phone. Noticing the call was from Ray, he stood up. "It''s important. I''m really sorry. I''ll be right back," Ryder told Alice before he left. He walked out the hall and picked up the call. "Hey." Hearing Ryder''s nonchalant tone, Ray couldn''t help but smile wryly. "Don''t hey me. I''m in trouble," he replied. "What trouble? Can I help?" Ryder asked, wondering what could have happened. "The problem is not something you can help me with. What happened was that we were supposed to raid all the locations you had given me. In fact, I''m standing in one of those locations," Ray explained. "And?" Ryder asked suspiciously. "All the locations are empty! There is no one there! Every single location!" Ray exclaimed. Ryder was stunned to hear his words. He replied, "That shouldn''t be. Why would such high ranking Members stay in empty places like those if it wasn''t their bases? I even saw some people going in and out of those buildings through the satellite images." "This is what happened, though. I see from my own eyes." Ray sighed as he kicked the tires of his vehicle. After a few seconds of silence, Ryder implied, "I think someone leaked the information about the raid. They vacated the locations before you could reach there." "Who else knew about the location of the raid?" he asked. " No one knew about these locations except our head. Even the agents were only told when we were en-route," Ray answered. "Then you know my answer. The person who helped them isn''t someone low in position. Your Chief might be the main suspect," Ryder said. "No, that''s impossible. Our chief was the one who took the mission. He was also the one who assigned us to go to DC. He found most of the leads that helped us get closer," Ray replied, shaking his head. "Didn''t the enemies in DC know about your plan? Weren''t they ready for you? He sent you there, and they knew about you..." Ryder muttered. "I know what you''re implying. It was a ploy to have us killed to create problems? But you already know. Riya was the spy of Dark Uprising. She was the one leaking the information," Ray answered as he shook his head. " That doesn''t mean he wasn''t responsible. That plan was too coordinated for it to be the work of Riya alone. Anyway, since those guys already vacated the location, I can''t help you. The tracer shows that the people are on that island, but you can''t go there anyway. This was all I could help with," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "Also, I know what this means. You would get the blame even if someone else leaked the information. They will ask for your source and start interrogating me if you answer. I''m sure you know better than to name me, don''t you? Because I won''t be happy if I''m involved, and you know how things can go wrong when I''m not happy," he threatened Ray subtly. "Hah, you don''t have to threaten me like that. I promised at the start that I wouldn''t involve you in my stuff. I will keep my promise. It might be tough, but I''ll handle it. And I can push the angle about the information being leaked," Ray answered, shaking his head. He had already decided that he would take most of the blame on his head without letting Ryder be affected. " I wish I could help you, but it''s out of my hands," Ryder muttered. "I truly wanted Uprising to lose its strength, but this was a failure. Their reach is already too high. Much higher than I expected." " What are you going to do about them?" Ray asked, wondering how Ryder was going to handle them. In his eyes, Ryder was a warrior of justice who had been fighting with this organization since the start. " I''ll just ignore them. I''m not going to their base to die before I''m strong enough," Ryder answered straight away. He was already wary of them after last time. "Ray, the Chief is on call. He says your number is busy." Chapter 409 - 405: Love Confession "Ray, the Chief is on call. He says your number is busy." One of the men called Ray. "Alright. I''ll call you later," Ray disconnected the call before he took the phone from one of his men. "Yes, Sir," he said "Ray, can you explain what just happened? I''m getting reports from everywhere that this mission was a waste? Didn''t you say there will be those people in those places? I trusted you and got all the permissions only to have this happen? How do you explain this?" "The Terrorists had vacated the premise before we got here. The possible explanation is that someone leaked the plan, and they left," Ray answered. "Oh, are you putting the blame on others? They all got to know the location 20 minutes before reaching the location. Are you really saying that in Twenty minutes, all the locations were vacated?" the Chief asked. "That''s not what I''m saying. It is not easy to clear all these places so thoroughly in Twenty minutes," Ray answered. "Oh? So you''re saying the plan was leaked way before that? Who else did you tell about this other than me?" "I didn''t tell anyone." "Are you blaming me for leaking it then? Since what you''re saying means only you and I knew?!" "I am not blaming you, sir. Not this is the only explanation I have. Or maybe they did succeed in twenty minutes since these were only their temporary bases, most probably. It''s much faster to clear places like this. Sigh, I know it was a failure, no matter what the reason may be. I am ready for any punishment." "Alright. Come back. We will discuss everything else later." The call was disconnected. Ray returned the phone before he sighed deeply. "This is a mess. I wonder how I''ll get out of it," he muttered as he looked towards the building. Ryder was walking back to the hall, talking to himself, "Those guys left the places. I thought with this; I would be able to give some damage to those guys to keep them busy for a while. Instead of that, I''m the one who got a surprise." "If I knew that this was going to happen, I would have told him to act much more carefully. Now the Uprising guys also know that someone knew about their locations. They will try to find out about me." " Even though Ray won''t open his mouth, they wouldn''t let him live in peace. I need to act. I''m sure his boss was the mole. He is the Uprising agent too. I can''t let him take control of the situation." Ryder stepped inside the hall. He walked near Alice and sat down. "You are late. You missed so much. The team is separated. They''re all in different places now." As soon as Ryder returned, Alice started updating him on the things that he had missed in the movie. "Oh, sorry for being late. Let''s watch," Ryder replied as he sat comfortably by placing his hand on the armrest. Alice happened to have her hand there as well, making his hand rest right above hers. Even though Ryder realized what had happened, he didn''t take his hand off since he didn''t find it to be a big deal. They were close enough anyway. Alice, on the other hand, was more surprised. She could feel Ryder''s warm hand resting on the back of her hand. She felt something strange as if she was liking it, but she pretended as if she didn''t find it a big deal either as she kept her focus on the movie. Ten minutes passed like this before she finally did something she never thought she would do. She didn''t know where she got the courage from, but she did something unexpected. She turned her hand upside down so that her palm was touching Ryder''s palm. Ryder was surprised. He thought that she wanted to free her hand, so he was about to remove his hand, but something else happened. Before he could remove his hand, Alice inserted her fingers in the gap between his fingers. Their fingers intertwined. Ryder grew even more stunned, but he didn''t take his hand off. He let it remain there and kept their fingers intertwined. He looked at Alice''s face, which focused more on the movie as if she hadn''t done anything. Ryder shook his head as he started relaxing. He could feel the softness of Alice''s hand as he watched the movie. Her fingers were slim yet soft. "I like you," Alice said suddenly. Cough! Cough! Ryder suddenly coughed as he sat straight after hearing her words. "Sorry. I thought I heard something. Did you really say something, or was I hallucinating?" He asked her. "I said, I like you," Alice repeated her words. She still didn''t look at him. "Oh, I like you too," Ryder replied, smiling. "Not like that. You know we have been sharing a house for a long time. You aren''t my relative. We aren''t family either, in reality. Still, you took care of me all these years without ever complaining," Alice muttered in a barely audible voice. "I like you not as someone I grew up with, but as someone I want to grow old with." "I-" Ryder was about to say something, but Alice didn''t let him finish. "You don''t need to say anything. Let''s just watch the movie. I''m happy I got to say what I always wanted to," Alice answered as she sighed. "You don''t need to answer now. Take your time." "I never really thought a girl would propose to me like that, and that too, you," Ryder muttered as he rested his back on the seat. Their hands were still intertwined. "I don''t want time to think, but I think you should," he continued before he stopped talking. "What do you mean?" Alice asked, confused. " What you feel might be confusing gratitude. You''re grateful that I helped you. You''re grateful that I took care of you even though we weren''t actually related. My grandfather didn''t adopt your mother and only took care of her education. So you aren''t my family either. Still, I took care of you. That might be the only reason you think that way," Ryder answered. "I know how it can be confused. But you should think carefully before thinking like that," he continued. "I know how things can be confused. That''s why I had been thinking about this for a long time. I probably wouldn''t even have the courage to tell you if I hadn''t been kidnapped twice. I don''t know what might happen the next moment. I don''t want to die without even having a chance to tell you," Alice answered, shaking her head. Ryder took a deep breath. His mind was already blank since he hadn''t expected that today would go like this. It was all unexpected. First, there was unexpected news that the raid was a failure, and just when he was thinking about how to deal with that, he received the confession of Alice. "It''s fine. You don''t need to answer. I know I have been asking you for a lot. You don''t have to like me back. I''m fine with the way things are going. Spending my days like this are already a bliss for me," Alice said as he smiled. "Yeah. For me as well," Ryder muttered. "Every day with you has been amazing. Especially eating your amazing cooking. I want to have the rest of my life eating that amazing cooking as well." "Does that mean you..." "I wish things were as simple. I don''t know how I can even explain how my life is going up and down right now." A look of comprehension was on Ryder''s face as he thought about Esmi. She was in his life as well, but he also liked Alice. He couldn''t tell anyone about Esmi for apparent reasons, but he couldn''t reject Alice without telling her about this either. He could accept her confession because he wanted to, but he thought that doing this without telling her the truth was not fair to her. He didn''t know what to do. He was finding himself between a rock and a hard place. He didn''t want to lose Alice, but he couldn''t keep her in the dark either. " Do you not like me?" Alice asked. "I like you. It''s not that," Ryder answered without hesitation. "Not like that. I mean Like! In a romantic sense," Alice said. "I meant the same as well. Didn''t I tell you? There can be no guy who doesn''t like you," Ryder answered softly. "Then it''s final. I don''t care about any problems you might have," Alice said with a tinge of happiness in her voice. She didn''t even think that the problem he was talking about was having another girlfriend as well. She placed her hand on his shoulder as she held his hand tightly. ''Just what the hell happened today?'' Ryder thought blankly, still not understanding what the situation had developed to. Was Alice his girlfriend now? Chapter 410 - 406: Adrians Target Soon, the movie ended. Ryder and Alice left the theater. "You must be getting hungry. Let''s go eat," Ryder told Alice as he stepped out of the theatre. Even though he was acting calm, his mind was thinking about many things. One of which was the situation about Ray. The second thing was about Alice and how the situation between them had changed suddenly. The last thing that was on his mind was the Mission that Janus had given him. He couldn''t help but think about the missing¡ªJanus'' words repeated in his head. Ryder was very serious about this mission. He had already decided to do it even if he hadn''t received the mission, but the rewards were what Ryder was more stunned by. The rewards were too lavish. In fact, it was arguably one of the best rewards that Janus had offered. He was going to gain twenty levels in the real world, which was proving to be hard to level up since he had been the one who was proactively attacking enemies before they could get a chance. Due to that reason, he hadn''t been getting experience since it only worked when the enemies attacked first. The need to be stealthily was proving to be his enemy. Despite that, he had been growing slowly. Whenever he got an opportunity, he got into an argument with people on the streets, making them attack him in frustration before he beat them up. Even though it was slow, he had still been gaining experience slowly and steadily. This time''s reward meant that he was going to get so much experience that he would level up twenty times in close succession. That wasn''t a cheap reward at all. The second reward was also good since five hundred points weren''t cheap. He could buy some really decent items from the store using the five hundred Origin Points. What really amazed him was the third reward¡ªthe strength doubling pills. He remembered using something similar at the start. He had seen Strengthening Pills in the store that was cheap. He had received the pills as a reward for his first mission. Each pill had managed to increase his strength and was able to increase his strength by fifty percent. When he had gained more origin points, he had tried to buy Strengthening Pills; however, he failed. He only got a notification that these pills couldn''t be purchased. According to Janus, things like these were only given as rewards. That''s why the reward this time was more special. The Strength Doubling pills were even more special than the Strengthening Pills. The Strength Doubling pills doubled the strength instead of increasing it by fifty percent like strengthening pills. Two Strength Doubling pills were enough to give him four times his current strength, which was a massive boost for him. He had already been feeling weak since he wasn''t able to defeat the Kings of Dark Uprising. He wanted to be stronger, and this was a perfect opportunity since it was going to make him four times stronger. He wanted to ask Janus why he was being so nice to him with the rewards. Was it his birthday or something? He wanted to ask if something special was going on since Janus was trying to make him stronger like that, but he didn''t ask since he was with Alice now. "Oh, Alice. You know I got a call when I was watching a movie? It was from work. For a business meeting, I need to travel to the New Capital. Since you''re also going to have a week-long holiday, how about you come with me as well?" Ryder asked Alice as he unlocked the car. "The New Capital? Awesome. It can be a vacation," Alice replied as she smiled. "I heard that place is beautiful." "Hahaha, yeah. We can have a vacation after my business meeting finishes," Ryder said, nodding his head. According to him, he was going to be free after he finished killing the target. He could spend a few days with Alice, sightseeing. This could also work as an excuse for him being present in the New Capital. If anyone raises their finger on him by somehow linking him to the murder, he could claim that he was there on a vacation with Alice. "It''s going to be so fun," Alice said as she sat inside the car. "It will be much more than fun," Ryder muttered as he smiled. **** "Boss. We have managed to hack inside their country database. We found the girl you were looking for. We even find her picture." Adrian and a few other people were inside a room that seemed like a place where a team of cyber experts worked. There were computers and big machines everywhere.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #''s-target_51754399755727939 for visiting. "You found her? Good. Show me the pictures," Adrian said as he smiled. "Right away." The printer started printing out the image. Adrian walked towards the printer and saw the image. "So she is the girl who wrote that essay," Adrian muttered as a smile formed on his face. "I went so far for you with just your address," he let out, shaking his head. **** Four months ago, Adrian stepped inside an office. A well dressed middle-aged man was sitting on the chair. As soon as he saw Adrian, he stood up. "Boss. What are you doing here? You could have called me. I would have come to you." "Nothing. I was just getting bored. I thought I''d come and see you since it had been a while. Anyway, what are you doing?" Adrian asked. The middle-aged man replied, "I was just going through the admission forms filled by people for admission in our university. I went through the national students'' forms. I was going through the international ones now." "Oh? International kids want to study here too?" Adrian asked in surprise. "Hahaha, who wouldn''t. We are the top university in Russia. Many people apply to get admission every year," the middle-aged man answered as he laughed. " How do you decide who to select and who to reject based on their details alone?" Adrian asked as he walked closer to the stacks of paper. "Or do you decide based on their looks?" "We can''t decide based on their looks anyway since our forms don''t need them to add their pictures. They only need to fill in their details like name, mail id, address, and a few other minor details. What we select them on are their answers. Our form has multiple personalities related questions. We select based on their answers." "Oh? Personality related questions? Let me see what you asked and what they said." Adrian picked up the stack of paper and started going through them. "Such a naive kid." "This one is an idiot." "This one is surely lying." "His answers are so generic." Adrian kept reading through the forms and throwing them aside since he didn''t like any of the answers. It was like that until he read the twentieth form. "So far, none of them are impressive. Let''s see who''s next. Oh, Alice." Adrian read the name on the twentieth form. He skipped all the details and went straight to answers. ''Hmm? He''s reading so carefully? It seems as if he''s fascinated by her personality. Just who could that girl be?'' the middle-aged man asked as he saw her reaction. " Amazing. Someone like this truly exist in this world? Her words are so fascinating. Her thoughts, her personality, her ideas... They''re all perfect. It''s like I was writing them myself," Adrian muttered softly as he gazed at the paper gently. "Really? Who knows. She might as well be your soulmate since she is the same as you," the Middle-aged man said, jokingly. "Soulmate, huh," Adrian muttered as he looked at the address on the paper. "Give her admission. Tell her she can come here," he told the middle-aged man before he left. One month later, "What happened with the girl? Did you finalize her admission? When is she coming to Russia?" Adrian asked the middle-aged man over the phone. "Ah, actually... She said no. She said she didn''t want to read in other countries now. Something about her brother telling her that she didn''t need to go to other countries for studies. I don''t know the exact scenario. All I know is she refused. I basically begged to have her here, but she didn''t budge," the middle-aged man said as he sighed. "Hah, looks like I''ll have to go there myself to meet her then," Adrian muttered as he disconnected the call. **** Present time, "So you''re Alice," Adrian muttered as he looked at the photo before him. "Sigh, unfortunately, I''m banned from going there based on the orders of the lord. Don''t worry. My men will bring you here," he let out as he smiled. Chapter 411 - 407: Warning Adrian looked at the picture in front of him as a beautiful smile spread on his face. "You also found the address? The one that was filled in the form was not their current address. If I had the right address, I would have found her before things got troublesome. I want the right one this time," he said in a commanding tone as he looked at all the cyber experts. "We found the address, Sir. She is living in the Estate that seemingly belongs to the Dream Corporation. She and her brother both reside there." Hearing the answer, Adrian nodded. "I''ve printed out the address." The printer again started printing out a paper. Adrian picked up the paper and looked at the address. "Ah, so it''s in the same city. If only I had this address. Those Americans blocked my calls, or I would be able to find out," Adrian muttered as he sighed. "Sir, since we are done, should we leave their database?" "No. They messed with me when I was in their country. Why shouldn''t I mess with them when I''m back? They brought this on themselves," Adrian replied, shaking his head. A smirk appeared on Adrian''s face as he turned back. "Leave a gift to our American friends. Make is a good gift." He stepped out of the hall. Two men were walking behind him as he entered the building. "Luke, I want you to go to America. Go to this address and find the girl for me. Tell her about me and bring her here with all due respect," Adrian gave the paper with the address to one of the men behind him. The man was called Luke. Luke was the right-hand man of Adrian. He had beautiful dark hair that wasn''t very long. His eyes seemed slightly red. He was wearing a professional black coat as if he was a businessman. Both his hands had dark gloves that appeared to have diamonds in the knuckles. "Yes." Luke agreed without any hesitation. "Oh right, If I found out that you weren''t respectful to her, you know how annoyed I will be, right?" Adrian inquired with an amused smile on his face. "I will be careful." Luke nodded his head respectfully. "Oh, right. Don''t engage the person called Aluren in battle if you ever come face to face with him. He had a few pawns that are called something like Thirteen Kings. If they try to obstruct you, you can kill them. Just be alert of Aluren. He can kill you in an instant," Adrian said as he showed the image of Aluren on his phone. Luke looked at the pic of the silver-haired Aluren. "I will make sure not to fight him," he answered. The doors of the lift opened. The three stepped out of the lift and walked out of the building. "Your ticket is booked. You''ll be leaving tonight. Make sure nothing goes wrong. It''s important to me," Adrian said to Luke before he opened the door of his sports car and stepped inside. The car zoomed off into the distance. Only two guys were left behind. These two were the most trusted men of Adrian. "He seems to place a lot of importance on the girl. I''m sure you know how crucial it is that there are no mistakes. Don''t disappoint him," the second guy said as he tapped the shoulder of Luke. He stepped inside his car, which also left, leaving only Luke behind. Luke gazed at the address in his hand one more time before he folded the paper and kept it in his pocket. "No one will stop me from bringing the girl back. Even if that Aluren comes before me, I won''t let this mission fail," Adrian muttered as he stepped towards the third sports car in front of him. It belonged to him. He stepped inside the car and walked towards his Estate to collect his stuff for the journey. **** Ryder walked back home after spending the day with Alice. As it was night, he already had dinner with Alice before going back. "Shu won''t be home tonight. I wonder if I''ll see him in the world of Divinity. He should be there since he''ll be free at night," Ryder muttered as he sat on his bed. He wore the Divinity Glasses and laid down. "Take me to Divinity." He logged into Divinity. He appeared inside the carriage that was still. The carriage driver was doing something which seemed like exercise. Rale was also there. Rale seemed to be looking around, waiting for Ryder to return. "Rale, is Shu not here?" Ryder asked Ray as he stepped out of the carriage. "He''s not here," Ray answered, shaking his head. "Strange. He should be here by now. Could it be that he really isn''t logging in tonight? Maybe he''s working at night as well. When you''re the boss, work always comes first since there''s actually no free time," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "Without him, we can''t do anything either. The Ring is with him, so we can''t return it either. I guess we can only wait. If he actually doesn''t log in tonight, it''ll be a wasted day," he continued. "Your Highness, it''s been quite some time since we came here. I don''t know why, but I have been having a feeling that something isn''t right back home. I just can''t seem to shake off this feeling," Rale told Ryder, expressing his concern. "Don''t worry about anything. I don''t think Miku will expose our secret. And no one can find the truth that we''re not in the Demon Realm. We wouldn''t be in trouble," Ryder replying, smiling gently. "It''s not us I am concerned about. I don''t know how to describe it. I just think that we really should be getting back fast. We had annoyed the Death Domain. Maybe it has something to do with that? Sigh, I know I''m asking for too much, but I trust my heart on this matter. Can we please go back?" Rale asked Ryder. ''Sigh, I can''t say no, can I? He has always been so loyal. If he''s insisting this much, his feelings of concern must be really serious. If the Demon Realm is actually in danger, I need to be there, but Shu...'' Ryder thought as he looked towards the carriage. " Fine, we will wait for four hours. If he isn''t back in that time, we can leave. I''ll leave the carriage behind for him. He already has the Ring of Lexini. He wouldn''t need me. He can return the ring and finish the mission alone after this," he agreed to Rale. The two of them started waiting as time kept passing slowly. Seconds turned to minutes, which soon turned to hours. Four hours passed away just like that. Ryder stood up as he sighed. "I guess he isn''t coming. Let''s leave. I''ll leave a message for him." he said as he opened the message screen. Since Shu was on his friend list, he was able to send a message to Shu. He wrote a message saying that he needed to leave urgently. He also told Shu to return the Ring of Lexini and finish the quest. After sending the message, Ryder talked to the carriage driver and told him to wait for Shu here, no matter how long it took. After arranging everything, he left with Rale. They walked to some distance, and after they were out of sight of the Carriage Driver, Rale caught Ryder''s hand and started flying. He flew at his maximum speed and even unlocked his seal to fly even faster since he really wanted to go back as fast as he could. Unsealing himself almost doubled his speed; still, it wasn''t enough to get to the Portal Point on time. It was already night, yet they hadn''t reached there. "We''ll still take seven or eight hours to get to the Portal. We can rest for now. You have been flying throughout the day anyway. I''ll rest too," Ryder told Rale after seeing that it was night time. The night time in Divinity was the Day time in the real world. He needed to log out. He also needed to be prepared since today was the day when he needed to leave for the New Capital. His flight ticket was already booked along with Alice. He couldn''t spend time traveling throughout the night. "Right. Of Course." Rale started going down. "I''ll see you in the morning," Ryder told Ray before he logged out. Ryder woke up in the real world and went to take a shower. After showering, he got dressed and packed his bags for this journey. He went to Alice''s room and opened the door as he stepped inside "Alice, are you ready to leave?" he asked. "I''m ready," Alice said, smiling as she closed the bag. "Let''s get going. We''ll miss our flight otherwise," Ryder told her. They left the Maxwell Estate and went to the airport. Chapter 416 - 412: Face to Face "It also depends on when she turned. If she turned right when we left, she could get back to normal faster. If she turned recently, it''d definitely take longer," Rale said to Ryder. "Looking at the items on the floor, it seems like she turned not long after we left," he continued. "Sigh. No matter when she turned. We need to capture her alive and keep her locked until she returns to normal," Ryder said, sighing. His feet were still on the ground. There wasn''t much blood on the ground, but there was enough that he was standing on a droplet of blood. His curious eyes looked around the room, trying to find clues about Miyali, but she wasn''t here either. Ryder and Rale stepped out of the room and again continued their search. ****** "Thanks a lot, Miku, for coming to help. You are the only one I was able to ask. My grandpa knew the most about these flowers, which suddenly started dying. Unfortunately, he was busy with some other work outside so I couldn''t contact him. I could only approach you and ask you to come." A blonde-haired girl was standing in front of what seemed like strange flowers that were made of rocks. She was talking to Miku, who was the Royal Maid of Ryder that worked in the Palace. She was the granddaughter of High Duke Oris, who was the second strongest High Duke in the Demon Realm. She was called Felina. After Ryder had left the Place to go to the human realm, Miyali had started losing control. She wasn''t being given beasts to feed on by the maid she was given. After Miyali lost control, she sucked her blood and killed her accidentally. She went to find Ryder, only to be informed that Ryder was sleeping. She wasn''t able to tell Miku about the fact that she had killed a maid. Miku thought that she simply wanted a new maid, so she assured her that she would assign another maid to Miyali. She was about to do that when Felina entered the Royal Palace. She approached Miku and told her about the problems with her flower and that it was urgent. Miku left with her to help her, completely forgetting about the maid situation. Thus, not only did Miyali not get a maid, but she didn''t even get any food. She kept waiting for Ryder to come to get after waking up as Miku had told her that she would tell Ryder after he woke up. Even after a long wait, Ryder didn''t come to her. She didn''t know that Ryder wasn''t even in the Palace. Her situation kept worsening as hunger, and her first turning overtook her brain before she lost all control and went on a rampage. Miku was the only person who had the strength to take care of her, but as she was out as well, no one was left to stop Miyali from going on a rampage. On one side, Miku was taking care of the rate flowers for Felina. On the other hand, Miyali was devouring the people who were in the Total Palace. "It''s no trouble," Miku answered, smiling. "His Highness allowed me to come here, after all." She knew that she couldn''t say no to Felina, or she would have requested to meet Ryder to take his permission for using Miku''s help. As Ryder wasn''t there, that wasn''t feasible, so she had lied that Ryder gave her the permission to come to help Felina. "Oh, right. Where is the High Duke?" She asked. "Grandfather went to Duke Devilia''s duchy. There has been some problem," Felina answered, smiling. "What problems?" Miku inquired. ''If there were problems, it''s strange that they didn''t come to meet His Highness. Could it be that the problem was small? No, why would High Duke Oris go personally to help Duke Devilia? There is something going on that is significant enough to warrant his attention, but they didn''t even try to meet his Highness?'' she thought, confused about the whole situation. "Don''t worry too much. It''s something that His Highness had already handled. You remember the missing Marquis case, right? It''s solved, so it''s time for a new marquis to be chosen. My grandfather went there to see the candidates. He would select a few well-deserving candidates. After that, the candidate would be brought here so that His Highness can give him a proper position as well as meet the candidates," Felina explained. Miku nodded her head as she understood. She also placed her worries to an end. She asked, "Oh. So it''s that. I thought it was something serious. It''s just tradition. How long will he stay there? When will he come back with the candidate?" "He should be back soon since it''s been a long time already. Maybe in a few days or a week," Felina answered, smiling. She started walking towards the exit of the garden. She didn''t notice, but there was some concern on Miku''s face. ''If he comes back in a few days, it will be problematic. He would insist on meeting His Highness, and I can''t say no. It''s going to be a headache. We might be caught,'' she thought. "I''ll take my leave now. His Highness must be waiting," Miku told Felina. Hearing that, Felina stopped and looked back. "Aren''t you staying for tea?" "Not really. Since I am done here, it''s better if I go back to my work of taking care of His Highness," Miku answered, shaking her head. "Ah, right. That''s important as well," Felina muttered as she nodded her head. "I should thank you for your help. You did so much for me. If you ever need any help, you can come to me anytime." "I will keep that in mind," Miku said as she turned back. She left the Palace of High Duke Oris and flew back to the Royal Palace. She soon landed in front of the entrance. "Did someone come?" She asked guards to make sure that no one approached the palace. "No one came from outside, but His Highness and Master Rale stepped out of the Palace for a few seconds. They soon walked back," the Guards informed her. "They stepped out?" Miku muttered as she grew stunned. ''So, His Highness is here? Did he come back? That''s such good news. Finally, I can relax,'' she thought as she stepped forward. She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The first thing she did was to go upstairs to find Ryder. "Why are the corridors so empty? Blood? What happened here?" As she was walking through the corridors, she noticed that there were blood droplets on the floor, but there were no bodies to be found. Strangely, there weren''t any people there either. The maids and the guards were all missing. A deep frown covered her forehead as she grew alert. She started walking more carefully. The more she saw, the more Suspicious she got as there weren''t any people there. She soon reached the place where Ryder and Rale had passed through. The corridor was going in two directions. Ryder had selected one side to go ahead, and Ryder followed him, but Miku walked towards the other side, unaware that Ryder had chosen a different path. She ran for fifteen minutes before she heard a noise coming in from a nearby room. It was as if someone had just grunted inside the room. She stopped running and stepped back. She stood near the door where the voice had come from. It was completely silent now. It was so silent that Miku couldn''t help but wondered if it was her misconception. "No. It can''t be that. I definitely heard something. Someone is definitely inside," she muttered as she started walking towards the door. She touched the door and slowly pushed it open. With a creaking noise, the door opened slowly, revealing the inside of the room. Miku stepped inside, only to see something horrifying. There were tens of bodies lying on the ground. Only two people were standing. One of them happened to be a girl while the other one was a guard. The girl''s back was facing Miku while the guy''s face was facing her. She could see the lifeless red eyes of the guard, who seemed as if he was dead. The girl seemed like her lips were on the next of the guy. Miku looked around. She could see the bite marks on the necks of the pale bodies that were lying on the ground. "A Vampire," she muttered softly as she realized what was happening. The girl seemed to have heard her words. She threw the man to the side before she opened back. Her blood-red eyes looked at Miku without a shred of emotion. Her mouth was covered in blood that didn''t belong to her. Miku saw the face of the girl only to realize that she was none other than the girl called Miyali, who was with Ryder. Chapter 421 - 417: Magic "Alright. You got one point. You need two more points,'' Ryder said as he gazed at the man who was groaning in pain. His leg had stopped responding, but the pain was still terrifying. As the room was fully closed, no voice left the room even though the man was making a lot of noises. The room was noisy, but the outside was silent. "Alright. Next question. Where is the base of the Dark Uprising! Tell me about their base!" Ryder asked the next question The man was already sweating in pain. He was upset. Not only did Ryder not help him, but he also continued asking. The man answered, "I don''t know! I never knew about that. I only had a link to one of the members who I provided information to. He never told me about their base, and I never asked." Ryder didn''t comment anything. He turned back as he started laughing. The man finally breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that he got another point. Now he only had one more question left. He gazed at his leg and wondered if he could save it if he was freed and got help in time. He had stopped groaning in pain. He was still hurt, but he had adjusted to the pain. Right when he was lost in his thought, he heard a sound which made him know exactly what to expect since he heard the same sound when his first leg was shot. Another scream escaped his lips as his second knew was shut as well. He screamed like a dying man as his body twisted and turned. His waist raised upwards, creating space between the ground and his back as he cried in pain. His eyes were already bloodshot red. "You bastard! Why did you shoot me now! Even when I told the truth, you still did it!" He screamed in rage as he controlled the twitching of his body. ''Oh, good. So he wasn''t lying,'' Ryder thought as he nodded his head. From the reaction, he was certain that the blonde man wasn''t lying. He also found this awkward since he had shot even after getting the right answer. He shamelessly smiled, calmly. I did this because you lied again," he said. "I f.u.c.k.i.n.g didn''t lie! You don''t have any way to know. You''re randomly shooting since you did even after I told the truth! You have no intention of freeing me! You bastard!" the man cursed. "You sure you didn''t lie?" Ryder asked as he smirked. "You said you never knew about their bases. It was a lie since you found out about their bases when you leaked the information of the future raids. That''s why they weren''t there. You could''ve said you don''t know about their base. But you never knew about their base was a lie," he continued. His words stunned Handerson, who never thought like that. He didn''t know that even the past bases that were abandoned needed to be counted in his answers. "I think you might have misunderstood the question. Even though you lied, I''ll still give you the point," Ryder let out. "One last question. You only need one answer. If you''re right, I''ll free you," he said. "Last question... Is the Director also a modified human like you who doesn''t die?" Hearing the question, the man''s face went pale. How did Ryder know that he got operated on? It was right. He was exactly like Riya, who didn''t die from bullets or wounds. "Confused? Are you wondering how I knew it?" Ryder assumed, looking at the stunned look of the man. The man who was groaning in pain like he was dying, stopped pretending. He started laughing. "Exactly. How did you know?" He asked, laughing. "It''s simple. Do you really expect me not to know that you were acting? Even though you were shot in the leg, your reaction was all wrong. I''ve shot plenty of people in the knee. Their reaction is quite fascinating. I must say, your family was not bad. But it wasn''t close to good either. It was obvious that your reaction was fake," Ryder answered. "Who exactly are you?" Handerson asked, squinting his eyes. "Who am I? I''m a thief, I told you at the start," Ryder replied. "You''re not going to answer. Let me take a guess... You are the one who messed with the plans in DC and the one which our Kings want to catch," Handerson took a guess. Since Ryder knew so much about them, it was certain that he was the one. The one that the kings called the Masked Hero. ''The Kings, huh? Now that I think about it, the one who asked to have Bastion assassinated was a King too. Could he be related to them as well? Most probably. The night of the explosions, one of the targets was Esmi''s club,'' Hearing about the Kings, Ryder understood a few things. He was able to establish a few links and get a clearer picture. ''I was wondering why they chose such a small place. After that was the assassination attempt on Bastion, it''s certain. They have some kind of hostility with Bastion''s family,'' he thought. " I won''t accept nor deny your guess. You can think what you wish," Ryder answered the man. "Anyway, since you didn''t answer my last question, let me change the question. How did you contact the Uprising? Let me take a guess as well; you use your phone. You have the number of someone from the group saved as a random name, and you use that to call, am I right?" "You''re not stupid. But I''m not telling you which name," the man answered. "Don''t worry. I know you won''t tell me about that, and I don''t expect you to tell me either. What I know is already enough," Ryder answered, smiling. He kept the gun back in his inventory. "W-what? How?" Watching the gun disappear into thin air, Handerson was shocked. He had seen magicians, but this was too real. "Stunned? That''s nothing. Let me show you more," Ryder said, smirking. Seeing his smirk, Handerson grew to have a bad feeling. His forehead was actually sweating as he watched the devil-like smile on Ryder''s face. He watched the hand of Ryder to see what his plan was while he actually started to struggle to free his hands. "Don''t worry. I''ve taken proper precautions. The ropes won''t break so easily," Ryder answered, noticing his effort. He brought another item out of his invention, which happened to frighten Handerson. Handerson was modified in such a way that he didn''t die from wounds. Bullets were useless as well, but his head was important. If his head was cut off or his whole body was blown up, there was no way for him to survive. He could see Ryder planned to do the first thing since there appeared a sharp sword in his hand. "You... Wait... Don''t do it... I can h-" he was making excuses to calm down Ryder since he was actually scared for his life, but before he could even finish his sentence, Ryder swung his sword. As the sword came to a halt, a voice stopped, and a head rolled over to the ground. Watching the head of Handerson lying on the ground, lifelessly, Ryder sighed as if he was tired. "There goes another life. I wonder if he could even be called alive," he muttered as he wiped the blade of the sword with the clothes of the man. After being done, he kept the Sword back in the inventory. He had previously already searched the body of the man, so he didn''t need to do that again. He already had all the keys and the phone of Handerson. "Now I need to spend the night here. I can get back to work in the morning," he muttered as he gazed at the time on his phone. He dialed the number of Alice from his phone. "Hello," he said. "I am a little busy at work. I won''t be able to come back today. Eat alone and sleep. I should be back tomorrow night," He informed Alice. "Can''t you come even at night? Do you really need to do so much work that you won''t even sleep?" Alice asked, concerned. "Don''t worry about me. We have a room here with a bed. I can take a nap there after I''m finished. Traveling is just not feasible. I do have good news, though. My work is going great. I should be finished with work on time. After that, we can enjoy our trip," Ryder informed her, comforting her. "Fine. If you say so, I will wait for you to come back tomorrow¡ªbest of luck with work. I''m sure you''ll make a killing," Alice said before she disconnected the call. "I will certainly make a killing," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the phone. He kept the phone in his pocket and sat down near the body. Chapter 422 - 418: At home Birds were flying in the nightly sky that was lit only with the most sparkling of moonlight. Half the city was asleep while the other half was still working in the city that was said never to sleep. It was the new capital of the country which had the headquarters of all giant organizations. It was also where the government was located. Most of the organizations worked 24 hours on a shift basis as well, making this city to be just as busy at night as it was in the day. If Ryder wished, he could go to the FBI base right now, but he wanted to go there in the morning when the main target was going to be there. He wanted to go in the morning for the same purpose. Ryder gazed at the bead of the man who was lying near him. He sighed as he shook his head. "You just had to betray this country by joining up with them, didn''t you? People like you are so messed up." He kicked the head, which rolled over to the side. He also sent the body of the men to his inventory. After resting for a few minutes, he stood up and walked over to another room that was somewhat cleaner and didn''t have the smell of blood. He didn''t forget to close the door behind him. There was a bed in that place. Ryder laid on the bed and closed his eyes. He didn''t go to the world of Divinity today since he was not in a safe place. He didn''t want to be killed while he was in Divinity. He decided to rest while still staying alert to make sure no one else entered the building. He had already cleaned the dead body and locked the room, but he was still in his real body. His face was also the real one. He had taken the mask off as he closed his eyes. The silence in that place was scary, but it was also somewhat soothing. It was so silent that Ryder had a feeling that he would be able to hear the footsteps outside if entered the house. He closed his eyes and started resting, trying not to fall asleep even though he was sleeping. He stayed like that for an hour, but he realized that he couldn''t stay like that. He needed to sleep. He was feeling a lot sleepy. He sat up as he looked to his left. "Stanner," he called out. "I am here." a Spirit appeared near him after his call. It was the Spirit of Stanner that had taken him as master after he helped fulfill its last wish. It had been following Ryder always since that moment. "You, keep an eye outside. Come here and scream loudly if you see someone entering the building. Only I can hear you, so it should be fine," Ryder told the Spirit, putting it on the work of guarding him throughout the night. After placing some safety mechanisms in place, he went to sleep. Ryder slept comfortably even though it wasn''t a place he wanted to stay in. The night stealthily passed as Ryder fell asleep. ***** Ryder was sleeping, and Alice was also sleeping. There was one place, however, where no one was sleeping. It was the Maxwell Estate, which was the home of Shu Maxwell and also the place where Ryder stayed with Alice. The guards of Maxwell Estate were just as alert as always in guarding the place even though Shu wasn''t here. They weren''t aware that a man was walking towards them right at that time who was capable of shaking their entire defense alone. It was a man. He had beautiful dark hair that wasn''t very long. His eyes seemed slightly red. The man was wearing a professional black coat as if he was a businessman. Both his hands had dark gloves that seemed to have diamonds studded in the knuckles. He was Luke, who was the right-hand man of Adrian that was sent here to bring Alice with him. He had a piece of paper in his hand. He stood before a guard of one of the mansions in the area and showed him the peace of paper. "Can you tell me where I can find this place?" The guard gazed at the address on the piece of paper. "Oh, you''re looking for Maxwell Estate. That''s the one." The guard pointed towards one of the nearby buildings. "Oh, so this is the place," Luke muttered as he took the piece of paper back. He walked towards the Maxwell Estate and stopped before the metallic gates. The guards of the mansion approached him. "Yes?" They asked. "I am here to meet Miss Alice," Luke replied. "Miss Alice? Who are you to her? What business do you have with her?" Hearing the name of Alice, the guards grew alert. Alice was already kidnapped some time back. So they were told to stay more alert. Don''t a man with such a strange accent here and that too, this late wasn''t something that found normal. Even though Alice wasn''t here, they didn''t tell the man about that. "Who are you?" They asked. "I am from the University she applied to study. This is my card," Luke showed the card to the guards. "I''m here to ask her some questions. You can think of it as more like an on-site inspection about the behavior of the student. It''s also an interview. Can you please call her out?" He continued. The guards saw the card, which seemed real. The excuse also seemed real. "Do you have anything else to prove that she actually applied, and you''re here regarding that? The card you showed says that the University is in Russia. We don''t know how the real cards look there. So we wouldn''t know even if this card is fake," the guard pointed out, not giving the man a benefit of the doubt. It wasn''t as if he could go back inside and verify with Alice since she wasn''t here. So he could only deal with it this way. " You can go in and ask her yourself if she applied or not. It would even be better if you can call her out so I can talk directly," Luke replied, still behaving respectfully. Adrian had told him to be respectful when dealing with this stuff. He also needed to bring Alice with him. If he became violent here, that would create a bad impression on Alice, who might refuse to come with him. So he tried his best. Luke brought a piece of folded paper out of his pocket. "More proof? I do have a photocopy of her application form and the handwritten essay that she sent." He said as he gave the card to them. The guards observed the handwritten note and the name of Alice and her details. They were almost certain that the man was telling the truth, but they still couldn''t put their doubts to rest. They decided to tell the truth. "Miss Alice and Mister Ryder left the Estate for their vacation. They will be back after a week. You can only meet them at that time. Please come back then," the guard informed Luke. "Hmm? They aren''t here?" Luke muttered. ''It doesn''t seem like they are lying. It looks like she really did go out. Can I really wait for a week? If she didn''t go car, I can go there and approach her,'' he thought as he observed the guards. "I am in a hurry, and she is the last candidate I need to interact with before I go back to Russia. Can you at least tell me where they went? If they didn''t go too far, I could meet them there. If it is faster than spending a week here, then please tell me." He said. "We have no idea where they went on a vacation. They didn''t tell us. All we know is that they aren''t in the city. If you want to talk to Miss Alice, you need to come after a week. You can only find her then," the guards informed Luke. The smile on Luke''s face disappeared as he turned back. ''One week, huh,'' he thought as he left. He called Adrian and informed him about the things that were happening here. ''One week? Hah, it''s fine. At Least you found out that she indeed lives there. I''ve already waited to meet her for so long. What''s one more week," Adrian said to him before he disconnected the call. "Hah!" A scream was heard as a girl woke up from her slumber. Alice''s face was covered in sweat as he breathed heavily. It was as if she had seen some horrible dream that terrified her. She immediately turned on the lights as she started trying to calm her breathing. She gazed towards the door, which seemed to be farther than it had ever been previously. Her head was also spinning. Chapter 423 - 419: Rendezvous in the lift Alice woke up from her sleep, sweating. Her heart was beating faster as if she had woken up from her sleep because of a deep struggle. She gazed at the time on her phone. Seeing that the time was 3 am, and no one was in the room, Alice picked up the glass of water, which was placed on a nearby table. She took a sip of water before she placed it back. The room was so silent that even the sound of glass hitting the table was clearly audible. She once again laid down on the bed as she closed her eyes and started sleeping again. Back in the villa, Ryder was sleeping peacefully. There was no disturbance as no one barged inside the villa in the night. The Spirit of Stanner still kept an eye on the house, keeping it safer. The silent night ended as the light of the sun started brightening the land. Yawn, Ryder sat up as he opened his mouth, yawning. He stretched his arms. He got off the bed before he changed his clothes. He also donned a proper coat before he brought the body of Handerson out of his inventory. He touched the body of Handerson. As he touched, his skin started getting tanner. His hair also started changing color until they were precisely the same shade as the man. The length of Ryder''s hair also adjusted to be the same length of Handerson''s hairs. His eyes became sharper as his eyebrows became thinner. His slender nose also changed color, becoming wider. His lips became drier. Soon, he was looking the same as Handerson. Even the heights were the same. Handerson was a little shorter than Ryder had been. Ryder brought a mirror out of the inventory and looked at his face. A smile formed on his face as a word escaped his lips, "Perfect." He kept the body back before he walked out of the room. He went downstairs and left the villa. Stepping inside the car of Handerson, he inserted the keys as he started the engine. He pulled the car out of the driveway and left. He also had Handerson''s phone. He had already gone through the phone last night, but he realized that there were over two thousand numbers on his phone. It was impossible to find the number of the Uprising contacts that easy, so he had left that for later. He only checked the message, which didn''t provide him with any information. He was keeping the phone in his pocket, hoping not to get any calls since he didn''t wish to take the risk of getting caught. The wheels of the car turned as it entered the headquarters of the Bureau. Ryder parked the car and stepped out of the car. He confidently walked towards the entrance. He had seen the way Handerson walked, and he was trying to impersonate that movement. The man who stood at the entrance greeted Ryder respectfully as he stepped inside the FBI headquarters. The giant insignia and symbol of the Bureau were placed carved on the floor, covering the entire entrance. Ryder walked over the insignia as he moved towards the lift. He could see many agents walking through the hallway. ''I can''t believe I am actually infiltrating the FBI to kill their director. Even though I know he''s the bad guy; this act technically makes me a terrorist. If anyone finds out, I''ll be called a domestic terrorist. All the best investigators are already here,'' Ryder thought. ''Sigh, if someone had told me in the past that I will be breaking inside the headquarters of the FBI, I would have called that person crazy. But here, I am the crazy. Whatever, it''s got the better of this world. The people like him deserve to die. Trying to get so many of his own innocent agents killed for his own benefit. I don''t think I''ll be going to hell for it.'' He entered the lips and pressed the button on the top floor. "Wait a minute! Stop the lift, please!" As the door of the lift was about to close, Ryder saw a girl running towards him, shouting to stop the lift. Ryder didn''t wish to delay himself any further for some girl, so he didn''t move or do anything, but there was another person in the lift who reached out his hand and prevented the door of the lift from closing. It was a man who was wearing big round glasses like Darry Botter of the famous Wizard Movie. There was a fawning smile on the man''s face as he watched the lady running towards him. His stomach was coming out a little, making him seem chubby but not fat. The man didn''t have a field job, and he didn''t exercise to control his weight anyway. The lady stepped inside the lift and hugged the chubby man tightly. "Thank you so much! In this cruel world, only you are compassionate enough to help a poor girl like me. You are the best man. I can''t believe I found someone as nice as you. Would you please marry me?" The seductive girl asked the chubby man as she bit the tip of her ear. The man opened his lips to answer, but that''s when he heard another voice. "Get out of the dream." Hearing the voice, the man looked to his side only to see Ryder being the one who said it. Confused, he looked back at the girl only to realize that she wasn''t hugging him. The girl was still running towards the lift. The man lowered his head in embarrassment. The woman was wearing a pencil skirt that wrapped around her waist perfectly. Because of the lift, she was unable to run fast. It still took her some time before she reached the lift. "She stepped inside the lift as she breathed in relief. Thank you for stopping the lift," she told the chubby man. The man was somewhat disappointed that the girl wasn''t reacting as strongly as he had imagined. "It was nothing," he said softly. However, the girl had already stopped looking at him by then. The girl was instead looking at Ryder. "Good morning Sir," she told Ryder, who was standing on the side. "Good morning," Ryder replied, nodding his head. The girl smiled back. "Sir, I have arranged for all the papers you asked for. You said you wanted to see it early in the morning. I''ll show you." ''Who exactly is this girl. She is acting so close. Is she the assistant of Handerson or someone who worked under him? Sigh, this is troublesome. At Least Handerson''s office is also on the same floor. I can do my work after I get free from her," he thought. "I need to meet with the Director," Ryder said to her, hinting that she would deal with the other work later. "Right, sir. As you had said, you''ll see the doc.u.ments you asked for after arriving and meet with the Director at 12 when he arrives," the girl affirmed. ''He isn''t here? So he will come at 12,'' Ryder thought as he turned his wrist and looked at the time on the watch. '' Looks like she is indeed the assistant since she is carrying Handerson''s schedule. Fine. I''ll see what were the important doc.u.ments that this guy wanted to read first,'' Ryder thought as he gazed at the seductive girl. He didn''t know why but he felt like the girl was looking at him weirdly. The lift stopped at the 5th floor, and the chubby man stepped out, leaving only the girl and Ryder inside. The lift door closed against. The girl started moving back slowly without looking back, closing the distance between her and Ryder. Ryder noticed everything as he wondered what the girl was trying to do. ''Is she crazy or what? If she moved a little more, her butt...'' Ryder was thinking something, but what he was thinking about did happen. The girl had closed all distance between the two of them as her ass rubbed against his upper thighs since she was short. ''Just what is she doing? Isn''t she worried when doing this to her senior? Or could it be that Handerson had this kind of relationship with this girl?'' Ryder thought, frowning. He didn''t know how to react. If Handerson was into this kind of relationship and did this in lift daily, he couldn''t scold her. And If he wasn''t in this relationship, it was another problem since it would mean the girl was seducing him. "What happened, darling? Why aren''t you using your hands like you always do?" The Girl said in a seductive fine as she caught both his hands. She placed his left hand in her b.r.e.a.s.t while she placed his right hand between her legs as a slight m.o.a.n escaped her lips. ''What the heck! This girl is crazy! Even if she is in a relationship, these two do this in lift daily? How crazy are they?!'' Ryder was cursing in his head. Chapter 424 - 420: In Lift (*) Ryder gazed at the girl who was rubbing her butt against his upper thighs shamelessly. He wondered if the girl was crazy. He looked around to see if the lift had any cameras. If the camera were there, doing it would really mean the girl was mad. Fortunately, there were no cameras around, which he found surprising as well. How could a lift have no cameras? Strange. At Least that explains why Handerson and the girl did that activity in the lift so often. He didn''t know the name of the girl and didn''t understand how he should address her. He simply reacted, "I''m not in the mood today." The girl seemed to be stunned after hearing his reaction. He turned back as she gazed at him. "So that''s how it is," the girl muttered as she observed Ryder''s face making him wonder if there were any problems in his disguise. Did she realize that he wasn''t Handerson? Was it because of his words? Did he say something wrong? Many thoughts floated through his head, but he kept his poker face. "I can''t believe it!" The girl let out strongly. ''She knows. I need to do something. I can''t even keep her in my inventory without killing her but killing her for something like that... Is there no other way..." Ryder clenched his fist as he wondered what he could do. He could go back in time by over an hour, but he didn''t want to use that ability lightly because of the concerns about the Lord of Time. If he couldn''t find other ways, the only ways would be to kill the girl or go back in time and stop the chubby man from stopping the lift. He was thinking about what he can do when the girl continued, "Don''t we save that for Fridays? You want to do the roleplay today?" "Huh?" Ryder gazed at her in confusion. ''Roleplay? What is this girl talking about?'' he thought. "Sigh, fine. We''ll do the roleplay today. You''re the unwilling boss, and I''m the secretary that''s l.u.s.ting after you as I can''t wait," the girl let out as she grinned. ''So she thinks I''m pretending? If I don''t play along, I''ll expose myself. I guess I can only play along. Better than having to kill her or going back in time,'' Ryder thought as he agreed. "No, I''m really not in the mood now. Let''s continue tomorrow," he said, keeping the same tone as last time. "You aren''t in the mood, but I''m in the mood, boss," the girl grinned as she placed her hand on the buttons in the lift. She tapped a button that stopped the lift. ''I was wrong. This girl is really a psychopath!'' Ryder thought as he saw her stopping the lift. Just what the heck was this place? Was it actually the FBI headquarters or a p.o.r.n shooting set? Or was he actually having some s.e.x.u.a.l fantasy in his dream? This was blowing up out of proportion. " We should be done by the time the Director arrives. Your meeting with him won''t be delayed," the girl let out as he reached out his hand towards Ryder''s pants. She opened his belt before she unbuttoned his pants. Ryder didn''t stop her since he didn''t intend to make her suspicious. From what he understood, Handerson never actually resisted her. That''s what he was feeling here. He released a mouthful of breath as he let nature take its course. ''It''s not as if I''m losing anything since she would be done by the time he arrives,'' he thought. He had just decided when the girl slid down his pants as she sat on her knees. ''I understand where this is going,'' Ryder thought, understanding the girl''s intention. He didn''t even look down as the girl placed her hand on his manhood and started stroking it. He wanted to facepalm himself at what he was doing. Since his whole body was like Handerson, his little one was also like his. He only took a short glance down and felt like dying in embarrassment. ''What the heck?! How can someone have so small! That Bastard! If I had something like this, I wouldn''t even show it to someone in embarrassment, and he was stroking it all around his office?'' he thought as he smiled wryly. Even he was feeling embarrassed even though his real one was multiple times bigger. He couldn''t believe he was doing it with a girl like this in his transformed state. He didn''t even dare to look down again after the first glance since he would be seeing that small thing again, making him feel like dying.Find authorized novels in , faster updates, better experience, Please click #*)_52059934333914169 for visiting. As Ryder was looking up, the girl took his 3 inch long, which was already in its erect form, in her mouth and started sucking. As the girl gave him head, Ryder kept looking up, not bothering to look down. The girl continued for five minutes, but she started looking stunned. She brought her head backward as she gazed at Ryder, who was looking upwards. "What happened to you today, darling? You''re doing so great. It''s been close to 5 minutes, and you haven''t released. Are you sick or something? You generally release within minutes," the girl asked him. ''What the f.u.c.k? Within minutes? Even after having so much experience, within minutes? That too from only the mouth? The more I know about him, the more that guy falls from my eyes. "What are you talking about? This is the first time you''re doing it to me. You don''t know how long I last. Continue what you were doing," Ryder replied, keeping with the excuse that he was roleplaying of someone who didn''t know the girl. The girl smirked evilly as she licked her lips. She again resumed. The more she continued, the more she grew stunned since Ryder wasn''t releasing. He only released after twenty minutes, and that too because it was time for him to leave. If he wished, he couldn''t hold on for longer even though the girl was good at it. A white sticky liquid filled the mouth of the girl entirely. She closed her mouth to make sure that none of it spilled out. She did struggle a little but eventually managed to swallow it all. He licked her lips before he gave him a past sick to clean everything properly. "You released so much. You''re really like a different person today. And it tasted so much better as well. I loved it. Is it because you were excited about this roleplay? We must do it often then," the girl let out as she grinned. Ryder raised his pants again before he arranged his clothes properly. The girl also stood up. Her smile didn''t leave her lips. "Alright. I''ll be late for the meeting," Ryder said as he tapped the button of the top floor. The lift once again started moving. Just when the lift was about to reach its destination, the girl hugged him tightly. Her moderately sized b.r.e.a.s.ts squeezed between them. "Come to your office after the meeting. I''ll be waiting so we can continue from where we stopped. The main course is still left," she whispered in Ryder''s ears The lift stopped on the top floor. The two of them stepped out of the lift together and walked in the opposite direction. ''She genuinely looked excited. Either she was acting to be so easy because she wanted to move forward in her career by using Handerson, or she really liked it. If it''s the latter, wouldn''t it mean size really doesn''t matter? His whole perception of reality will be broken if it''s that,'' he thought as he smiled wryly. As he was walking, he saw another man step out from a different lift. He recognized the man to be the Director of the Bureau. Ryder followed the director to his office without saying hello. Even though he had seen the director, he wasn''t seen by him. The Director entered his office. Ryder waited for a few seconds before he also stepped forward. He knocked on the door. "Come on in," a voice came from inside. Ryder turned the doorknob and opened the door as he stepped inside. He walked towards the man who was sitting inside the office "Oh, Handerson. It''s you. You''re right on time. If pretty surprising. Have a seat. We can begin after he is here," the Director told Ryder as he Kingdom pointed towards the chair. ''Him? Is someone else coming too? He seemed respectful when mentioning about whoever is coming. Just who could it be? Someone, even the Direction of this place is respectful to?'' Ryder thought as he took a seat. ''There can only be two types of people that can make him talk like that. Either someone from a High position is coming, which seems to have a higher chance. The second type of person is someone from the Uprising since this man works for the Uprising,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. Right at that moment, a person stepped inside the headquarters. Chapter 425 - 421: Named From the words of the Director, Ryder had a feeling that someone high up in the position was coming to meet them who could only be someone from the government or the Uprising. In any case, he needed to kill the man. If he left in time, that would be amazing. If it was someone from the government, they could have handled everything. If it were someone from the Uprising, that would even be better since that person would be accused of killing the guy. The first thing he needed to see was if the room had any cameras. Normally, this room shouldn''t have one as far as he had expected. It was the room of the head where supposedly many secret and shady deals might have taken place. No person in authority would like to have a camera in his room if he could control it. Ryder casually looked around the room. He acted so subtly that it didn''t seem as if he was trying to search for something. It seemed more as if he was actually bored. He was sure the director would notice no matter how better he was at sneaking around, so he didn''t hide and embraced the boredom. As he expected, the Director noticed his movement. "Are you bored?" "A little," Ryder answered as he returned to his normal position. He had already found out what he wished to know. There was no camera in the room. At least, not openly. There was still a chance that there could be a hidden camera, but at this point, he didn''t care for that. It wasn''t as if he was doing it with his real face. Even if the camera recorded everything, it would only show Handerson being the one who fired the shot, not Ryder. That would, however, stump his plans of getting the person who came here to be blamed since the camera will prove that the person wasn''t the one who shot. No matter what the situation was, he knew he couldn''t wait. His right hand was under the table where the Director couldn''t see. "Janus, open inventory," he whispered softly. "Hmm? Did you say something?" The man on the other side of the table asked as he felt like he heard Ryder say something. "Nothing." Ryder shook his head as he glanced at the middle-aged man. "Hmm," Director Mark nodded his head as he started looking back at the screen of his laptop. The invention was opened in front of Ryder''s hand. He tapped on the gun with the silencer. The gun appeared in his hand. He was just about to raise his hand to shoot the Silver Haired Mark, planning to shoot him. Things didn''t go as Ryder had planned, though. Before he could even bring his hand out from under the table, he heard the sound of the door behind unlocked. Who was it that dared to enter Mark''s room without knocking on the door? It must be the one who they were waiting for. The person was already here? He hurriedly kept the gun back in his inventory. "Welcome, Sir," Mark stood up respectfully, which stunned Ryder even more. Ryder was stunned to see the middle-aged man so respectful. Was the president here? Even that woman shouldn''t attract much attention. Ryder also stood up as he turned around. He could see an old man standing behind him. The old man looked like he was seventy-eight years old. His head was full of white hair. His long white beard came down to his chest. There was a golden cane in his hand, the bottom of which was touching the ground. The man was standing in a perfect position, though. It didn''t seem like he needed the cane. "Please have a seat, my King," Mark said to the old man as he stepped aside, clearing the path of his chair. The old man stepped forward with an expressionless face while Ryder stayed still, wondering what he had just heard. ''My King? Is he just being respectful, or is the man actually a King from Uprising? Could he be the one that tried to get Bastion assassinated or someone else? The Uprising might have more Kings. It should be a title for them,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''The two guys that I had faced must be Kings as well. So they are using an aristocratic hierarchy... This must mean they don''t have one leader but a group of leaders that they call king, and this guy is one of their leaders, assuming he isn''t an actual king,'' he thought. Mark walked beside Ryder and stood before the second chair. The old man sat down on the chair. "Sit," he said softly Mark sat down, and Ryder followed suit. "So, did you guys manage to get any answers from the guy?" The old man asked as he placed the cane on the table. "Ray is a very experienced agent. He is fully trained not to open his mouth even when facing extreme tortures of the enemy. I am sure he wouldn''t tell us if he doesn''t wish to, no matter how hard we torture him." "He is also one of our best agents who has impeccable control of himself. He is really a genius. He can even fool Lie Detector tests," Mark started explaining. ''Oh? Are they talking about Ray? As I expected... The Uprising guys were going to come after Ray to get to me. They are already here...'' Ryder thought as he kept his gaze at the cane. He didn''t let any expressions show on his face since he didn''t want to get caught. He noticed Mark''s reactions when facing the man, and he was trying to enact the same thing though a little less noticeable. "So we have been trying to use other methods," "I haven''t asked you to praise me. Tell me what methods you have been trying and if you got any results?" The man asked as he chided Mark. "Ah, right. We have sent Ray''s phone to our experts, hoping to find something to use. We did manage to find something," Mark explained. "You found the number of the guy we''re looking for? Give me his location," the old man asked, sighing. "We didn''t manage to find the number of the person he called. As I had said, he is a pretty clear guy. He was most probably using some other way to contact the man. Or he was cleverly removing all the traces of the call, but we did find a few suspicious contacts in his contact list," Mark said as he showed a piece of paper to the old man. "In his contact list, there are two hundred men who aren''t the agents of our agency. All those two hundred are under suspicion, but even amongst them, I have selected fifty guys who are the most suspicious after we conducted a background search on them. This is the list of the fifty guys," he continued. The old man picked up the paper in his hand and started reading it. "Hu Xianhuan?" The old man read the first name. "He is from the country of China who happened to enter the country only ten days before the appearance of the masked man. He also happened to be in DC, where the person first appeared. He was also in the city where the man appeared the second time. He is our primary suspicion," Mark explained the reason for the man being on the list. "Taison Blake?" The old men read the next name. "Yeah. The reason for suspicion is because he wasn''t a relative to Ray or an agent here, but his number is saved as family. From what I could gather, the two of them barely knew each other but still, tagging the person as family is suspicious," Mark answered. "His whereabouts at the time when the Masked Man appeared are unknown." "Third name, Ryder Flynn?" The old man asked as he moved over to the next name on the list. Hearing his name, Ryder grew stunned. There was his name as well? That fool Ray took so many precautions, but he forgot to delete his name from the contact list? Either Ray wasn''t as alert, or Mark was much more clever than Ray. Whatever being the case, the risk was now on him. "Yeah. He is third on the list created by me. He is a pretty odd case if I just say so myself. He happens to be poor, but he got pretty rich within a short timeframe, and he even opened a company of his own," Mark answered. "Now, according to our sources, he achieved all this with the help of Dream Corporation since he knows someone high up in the organization. Still, I have a feeling that his relationship with Ray doesn''t make sense. He also happened to be in the two cities at the time when the masked guy appeared, so we can''t forget him," he continued. Chapter 426 - 422: He is Ryder Flynn "Are all the guys in the list the ones who were present in the cities even the guy appeared?" The old man asked curiously. "Yeah. I only included the names who were either in the city or nearby at that time. The only other people who are included are the ones that we weren''t able to locate at that time," Mark explained. "So you found 200 people suspicious. This list is of 200 people, and you''re saying his phone had a number of 200 people who happened to match the locations?" The old man inquired. "No, the two hundred people include the ones whose locations we weren''t able to find and who were suspicious. Amongst the ones whose locations we were able to verify, only the top twenty in the list are under suspicion," Mark explained further. "I am not here for a lift. I am here to find the identity of the person. How do you expect to find which of these two hundred people is the one? Or are you expecting me to do all the work and interrogate them myself?" The old man asked as he squinted his eyes. As he became serious, the entire atmosphere became heavy. Even Ryder could feel the man''s aura. From what he could feel, the man gave him a similar feeling to the one he had received from the twelfth king and Thirteenth King. That made Ryder confident that the Kings were the leaders of the Uprising, and they had some incredible strength. He was sure that the man was going to have incredible strength like the others. No matter what it took, he couldn''t attack now since the man was most probably unaffected by bullets as well. The aura was so powerful that Mark had already started sweating. As Ryder had previously already faced the Thirteenth King, he encountered something similar to this aura as well. He wasn''t as much intimidated as well, but he also pretended to be suffocated under the aura. All he needed, for now, was to wait for the man to leave before shooting Mark and leaving. He just needed to bid his time. "Is that what you want? If I need to do all the work myself, why do we even have you?" The old man said, placing his hand on the table. His finger tapped on the table in a specific rhythm that seemed to be matching with the heartbeat of Mark. Ryder didn''t know about it, but when he had entered Bastion''s house to search for Alice last time, Shu was standing outside, tapping on the car with his fingers. Strangely enough, this man''s beating rhythm was precisely the same when matched with the rhythm of Shu as both of them were using the same melody. As Shu had stopped doing this when Ryder had come out, he didn''t manage to hear it, or he would have realized how these two tunes were precisely the same. "N-no, your Highness. I didn''t mean for you to do it. I was just showing our progress. Within a few days, I''ll find the person who is responsible for it. I assure you," Mark explained as he used a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "I don''t have that much time. Since I already came here, I''ll handle the rest. Take me to this, Ray. I will get the answers from him," the old man said sternly as he stood up. "Ah, meeting you here is fine, but taking you there might cause suspicions on the ones that aren''t involved with us," Mark expressed with hesitation as he stood up. The old man didn''t say anything and just gazed at Mark, but the intimidation of that gaze in itself was enough for Mark to drop down on his knees. He hit his forehead on the ground as he started apologizing. "Please forgive me for my mistake. I didn''t intend to do that. I''ll take you there right away!" "Good," the old man muttered as he shifted his gaze. Mark pushed his body upwards as he stood up. "Please follow me," he said as he walked towards the door. He also wiped his forehead to hide any dust that might have stayed there because he had touched his forehead on the ground to apologize. The old man picked up his cane and started following Mark. Ryder followed after the two of them. ''Are they going to torture Ray to get answers? No matter how corrupt they are, they shouldn''t have done this. If they did something, I''d have to make my move,'' he thought as he kept his expressions unnoticeable. The door was opened as the three of them stepped out of the room. They walked towards the lift. The three of them entered the lift. Mark pressed the button of the tenth floor. The lift started going down. Mark was looking at the floor. He seemed like he wanted to say something, but he didn''t have the courage. After some time, he raised his eyes, and he gazed at the old man. " Ray is a trained agent. He wouldn''t break in pain. And if he realized why we need the information, he''ll be even more strict." He expressed his concern. "I know how to get answers from him," the old man muttered under his breath. "P-please don''t kill him. I''ll have a hard time explaining his death," Mark replied, understanding that the man wasn''t guaranteeing anything. "I''m sure you''ll find a way to handle the aftermath," the old man answered without any expression on his face. The more Ryder heard their conversation, the more he worried for Ray''s safety. It was also an excellent chance to see Ray''s loyalty, though. He wondered if Ray would give Ryder''s name to save his life. If he did, Ryder wouldn''t even think about saving him, but if he was prepared to die without exposing Ryder, he was prepared to do something. Ting! With a light notification, the door of the lift opened. Mark stepped out first, and the others followed after him. The old man was led to a room which had number fifteen written on it. There were two agents standing in front of the door. "Open the door," Mark commanded the men. "Yes, sir." The men immediately opened the doors as per the orders of Ryder. Mark, Ryder, and the old man stepped inside the room before the door was closed once again. "Director and Assistant Director entered. That was normal, but who was the old man? Why was he allowed inside?" One of the two guards asked his partner "Maybe he is from some government authority here to test the living conditions of Ray? You know how the human rights department and various other troublesome agencies work. They always create trouble for us law enforcement," the other man smiled wryly as he answered. ***** Ray was lying on the bed when he saw the door open. He opened his eyes slowly as he gazed to the side. He sat up after he saw that it was the Director and Handerson. He did find the third person to be suspicious. Who was this old man? Why was he here? "Ray, we already have a list of the people who might have given you the information. Please tell us who that person is, or you might be in deep trouble. We have sufficient reason to believe that the person is working for the evil organization. That''s why he fooled us and made us waste our resources. Give the name, or you''ll suffer the charge of treason," Mark let out as he stepped forward. He wanted to get the answers before the old man needed to since that would mean things could be handled in a civil manner. "I told you, I don''t know who that person is. He only left letters in front of my doors. He only used an offline method of information sharing. I never knew who he was myself. All I know is that he helped me a lot in the past with information. He couldn''t have joined the enemy," Ray answered softly, sticking to his excuse. Mark sighed as he shook his head. He was about to give up when he thought of an idea. Since he wasn''t going to get an answer anyway, he decided to at least try his luck and tell a random name from the list. He was sure that Ray''s expression would expose the truth if his guess were right. If he were wrong, that would only mean that the old man would take over. This was the only thing he knew. The old man raised his right feet to step forward, but before his feet could land on the ground, Mark utilized his plan. "Hah, you really thought you could fool us, right? You think we wouldn''t know who he is? I was only asking to test if you were willing to be loyal to your country in the end or not. Albeit you didn''t choose," Mark let out, laughing. "He is Ryder Flynn, isn''t he?" He asked. Chapter 427 - 423: Foolish Lies "We know the guy who helped you is Ryder Flynn," Mark declared in full confidence as if he had always known it. Ray''s face went pale as he heard Ryder''s name? They knew it? How did they find out? He had cleared all evidence. How could they have known? Hearing his name, Ryder also grew stunned as his expressions changed. He quickly controlled his emotions before anyone could notice as he realized what was happening. ''This bastard! He is bluffing! He is using the same trick I used in Handerson! What a cunning Bastard! What luck, he got the name right,'' he thought as he noticed Ray''s face. He couldn''t help but shake his head in disappointment. It was confirmed that Mark knew he was right now. He could only correct it all by going back in time, but he was listening to Janus'' advice. He couldn''t use his Time Powers unless absolutely necessary, or he had a possibility of getting in trouble with the gods. He could only do one thing at this point. Kill Mark and get stronger as he finishes the mission. After that, the only thing he could do was to defeat the King with the increased powers. One of the quest rewards was that he would be four times stronger. That should be enough to kill a King, he thought. Ray also considered the possibility that he might be bluffing. If that was true, he had to control the situation. The only way to get out of the situation was by giving an excuse as to why he was so stunned before it was too late. He could only make it genuine if he were fast in it. A smirk appeared on Mark''s face as he realized that he had received the answer. He was about to laugh heartily as he bragged to Ray how he had fooled him with his trickery, but before he could even open his mouth, Rat took the lead. "How do you know about my sister''s boyfriend? Did you arrest him? Tell me you didn''t hurt my sister? How could you be so stupid to think he''s the guy! Tell me he and my sister are safe!" Ray stood up from the bed in urgency. He walked towards Mark, but he couldn''t even take two steps forward as the handcuff was tied to his right hand and the bed which kept him back. ''Boyfriend of that girl?'' Ryder thought with a weird look on his face. He understood what Ray was trying to do, but seriously? Boyfriend of his girlfriend? ''He must not be thinking straight because he was overwhelmed, but it''s such an easy lie to catch. All they need to do is call his sister or bring her here. He has also caused his sister to be dragged in the middle,'' he thought. He wanted to step forward and smack Ray for being such an Idiot. That guy gave him away unintentionally. That was understandable, but he also got his family in danger. Ryder knew the importance of family, so he was even more furious. "You were stunned because she is your sister''s boyfriend?" Mark asked, gobsmacked. "Yeah. You didn''t know it? That means you didn''t arrest him and my sister because of your misunderstanding? Good," Ray let out a relieved breath as if he was actually glad. He walked back and sat down on the bed. "He isn''t the guy. And I''m sure none on your list would be that person. I''ll actually tell you the truth. I have never talked to that person. We actually used the offline mode of message exchange. There is one thing I know, though. From the way that person talked, they were most probably a girl," Ray explained as he stuck to his lie while adding another thing to give them more to think about. "Call her." An old voice suddenly sounded. Ray looked in the direction where that voice came from, only to know that it was the voice of the old man who was standing behind silently with a cane in his hand. "Call who?" Mark asked, confused. "His sister. I believe he is actually the person we need. Your little guy is definitely lying. Call the girl. You''ll most probably find out that he isn''t her boyfriend," the old man said in an emotionless tone. ''As expected. The others weren''t idiot enough not to try it. Ray made a big mistake,'' he thought. " Right. I did find her number. I was also thinking about getting her here to have a chat about her brother. It looks like it''ll be the right time to call her," he let out as he grinned. It was only now that Ray realized how bad he had messed up. If they called her, Ryder was going to get caught since his sister would say that she didn''t have a boyfriend. He opened his mouth to say something, but as soon as he opened his lips, he felt as if he was suffocating. It was as if someone was strangling his neck. He looked around and noticed that the old man was gazing at him. The old man''s eyes were shining in red color somehow. ''Magic? Or are his eyes artificially modified that can make him hypnotize me into thinking that I''m being strangled,'' Ray thought as he placed his hands around his neck. Ryder also noticed what was happening. ''Is this what his power was? The other guy could use wind blades. This guy can also use something in a long range. Is this telekinesis or something else? He must have a range as well. I can use Protection of Aria to be unharmed by his ability for a short time. That should be enough to kill him. I should only do that after I get stronger than last time because I can''t take the risk,'' he thought. He had decided to wait until the man called. Only if he had no other choice was he going to do it inside the room. Mark started dialing the number. It was written on the list of special mentions as the weakness of Ray. Placing the phone near his earlobe, he started waiting for the call to connect as he walked back and forth. Ray was still feeling like he was being strangled. "If the guy is actually your sister''s boyfriend, you don''t need to worry. Don''t let out a single word if he isn''t your informant. Let your sister confirm it. We would believe her. If he is the informant, you can speak before the call is disconnected. We''ll have our answers both ways," the old man said softly as he grinned. His eyes returned to normal. Haaah! Ray took deep breaths as he was finally able to breathe. He looked at the old man like he was looking at a monster. Such powers and such disregard of laws! This could only mean that the guy was from the evil organization. Ryder was right! Mark was the mole in the organization who had leaked the information, helping the guys escape on time. Didn''t that mean all the missions related to Uprising have been traps to keep them occupied while actually giving them free rein? Those guys had such high reach! Just who were these guys?! He couldn''t believe it even though he had realized it now. Even after knowing, he couldn''t say a word since he was going to be killed if he said anything. Not only that, his sister might be in danger after that since these people won''t stop their search. He also couldn''t say anything as that would mean that he was actually lying and Ryder was actually the informant. He could only hope that a miracle would happen, and the girl would say that she was Ryder''s girlfriend. He did understand that it was highly unlikely. "Hmm? It''s not connecting. I tried two times," Mark wondered as he gazed at the screen of his phone. He gazed back at Ryder, who was silently standing in the back since the start. "Handerson, you try as well. Maybe he told her to place my number in a blocklist since he was already suspicious of me before getting caught. He didn''t know anything about you. He must have told her to keep my number blocked. Try from your number. "Alright," Ryder replied as he picked up the call. He hadn''t told the man anything, but he had already messaged the girl about saying that Ryder was her boyfriend to save her brother''s life. He also told her to keep Mark''s number blocked since it was going to act as a signal to him that she received her message. He had already realized this might happen as soon as Ray had told about him being his sister''s boyfriend. He had started typing the message sneakily right then. "Right away. I''ll have the call on speaker," Ryder replied as he brought his phone out of his pocket that he had kept there after sending the message. Chapter 428 - 424: Sold Out Bringing his phone out, Ryder asked Mark to share the number. Even though he knew the number, he couldn''t express that he knew. Mark started telling the number, "Two, Five, Seven..." Ryder dialed the number and placed the phone on speaker. Ray still had no idea that Handerson was Ryder, who was in disguise as Handerson. He was constantly praying that his sister wouldn''t expose Ryder. "Hello?" A feminine voice sounded as the call was picked up. " Ah, hello, Am I talking to Ray''s sister?" Ryder asked. "Yeah, who is it?" The Girl asked back, seemingly confused. "Oh, good. I am Jake Peralta. I work with your brother in the FBI. I''m calling you in regards to your brother. He has been in an accident. He''s been treated at our headquarters in the new capital. Can you come here?" Ryder explained to the girl. "You don''t need to call her here. Just ask if she knows Ryder Flynn," Mark whispered in Ryder''s ears. Ryder gestured to Mark to stay silent as if he knew what he was doing. "I''m sorry for not being able to contact you. He had the accident a few days ago, and he has been in a coma currently. As there was no data about his relatives, we could only use his phone. It took us some time to unlock it. Oh right, there was another number in his phone, marked important. Ryder Flynn, do you know him? Is he a relative?" Ryder inquired. ''Ahh, so that''s what he was going for. Pretty clever. As expected of Handerson," Mark grinned as he understood what Ryder was going for. There was an appreciative look on his face. "Ryder? Yeah. He is my boyfriend. I''ll bring him as well," The girl answered instantly. ''So he wasn''t lying,'' Mark thought as he heard her answer. "Very well. That would be amazing," Ryder told the girl before he disconnected the call. He kept the phone back. "So he wasn''t lying. His expressions were because of that. I thought I had him," Mark said as he frowned. He gazed back at Ryder. "After we leave, you can tell the girl not to come and that you were prank calling." Ryder nodded his head. He had already told the girl not to come anyway. She wasn''t going to come. "There''s no need," the old man suddenly said. "Let her come. Since her brother is going to die, might as well kill her together," he continued as he walked towards Ray. His eyes again started shining. The invisible hand once again appears near Ray''s throat, strangling him. Ray again started struggling to breathe. "Now, if you don''t answer me, I''ll kill you right here. Not only that, your sister will be killed as well after you''re gone. Think for yourself. Do you want to save one informant, or do you want to save yourself and your sister? It''s for you to decide," the old man said as he walked closer to Ray. The closer he moved, the stronger his force became. "I don''t like to repeat things. I''ll only count to 3. I don''t care about my answer. Either you''ll give me now, or you''ll die. There won''t be a second option," he continued. "I-i am telling the truth!" Ray answered, struggling. He still held onto his previous statement claiming that he had told no lies. "One..." Despite Ray''s answer, he continued. "Two..." As the count reached near the end, Ray really started fearing. He wasn''t scared for his life, but he was scared for his sister''s life. Ryder stood in the back, not doing anything. He wanted to see Ray''s loyalty. Was he going to hold until the count of three was over, or was he going to answer before that in fear? Was he going to defeat him until the end or sell him out? This was the only thing he wanted to know low. If Ray didn''t tell until the count of three, he was going to act. He was going to save him and kill Mark. If Ray gave him away, he would still act since he wouldn''t want information about him leaving this room, but that would mark the end of the cooperation between Ray and him. Since both cases resulted in the same thing, he was prepared to shoot Mark. He had already called the gun out of his inventory. He knew that Mark was probably an undead who wasn''t going to die by normal bullets. People like him only died if they were blown up or if their head was sliced from their bodies. Despite knowing that, he was trusting a gun only because of one reason. It was that he had already purchased a special bullet from the store. That bullet only had one specialty. It was that he was able to kill even the undead with the bullets. There was one limitation, though. The bullet needed to actually critically wound the person. He didn''t believe that the bullet could even touch the old man. When he had tried shooting the Thirteenth King, not even one bullet was able to hit him. He was certain that it would be the case for the old man as well, but he was prepared. He has three bullets which were for two people. There could be no wastage, or he would be having a swordfight to cut the head of the old man inside the room. He didn''t wish for the people outside to be alerted by that. Ryder''s right hand was behind his back which was holding a gun as he waited for the time to be finished. "T-" The old man had opened his lips to finish the count when Ray gave up. "It was Ryder Flynn! He was the informant! You were right! Please don''t harm my sister!" He yelled without caring about his breathing. A look of disappointment was on Ryder''s face as he heard Ray selling him out. ''He did it for a good cause at least,'' he comforted himself however he knew; this moment was defining for him. He couldn''t trust people as they would always think for themselves and their family first. Staying anonymous was the best thing for him. By selling him out, Ray had saved his family, but he placed Ryder''s family in danger. If information about him was out, he wasn''t in danger since he was special, but Alice was actually the one who might die. He didn''t take this lightly, no matter the reason. Mark grinned at being proved right as he turned back towards Ryder happily. "So we were rig-" As soon as he turned back, he grew stunned. His face went pale as he noticed the gun in Ryder''s hand that was aiming at him. "Wh-" He had only managed to make a light noise before a bullet left Ryder''s gun and penetrated the skull of Mark. The old man had become alert as soon as he heard the noise behind him. He looked to his side and saw a bullet entering the head of Mark. "Urgh!" Mark dropped to the ground as his eyes became blurry. His body had also lost all its strength. He wasn''t sure what was happening since he had never suffered something like this. After his body was upgraded, he had become undying. He couldn''t be killed by bullets. He has even tested that theory himself. Why was it all different now? How was his body reacting differently? Why did it feel like he was a normal human being who was shot? A hole was left in his head as his body laid on the ground. He soon died, not understanding what had just happened. Why was Handerson even attacking him? These two questions were still floating in his head as he died. The mysterious force that was strangling Ray''s throat had already disappeared after he had given the answer. Ray was breathing heavily to return to normal, but his breathing once again stopped as he saw Mark being shot right before his eyes. His face went pale as he grew shocked. He thought Mark and Handerson were both working for the evil Organization. That''s what it seemed like from their conversation. Was it not the truth? Or were they going to kill him and use Mark as an excuse? He thought. He thought of a possibility. Could it be that they were going to Claim that I shot Mark by taking Handerson''s gun, and Mark shot me in return? He wondered. That seemed to be the only possibility. Or was it that Handerson had suddenly gone crazy? Or was there some enmity between them? Or was it that Handerson had finally joined the right side and decided to oppose the evil? The more he thought, the more possibility appeared in his head. ***** "Why do I have this suffocating feeling? It''s as if something bad is about to happen. What is happening?" Alice was sitting in her room, feeling bad. She gazed at her phone and decided to call Ryder. Chapter 429 - 425: Scheme Alice had a worried look on her face as she started having a bad feeling. She called the number of Ryder to have a talk with him, hoping that it would calm her heart. "The number you''re trying to reach has been switched off. Please leave a message after the beep." "Beep..." As she called, all she received was information that his number was switched off. She was asked to leave a voice message for him. "Please call me as soon as you get this message." She left a message before she disconnected the call. ***** Ryder had shot Mark right in the middle of his forehead, leaving a big hole in his head. Notification kept resounding in his head. [Main mission completed] [Real World Level: +20] [ Five Hundred Origin Points added] [Two Strength Doubling Pills Received] [Would you like to use both strength doubling pills?] [Yes] [No] Ryder tapped on yes instantly. Both the pills appeared in his hand, which he ate instantly without delaying for even a second, wondering how long it would take before the pill took effect and increased his strength and abilities by four hundred percent. All the others were stunned to see it. Even the old man seemed confused, but he didn''t delay for even a second before he raised his hand in the direction of Ryder. Ryder also made his move as soon as he could. He knew that the next few seconds were the most important. That''s why he had instantly fired another shot towards the old man. As he had expected, the bullet changed its direction before it could even reach the man and hit the wall. ''As expected, he can use the same kind of Protection; I''ll have to work hard,'' Ryder thought as he started running towards the old man. He uses his full speed as he activated the protection of aria to make him invincible for a short time. The old man''s expression free weird as he saw his powers not acting on Ryder. What was happening? How could he be invincible to his powers? Just who was he? The old man wondered. He picked up his cane and decided to use his physical strength to take care of Ryder. He was holding the cane in his right hand. As Ryder reached near the man, he swung his cane. Even though the cane was close to a meter long, a two meters long laser came out of it, increasing its reach even further. ''Try anything you can, old man. I am invincible. Let me test my powers now,'' Ryder thought as he grinned. The Protection of Aria was an overpowered ability that made him invincible for close to a minute. In this one minute, no ability or power could harm him. He could still be defeated with brute strength, but he wasn''t going to be harmed in this one minute. The laser sliced through Ryder''s neck, bringing a smirk on the old man''s face, but his face grew even more shocked as he saw Ryder remaining unharmed. There was not even a scratch on Ryder''s neck. The man simply couldn''t believe what was happening. "So you''re the masked man. The man we were searching for was right under our nose. No wonder we couldn''t find you," the old man muttered as he clenched his fist. "But if you think you have won, think twice." A powerful aura surrounded the old man as he punched Ryder''s face. "Good. Let me see if I have enough strength to face a king now or not," Ryder exclaimed as he smirked like he was enjoying it. He had recently heard the notification that he was four times stronger. He was happy and eager to test his strength. With his original strength, he wasn''t able to face the Kings, but he wondered if he could now that he was stronger. This was the best way to test. There were only forty seconds left to his Protection of Aria. He absolutely needed to finish the man before those forty seconds passed, but he only had one bullet left. The bullets were available in limited quantities in the store. There were only three available in slots, so he couldn''t even buy more if he missed. He needed to make this one chance count and for that, he needed to divert the attention of the man. Ryder also punched out. His fist clashed with the old man''s fist. The impact was so powerful that a high wind pressure range was developed between them, which pushed both of them back. While Ryder was pushed back only two steps, the old man was in a worse condition. His brute strength proved to be much weaker than Ryder as he flew back like a broken doll. There was a look of disbelief on his face. He could control himself in mid-air. Thus he prevented himself from hitting the wall, but that wasn''t enough as he found Ryder before him. Ryder caught the man by his neck and threw him on the opposite side of the room. Ray was standing at one end of the room. Ryder stood in the middle of him, and the old man stood on the completely opposite side of the room. Ryder still had a gun in his left hand, with which he shot the old man who had barely managed to control himself mid-air once again. The bullet once again failed to hit the old man as it missed the man. His power managed to change the direction of the bullet once again. "Fu*k!" Ryder cursed out in anger as the bullet missed as well. He flew towards the man once again. There were only fifteen seconds left to his invincibility. The old man seemed furious. It seemed as if he was being toyed with. Ryder was playing with him, and he didn''t like it. He couldn''t understand anything that was happening now. How could Ryder not be affected by his power? How could he be invincible? More importantly, how could he be stronger than the man? The old man had always seemed calm, but it was evident that he wants to scream in rage now. Ryder threw the gun to the side as he flew towards the man, bare hands. It seemed like it was going to be a fistfight with only ten seconds left to his invincibility. Ten seconds were going to decide the direction that fight was going to take. Even though he was stronger than the man, he couldn''t form water weapons or use the Rain to weaken the enemy inside this closed room. He had no way to handle the man''s invisible powers in this place. So these ten seconds were the most important to him. The old man swung his right arm towards Ryder''s face once again as they both reached close enough to fight. Ryder ducked, making the man''s attack miss as he made an uppercut, making the old man fly up. Ryder flew after the man and once again caught his neck as he started crushing it. "Three..." He was keeping an eye on the time left for his Protection of Aria. Only three seconds were left, which became two. The man held Ryder''s fingers with both his hands, trying to free himself. His invisible powers were constantly attacking Ryder; however, the protection of aria was keeping him safe. Only two seconds were left, which became one second. If Ryder couldn''t kill the man in one second, his body might be cut in half. He was sure of that. ''Stop waiting, dammit!'' Ryder cursed in his mind as if wondering something. "Urgh!" The old man suddenly blurted out a mouthful of blood as a bullet entered his head from behind. "That''s better," Ryder muttered as he grinned. "M-my h..." The old man seemed like he wanted to say something, but his eyes lost their shine. He couldn''t even finish his sentence before he died. The bullet that had hit him was the special bullet that Ryder had purchased from the store. A smile appeared on Ryder''s face as he threw the old man''s body on the ground before he landed. He could see Ray standing in the back with a gun in his hand. Another gun was lying on the floor of the room. This went all according to Ryder''s plan. Right after Ryder had hit the man for the first time, he had three his gun towards Ray. He had simultaneously taken out another guy so that the old man didn''t notice that his gun was missing. The second bullet he had shot was from a normal gun while Ray stood behind with the real gun, waiting for the right moment to shoot. Ryder knew that there was no way the old man was going to take his eyes off him. The chances of him being able to shoot the man were almost negligible. He was more threatening to the old man after all. There was another man in the room who wasn''t on this old man''s radar, and Ryder decided to use him. He finally managed to kill a King. Chapter 430 - 426: Return Ryder had finally managed to kill one of the Kings. He didn''t know that there were twelve more kings like him still alive, not even counting Aluren, who was the true peak monster. Ryder landed on the ground and gazed at Ray, who held the gun in his hand. "Handerson, did you really decide to join the good side?" Ray asked Handerson as he sat down on the bed. He had already seen that there was only one gun in the bullet, so he couldn''t even use it to threaten Ryder. He could only sit back patiently as he tried to get his answer. "The good side where you throw your friend and his family under the bus for your family?" Ryder asked, frowning as he walked closer to Ray. Ray understood where Ryder was pointing at. He had basically betrayed Ryder. He still didn''t know that Handerson was actually Ryder. "Wouldn''t you have done the same?" Ray asked as he gazed into Ryder''s eyes. "Without hesitation," Ryder answered. "Then am I really wrong?" Ray inquired. "As a person, you aren''t wrong. But for me, you are," Ryder muttered as he reached out his hand. "Return my gun," he said. "Hmm? Aren''t you going to use me as bait?" Ray asked, seemingly confused. He had thought that he would be blamed for all the murders. He had a gun in his hand, which was what killed both the men. There was his fingerprint on the gun. Handerson could easily claim that Ray took the gun from Mark and shot two people. As the gun only had two bullets, he wasn''t able to kill Handerson. With that excuse, all the blame would be on Ray. There were no cameras in this room to prove his innocence either. "Shut up and give me the gun," Ryder let out, almost scolding Ray. Ray extended his hand, returning the gun to Ryder. Ryder brought a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the gun, effectively wiping all fingerprints before holding the gun in his hand. Ray''s fingerprints were wiped clearly, leaving only Ryder''s fingerprint. As Ryder''s body was a carbon copy of Handerson, his fingerprints were also of Handerson. So he didn''t need to worry about fingerprints. "Now listen carefully. You were knocked unconscious by Mark while interrogating. You''ll be woken up by the guards outside. Just tell them you don''t know how two people died," Ryder explained to Ray. "They''ll find this gun with my fingerprints, proving that I killed the two and left. You''ll be innocent," he continued. Ray looked at Ryder blankly, understanding what he was trying to say. He was going to take all the blame for himself. Why? He couldn''t understand. "One more thing," Ryder suddenly said. "Don''t ever try to contact Master Ryder. All your relationship with him is over. You two are strangers now. If you ever tried to keep an eye on him or contact him, you''ll be killed without a doubt. Not only you, but I''ll kill your sister as well. The same sister for whom you exposed him. So keep your distance," He continued as he smacked Ray''s head with the back of his gun, making him lose consciousness. Ray''s eyes closed as he dropped to the bed, without consciousness. Ryder watched the unconscious Ray as he shook his head. There was no one left in the room but two dead bodies and an unconscious guy. He gazed at the gun in his hand and threw it near the old man''s body before he walked over to the other gun that he had previously thrown at the ground. He picked up the gun and kept it in his inventory before he started walking towards the door. He opened the door a little before he stepped out. He closed the doors again. "He is interrogating inside. Make sure no one disturbs him. Oh right, he does have a meeting in half an hour. Remind him when it''s the time. Keep an eye on the watch and inform him exactly in half an hour. I don''t want him to be late," Ryder commanded the guards before he started walking away. Stepping inside the lift, he pressed the button of the ground floor. It was the same lift where he was in the morning. He couldn''t help but remember the events that had taken place in the morning. He was still feeling embarrassed. He couldn''t wait to come back to his real body. Ting! The lift opened on the ground floor. Ryder stepped out of the lift and left the place under the watchful eyes of the camera that captured him leaving the place. Ryder walked over to Handerson''s Car and unlocked it before he sat inside. He brought the car out of the parking and got it on the road, zooming it straight towards a distant location. After traveling for half an hour, he brought the car to a cliff. He stopped the car at the edge of the cliff. Opening the door, he confidently stepped out. He walked behind the car. Placing his hand on the back of the car, he started pushing it. The car slowly moved forward until it couldn''t control itself and fell down the cliff. There ends this chapter of my life. " This mission was pretty good. Not only do I have the strength to face the enemies, but I also have five hundred Origin points. Finally, I can see the good days when I''m not lacking in origin points," Ryder muttered as he grinned. "Should I use them to buy something for me or save them for emergencies?" He wondered as he returned back to his original face and body. He had already changed his clothes inside the car. "I''ll see where I can spend them," he muttered as he decided to leave the decision to the future. He walked for a long time before he managed to get back on the road. He took a lift after reaching far away from the cliff. He was dropped off near a mall from where he again started walking. He walked for a few kilometers before he finally decided to book a cab. He had already turned off Handerson''s phone and kept it in his inventory. He brought his real phone out. His phone was already switched off, which he turned on. As soon as he turned on the phone, he was bombarded with the notifications of Alice''s call. "She called me so many times? Did something happen?" Ryder wondered as he called back. Alice was walking back and forth in tension when her phone started ringing. She ran to the bed where her phone was lying. Seeing Ryder''s number, she immediately picked up the call. "Where are you? Are you fine?" She asked in concern. "Hmm?" Ryder was stunned to hear her concerned tone. She seemed concerned about him. How did she know he was doing something dangerous. "What do you mean? I was in a meeting, not on a mission to wipe terrorists, dumbo. Why would I not be fine?" Ryder laughed as he tried to play off her concern lightly. "I-it is just that I was having a bad feeling. I don''t know why," Alice muttered as she breathed a sigh of relief. "Are you free now? When are you finishing your work? When will you come back?" "Hahaha, so that''s what it was. You just wanted me to come back fast. Don''t worry, little girl. I am finished with work. Now I only have free time. I''ll come back now. We can spend the rest of the vacation enjoying ourselves," Ryder answered as he started laughing. "Now, let me disconnect the call. Only then can I come back faster," he continued. He needed to book a cab which he couldn''t do while he was still on the call. "Alright. Come fast," Alice said as she nodded her head. She disconnected the call from her side before she placed the phone on the bed. She could finally relax herself. Ryder finally booked a cab and started waiting for it. **** Far away from Ryder, Shu''s Mansion was going through a commotion. Someone had broken inside the Mansion. It was the right-hand man of Adrian who couldn''t wait to meet Alice. He was getting too eager to finish his mission faster, so he decided to check the mansion himself to see if the guards were actually telling the truth about Alice being out or were they lying to him. The man broke inside the mansion without being caught and started checking each of the rooms. There was no one except the servants inside the Mansion. Ryder and Alice were actually out. As for Shu and his men, they were also not here. The man couldn''t find anyone, but he still didn''t give up. He decided to get the answers as to where Alice had gone. He entered the room of the one who seemed like the Servant with the most authority in the mansion. Chapter 431 - 427: Lost Trust Adrian''s right-hand man Luke had infiltrated the Mansion without getting caught in an effort to see if Alice was actually out or not. As he wasn''t able to find her even after searching for a long time, his assumption was proven to be right. The guards actually weren''t lying. According to the Guards, She wasn''t going to return for seven days. Only two days had passed out of the seven, and a wait of 5 more days was still needed, but Luke didn''t wish to wait so long. Who was to say that she would actually return in the end or not. He was somewhat in a hurry to finish this mission and leave since he didn''t wish to stay in this country any longer than he needed to. Longer stay only meant more chances of conflict with the Kings that worked under Aluren. He wasn''t afraid of the conflict, but he had promised Adrian that he wouldn''t engage them. He didn''t wish to have to break that promise. He soon found a maid who was sleeping in her room. Her room seemed to be the lost luxurious amongst the rooms of the servants that he had seen here, so he was assured about her holding a lot of authority here. He had quickly snuck inside her room. ''If even she doesn''t know, then it would be tough to find her. I wouldn''t have any choice but to wait,'' Luke thought as he stepped closer to the woman who was peacefully sleeping on the bed. Bzzz! Bzzz! Suddenly, Aluren''s phone started vibrating as he received a call. His phone was on silent and could only vibrate. Even though it was only vibrating, even the Vibration was so strong that it made a light noise in the room that only had pin-drop silence. "Hmm..." The maid also heard the noise as she slowly rubbed her eyes to open them. She turned on the table lamp that was near her bed and tapped the switch to turn on the lights. The dark room once filled up with light as soon as the lamp was turned on. The woman looked around the room, not finding anyone else. She picked up her phone, wondering if it was the one that was vibrating. Strangely enough, the phone neither had a call notification nor a message. "Must be my misconception," she thought as she shook her head. She turned off the lamp and laid on the bed once again as she closed her eyes. Luke appeared on the roof of the mansion as he picked up the call. Adrian was on the other side of the call. "Luke, what are you doing there?" Adrian asked. The last time he had called Luke, he was informed that Alice was outside and wasn''t going to return for a week. Why was it that he called just now? Did he know what was happening? "Where?" Luke asked, sounding confused. "You said she isn''t going to be at home for a week. Why is it that you''re inside her house then?" Adrian asked. "This..." Luke was stunned for words. How did Aluren know where he was? "It must be the work of that Bastard! He''s keeping track of my location. He must have informed master Adrian. I''ll teach him a lesson after I go back,'' Luke thought as he clenched his fist. "Answer," Adrian said softly, without any anger in his tone. "Actually, I did enter her house. I did it not to create any trouble. I haven''t even interacted with anyone inside the mansion. I only wished to confirm if she was actually outside or were the guards lying to me for some reason," Luke answered, explaining himself. "Good. Don''t create a bad first impression of her or her close ones. I don''t want her to hate us before even meeting me. Make sure you don''t create trouble unnecessarily," Adrian said, appreciating Luke''s self restraint. "Yes," Luke nodded his head. After telling Luke to keep his restraint, Adrian soon asked the question he was curious about. "So, what did you manage to find out? Is she actually outside?" "She isn''t at home. The guards were telling the truth." Luke answered. "Alright. Leave now then. Even though I''m in a hurry to meet her, I don''t want our haste to spoil things for her. Wait for her to return before properly approaching her." This was the last command of Adrian, after which he disconnected the call without even waiting for a response. "Sigh, I guess I''ll wait and not act now," Luke muttered softly as he placed the phone in his pocket. He soon disappeared into the darkness. ***** Ryder reached the hotel when it was evening. As there was enough time for them to travel the city, they simply played the games during the evening. After having the dinner, they walked back to their rooms. Wishing a good night to each other, they went to bed. ***** Ryder was lying on the bed gazing at his hand, which felt much stronger than before. ''Four times the strength, huh,'' he thought as he observed his hand. "I also got so much experience after I killed a King. I can''t even believe it. It''s good that the system counted it as him attacking me first when though I had shot him first since the bullet didn''t touch him." " His invisible attack did land on me after that, which couldn''t harm me because of my Protection of Aria. Still, that was seen as him attacking me first. Can''t believe I jumped Fifty levels in the real world just from that. Twenty levels were rewarded by the system for the mission, and four times the strength was also received because of the pills." He was amazed at how eventful this day had been. He had basically jumped seventy levels in the real world. After all this time, he had been only level fifty in the real world but now, he happens to be at level one hundred and twenty in a single stroke. Basically, his real-world level had not only caught up to the level in Divinity but it also slightly overtook his in-game level. The four times strength increase was entirely different from this calculation. He was amazed. "Since my abilities are based on my level, I can use them according to the highest level no matter if it''s in a game or in the real world. Since my real-world level is higher, I should be able to keep them up for longer," he muttered as he smiled. He brought his Divinity Glasses out of his inventory and wore them. "Take me to Divinity," he muttered softly after he wore the glasses. A connection was established between his brain and the world of Divinity as he was sent to Divinity. He opened his eyes, finding himself in the Throne Room. Rale was not in the Hall, but Miku was still there, seemingly cleaning the throne. "Your Majesty," she greeted Ryder as soon as he appeared. "Yeah. Did you handle the bodies?" Ryder asked Miku as soon as he appeared. "Yeah. I have arranged everything. Their bodies are buried properly," Miku answered as she sighed. "What about the family members of the ones who have died?" He asked softly. He was sure that they could keep this matter hidden, but the biggest problem was the family members of the Guards and maids who might ask about their whereabouts after they don''t return for a long time. "Their family members are still unaware. The servants and maids that worked here are provided accommodation right here. They only go back home once in a while by taking longer leaves. Their family members won''t know about their disappearance for quite some time," Miku answered as she sighed. She was still upset that Ryder was thinking about hiding the deaths of their comrades who had died in the attacks of a vampire. Instead of telling others and placing the blame on the girl, he was protecting her and risking himself even more. Even though she wanted to tell him how wrong he was, the hierarchy didn''t allow her. Also, she was still hopeful that he might have a good reason. [Warning: Loyalty of Miku has deceased. Her faith in you is seventy percent only] Ryder was about to tell Miku to call Rale when a notification resounded in his head. ''Sigh, Her loyalty did decrease. That was to be expected after all that happened. She must be close to the maids and servants. They all died because of the girl that I brought. She was serving the girl who killed her friends because of my orders. She must be stunned already. Not only that, but I''m also keeping this news a secret and telling her to lie even about that. No wonder her loyalty is decreasing,'' Ryder thought as he sighed. Her loyalty happened to be at eighty-five percent, but now it was down to seventy. He had expected it to fall, even more, so he was surprised that it only fell that much. Everything depended on what he did next. Chapter 432 - 428: Awake Ryder was surprised to see that Miku still had close to seventy percent trust and loyalty in him, but he knew that he still needed to take a few good decisions to make sure her trust didn''t fall any further. "Where is Rale? I want to see Miyali to know the reason she decided to attack our people and what actually happened. If she is to be blamed, she will be executed," Ryder said softly. "I promise that. I won''t be partial while distributing justice." He rubbed the head of Miku softly before he walked towards the door. Miku smiled gently as she ran after Ryder. "Your Majesty, Master Rale was just here. He came to check on you, but after not finding you here, he went to train the Royal Army members," Miku answered. Ryder heard her words as his feet stopped. He suddenly thought of something as he gazed back at Miku. "Tell me something. The Royal Army and Rale''s squad should have been in the Royal Palace. How come they let Miyali run wild without finding out or stopping her?" He asked. "Oh, that''s because Master Rale had sent them outside the Palace for a training mission. He just called them back after he returned," Miku answered Ryder. "Oh. He probably didn''t want others to know that I wasn''t here. It should have been a secret from everyone. It''s still strange, though," Ryder wondered as he left the hall. He shook his head as he concluded. "Maybe I am overthinking." "So he is in the Training Arena?" He asked Miku. "Yeah. That''s where he should be, I believe." Miku answered. "Alright." Ryder walked through the long hallway that looked so desolate without any maids or local guards. A look of contemplation was on his face as a sigh escaped his lips. So much had happened while he was inside. "Select more maids to serve in the Palace. I''m giving you permission. As for the death of the ones that occurred here, I have a plan on how to handle that," Ryder said to Miku. "What plan?" Miku inquired. "It''s true that we can''t tell others about what actually happened. We can''t even blame it on the Death Domain falsely since that would be the cause of a War, and we would lose the trust of our people who will say that even the Royal Palace isn''t safe. We can''t let that happen. So the truth shall be hidden eternally," Ryder answered "How? We can hide this for a few months if we don''t hire new maids, but the families of the old maids will still start inquiring after a month or so if they don''t meet them. And if we hire new maids, this secret will be even more short-lived," Miku wondered as she frowned. "That''s why I have a plan. Call all High Dukes here for a meeting today. I need to talk to them about something," Ryder said as he happened to walk past a window. He couldn''t help but take a good look at the outside view. ''Sigh, I don''t like lying, but I guess I have no option but to do it again. I am sorry, my illusionary master, Salem,'' he thought. He resumed walking and soon reached the Training Arena. Opening the door, he stepped inside, where he was greeted with the sigh of men facing each other in what seemed like a mock battle that was just for practice. Rale was standing on the other end, observing them. "Rale," Ryder called out. His voice was loud enough to attract the attention of everyone in the hall. "Your Majesty!" All Royal Army members gazed at Ryder and immediately dropped down to one knee as they greeted Ryder. Rale also greeted Ryder as he ran closer to him. "I''ll be borrowing Rale for a little while. You guys continue your training," he said to the others before he shifted his focus to Rale. "Come with me." He said. Rale nodded his head as he started walking after Ryder silently, understanding what it might be about. "Take me to the cell where you''re keeping her," he commanded Rale after they stepped out of the arena. "Yes," Rale nodded his head as he took the lead and started walking ahead of others. Ryder and Miku followed Rale in slow steps. None of them seemed to be in an excessive hurry. They were only walking slightly faster than their normal speed. They soon reached the cell that was underground. The cell was a dark place with no light source. Only when Rale stepped inside did the roof started shining in the cell, filling it with light. Ryder could see Miku sitting on the ground. Both her hands were tied to a chain that was embedded in the walls. The chains were long enough to allow him to stand or sit, but she couldn''t even step a few meters away from the walls. She seemed to be sitting silently on the floor. Even her eyes were closed as if she was unconscious. She couldn''t lie on the ground as the chains were not allowing her to lie down. She seemed to be sitting with her back facing the walls. "Did she recover?" Ryder asked as he gazed at Rale. "I checked her last night. She was still in her uncontrolled form. She does seem a lot better now. Maybe she has recovered," he continued. ''Maybe," Ryder muttered. He gazed at Miyali and called out, "Miyali, wake up." He didn''t approach her since he didn''t wish to die. He could revive after dying, but each death held a risk of attracting the attention of the Lord of Time to him. Even when it was in the game since his powers of time travel worked even in this world. He had no control over that. If he could, he would have preferred dying in game since the only thing he might suffer was being logged out of the game for a day and losing one level. That was much better than having used his ability of time reversal by death. It was an excellent ability to have as a backup in the real world. Still, in divinity, it was more of a disadvantage since it was a passive ability which he rarely had any control over. It was risky for him already. He didn''t wish to take any more risk than what was necessary. He was allowed by Janus to travel back in time three times safely without creating enough disturbance in time to attract the Lord of Time. He had already done that twice. Now he only had one left, which he wanted to leave for emergency situations. He had decided that he wouldn''t use Time Transfer by death even if half the world were destroyed by the Uprising next time. He had saved people once, and that was enough. He wasn''t going to do it again since he didn''t have any free chances. "Wake up, Miyali!" He shouted, trying to wake up Miyali. "Is she unconscious?" He asked Rale after she wasn''t up despite his yelling. "She shouldn''t be unconscious. Last time I saw her up. She wasn''t hurt after that either," Rale answered. He started walking towards the girl. "Let me check." Rale and walked closer to the girl. "Wake up," he called out as he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Uhmm?" Miyali slowly opened her eyes as she was woken up by Rale. He looked around and found where she was. She could also feel that her hands were tied to chains. Soon, memories of what she had done flooded her head. She could see herself attacking and killing unsuspecting people inside the Palace. Tears filled her eyes as she realized what she had done. Ryder noticed the guilt on her face. She was sure that the girl seemed to be awake from her slumber. She was also out of her blood-crazed state. "Rale, you can come back. She seems to be fine now," he told Rale to return. Rale walked back to Ryder''s side. "Miyali, stop crying. What happened can''t be changed. But what you can do is help us understand what actually happened. Why did you enter your blood-crazed state? You shouldn''t have been able to enter if you didn''t intend to as long as you were having proper blood intake. Tell me what actually happened," Ryder said to Miyali as he saw her constant tears. "What happened when I wasn''t here?" He asked. "You weren''t here?" Miyali asked, confused. She clearly remembered Miku telling her that he was sleeping. "Yeah. I had to leave a few weeks ago. I told Miku to keep it a secret from others. If I remember, everything was fine until then. What happened after that? Did you intentionally not drink blood and forced yourself to go berserk? Or did you actually list yourself to your vampiric urges despite not needing to?" Ryder asked Miyali. Miyali finally understood that Ryder wasn''t actually ignoring her. She had thought that he didn''t wish to meet her even after she told Miku to inform him that she needed him. Chapter 433 - 429: Gratitude "I... It wasn''t intentional. I wasn''t given a beast body for a long time. It had been close to a month, and I wasn''t given. I kept telling her to bring me, but she kept delaying it to tomorrow. Her tomorrow never came," Miyali looked down as she started answering. "This..." Ryder muttered softly, finding it hard to understand. He gazed at Miku as he asked, "Is she telling the truth?" "I... She never told me about it. I don''t know," Miku answered, shaking her head as she seemed worried. "Why didn''t you tell me about it then? Let alone me; you didn''t even tell Miku? How could you let the condition deteriorate to such a level and not even put some effort?" Ryder asked Miyali. "I-i kept believing the maid that was arranging food for me. I kept telling her how urgent it was. One day when I couldn''t bear it anymore, I also told her that I wished to meet you, but she said that her job would be in danger if I complained. She swore that she would bring me what I asked," Miyali said as she sighed. "Did she still not bring you?" Ryder asked. "The next day as well, she forgot. It was too late by then. I lost control and bit her neck. I wasn''t in control when I killed her," Miku answered as she sighed. Each of her words was creating an image before the others as to what happened, which was a very shocking image. "What happened after that?" Ryder asked softly. "After killing her, I returned to my senses. I realized what I had done, and I left my room to find you so I could inform you," she muttered. "Let me guess. You weren''t able to find me?" Ryder asked. "Yeah. I met her instead," Miyali answered. "She told me that I couldn''t meet you because you''re sleeping. I didn''t want to tell her what had happened, so I told her to inform you to meet me when you wake up. After that, I came back to my room. I thought my bloodl.u.s.t phase was over since I had blood, and I didn''t need to worry about it for a few weeks." "Is that what happened?" Ryder asked Miku to take confirmation. "Yeah. That''s what happened," Miku answered as she nodded his head. "I thought she had complained about the maid or some service, so I arranged for a different maid for her. I couldn''t inform you since you weren''t here. I had to lie to her that you were sleeping," Miku answered. "What after that? Did the maid not tell you about the new body?" He asked Miku. "You didn''t check up on her after that?" "I was about to, but I was called by High Duke Oris''s Daughter who needed help. To not have you caught, I left with her," she continued. Sigh! Ryder sighed as he shook his head. "Wrong coincidence at the wrong time," he muttered as he sighed. "What happened after that? The new maid saw you?" He asked the girl. "No. The new maid didn''t see me. Before she could even come to my room, I lost my control again. I don''t know how it happened," Miyali said as she tried to remember what happened. "It shouldn''t have happened since I already had blood just a short time ago. I don''t understand myself." "It''s because it was your first turning. The first turning is always the toughest. Even after a vampire feed for the first time, they will still turn once again and go rampant. That''s why the Vampires are kept tied after their first turning. You probably don''t know that because you don''t know about their customs," Ryder told her. "She doesn''t know about customs? How?" Miku asked, stunned. "How could a vampire not know about such basic things?" "It''s because she hadn''t been to the Undead Realm. Her father was a Vampire, but her mother was a Demon. Her mother lived in the Demon Realm, away from her father for some reason. She died in Childbirth. She has lived without her father, so she doesn''t know about Vampires," Ryder shook his head as he answered Miku. "All she knew was that she needed to drink blood every few weeks at all cost," Ming Lan kept her head down as she heard Ryder. "So... It was not intentional that she did all this? It was all because of that single maid that my fellow people died?" Miku said with a blank look on her face. She didn''t even know who to blame anymore. She wanted to blame Miyali, but she was also a victim of circ.u.mstances. Without her maid, she wouldn''t have suffered. She wanted to blame the maid, but she was already dead. Who could she blame but herself for not making sure that her guest was properly taken care of. Ryder didn''t have many tasks for her. She could have checked up on Miyali once in a while, but she didn''t. She wasn''t entirely free of blame either. "Rale, what do you think?" Ryder asked. "She is telling the truth. I am certain," Rale answered. "Since she had her second turning as well, she can be freed since she will have control of herself as long as she keeps intaking blood every few weeks like before," he continued. "So she can be freed. Before I announce my decision, I must hear your opinion as well. What should I do?" Ryder asked. "I believe she is a victim in all this. We failed in taking care of our guests so more of the fault lies on us. She shouldn''t be punished," Rale answered. "What about you, Miku?" Ryder asked Miku. "I agree with Rale. What happened was unfortunate, but after hearing her side, I believe she had no choice either. She could have taken better decisions when informing us, but we could have done better in taking care of her as well," Miku answered, nodding her head as well. "We''re all thinking the same thing then. It is as you have said. She also suffered, but that doesn''t remove the fact that she has killed people. She doesn''t deserve the strictest punishment, but she needs to get punished as well," Ryder said as he stepped closer to Miyali. Miku opened her mouth to say something, but Rale stopped her. Take shook his head. After hearing what had happened, Miku thought that it was not fair to punish her, but as Rale and Ryder had decided, she didn''t stop them either. She decided to leave the decision on Ryder as she started waiting for the punishment to be revealed. Ryder stood only a few meters away from Miyali, who was looking at her with red eyes. "Sigh, it all came to a full circle, didn''t it?" Ryder asked softly. "When I first met you, you were trapped in similar chains. I had freed you and brought with me since I didn''t wish to see unfair cruelty in my Demon Realm. You were a stranger to me when I decided to help you. I didn''t even know you were half Vampire until a long time later. But that didn''t change anything since I knew how kind and well-mannered a girl you were," he continued. He was intentionally saying it openly to make sure that the others heard it as well. He didn''t wish for them to associate him with the Death Domain, so he was indirectly clarifying to improve his reputation in Miku''s eyes. In Rale''s eyes, his reputation was already at peak, so he remained only concerned about Miku. "I never thought that you would be in chains once again because of me," he said. "It''s fine. Last time I was innocent, but this time, I am a killer. You''re not wrong. This is what shall be done. Justice is more important than anything," Miyali answered. Her voice seemed to be filled with fear. Ryder, Miku, and Rale both seemed concerned about Miku only. "Good. Even though you had no control over what happened, it doesn''t change the fact that bad things happened because of you. It would be unfair not to punish you. This is something that must be done. Will you accept the punishment?" Ryder asked. "With open arms. I wouldn''t oppose it even if I am given the death penalty. I took so many lives. My hands are tainted by blood. Please punish me," Miyali replied. "But before that, I have to say something," she continued. "Speak," Ryder permitted her. "The necklace that''s on my neck. Please take it after I am killed," Miyali said. "Why?" Ryder asked curiously. "It is the last thing that my mother had. It belonged to my father, according to her. It was something my father had given her after she helped him. It was a form of his gratitude," Miyali said. "Why are you giving it to me then?" Ryder inquired, seemingly curious. "To show my gratitude. I would have been tortured on the day you first saw me if you hadn''t saved me." Chapter 434 - 430: Tomorrow "You are the reason I managed to live as long as I could. Without you, it would have been impossible. Death would have been the best form of death at that time. There were even worse things that could have happened. I gave up on life by then, but you came," Miyali said softly as she raised her head to look at Ryder. There was a grateful look on her face that was evident. "You not only saved me, but you let me accompany you. I got to live in the Royal Palace that I only heard stories about from my Grandfather," she continued. Ryder opened his lips to say something, but he closed once again as he saw her about to speak something. "I already received more from you than I could have asked for. I should thank you for that. But you''re the Prince and the one who owns everything," Miyali said softly. *What can someone like me even give you as my gratitude? I only have this one necklace which I had given you for a few days before. Before I am killed, please take it, so it doesn''t get bloodied. I know I have no right to ask you anything, but I still hope you''ll keep it safe as a memory or as a gift. Everything is fine," she continued. "I would have given it myself but my hands..." She said as she gazed at her chains. "You should take it." She lowered her head as she finished speaking. "You talked so much, but you didn''t even listen to the punishment," Ryder muttered as he smiled. "Alright. Miyali, you killed all the maids in this palace and even guards. It was unintentional, but it happened. Do you know how much work you increased for Miku? Since it wasn''t intentional, you won''t get the death penalty, but you won''t be forgiven either. Your punishment is that..." Ryder muttered, but he took a deep pause. He gazed back at Miku and Rale, who were looking eagerly at him to hear what Miyali''s punishment was. He shifted back his focus to Miyali and said, "From today on, you must help Miku in her work as a head maid. You will work under her, but you won''t get any pay for as long as I decide." "Huh?" Rale looked at Ryder weirdly as an unwilling response came out of his mouth. This punishment had managed to stun him effectively. Miku was also shocked that this was the punishment, but she soon sighed in relief. She was somewhat glad that her punishment wasn''t severe. Ryder had technically made Miyali her servant, which could count as a punishment of sorts. "Are you fine with the punishment?" Ryder asked Miku after declaring the punishment. "Yes, Your Majesty," the girl said as she nodded her head. "Good," Ryder said before he looked back at Miku. "Do you accept?" He asked. "I... This is too light Punishment for my crimes?" Miyali stuttered as she replied. "Hmm? Are you really saying that I am not fair in dealing punishment? You really refuse to accept your punishment? Do you know how big of a crime it is?" Ryder asked, feigning anger. "This..." Miyali was stunned for words. "This is my word. And my word is the law. Rale, free her and leave her for Miku to handle," Ryder turned back and said to Rale. "Miku, you know how to handle things from here," he said before he left. Rale walked up to Miyali and waved his fingers. The chains that were thinking Miyali were cut in half, freeing her. "Have fun," Rale said to Miku before he left the cell as well. He caught up to Ryder. "A good decision," Rale praised Ryder. "Really? Well, that was what should be done. She was not actually the one to be blamed. You all know it better than me how that phase is to vampires. She couldn''t have controlled it since it was her first time," Ryder answered. "Anyway, leaving that aside, the main problem is going to be dealing with the High Dukes. The disappearing people in the Palace will definitely raise their suspicions. I hope my plan works," Ryder said softly. **** It was the middle of the night in the bustling city that never slept. The moon was rising high in the sky. Many important meetings were taking place in the capital city in the darkness of night, and one such meeting was happening in Dream Corporation, whose headquarters was established here as well. The top 4 executives were present in the meeting, but no one else seemed to be there. **** In a different part of the city existed the FBI headquarters, which was in Chaos. The director was killed, and the assistant director was the main accused who was missing. Many detectives were at the site, investigating the scene. This news had not only shocked the FBI, but even the higher agents were stunned. The person with the highest position in the Agency was killed in the Headquarters right under everyone else''s nose. There happened to be an agent there who was being kept in the room, but he was found unconscious when the agents had entered to remind the director about the supposed meeting That''s when it all came to light. They had suspected Ray at first, but all the evidence pointed against it. The fingerprints on the gun were of Handerson, and the gun was lying far away from Ray, who was handcuffed in another corner. Even though the suspicion was on Handerson, Ray still wasn''t released. He was kept under observation for interrogation. The government had also sent a person high in authority to supervise the investigation. It was none other than the Director of National Intelligence himself, which was surprising for a few. It was a middle-aged woman known as Greyn. She had taken the investigation under her own hand. She seemed to be more concerned about the old man who was lying dead near the dead body of Mark. The other agents were concerned about who the old man was and why Mark brought him to the room to interrogate Ray. They even asked Ray about it. Ray simply repeated that he didn''t know the man and didn''t understand why he was brought here. According to his story, he was hit in the head only a short moment after they had entered the room. So he didn''t even hear much of the conversation. On the question of what he was asked about, he simply made an excuse that he had received false information, and the Director was trying to ask him for his source since the resources of the agency were wasted because of him. He again maintained that he himself didn''t know his source. Fortunately, Ryder had taken the papers which had the names of the suspects. The paper also had his name so that he couldn''t leave it behind. "Mam, I believe he is innocent. It''s certainly the work of Handerson. He has also gone missing after doing that," one of the agents said to Greyn, who was looking at Ray through the glass window from outside the room. "That''s what it seems like. But Handerson and Mark were pretty close. That''s what I understood the last time I met them. I just can''t put my finger as to why he would kill his boss; that too in a place like this? Not only that, he even left his gun behind as if he wanted us to know that it was done by him," Greyn said, frowning. "Did you run a check on the second body? Who is the old man that was lying dead near Mark?" She asked the agent. "Not yet. Jenny is checking. She should be coming back to inform us soon," the agent answered as he glanced back as if wondering when the girl would come back with the report. "Go check yourself. What''s taking her so long," Greyn commanded. "Yes," the man nodded his head as he prepared to leave. "Hmm? There she is," he suddenly said as he saw a girl on the other end of the corridor. The girl was running towards them. "Why is she running?" Huff! Huff! The girl called Jenny stopped near Greyn and the man as she breathed heavily. "What did you find out?" Greyn asked without giving any opportunity for the girl to collect her breath. "Ah, yes," the girl nodded her head. "You wouldn''t believe what I found! That old man! He... He isn''t an ordinary man! He... I still can''t believe it!" The girl exclaimed. **** In a different part of the city, a hotel existed. Ryder''s body was still lying on the bed peacefully. He was wearing Divinity Glasses and lost in Divinity. Alice was sitting near him, watching him. "Tomorrow is your birthday. I''m sure you have forgotten already but I can''t. I''m so excited," she muttered softly. ***** In a faraway place, covered in clouds, a young silver-haired boy was sitting on a golden throne. "It''s his birthday tomorrow," he muttered. Chapter 435 - 431: Past "It''s his birthday tomorrow..." The young silver-haired boy muttered. "Eons have passed, but the date remains the same," the young boy let out as he gazed upwards. He was sitting in what seemed like a massive hall which was as big as a football field. The walls of the hall were fifty meters tall. The hall had a Golden throne where the young silver-haired boy was sitting. Not only that, but there also happened to be another throne in the hall on the left side of the boy, which was pitch black. The throne happened to be five times the size of the golden throne. If the golden throne seemed like the throne of the King, then the pitch-black throne seemed like the throne of the Emperor. Strangely enough, it was empty. The boy still didn''t sit on the bigger throne as if he was aware that it wasn''t his position where he could sit. The walls of the giant hall also had what seemed like many portraits painted on them. The portraits seemed like they were alive. Most of the portraits seemed to be of one person. They seemed to be showing the Growth of that one person. The first portrait was of a young boy who seemed like two or three years old. The boy had dark hair and beautiful blue eyes. His skin seemed to be even smoother than a baby''s skin was supposed to be. The young baby was lying on what seemed like a black bed that was studded in the most precious of jades. A few tiny planets could also be seen floating around the small bed. The sun and the moon could also be seen there in the first painting. The second painting seemed to be of the same boy when he was 5-6 years old. The boy seemed a little older, but his eyes were still the same. He was wearing more intimidating clothes as if he wasn''t supposed to wear cute clothes. The boy seemed to be looking straight ahead at the one who was drawing his painting. There was no smile on his face. His eyes also seemed emotionless. There was a small crystal in his hand in the painting. It was a red crystal that was shining brightly. The third painting also had the boy who seemed to be ten years old now. The boy was not alone this time, though. There was a young boy near him who seemed to be one or two years old. The second baby had silver hair, similar to the hair of the boy who was now sitting on the throne. The ten-year-old boy was gazing at the baby. His thoughts couldn''t be understood from his looks, but it seemed as if he was smiling even though there was no smile on his face. The paintings continued until the last painting of the boy, who was now seeming like a grown man. He seemed to be in his twenties, at least based on the looks. The man had long black hair that came down to his waist now. He was also wearing a dark robe that was coming down to his knees. Even though there was no crown on his head, he indeed seemed like the ruler. Strangely enough, the man seemed just like Ryder did now. The man had one sword in his hand, which seemed to be made of complete darkness. It didn''t seem to have a fixed shape. It also seemed illusory, as if it wasn''t solid. The man seemed to be surrounded by many people as if he was a prey, and the others were hunters who were trying to hunt him. Even though he was surrounded, he didn''t have the least bit of concern on his face. He stood tall like a proud lion. The painting captured the perfect essence of the moment before a terrifying Battle. It seemed as if everyone was about to attack the man in the next moment. One of the people surrounding the dark-haired man was none other than the silver-haired boy who was sitting on the throne. There were also paintings of more people here; however, unlike the dark-haired man, the other people only had single paintings of them. And all the paintings were of women. One of the women seemed to have a striking resemblance to Alice, while the other had a resemblance to Esmi. There was also one who seemed like Miyali. Just like these three, there were other girls painted. They were all wearing dresses that seemed like something that the modern world didn''t have. "It was your birthday then as well," the silver-haired boy muttered as he gazed at the painting where the black-haired man was surrounded by the others. "It''ll be your first birthday where I''ll be with you after that day," he continued. He shifted his gaze to the next painting. "Oh, right. There was someone who didn''t leave you alone even on that day. Unfortunately..." "I wish I could have done something to save..." ***** The Director of National Intelligence, Greyn, was gazing at Jenny who held a paper in her hand. "I never thought he would be someone like that..." Jenny said as she handed the paper to Greyn. "He is the founder and the owner of Dixon Conglomerate? The sixth biggest company in the States?" Greyn muttered as she observed the paper. "He is one of the top ten richest people in the country. Why would he be with Mark?" She wondered. "Maybe he was the friend of Director Mark and came to meet him? Or he came to meet for some official purpose?" Jenny pointed out. "That is possible, but still, why would Mark take him to Ray?" Greyn asked. The man who was standing in the back also thought of the same thing. He was just about to say that, but Greyn said first. He opened his lips to say something else, but he stopped as he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He pulled out his pocket and stepped a few steps back before he picked up the call. "Yeah?" "Alright. Got it. We''ll be right there." He continued. After saying a few words, he disconnected the call and placed the phone back in his pocket. "Who was it?" Greyn asked, gazing back at the man. "There is some information. The CCTV footage is ready," the man answered. "Good. Let''s see how the events transpired," Greyn said as she started walking in a certain direction while reading the paper in his hand. They reached the surveillance room where Greyn was shown the footage of Mark and the others. It showed even Mark and others entered the HQ. It also showed the time they entered the office of Mark. After a short time, they were done with the footage. "According to the CCTV footage, the old man entered Mark''s office where Handerson was already present. He didn''t even stay there for a few minutes before Mark took him to the room where Ray was being kept. It makes it seem like the man was certainly here for Ray," Greyn concluded. "That''s what it seems like. Maybe he knew Ray?" Jenny suggested. "He didn''t. I already asked Ray if he recognized the man. The answer was no. He had never met him in his life," Greyn said, shaking her head. "I believe the information that Ray had was what attracted him here. As for how the old man knew about Ray, he was most probably told by Mark himself," she continued. "Why would Director Mark leak the information about an investigation to an outsider?" Jenny inquired, not understanding it. "I guess that''s what we need to find out, isn''t it?" Greyn muttered with an amused smile on her face. ***** "Go ahead and invite all High Dukes. I believe High Duke Oris isn''t in the Royal City. You should be able to contact him as well. Make sure he is here with the other High Dukes. He supports me the most. I certainly need him here when I put my plan forth," Ryder told Dale, who was the right-hand man of Rale. "Yes, Your Majesty," Dale said as he nodded his head. He turned back and left the throne room. "Rale, it would probably take time before the High Dukes are here. They will be given the time to come as tomorrow so that even High Duke Oris can get there. Since we have the day free, how about we go hunting? It''s been a long time since I hunted some strong beasts. My growth seems to be halted," Ryder said to Rale after everything else was taken care of. "The Diamond Beast also needs to get some experience as it is," he continued. "Sounds like a good idea. I can also get some training," Rale nodded his head. "Hahaha, don''t take me to a place which only has beasts as strong as you. I like gradually fighting beasts. So I want to face beasts that are close to the Dragon," Ryder suggested. Chapter 436 - 432: Goddess of Life "I want to face the beast that is close to the Dragon that we saw in the human realm. It would be better if it''s a beast slightly weaker as well," Ryder clarified to make sure that Rale didn''t bring him to the strongest dragon in the Demon Realm. In Rale''s head, Ryder was an unorthodox Prince who was possibly as strong as Dukes but didn''t like to use his real power. This impression of the guy was something Ryder preferred, but he didn''t wish for it to become troublesome for him; thus, he clarified. "Understood. I know of a perfect place where we can find beasts from the weakest to the strongest," Rale answered as he nodded his head. "That''s better. Let''s not waste time then. It''s been a long time since I hunted in the Demon Realm," Ryder stood up strongly as he took the lead. He walked towards the door of the throne room. Rale followed after him. " Let''s see how much I have grown in this world as well," Ryder thought. **** Demon Realm was not a Kingdom or an Empire even though it was collectively treated as an Empire. In truth, it was an entire realm of its own where only Demon Realm existed. People used different methods to enter and exit this realm. There was no such thing as borders with other Realms. There were many duchies in the Demon Realm, which were ruled by the Dukes who were under the Emperor. In the absence of the Emperor, High Dukes were the ones that kept an eye on the order of the Demon Realm. As it was such a big place, the populated land in the Demon Realm accounted for only fifteen percent of the entire Realm. Over fifty percent of the Demon Realm was forests where beasts roamed freely. The rest of the thirty-five percent of the area was covered by water in the form of rivers, lakes, and more. The forests had many strong beasts that were enough to threaten anyone, but the Dukes and the High Dukes didn''t bother with them. No matter how strong the beasts became, they were always weaker than Dukes, let alone the High Dukes who could kill them with a flick of their fingers. As the beasts were no threat, no one bothered with them except in the times when they felt like hunting. In one of the many vast forests, there was one unique one. It was a forest where beasts of all strength lived in harmony. The strong beasts didn''t kill the weak ones. It was as if there was a brotherhood in the beasts of here. They didn''t interfere in each other''s business. No one knew why it was like that. It was one of the mysteries that seemed unsolvable as beasts fought in all other forests except this one. There was also a rumor about a unique beast existing here that was one of its kind. No one knew how this rumor started. People searched the entire forest in search of this beast, but no one found him. In the end, it was called a false rumor, and everyone forgot about it. This forest existed pretty close to the Royal City of the Demon Realm, and it was the exact place where Rale was bringing Ryder for hunting. **** Janus was still sitting on the Golden throne, lost in the thoughts of the past, when he suddenly stood up. His face had turned pale suddenly as he closed his eyes and placed his focus on Ryder. "What is this presence I feel near him? Why does it seem exactly like his presence? How could this be possible? How could he still be alive? He was killed right before my eyes!" He exclaimed as he opened his eyes. "Asteria... Could it be that you are still alive?" He mumbled as he disappeared. The massive hall once again became empty as Janus also left. ***** Ryder and Rale landed before a dark forest. "Is this the place?" Ryder asked. Rale nodded his head as he answered. "This is the forest where we will be hunting. It was one of the favorite hunting grounds of His Majesty as well. It has monsters from all ranges. You can find monsters as weak as a Demon Child to one almost as strong as a Duke." "That''s good. So I can find a proper opponent for myself and for Diamond Tiger Beast, who needs weaker Beasts. You can also find beasts to face yourself. It''s good for us all," Ryder smiled. "Let''s get inside," he muttered as he started walking towards the forest. Soon, he took his first step inside the forest. As soon as Ryder''s feet landed inside the forest, the winds started flowing at high speed. Ryder''s robe was flapping due to air. His hair was also flying. Deep inside the forest, a green pair of eyes opened right at that moment, gazing in the direction where Ryder was coming from. Without placing much focus on the winds, Ryder continued stepping inside. Janus was standing in the middle of clouds in the open. He didn''t seem to be on earth, though. The clouds were dark blue in color. There was a small pond in the middle of the clouds that were showing Ryder. "I can''t go down myself, or the attention of all gods will be on me. That''s why I''ve been handling things differently, but if he is actually alive, it would really be shocking. Should I step down myself?" He muttered, frowning. "It would change everything if Asteria is actually alive. How did no one know about him if he didn''t die that day, though? He died on the same day as him. I know how my brother is alive, but how can he be alive as well? It doesn''t make sense." " The only one who could have made it possible is the God of Life and Death. But the God of Life and Death would never do this. I am sure of it. How then? Did the God of Life and Death actually do it?" He wondered. " I should go ask the God of Life and Death. That''s the only place I can get my answer from," the silver-haired boy said. He brought both his hands together and clapped lightly once. As soon as he clapped, the space before him split apart, which created a rift in space. The rift kept getting bigger and bigger. It only stopped when it was as big as a door. Janus stepped inside the spatial rift. ***** "Janus? What brings the God of Beginning and Endings to me?" A beautiful woman was sitting on her throne. The woman seemed to be barely thirty years old. Her hair was light green that came down to her waist. They seemed to be the color of nature itself, which appeared to be full of life. Her eyes were open, which were silver in color. The woman somehow seemed like she was unable to see as her eyes had no focus in them. Janus knew that it wasn''t the truth. It was just the way her eyes looked. There was a certain kind of charm in her eyes, but sometimes that charm seemed to be filled with death. Just a single gaze from the woman was enough to threaten anyone. The woman was known as the God of Life and Death, who was one of the High Gods. "Do I need a reason to come meet the lady of Life?" Janus answered softly. "Hahaha, lady of life, huh. Good name. It''s so intriguing. Some people associate me with only death and call me Demon of Death, while others call me by my full name. You''re the only one who calls me the Goddess of Life," the woman answered softly. "What else shall I call you? When it was decided that everyone will attack and kill my brother, you were the only one who decided to stay out of it, saying that you didn''t want to be part of a High God''s Death. I can''t associate you with death after that. You respect life more than death, as I see. So it''s only right that I call you lady of Life," Janus answered softly. "You just had to remind me of that day, didn''t you? I still find it unfortunate that it happened," The green-haired woman muttered. "Morning is unfortunate. My brother deserved it," Janus answered as he shook his head "True. You did support it, but I still can''t. That day, your brother isn''t the only one who died. Twenty-five High Gods, Seventy Mid-Gods, and Three Hundred Low-Gods also died that day. This wasn''t worth it," The Goddess of Death answered. "This was to be expected. We all knew how strong my brother was. We all expected casualties. Even though we lost half the gods, we at least managed to kill him. The result was certainly worth it," Janus answered casually, not seeming regretful in the least. Chapter 437 - 433: Love of a Goddess "The result was worth it? This is what the ones who were behind this attack say. If you support one thing, and it goes wrong, but you still get the result, will you ever say you were wrong? We all have biases," the Goddess of Life and Death said softly as she sighed. Janus nodded his head as if somewhat agreeing with her. He found her words to be true since he also felt the same way. This was always the justification that people gave for doing bad things. He knew that people always say the result was worth it even if the steps they took were a hundred times worse than the original situation. This justification was what he found to be the unfortunate reality of the world. The biases that the people had were one of the reasons he believed for things to go wrong. People always thought that what they agreed with was the right thing. That was true with gods as well. They only agreed with the ideas and arguments that agreed with their bias even if it was wrong. "Since you have an interest in this, you will see the situation with the glasses of your bias. But I, as a person from a neutral position, can see the bigger picture since I had no part in it. And what I see clearly doesn''t make me think that it was worth it," the Goddess of Death continued. "I wouldn''t argue against that," Janus said, sighing. "Hah, I believe you and the others were this sensible last time. The great war wouldn''t have happened. We wouldn''t have lost so many of our companions in all this," the Green Haired woman said softly. A deep sigh escaped his lips, making the whole room seem desolate and void of life. "Anyway, the past is the past because it can''t be changed. Even the God of Time can''t change it now. So let''s not waste our time discussing it now. That only makes me feel regretful about the past." "Let''s talk about you. I believe you didn''t come here to listen to me talk about the past either. So, what brought you here?" She asked. "What can little me provide to the Great God of Beginning and Ending?" " As I said, can''t I come here just to talk? Anyway, you are actually right about it. I did come here for a purpose. It is to ask you about something," Janus accepted. "Ask me about what? I don''t think I have done something that would require the intervention of other gods. It has been so long since I even left. Also, if you wanted to ask a question of knowledge, you would have a god to the other gods since I''m not the best choice there either. What can you even ask me other than how bad we all messed up that day?" She asked. "What I''m here to ask is something that only you can answer me," Janus answered. The Goddess of Life and death seemed even more curious now. She waited for Janus to answer. "It is about Asteria," Janus spoke just four words that stunned the goddess of life and death. Her serene expressions finally changed as she heard the name. She seemed more stunned than she should have been. That''s what Janus thought. "Why do you wish to ask about him? He died with your brother. Why should we talk about a dead person? As I said, the past can''t be changed. Let''s not talk about the regretful things of the past," the Goddess of Life and Death answered as her expressions recovered. Janus looked around the room subtly. He could not feel any presence, but he still decided to take precautions before he started talking. He snapped his fingers. The color of the entire hall changed as it became colorless. "You are using your domain? Interesting. If I''m not wrong, you never use it. Why do I have the pleasure to see your domain? Are you thinking about scaring me? Or do you actually wish to fight me?" The goddess of Life and Death asked as she saw her room becoming pale. She was sure that it was because Janus had cast his domain. The whole palace had become his domain now. She was certain he wished to scare her, but there was also a possibility that he wished to kill her. She said, "Also, can I at least know the reason for you using it against me? Are the other gods planning to exterminate another god who doesn''t bend to their knees?" "Goddess of Life and Death, don''t be concerned. I don''t wish to fight you. Why would I even think about fighting the goddess who is the ruler of life and death? I can certainly win, but as you said, the path to reach the outcome would certainly be worse than the outcome. I don''t wish to repeat that," Janus answered casually. "Then why did you cast your Domain in my place?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked curiously. "It''s all because I don''t wish for our conversation to leak outside. There is a possibility that other gods might have an interest in this place. This is my domain now. No one will be able to hear our conversation, no matter how strong or knowledgeable they are unless they openly showed themselves," Janus answered. "Oh? You wish to keep it a secret from other gods? Interesting," the Goddess of Life and Death muttered as she smiled. "What could it be? About Asteria''s death? Do you wish for me to bring him back to life?" She asked. "That would be the only reason you might wish to keep it a secret. Let me tell you. I have no power to bring people of that caliber back to life." "Don''t worry. I don''t want him coming back to life. However, I am here regarding his life. I have sensed his presence. You know I can sense more of this universe than other gods. That might be the only reason I have sensed him, but this is true. I believe he is alive," Janus said. The green-haired woman''s eyes squinted as she heard the words of Janus. She was stunned after hearing him. "He is alive? How is that possible" she exclaimed in shock. "That''s what I''m here to ask. Your acting is convincing, but you''re the only god who can bring him back to life after the death he suffered. Now, tell me how and why you did it?" Janus asked gravely. "Firstly, I can''t do it. Secondly, even if I could do it, I wouldn''t have done it. Why would I bring him back to life? I have no relation to him," The Goddess of Life and Death answered casually. "As I said, I can''t bring people of that caliber to life. You must have been under some misunderstanding," she continued. " Do you think he came back to life himself?" Janus asked, seemingly suspicious. "Give me one reason I would bring him back to life?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked straight away. "I would have been proud if I was capable of this feat. I would have brought other gods to life as well. I would have done so much if I had the ability." "I don''t think you have the ability to bring gods at the caliber of my brother to life. But you certainly can bring Asteria. I won''t underestimate you that much," Janus answered. "As I said, I have no reason to bring Asteria back to life. As for bringing back your brother to life, it is only possible for the Ancestral Gods that created all of us if they hadn''t perished after creating us," the green-haired woman answered. Janus went silent for a brief second as he closed his eyes. "If you have the ability, would you have brought my brother back to life?" Janus asked. "I don''t wish for the great war to happen again. I wouldn''t. Him staying dead is better for all of us," the Goddess of Life and Death answered. "Did you love him!" Janus askey bluntly. The green-haired woman''s mouth opened slightly at the question she was asked so bluntly. "How can you even think that?" She asked as she smiled wryly. "Your thoughts do run wild." "He and you were close since you two were kids. Everyone thought that you liked him, not only me. It was only after he met her, you started creating distance from him. I thought you were jealous but still loved him," Janus answered. " Some gods even thought you would protect him in the great War like a tsundere goddess, but you stayed out of the war-making them think they were wrong, but I feel as if it was not because you didn''t care about him. You certainly didn''t hate him, or you would have joined the war from our side. Maybe it is that you didn''t care for him at all, but I do feel that you did," he continued. Chapter 438 - 434: Level Up "Hah, you all thought I would stay out because of my personal feelings? Not at all. If it were about personal feelings, I would be the first one to stab his heart and not you. When even his brother can kill him, why would I not have done the same if given a chance?" The Goddess of Life and Death argued back. She didn''t like that Janus was associating her with his brother. At Least that''s what it seemed like. "Then why didn''t you take part in the siege?" Janus inquired, smiling. "It was certainly not because of my personal feelings. That''s something I can tell with certainty," the Goddess of Life and Death answered. "As I said, I only stayed out because I knew that it was a bad decision to attack him. I''m not saying it because I liked him but because I knew him. I knew how strong he was. I knew how big our losses were going to be when facing him. I tried to warn other gods, but they were too stubborn. I had no choice but to stay out because I didn''t support their decision of this siege. My personal feelings didn''t play even one percent role in my decision. "Don''t worry. No one can hear us. We are under my domain. You don''t have to lie here. Even if you said yes and I told others, no one is going to believe me. You can confess," Janus said as he sighed. "I am not lying. I don''t know what else to tell you now," she answered. "Why did you go to meet my brother a day before we were about to attack him? Why did he cast his domain when he met you so no one could hear the conversation that took place between you two?" Janus asked, gazing deep into the eyes of the Goddess of Life and Death. "This..." The goddess of Life and Death found herself at the loss of words as she thought about what she could say? How did he know? She had made sure that no one knew about her trip when she went there. Until now, she was convinced that no one knew about it. How was Janus aware of this? "As I said, I am aware of things. There is no benefit in lying to me. If I had bad intentions, I would have told it to the other gods long ago. But I didn''t because I''m sure you didn''t intend to fight against us. You just wished to alert the one you loved, isn''t it?" Janus asked subtly. "The Goddess of Life and Death closed her eyes for a brief second. She opened her eyes once again after a brief moment of silence. Her eyes seemed slightly red. She stood up from her throne and started walking towards Janus slowly. Janus watched her emotionless face as she walked closer to him. The Goddess of Life and Death stopped just a meter away from Janus. "You are right. I did go to meet him. And I don''t care if you go to tell other gods. As you said, no one will believe you since the main question that will come from it is why your brother didn''t escape if I leaked the plan. This would make your point moot. They wouldn''t do anything to me based on that," the Goddess of life and Death answered. "And even if they did think about attacking me similarly, what''s the worse they can do? They can''t afford to fight me since they can''t afford to lose more gods after what happened last time," she answered. "As I said, I won''t tell them. If I wished, I would have told them the day you went to meet him. Anyway, I also have the answer to your question," Janus answered. "My brother is too stubborn. His real personality is one where he doesn''t even think about escaping. He is a proud god who is less like a god and more like a demon. He can die fighting and killing the enemy, but he can''t run away," he continued. "Your brother ''Is?'' He is already dead. He isn''t stubborn. He was stubborn. I don''t believe you would make such a basic mistake when speaking. Are you feeling intimidated now?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked as she caught the minute details in Ryder''s statement. He was talking as if his brother was still alive. How could they be possible? There was no way for that to be the truth. She would have known otherwise. Even she, the goddess of life and death, was not capable of doing it. There was no way he would be alive. The only other explanation was that Janus made a blunder. That was only possible if his mind wasn''t working properly now. Could it be that he was actually scared by her and just pretending to be strong? In strength, Janus was almost as strong as her, but that didn''t mean he could not be intimidated by her. "I made a mistake. It''s not that shocking, is it? Anyone would be stunned before your astonishing beauty," Janus answered with an amused smile. He realized that he had made a blunder, and he could only escape it by being sly. "Is that it?'' the green-haired woman inquired. It made sense that what he was saying was the truth, but she still found it suspicious. "Anyway, you''re right. I did go to him. I didn''t want the war to happen. Since the other gods weren''t willing to listen to me, I went to your brother to tell him to run away and hide. This was something that could have avoided the war. Not only would he still be alive, but so many gods wouldn''t have died. However, it is as you said. He is stubborn and a crazy guy. He didn''t listen to me," she said. "He suffered, but he suffered proudly. He killed so many gods. I knew many would die in the war against him, but the actual casualties were still overwhelming. I hadn''t expected it to be that high. He exceeded my expectations," she continued as she sighed. "Anyway, how did we even reach the conversation about your brother? We were talking about Asteria as far as I remember. You made me talk about something completely unnecessary. Anyway, leaving that aside, let''s get back to the topic." Janus nodded his head as he replied, "The topic was about Asteria. How is he still alive? What role did you play in it?" "I''ll repeat the same thing no matter how many times you ask. I have no idea what you''re talking about. I''ll be happy if Asteria is alive but I won''t be sad even if he isn''t. All I can say is I have no involvement with him," the Goddess of Life and Death answered again. "Maybe you''re honest, and you had no hand in it, or you''re effectively lying to me. In any way, I will find out one way or another," Janus muttered as he turned back. He started walking towards the door without looking back. The Palace once again returned back to its original color as he retracted his Domain. A door once again appeared before him who had opened. He stepped inside and into the light. The door closed once again. The green-haired hidden gazed at the empty spot where the door happened to be. She turned back and walked back to the throne. "He knows Asteria is alive as well. Is he going to kill Asteria, or will he tell others? I certainly had no hand in Asteria''s revival. I myself don''t know how it happened. I just sensed him. That''s how I knew he was alive. I cast my magic on him to make sure no one else notices him. Janus is certainly impressive if he noticed Asteria even after my warding," He muttered to herself. ***** "Attack now!" Ryder yelled as he flew back. He has just attacked a powerful beast and brought down his Health to the lowest. After that, he commanded the Diamond Tiger Beast to attack the monster to finish him off and to gain experience. The Diamond Tiger Beast was looking to be bigger than it was before. It was already twice the side. The Diamond Tiger Beast also looked more experienced and brave than he did before. Instead of hesitating like it did the first time it battled, he jumped at the Giant Snake Monster like he was an alpha wolf who wasn''t scared of anyone. Sharp Claws came out of his paws that seemed to be made of the strongest of the metals. Slash! He slashed with his claws towards the head of the giant snake. The health point of the monster was only at 1 point, which tricked down to zero. [+50000 Exp] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] [Level +1] The diamond tiger beast started getting a massive boost in his stats as his level increased due to the enormous influx of experience. Chapter 439 - 435: Exposed to goddess "Already at level seventy. Is it just I, or his growth is faster than me?" Ryder muttered as he observed the Diamond Tiger Beast. "He is already at level sixty. Not bad at all," he observed as the Diamond Tiger Beast''s star remained open before him. While Ryder was staring at the status screen of the Diamond Tiger Beast, a red pair of eyes was watching him from the shadows. "Hmm?" Rale sensed something. He had a feeling that someone was watching them. He moved the center of his body and turned back to gaze in the direction where he had a strange feeling coming from. Swiss! The dry leaves could be seen flying that had fallen from trees. Other than that, there seemed to be no movement. There was no one there either. ''Was that my misconception?'' he thought as he squinted his eyes. Ryder closed the status screen of the Diamond Tiger Beast as he glanced back. He could see Rale looking solemn as he gazed into the distance. "What happened? Did you notice our next prey?" Ryder inquired, smiling. "It''s nothing. I just had a feeling that someone was watching us," Rale answered, shaking his head. He seemed out of focus. Ryder also looked in the direction where Rale was looking. He placed all his focus there and even used All-Seer, but he couldn''t find anyone. He replied, "There seems to be no one there. Let''s continue finding prey. I want the Diamond Tiger Beast to reach level hundred as well. I should be able to reach level 150 too." "That does depend on us finding prey at the right time, though since we only have one day here," he continued. "We can hunt at night as well if Your Highness wishes," Rale suggested. "We can''t. We can only hunt until the evening," Ryder answered, refusing him. ''If I stay here at night, I won''t be able to accompany Alice in the day. It''s our holiday. She would kill me if I am not accompanying her,'' he thought as he imagined the consequences of not spending the day with her. "Let''s continue finding the beasts then," Rale agreed. "There is a lake nearby. We should be able to find plenty of beasts there," he suggested. "How strong are the beasts we can find there?" Ryder inquired. He knew that level thousands of beasts were morning before Rale, but they could quickly kill Ryder and make him suffer an unintentional revival by time travel of 24 hours. That was the worst penalty for him, so he was vigilant. "We''re far away from the core of the forest. The core is where the stronger beasts reside. They have different sources of water than the pond I am talking about. The pond that I''m talking about is on the outskirts of this forest. So we should be seeing weaker monsters," Rale answered. "It''s at a walking distance. We should be there in a few minutes." He started walking towards the Pond. Ryder also followed him. The Diamond Tiger Beast walked beside Ryder. The red pair of eyes once again appeared in the darkness, watching Ryder. It was difficult to see who these eyes belonged to as the place seemed awfully dark. "Compared to the Dark Poisonous Snake we faced just now, how strong will the enemies be? I''m thinking about fighting against many at once," Ryder asked Rale. "They should be slightly stronger than the Dark Poisonous Snake," Rale answered. Ryder nodded his head as he gazed at the Diamond Tiger Beast. ''Slightly stronger, huh? That''s good. I should be able to handle them. As long as the ''slightly'' of Rale is not a couple of hundred levels,'' he thought. **** The Goddess of Life and Death was walking back and forth in her place, seemingly lost in thought. "It can''t be. No matter how much I think about it, this doesn''t make sense. I have warded Asteria. Even if it''s Janus, he should not be able to sense Asteria unless he was intentionally searching the forest where Asteria is staying," she thought, frowning. "That can be the only way he could sense Asteria. That raises the question. Why would Janus be looking at a forest in that place? What could be his reason? What changed in that forest?" She wondered. "I should check myself as well," She decided. "If I go down now, the other gods might sense me, and that would be proof that I was with Asteria. If Janus has told the other gods, my going there would basically be a confession. I can''t go down, but I can still see. Let''s see what special that place has that attracted Janus." The Goddess of Life and Death raised her right feet. She lightly touched the floor with the toe of her feet. The floor that was pure white turned transparent as if it was a glass. If someone were to stand at the green-haired woman''s place, they would have thought that they were standing in space with just a piece of glass between them and the earth that seemed like it was a tiny ball. She waved her hand, and the scene in the glass changed. It started showing a dark forest. ***** In his own Palace, Janus was doing the same thing. The only difference was that he was using a pond to see. While the Goddess of Life and Death was looking for something suspicious, Janus was looking for Asteria. "This... I was right. He is here. He is behind him!" Janus let out as he noticed someone keeping an eye on Janus. "Asteria!" ***** "There he is. Why is Asteria not in the core of the forest, though? What''s he doing in the outskirts?" The goddess of life and death muttered as she noticed Asteria. She knew that Asteria stayed in the core of the forest, so she found it strange that he was outside now. She didn''t understand why he would be out. She looked around him to see who he was looking at and soon she saw two men and a small tiger-like beast. The first person she noticed was Rale, as he had the strongest aura of all the people. ''Is he watching that guy? Could it be that he is intimidated by that guy? It''s good that he keeps an eye on intruders,'' she thought as she shifted her focus to the second man who was walking behind him. As she was seeing the top view, she could only see the top of Ryder''s head. She couldn''t see his face. "This second guy also seems strong, but the first guy is stronger. Why is it that this guy feels more... Intimidating now that I observe him? It can''t be my misconception. His strength is low, but there''s just something about him that I can''t put in words," She muttered. She had a strange feeling as she was watching Ryder. She still didn''t see his face. "Let''s see his face," she decided as she snapped her finger. The angle changed as the front view appeared. She could see the face of both the guys. The first person she saw was once again Ryder, who felt like any normal stranger. She was more interested in Ryder, though. She shifted her focus to the second guy. There was a calm look on her face. "W-what!" Her face turned pale as she saw the face of Ryder. She unintentionally took three steps back, eventually falling down, but she still kept dragging her body back in disbelief. "H-he!" "...is alive?!" Her heart was beating rapidly as if it was going to jump out of her chest. Her face seemed completely devoid of blood as she refused to believe her own eyes. She wanted to see the face again to make sure, but she didn''t dare to. She placed her hand on her chest as she stood up slowly. Her heart continued thumping as she took a few steps forward and gazed at Ryder''s face once again. She clenched her fist as she dropped to her knees. "It''s him..." She muttered as she closed her eyes. She inclined her head a little as she looked towards the roof. She took a deep breath before she closed her eyes. "Janus!!!" She screamed as loud as she could in rage. "You bastard!!!" Even though she screamed so loud, the voice didn''t leave the hall. "So this was why you agreed to attack your brother! This was why you were the last person to stab him and kill him! It was all you! You are really a bastard!" She said strongly as tears appeared in her eyes. The tears trickled down her cheeks, leaving a wet mark on her beautiful skin. Her fists were still clenched. Her heartbeat hasn''t calmed down at all, even after all this time. "So that''s why you were watching the forest now! That''s why you sensed Asteria! You... You are really a good actor!" She muttered softly as she gazed at the door. Chapter 440 - 436: The Same Ryder and Rale reached the lake where they were supposed to find beasts to hunt. "Strange. There is not even one beast here? What''s happened?" Ryder asked Rale as he gazed back. "I''m not sure. This place should have had at least one beast. No idea what''s happening here," Rale answered, frowning. "I guess we would need to go deeper," Ryder said as he came out of the bushes. He walked past the lake as he advanced deeper into the forest. A shadow kept following them around. Rale''s feeling continued that someone was watching them, but he couldn''t find who it was even after all that. He kept glancing back more often than not. "There is one!" Ryder noticed a beast in some distance. He started running after the beast to catch him without giving it a chance to run. A scythe appeared in his hand, which looked as sharp as it could possibly be. The beast seemed like a giant bull. There were a few differences, though. The bull had no horns; instead, it had ears like a rabbit. Its skin was sky blue. Only its ears were of different colors. The bull''s eyes were pale white. Ryder had instantly activated the All-Seer as soon as he had deen the bull, which showed the information of the bull before his eyes. [Name: White-Eyed Bull] [Species: Demon Wolf] [Level: 150] Without delaying for even a second, Ryder swung his scythe as he appeared near the White-eyed bull. He wasn''t going to leave this beast to the Diamond Tiger Beast and get the experience himself, but near the end, he changed his mind. He decided not to kill the Bull in one blow and controlled his force. The White-eyed bull saw Ryder attack him. It roared furiously as he started stepping back slowly. A white light started taking shape near its forehead that kept getting bigger. "It''s about to attack! Careful!" Rale warned Ryder, seeing the white light. Ryder nodded his head as he understood what was happening. Before the white light could finish taking shape, the blade of his scythe reached the neck of the enemy. Its neck was sliced through the middle, killing it instantly. The light also disappeared as the beast''s head fell down to the ground. Ryder landed on the ground and smiled wryly. "Oops..." He shook his head as he watched the beast''s dead body lying on the ground. "I thought this would leave some HP for him to deal the finishing blow. Who knew that it was not possible," he muttered as he gazed back at the Diamond Tiger Beast, who seemed to be confused. Until now, Ryder was giving it the opportunity to make the final attack. I thought this time was going to be the same. It was standing ready to deal the finishing blow; however, it didn''t have any need anymore as the White-eyed bull was lying dead in the ground. "I''ll give you the next prey," Ryder comforted the Diamond Tiger Beast. "Umph." The Diamond Tiger Beast gave a light whimper as if it was agreeing with Ryder. The body of the White-eyed bull slowly disappeared as it turned into specks of light. "We should see more just like them." Ryder and the others started walking even deeper into the forest. ****** "He seems weaker. Just what method did Janus use to bring him back to life? Why doesn''t he have his old strength? I get the same intimidating feeling from him as before, but the way he fights... It''s different. Does he not remember?" The Goddess of Life and Death wondered as she saw Ryder fight. "I need to meet him to test this theory. But if I go down, I''ll attract the attention of other gods to that place. He would be discovered..." She muttered as she frowned. "That must be why Janus didn''t go down to fight Asteria even after knowing that he is alive. He doesn''t want to get the attention of others to that Place. But in his shock at finding Asteria, he made a mistake. Does he really not realize that his mistake exposed his existence to me?" "Oh, does he know? It was intentional? Since Asteria is alive and he knows that I am not willing to cause another war, he wouldn''t worry about me knowing. Is that his way of subtly involving me in his scheme? Or was it actually an honest mistake?" The more she thought about it, the more she grew curious. She knew that there was only one person who could end her curiosity. There was only one person who knew all the answers about what was truly happening, and it was Janus. She tapped her feet on the floor once again after taking one last glance at the face of Ryder. The floor once again returned to normal and stopped showing the images. The visage of the Goddess of Life and Death started getting vague as she disappeared slowly. Janus was watching Ryder in the water of his pond when he sensed something. He snapped his fingers, and the pond returned to normal. Two fishes could be seen swimming in the pond. Janus watched the fishes with curiosity. "The Sun and Moon Fishes. Pretty rare. I never knew you had them," a feminine voice came from behind him. "But then again, I never knew a lot of things. You''re good at fooling people after all," she continued. "It''s you. What brought you here?" Janus asked without looking back. "Don''t tell me you didn''t expect me to come here. You are pretty good at scheming, Janus. It was all intentional, wasn''t it? Making that mistake when speaking and talking as if your brother wasn''t dead. Telling me about your discovery of Asteria. It was all a part of this plan since the moment you noticed him. Am I right?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked. "Oh? Am I really like the evil boss behind the shadow in your head?" Janus asked as he smiled slightly. He snapped his fingers once again. The pond started showing Ryder again. He could see Ryder fighting with another snake-like beast. This time, the last blow was dealt by the Diamond Tiger Beast as per the plan of Ryder. "Good work, little guy. You again jumped in levels. Your progress makes me jealous," Ryder complimented the Diamond Tiger Beast as he patted his head. After Ryder finished patting the Diamond Tiger Beast, he started walking ahead in search of a different prey. Rale walked on the left side of Ryder while the Diamond Tiger Beast walked in the middle of the two. Crack! "Hmm?" Ryder heard a cracking sound that wasn''t light at all. It was a loud sound as if a tree was broken. Swoosh! As soon as he turned back, he saw a giant tree falling towards them. To be specific, it was about to fall on top of the Diamond Tiger Beast, who was walking in the middle of Ryder and Rale. Rale reached fast as he appeared in front of the Diamond Tiger Beast. He reached out his hand and caught the falling tree easily before he pushed it aside. "Strange. How can a tree fall so suddenly," Ryder thought as he observed his surroundings suspiciously. "I was right. It''s him!" The Goddess of Life and Death exclaimed as she saw Ryder in the pond of Janus. It was obvious that Janus was watching him. He wasn''t even trying to hide it now. It was evident that he intended for her to know. "Asteria is never going to change. His jealousy is still the same," Janus muttered as he sighed. "I wasn''t going to have you know since I didn''t know your feelings towards my brother. I had seen you going to meet my brother a day before the attack. I even asked him what you two talked about after that, but he didn''t answer. He was expressionless, so I didn''t know if your talks were good or bad. So I kept you out..." Janus starts explaining. "But now that I know about you, it''s certain that you were concerned about him even then. You also helped Asteria, who was close to him. I should thank you. One of the things I regretted was not being able to save Asteria. Who knew that he was still alive..." He continued. "Yeah. He didn''t change at all. He was like this before too. He was pretty annoying sometimes, to be honest," The Goddess of Life and Death answered as she sighed. "So tell me. How did you do it?" She asked Janus. "How did I do what?" Janus inquired. "How did you save your brother? How is he still alive? And does he really not remember anything? Did you use the forbidden reincarnation that gods aren''t able to use?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked. "Reincarnation can be the only answer as to why he doesn''t know about his fighting abilities and his strength? Is that it?" Chapter 441 - 437: Sealing "I can neither confirm nor deny," Janus refused to answer the question of the Green Haired woman who was seeking confirmation if Ryder had his memory or not. "So if it is reincarnation? How did you even get it to work? Gods can''t reincarnate. These are the universal laws that were created by the chaos of origin. Did you find some loophole to save your brother?" The goddess of life and death inquired. "As I said, I can''t answer. It is more complicated than you think. Just know that my involvement in this is close to none," Janus answered as he frowned. "From what I can guess, you pretended to join the other gods and fight your brother to get the chance to stab him before then. That last attack is where the mystery resides, isn''t it?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked. "That''s when you did something. Anyway, I am glad he doesn''t remember anything. If he doesn''t return, things can stay the way they are. I don''t want there to be another conflict," she continued. Janus gazed at the green-haired woman and nodded his head as if agreeing with her; however, the thought in his head was completely different. ''Oh, I think he won''t agree. He has a plan of his own. It is much bigger than you or me...'' he thought as he shifted his focus back to Ryder. "Did you make contact with him, or are you just keeping an eye on him? You can''t go down to that place like me if I''m not wrong. Or it would attract much more attention to that place which wouldn''t be good," the green-haired woman said to Janus. " If the gods know that your brother is alive, they wouldn''t stop at anything to have him killed again. It would result in a massive war. The gods that have gone to seclusion will return. Even God of Time will come back. The God of Space will also leave his realm. This war would be much bigger than last time. You won''t be stupid enough to risk it, right?" She asked. Janus just smiled wryly, but he didn''t answer. He didn''t tell her how close he had been to have the whole thing exposed. They came so close to have the God of Time sense the distortion in time. Fortunately, it was a light distortion that a few gods could create as well. It wasn''t enough to have the God of Time come out. Janus knew the God of Time for a long time. The God of Time was one of Janus'' teachers, after all. He was the one who taught Janus to control the time at his brother''s request. The God of Time, God of Space, God of Light, and his brother were said to be the four best friends of their time. They were said to be the strongest circle of friends. The three gods had also taught Janus at the request of her brother. Janus still remembered how warm these days were. It was all over when a tragedy occurred. The tragedy changed Ryder completely. He changed after that day and started working to give immortality to everyone, which attracted the wrath of gods. The gods didn''t like it. Even the God of Light, God of Death, and God of Space thought that it was a bad idea. They all opposed Ryder, but he didn''t listen. It would still not have been bad enough for the three to think about killing Ryder but what he did next made them determined to kill him. The ones who used to be the best friends of Ryder were one of the Eight Major Gods that had formed the plan to kill Ryder. Ryder knew it all, but instead of running away, he decided to face them all bravely. On one side stood Ryder and Asteria, while on the other side stood his three best friends and almost all Major Gods, looking to kill him. Even Janus stood against him. Asteria was killed in the war. Many major gods fell in the great war. One of the three friends of Ryder, the God of Light, had also died in the great war. Ryder himself was the one who had killed him along with the other gods. It was a brutal war... Much more brutal than anyone thought it was going to be. How difficult was it going to be to kill one God when they have all other gods on their side. That''s what the other gods had thought, but they didn''t realize that the one they were facing was Ryder. Ryder was not alone either. He had the help of his bracelet that he had created, which gave him even more powers. Unfortunately, the bracelet was just created at that time, so it wasn''t ready to be used. Ryder couldn''t even use one percent of the bracelet''s power at that time. If he could, the outcome would have been different. After Janus stabbed Ryder, Ryder''s body turned to dust. Only the bracelet of immortality was left behind. All the gods wished to use the bracelet for themselves. But this was a problem since no one was willing to have another person take the bracelet. It was impossible to give up the bracelet. The allure was just too much to let others have it. Even if they were gods, they had similar emotions to humans. If they couldn''t have something good for themselves, they wished for no one to have it. Some gods were willing to let others have it or use votings, but there were some who didn''t agree. In the end, it was decided that no one will keep the bracelet. Since one couldn''t keep it, no one was going to keep it. That also had a problem of its own enough. They could also feel that it was breaking the balance of the world. Even if they didn''t use it, the bracelet was not something that could be allowed to exist. It was an unstable item that was destroying all elements as it grew in power each second. They didn''t even know if they could keep it in control for long. In the end, they decided that the only way to stop this problem was to deal with the item once and for all. They decided to destroy it. They used the strongest of attacks to break the bracelet completely. They even used the hellfire and heavenly thunder to destroy it, but nothing worked. The bracelet couldn''t be destroyed. In the end, they all used a different idea. It was an idea that was suggested by Janus himself. He had suggested that they all use a bit of their power to seal the bracelet and create a key. These keys were the tokens created by each of the gods. Not even Thirty gods were selected to seal the bracelet. Everyone agreed to it since no one would be able to unseal the bracelet without all the tokens from the gods. And getting the tokens was impossible since no one wished for the other to be able to use the bracelet of immortality. In the end, the bracelet was sealed. After being sealed, it was placed inside the box of anonymity. The box of anonymity was a mysterious item that was embedded with space and time magic. Its speciality was that whatever was inserted inside it was Teleported to some random location in an unexpected corner of the world. The item was also covered in a mysterious aura that made it impossible for that item to be tracked. People could spend millions of years, but they would be unable to find the item that was placed in the box of anonymity. The sealed bracelet of immortality was placed in the box of anonymity to make sure that it was never discovered. The bracelet of immortality was a powerful item that was impossible to be destroyed. It also had many untold powers. Even if it was sealed and each god kept a key with them, it was still not certain if someone would try to steal the key due to greed. After the bracelet of immortality disappeared inside the box of anonymity, Janus suggested another thing. He told the gods that everyone knew who had these tokens. If a powerful god wished, he could steal these tokens or use immoral ways to get the keys. He suggested that the best way to make sure that no one even thought about getting the bracelet of immortality unsealed was to place all the keys inside the box of anonymity one after another. Even though some people didn''t agree with it, the majority did. The keys were placed inside the box of anonymity. Thus, the keys were thrown to unknown corners of the world where they could never be brought together to unseal the bracelet. Since the box of anonymity also removed the aura of items, it was also impossible to find the keys. So no one had any hope of getting the bracelet of immortality or unsealing it. Chapter 442 - 438: Talking me a Goddess It was all done based on Janus'' suggestions, who had won the trust of the other gods by helping them against his own brothers, and no one knew how far-sighted he had been. The goddess of life and death believed that Janus wouldn''t go down to meet his brother since that would place him in danger. Did he really not contact his brother? "So Asteria is alive, and you had no role in it. You only knew about it. That explains why I felt your protection around him," Janus answered, ignoring the question of the green-haired woman. "You even sensed my protection from so far away? This should be impossible even if you are keeping an eye on that place. Unless... You are connected to your brother through consciousness. Is that it?" The Goddess of Life and Death inquired. "Yeah. He doesn''t remember anything. I help him stay alive to make sure he doesn''t die," Janus answered casually. "So you can talk to him from here?" The green-haired woman asked Janus. Janus nodded his head. "Can I talk to him as well? I wish to... Have a conversation with him. I wouldn''t take long. Please give me this chance?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked. Janus drew his breath, and let it back out with a loud sigh, almost resembling the great winds of the north. He pointed out, "Eliena... He doesn''t remember anything. Talking to him right now would be no different than talking to a stranger." "I know it wouldn''t be the same, but still..." Goddess of Life and Death Eliena answer, not backing off. "Fine. I''ll let you talk to him for a minute," Janus answered softly. "But you''ll have to do something I''m interested in." "Do what in exchange?" Eliena asked with curiosity. "You can''t revive Immortals, but you can revive mortals. I want your help with that. You must create a pill that contains your power. It must be able to revive and completely heal a mortal who had died," Janus replied. "This... I can do that, but why do you want it?" Eliena inquired. "You''ll know soon enough," Janus answered as a smile sneaked out the corner of his mouth. "I can give you the pull, but it won''t be free of limitations. Since it''ll be in the form of a pill, it would only work if the pill is placed inside the mouth of the dead person. It''ll work as long as the person hasn''t been dead for over five minutes. Also, it won''t work on gods," the Goddess of Life and Death informed Janus. "Don''t worry about it. That should be enough. Just give me the pill, and I''ll let you talk to him," Janus answered as he nodded his head. "Alright." Eliena closed her eyes as he reached out her empty hand and bawled her fingers to make a fist. Her body started glowing slowly with a green light. It lasted for a few seconds before it retracted back. The woman opened her fist to reveal a green pill. "This is the life pill. Here," she let out as she threw the pill towards Janus. "Good. This should be able to help in the future." Janus muttered as he gazed at the pill in his hand. He gazed back at Eliena before he answered, "Wait a minute." ****** Ryder was looking at the tree which was lying on the ground, wondering how it fell down. It didn''t seem like anyone was near them. "Your Highness, I''ll take a look around. I had a feeling that someone was watching us. This event doesn''t seem natural either. Please don''t move for now," Rale told Ryder before he moves out in search of something odd. Ryder and the Diamond Tiger Beast were left behind, watching Rale disappear from their sight. "Is a spirit watching us? This reminds me of the ghost valley in Divinity, where invisible spirits are the enemies. Could it be the same?" Ryder wondered as he sat on the trunk of the fallen tree. He started waiting for Rale to return as he rested. As his All-Seer wasn''t showing anyone, he couldn''t do anything but wait. The Diamond Tiger Beast sat in front of Ryder. [A new mission has been Issued] When Ryder was about to reach out his hand to pat the head of Diamond Tiger Beast, Janus''s voice echoed in his ears. "Finally... Another mission. Now I can get stronger." Ryder grinned as he heard the voice of Janus. He had been waiting for a long time for Janus to give another mission. [Mission: Talk to Goddess Eliena on the Deity Phone] [Mission Reward: One Life Pill] [Punishment for Failure: Lost opportunity] [Time Limit: 5 minutes] "Hmm? Isn''t that a simple mission? I just have to talk on the Deity Phone? Not bad," Ryder muttered as he finished hearing the mission. He opened his inventory and brought out the Deity Phone, which he had received as a reward from the system previously. It was said to be an item that allowed him to talk to mythical creatures over the phone. He had previously used this phone to talk to Dracula. "Let''s see if there is a goddess Eliena in the contact list. I don''t remember seeing that name last time I checked," he muttered as he opened the list of names. "There it is. Hmm? Only five origin points for a minute call? Not bad," he let out as he saw the cost of the call. There was an ''I'' icon in front of the name. He tapped on the icon to see what it was about, only to have a warning open on the phone screen. [Warning: Maximum call duration is only one minute] "Hmm? It''s fine. I only need to talk to her. It''s better if I keep the call short to save my Origin Points," Ryder let out as he saw the notification. He tapped on the call icon and dialed the number. Janus watched Ryder call. A phone appeared in his hand, which he threw towards Eliena. "You only have one minute of talks. Here," he said. The Goddess of Life and Death caught the phone. "Isn''t this a human device that they use? You use this to stay in contact with him?" She asked Janus. "Yeah," Janus lied without any change on his face. Eliena placed the phone on her ears as she picked up the call. "Hello? Is this goddess Eliena?" Ryder asked as the call was picked. Eliena''s mouth opened slightly as she heard the voice of Ryder. She opened her mouth to say something, but no voice came out of her mouth. She was so stunned that she couldn''t speak anything for a moment. Her eyes turned red as wetness filled her eyes. "Fifty seconds left." Janus pointed out after ten seconds of silence. He didn''t wish to have her waste all her time without speaking anything since she had paid him for this opportunity. "Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?" Ryder asked after not hearing any response over the call. He gazed at his phone, wondering if something was wrong. "Is this thing still working? Hey Janus, I called. I want my reward even if I don''t get any response. I want no excuse later on!" "H-hello." Goddess of Life and Death finally spoke a word after fifteen seconds had passed. "Finally. Someone answered..." Ryder muttered. "So, which mythical person are you. I don''t remember reading about you as I did of Dracula. Are you an actual goddess?" Ryder asked excitedly. Even though he hadn''t heard her name before, there was a goddess in her name. He believed that she probably was a goddess. "Yes... I am a goddess," Eliena said as she laughed. Tears trickled down her cheeks even as she laughed, which created a big contract of emotions. "You must be really pretty. I''ve never seen a goddess, but I heard they are heavenly beauties. You must be one too, right?" Ryder asked softly. "Is this really the truth, though? Are goddesses prettier than humans? J can''t imagine anyone being prettier than some of the girls I know. I highly doubt that" he continued without even waiting for an answer. "You didn''t see a goddess?" Eliena asked softly. "How would I? I''m not a god. Aren''t only gods supposed to see other gods since they live in heaven? What could someone like me see?" Ryder answered as he sighed. "I''m just a man who kept being annoyed by Janus," he continued. Eliena gazed at Janus at the response to Ryder''s words. She could only see a wry smile on his face. "I am sure you''ve been the prettiest woman in your life. No one can be prettier than the ones you have seen," Eliena answered as she remembered how Ryder was in his previous life. "It''s so strange..." Ryder suddenly muttered. "What is strange?" Eliena inquired. "I feel like I have heard your voice before. Are you really a goddess? Or am I being pranked again?" Ryder asked curiously. Chapter 443 - 439: Attack of Shadows "Are you really a goddess, or Am I being pranked here?" Ryder asked, wondering if Janus was messing with him. Why else would the girl''s voice sound so familiar? "Of course, it would sound familiar. You don''t remember, but there''s still a part inside you that knows..." Eliena answered. Her brows arched up as a smile bloomed on her face. "I don''t remember?" Ryder asked, wondering what she was talking about. "What don''t I remember? My memory is pretty good, but I do forget people I meet once in a while. Are you really not a goddess and a person I met before?" The Goddess of Life and Death chuckled at Ryder''s confusion. She had never seen Ryder confused in his previous life. He was always a confident guy who seemed like he had everything in control. Watching him look confused was a refreshing sight which she found hilarious. It was only made better due to the fact that she was able to see him and his expressions through the pond. She walked closer to the Pond to get a closer view of Ryder. After sitting down on the edge of the pond, the woman started answering, "I am-" Beep... Beep... Beep... She had just started answering when she heard the beeping sound. "Your time is over. The connection is cut. He can''t hear you now," Janus answered as he walked closer to her. He took the phone from her hand, which disappeared in his hand. "No, please. Give me one more minute... I''ll give you ten more pills like that!" Eliena protested as she stood up eagerly. She didn''t wish to stop now. She wanted to talk more with Ryder. "I am sorry, but I can''t. I myself don''t talk to him for over a minute at a time. I don''t want his existence to be exposed. Talking for long will risk him. This was all the time I could give you. I had already informed you about it in advance," Janus answered, shaking his head. It was unclear if it was actually the truth or if he was making an excuse since his face was expressionless, making it tough to judge. Eliena breathed in and breathed out, trying to calm herself. A sigh escaped her lips. "You are right. I was being stupid." She turned back to gaze at the face of Ryder as a sad smile covered her beautiful face, making her seem more melancholic. "I am happy that he is alive. Even if he doesn''t remember. I''m also glad to know that he is still the same person from inside. He didn''t forget my voice even after reincarnation," the Goddess of Life and Death muttered as she sighed. ... Janus didn''t say anything and simply closed her eyes. "Hello? Hello? Hmm?" Ryder kept wondering why he couldn''t hear the voice anymore. He gazed at the screen of the Deity Phone. "Oh, a minute is over... It was not bad to talk to her, though. Too bad the call got disconnected just when she was about to tell me about Janus'' prank and who she is," he let out as he realized the reason behind disconnection. The warning already said that he could only talk for a minute. [Mission Completed] [Life Pill received] "Good. Let''s see what this thing is..." Ryder alluded as he opened his inventory. He could see a green pill in one of the slots. Tap! After tapping on the pill, he noticed two options becoming available. [Life Pill] [Withdraw] [Details] He didn''t wish to bring it out and only to see its details, so he tapped on the details. [Name: Life Pill] [Description: A magical pill created by the Goddess of Life and Death with her essence. It is said to be a godly item that can even bring the dead back to life once placed inside their mouth] [Item Grade: God Grade] [Item Type: One-time Consumable Item] [Usage: Once placed inside the mouth of the dead person, it will bring that person back to life] [Warning: Only effective if placed inside the mouth of the dead person within 5 minutes of their death] [Limitation: A headless body won''t be revived] [Limitation: Can only be used on humans] "Interesting item. So it''s like one added life. Honestly, I can''t use it on myself since I''ll be revived anyway. My healing is pretty good, and my time travel also kicks in unintentionally if I run out of my healing chances and die. So it''s of no use to me, but I can help someone close to me if I ever need it. Not a bad item indeed," He admitted. "I didn''t find anyone here. Not even any beasts are nearby. It''s strange." Rale came back to Ryder, informing him about his lack of findings. "As I said, there is no one here. It''s either an accident or a spirit. Just be careful," Ryder said as he placed his hand on the trunk of the tree and stood up. "Let''s be on our way. The faster we finish, the better it''ll be for us," he let out as he resumed the trip to find prey. After walking for over close to half an hour, they finally found a beast that was fit to be a prey. It was a bear that had an Armor on its chest. Using All-Seer, Ryder found out the name of the bear and its level. "There is one. It''s a level 170 Stone Armored Bear. I''ll get its HP down. You stay ready to attack!" He informed the Diamond Tiger Beast before he flew straight ahead towards the Bear. Ryder had only flown for a second when he sensed something. He could see a shadow moving from the bushes towards the Diamond Tiger Beast. Its speed was so fast that Ryder could only see a blurry shadow that was moving like lightning. "Another beast is here! Rale, watch out!" Ryder yelled to warn Rale, but Rale had already noticed the shadow. Rale flew towards the shadow instead as he bawled up a fist to punch the shadow when he got in its close proximity. Ryder had also stopped as he focused more on the shadow, ignoring the bear. Rawwwr! Ryder''s Shout had attracted the attention of the bear as well, who started running towards Ryder with a loud roar of his own. Ryder took his glance off of the shadow for a brief second as he raised his hand towards the Stone-Armored Bear. "Shadow Ball!" He said softly. A black ball of shadow appeared before his palm, which shot out straight towards the Stone Armored Bear. The shadow ball hit the chest of the Stone Armored Bear, breaking his strong looking armor while leaving a wound behind; however, the Armor had taken most of the blow. Thus the near wasn''t harmed much. The bear couldn''t prevent himself from being pushed back because of the impact, though. "Raawrrr!" It roared wildly, seeming to be even more enraged. "Flame Blast!" Without giving it another chance, Ryder used another elemental attack, spending his mana. A ball of raging hot flame appeared near his hand, which shot straight towards the Stone Armored Bear. It was a properly planned attack. The Shadow Ball to break the Armor and the Flame blast to blow up the bear who didn''t have the protection of the Armor to end the beast fast without wasting much time. The Flame ball landed on the chest of the Bear. It blew up into a big cloud of flames as soon as it touched the chest of the near. The cloud of flames covered the bear, his fur catching on fire. Raaaa! The bear roared in pain as its Hp started sinking like it was a glass of water which was being drunk from by a thirsty person. Ryder didn''t even waste time watching the near after the attack since he was certain that the bear wouldn''t come for him. It didn''t even take a few seconds before the Bear died. Ryder gained the entire experience since he was the only person who had attacked. [Level up] The level gain notification resounded in his head, which was effectively ignored by him as he focused on Rale. Rale reached the shadow and punched out with all his strength. Just as Rale''s fist reached near the shadow, the shadow disappeared if it appeared behind Rale and continued speeding towards the Diamond Tiger Beast. "Heck, it''s targeting the little guy," Ryder let out, stunned. He also flew towards the Diamond Tiger Beast. Ryder reached near the Diamond Tiger Beast a few moments before the shadow could. He pulled out the knife from his pants. The knife started changing shape and took the shape of a scythe. It was none other than the Moon-scythe, which he was carrying as a knife since it was easy to carry that way because of its shape changing abilities. As the Moon Scythe returned to its original position, Ryder swung it towards the shadow that had reached dangerously close to them. Chapter 444 - 440: Contract Ryder appeared before the Diamond Tiger Beast between him and the shadow before he swung his Scythe in haste towards the shadow. Seeing the scythe coming towards it, the shadow stopped as it retreated. Rale came from behind the shadow, which was retreating, and attacked it from behind as well. Seeing the attack coming from both sides, the shadow dispersed, disappearing entirely. "Where is it?" Ryder asked Rale as he noticed the shadow disappear. He looked around but didn''t find the shadow. Rale also looked around, failing to find the shadow nearby. "It looks like it left," Rale answered as he frowned. "Just what was that thing? I couldn''t even see what it was. Did you manage to get a good look?" Ryder inquired. "I also didn''t see what it was, unfortunately," Rale answered, shaking his head. "Its speed was fast, but its strength is still shrouded in mystery since we couldn''t even though it. I do have a feeling that it was stronger than the Stone-Armored Bear, though. Maybe a level 200 beast or above," Ryder assumed as he took one last glance around. "Should we go back? It doesn''t seem to be safe here for you since the beast can hide so well," Rale suggested, trying to take Ryder back to safety. He was sure that he could protect himself and Ryder, but he didn''t wish to place Ryder''s security in his assumption when the enemy was someone he had no idea about. " There''s no need; I should be-" Ryder was about to refuse when he heard the noise of the Diamond Tiger Beast. He and Rale gazed at the Diamond Tiger Beast, who seemed to be looking upwards. Both of them looked up to see what he was watching, only to find the shadow above them, speeding down towards them. "It can fly?" Ryder wondered, but he didn''t let his shock overwhelm him. He had seen that the Shadow could dodge physical attacks, but he still had more attacks to test. He opened his fist as he aimed his palm towards the shadow that was coming down towards them. "Flame blast!" He shot out a ball of fire towards the shadow. Rale also did the same thing as he fired a flame ball, but his sphere of flame seemed to be many times bigger than Ryder''s flame ball. In fact, Ryder''s flame ball seemed like a kid before Rale''s attack. It was not only smaller but slower as well. Even though Ryder had attacked first, Rale''s flaming sphere caught up to his attack and even shot past it. The shadow seemed to be one step ahead again as it dispersed again. "Not again!" Ryder let out in frustration as he saw the shadow use the same move again that it had used before. He felt the need to find the shadow again, but it didn''t take long as he felt a presence behind his back. Without thinking for a second, he swung his Moon Scythe behind, which had changed into a sword to cover more area with the blade. Turning the balance of his body, he swung his hand with the Sword, only to see the shadow right beside his hand. The shadow had managed to close in on him. The blade of the sword couldn''t touch it even if he hit the shadow as the shadow was near the hilt and his forearm. Seeing the sword becoming useless, Ryder changed the sword to a knife which he easily controlled. Controlling the motion of the knife, he thrust it towards his chest where the shadow was coming. The shadow changed its direction and stopped targeting Ryder''s chest; instead, it moved towards his left hand, biting it. The knife touched the shadow immediately after his flesh was bitten; however, the shadow once again dispersed. "Fricking hell! This sneaky bastard!" Ryder cursed as he watched his hand bleeding. He gazed at his hand and noticed something strange. A black line had appeared on his forearm that seemed to be made of black ink. The black line seemed to be moving as if a tattoo was being drawn on his hand by a mysterious artist. Ryder didn''t feel any pain as it happened. "Is it poison? No, my healing should have been activated if it was poison. It doesn''t seem to be harmful. What is it, though? Just what was the shadow?" He wondered as he squinted his eyes. "Strange... I am harmed, but I didn''t lose even the slightest of HP either?" He wondered. He gazed at Rale and thought for a little while. "Rale, plan change. Let''s go back. This beast is not something I wish to face right now..." He said, shaking his head. " We should find another hunting ground next time. Till then, you try to find out everything you could about a beast with similar properties to this one." He agreed to go back since it was a waste of time. They couldn''t fight a beast that could disappear like this and appear again. It was still good when it attacked like this when they were free, but if they were attacked when they were busy fighting other beasts, it could be worse. He didn''t wish to suffer because of overconfidence. "Agreed," Rale nodded his head. Ryder kept the Diamond Tiger Beast back before he caught the hand of Rale. Both of them started flying back towards the Palace. **** "So this was the plan of Asteria. He was jealous and wanted to kill the Little tiger, but he changed his plan after seeing it being protected so seriously..." Janus mumbled as he watched Ryder leave. "Not only that, but he also left that mark. Once again, the contract has been established between the two. It reminds me of the old times," he let out as he smiled wryly. "Yeah... Last time seemed to be the same as well. But that was when your brother was the one who wished to establish the contract. He beat up Asteria black and blue and only left him after he received the contract. I remember watching that... It was funny," Eliena let out as she smiled. She could see the tattoo being carved on Ryder''s hand. "This time, it''s the reverse. Asteria established the contract on his own," Janus pointed out. "Yeah. I guess I wouldn''t have to worry about him being found out by other gods since he will live inside the tattoo in your brother''s arm now. Your brother doesn''t have his divine powers and memories, so he won''t get caught either. They have you to keep an eye on them either. I can be free of worries," Eliena answered as she smiled. "Are you jealous?" Janus asked softly. "Jealous of who?" Eliena inquired, seemingly confused. "You know who..." Janus answered vaguely. The goddess of Life and Death seemingly understood Janus'' words, but she ignored him. Instead, she changed the topic, "Your brother seemed like a different person altogether. Reincarnation and growing up in a new environment can change a person so much. It''s fascinating." "What do you mean?" It was Janus'' turn to be confused now. "Your brother... He is thinking with his brain now. How easily he decided to retreat now, it''s good. If it was the old him, he would have died but wouldn''t leave. If it were the current him when I came to inform him about the upcoming war, he would have left, and so many people wouldn''t have died," Eliena answered, sighing. "That''s true. Similarly, if he had his old memories, he would never leave this forest. He would have burnt this whole forest to ashes to kill the shadow," Janus let out as he chuckled. His laugh was contagious and sounded more like an evil cackle than an expression of amus.e.m.e.nt. ... Eliena watched Janus blankly as she rolled her eyes. She found no words to respond. "So, what''s your plan. What are you going to do to him?" She asked. "He is not a mortal, I believe. Even if he has reincarnated, one day, he might get his memories back. That''s how Divinity of us gods work. It can be delayed, but his Divine Powers will find him in the end," Eliena expressed her concern. "It''s not a question of if but a question of when and how. What is your plan for that day?" She asked. "I know that the day is inevitable. That''s why I''m making sure that all the pieces will be at the right place when that happens. It will be a return that the universe will remember for eons to come. Something that will change the entire world and mold it differently," Janus answered softly. "Is this your wish or his?" Eliena asked. "It''s... Our wish!" Janus answered with an expressionless face. "What do you want from me? I wish to help him, but I won''t do anything that''s against my consciousness. You should remember how I am," Eliena informed Janus. "I know. That''s why I won''t ask you for much. I only need you to do one thing. That is all..." Janus replied. Chapter 445 - 441: Bluffing "What is the one thing that you want me to do? As long as it''s not something bad, I''m willing to help for old time''s sake," The Goddess of Life and Death answered. "Don''t worry. It''s not anything bad. It''s just something to do with the God of Time and the God of Space," Janus replied. "The two guys who were his friends but stood against him? Are you going to scheme against them?" Eliena asked, getting cautious. She wasn''t going to betray her fellow gods if that was what Janus wanted. It was against her consciousness and certainly something she couldn''t do. Janus didn''t answer. Instead, he gazed in the pond, which had returned to showing two fishes that were circling each other. "Why do you even want to involve them in it? I know they stood against him, but it''s been so long. They have already stopped involving themselves with other stuff after that day, instead opting for staying in a separate realm, far away from others, not leaving even once," the goddess of Life and Death told Janus strongly. "What they did and what it led to had a strong impact on them as well. Can you not involve them in your business? If you did and they found out, we would be forced into another useless war," she continued. "Stop theorizing. I only said that my request is related to them, and you already started dreaming of doom. Don''t worry... I have some common sense as well. They are too strong. The farther I keep him from them is the best. If they find out about him, things won''t end like they did last time," Janus answered softly. The Goddess of Life and Death breathed out a sigh of relief as she heard Janus'' confirmation that he wasn''t going to do what she thought he would. She asked, "Then what do you want?" She seemed calmer now. Whatever he wanted couldn''t be that bad since it was just like he had said. He wasn''t an idiot. He wouldn''t do things that would put them in jeopardy. Janus stopped looking at the pond, instead gazing in the deep eyes of the Goddess of Life and Death. He snapped his fingers once again. Everything around them turned grey. "It''s your place. You don''t have to cast your Domain since no one was going to be able to come here without your permission anyway," Janus answered softly. Janus didn''t comment on her words. Instead, he started answering her other question. Janus told the Goddess of Life and Death what he wanted, exceptionally slowly. He wanted to make sure that she heard each of his words clearly. The Goddess of Life and Death had vivid expressions as she heard Janus'' words. She seemed to be getting more shocked the more she heard. Each of Janus'' words seemed like a hammer that was striking against her ears. Janus finished his explanation before he turned back and walked closer to the sun and moon fish in the pond, gazing at their shining selves. The Goddess of Life and Death stood stunned, unable to collect herself together for quite some time. It was only after a long time that she was finally able to get her thoughts together She opened her mouth after quite some time, only to scold Janus. "Did you go completely insane?" She asked "No. I didn''t go crazy. Why do you say so? I told you to do nothing that could be against your conscience," Janus answered, rolling his eyes. Janus'' words once again stunned her since he was right. This was not something that was against her morals but still, how could she do this? She didn''t understand. "You are right but still! This... This..." She tried to say something, but she failed to find excuses to give while finishing her sentence. "Don''t stress yourself. You are the only one who can do it, and I''m sure you will. Just think of it as a return for him helping you in his last days here," Janus answered, seeing what she was trying to do. If she was going to do this, Janus wasn''t going to stay back either. He was going to play his ultimate card in this situation¡ª emotional blackmail. "Help in the last days here? What do you mean?" The goddess of Life and Death asked, confused. "You still don''t know, do you? How my brother saved you," Janus answered as he sighed. "What do you mean?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked. "Who was the one that was really responsible for getting all gods against my brother? Who is the main reason behind this all?" Janus asked. "It... Was the Goddess of Destiny," The Goddess of Life and Death asked Janus. ''Exactly. You weren''t part of the last great war, but I''m sure you saw it in its entirety, didn''t you?" Janus inquired again. "You''re right. I saw it," the Goddess of Life and Death answered, nodding her head. The last moment of my brother, do you remember the two people that were in the range of his attacks?" Janus asked. "This..." The Goddess of Life and Death tried to remember about what she saw. It was still deeply etched in her memories, so it didn''t take her long. "What! How come I didn''t realize it before? The two people in the range of his attacks were the God of Light and the Goddess of Destiny!" She answered. Janus nodded his head, subtly. "Exactly. Why did he not kill the Goddess of Destiny then? The woman was one of the main people responsible for getting people against him, wasn''t she?" Janus asked softly. "Because he was in rage? He wasn''t thinking clearly?" The Goddess of Life and Death theorized. "Hah, you know my brother. Did you really thought he would lose his senses with just that much?" Janus rolled his eyes as if he couldn''t even believe she was saying such things. "You''re right. He wouldn''t. Maybe it was because he hated the God of Light more since he used to be a friend and then stood against him?" The Goddess of Life and Death asked, finding it difficult to find a good reason. She was just finding anything she could to make sense. " Then he would have killed the God of Space first. He had many opportunities to do that, didn''t he? If he really wanted to kill the three, no power in this world could save them. Instead, he killed the gods that came before him, not prioritizing anyone," Janus said. His tone was not too loud or too low, but it was crystal clear. He continued, "It was only in the last moment when he had a choice, and he selected his long-time friend instead of the main enemy. Why?" "Why?" The Goddess of Life and Death also asked this question again. She had given up. A world-encompassing sigh escaped the lips of Janus as he inclined his head a little, gazing towards the sky. "It was because of you," he answered. "Because of me? How?" "You want to know? It''s something that you never knew. How he was fighting for you until the last moment," Janus answered in a melancholic tone as if he was finding it extremely sad. "How! Tell me what he did!" The Goddess of Life and Death asked as her heart started beating faster. It was as if her heart was going to jump out of her chest. Did Ryder actually do something for her at the last moment? What did he do? She couldn''t be at peace without knowing. "You really want to know?" Janus asked. "Yes! Tell me!" Eliena said impatiently. "Why should I? If you can''t even do what I asked you for him, then you don''t deserve to know what he did for you. It''s better you stay ignorant." Janus let out, shaking his head lightly "You, Janus, don''t keep me in the dark! Tell me what he did! I''ll do what you ask! I can do anything for him. Just tell me what he did!" Eliena said, seemingly angry that he wasn''t telling her such an important thing. "You will do what I asked?" Janus inquired softly. "I will! Now tell me!" Eliena agreed. "Fine. First, prove that you can. I will tell you everything after you finish it. I will also tell you his last words that he had told me to tell you. I kept them a secret until now as well. Since he lost his memories, I''m the only one who knows. You want to know these two things, do what I asked," Janus answered. His face was expressionless, not letting out his expressions. It was impossible to know if he was telling the truth or bluffing. "You are lying to make me do your bid!" Eliena let out. "You can think what you want. If you want the answer, you''ll do what I asked. If you don''t want to, you can consider it a lie," Janus answered. Chapter 446 - 442: Gift from an old friend "Fine. I will do as you asked, but if it turned out to be a lie, you would regret lying to me," The Goddess of Life and Death let out as she finally agreed to the terms of Janus. She really wanted to know what Ryder had done for her in his last moments and what his last words for her were. She chose to trust Janus'' words that he wasn''t lying to her. "Good. I wish you all the success. Your success will be our success after all," Janus muttered before he snapped his fingers again. The grey surrounding returned to normal, becoming colorful once again. He retracted his Domain, making it dormant again. Eliena turned back and disappeared from Janus'' sight. Janus gazed at the empty spot with a thoughtful look on his face before he shook his head. **** Ryder had left the Dark forest with the intention of reaching the Place; however, mid-way, Rale informed him about another beast forest at some distance from their location. Since there was still some time left before it was going to be time to leave, Ryder agreed to be taken to the forest. Rale changed direction and took Ryder to another hunting ground. Ryder and Rale spent the next few hours hunting in this new place. It passed without any trouble, unlike last time. This place seemed much better as well since it didn''t seem like someone was keeping an eye on them anymore. Ryder was so immersed in hunting; he didn''t notice the changes that were taking place on his hand. The black ink inside his skin seemed to be spreading slowly. It was also getting much lighter. Ryder and Rale left the forest when it was close to night time. Rale took Ryder back to the Royal Palace. Both Ryder and the Diamond Tiger Beast were stronger now that they had come back after their experience grinding. Even though it was a short three hours, Ryder still managed to grow a lot since the second hunting ground was much better. They didn''t have any tough time finding beasts. Instead, it seemed as if the beasts were coming to them to die rather. Ryder stepped inside the great hall where he met the person he had sent to call all the High Dukes here. "Did you inform them all about the meeting tomorrow?" Ryder inquired casually as he sat on the throne. "Yes, Your Highness. I have informed all four of them personally," Dale answered. "All four personally? You mean High Duke Oris is back?" Ryder asked in surprise. He had heard that High Duke Oris was out. He thought that he would be informed indirectly but informing him personally meant that he was back. "Yes, Your Highness. He had just come back a few minutes before I reached there. In fact, he was coming here to meet you with the new Marquis candidate. After I informed him about the meeting tomorrow, he decided to do all things tomorrow and not to disturb you," Dale answered. "Marquis Candidate? What''s it about?" Ryder inquired, seemingly confused. He shifted his focus from Dale, who was on one knee before him, to Rale, who stood beside him. "He must be the new Marquis Candidate from Duke Devilia''s duchy that needs your approval to become official Marquis. Ah, right. The marquis was dead there. So that''s what it''s about. I remember Miku mentioning something about this to me. "It''s fine. I don''t have much knowledge about this anyway. Since High Duke Oris selected the candidate, it must be right. I don''t have to think much anyway," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "I''m not the emperor yet, after all." ''This reminds me... I need to finish the Kingship Trials to become the Emperor. I feel confident enough to finish them now. I also need to go to the Death Domain to finish Rale''s Quest and get the next fragment. I should arrange for that as well. Since it''s an official trial, I don''t have to sneak inside there like I have been doing. It''s better as well,'' he suddenly thought. As a Prince, he still had a few limitations and lacked certain authorities, like leaving the Demon Realm openly or the authority to wage war. After he finished the trial, he was going to become an absolute ruler. The entire Demon Realm was going to become his personal army in that case, and he was going to be the sole ruler of Divinity. He wouldn''t need to be worried about anything in that case. It was still a plan, though. Firstly, he needed to swiftly deal with the problem of missing guards and maids. If he couldn''t handle it properly, let alone becoming the Emperor, he wouldn''t even be allowed to remain as Prince. He knew where to place his priorities. "Good. Since everything is set, you can go rest," he told Dale before he departed with Rale. Rale thought that he was escorting Ryder to his room, but he soon realized that they seemed to be going in a different direction. Seeing Rale following him with confusion, Ryder said, "Rale, you don''t have to follow me. You can go rest as well. I just want to see Miyali and Miku one last time before I go back to sleep." "Oh, That''s where we are going. It''s fine. I should still escort you until you''re back in your room safely," Rale replied, understanding where they were going. The two of them soon found Miku and Miyali. They were in the kitchen where Miku seemed to be teaching something to Miyali. The two of them seemed to be talking more cordially. Rale was about to step inside the kitchen to inform them of Ryder''s arrival, but Ryder reached out his hand, stopping Rale. He placed his hand on Rale''s cheat, stopping him before he shook his head. He silently turned back and started walking back. Rale also did the same, understanding that Ryder didn''t wish to disturb them. It seemed as if Ryder was only here to see if the two were handling things fine after all that happened previously and not to talk to them. Now that he had seen them, he could go back. Ryder was escorted back to his room, and after making sure that he was inside, Rale finally left. "He is too stern in his duties," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly while sitting on the bed. He opened the logout screen and logged out of Divinity. After taking off his glasses, he sat up. He walked to the bathroom and turned on the tap before filling water in his hand and splashing on his face a few times. After drying his face using a towel, he was about to step out of the bathroom, but as he moved the towel aside, he noticed his forearm that was covered in what seemed like a black tattoo. "Heck, this thing followed me in real life? How is this possible? My Digital Avatar should have been the one affected. Why is it in my real hand as well?!" He exclaimed with an incredulous look on his face. The tattoo also looked less like a random splash of black ink like last time. Instead, it seemed like a proper tattoo of a creature. It was still only a black shape with no other color, but this shape certainly seemed like a dragon that he had seen in fantasy books. The Dragon had phoenix-like wings, but as the ink was completely black, the wings also seemed black however light black color was around the wings, making it seem as if the wings were burning in black flames at the moment. His entire forearm was covered in the tattoo. Ryder again turned on the tap before he placed his forearm under the water. After wetting his arm, he started running soap on the black tattoo with as much strength as he could, trying to clean it. His arm was covered in foam, but he kept rubbing for longer. It was only after a long and hard rubbing that he placed his forearm under the water availability to rinse it. As the soap and the foam was cleaned up, a clean arm was revealed before Ryder''s eyes; however, that tattoo was still there. "Janus! What the heck is this! You must know what it is! Why is it in my arm! Tell me if you''re messing with me at least," Ryder called out after seeing that it wasn''t something that could be cleaned. It was certainly outside the realm of possibility unless someone came here and tattooed it in his arm when he was in Divinity. It seemed to be more on the side of Janus'' expertise since it was the supernatural stuff. Janus didn''t reply to him even after his call. "I know you can hear me. Stop ignoring me. What is it?" Ryder asked again. [It''s a gift from an old friend] After the second call-out, Janus finally answered. Chapter 447 - 443: Merger "A gift from an old friend?" Ryder muttered in confusion. What did Janus mean? "Which friend? Are you talking about yourself? Don''t joke around. This tattoo looks strange on my hand. I look like a gangster. Remove it right now," he said straight away. "I am asking you! If it''s not you, tell me who did it so I can beat the crap out of him for making this!" Ryder replied in annoyance. He wished to get it removed from his hand as fast as he could. Janus stopped replying to Ryder at this point. Ryder kept asking again and again, but Janus didn''t say anything. "Fine. Don''t answer. Keep your mouth shut and ignore me. Just remember, I''ll ignore you too one day," he let out as he rolled his eyes before he stepped out of the bathroom. He gazed at his hand one last time before he wore a full sleeves t-shirt and covered his forearm. He stepped out of the room and met up with Alice, who was waiting outside for him already. Alice seemed to be long ready to leave. "You''re finally out. If you still hadn''t come, I would have woken you up myself," Alice''s eyes lit up as she saw Ryder outside. She caught his hand and dragged him outside the room without giving him a chance even to speak. "Why are you in such a hurry?" Ryder asked Alice as he got dragged by her. "We are going to be late!" Alice replied. "Late for what?" Ryder asked, still not understanding what it was about. "I don''t seem to have any appointments or reservations. Weren''t we just going to roam around the city?" He inquired. "Plan change. I saw an offer online and took it. It gave us the booking of the entire day on the cheap," Alice let out. "A booking of where?" Ryder asked. "DiskeyLand. It is an offer that provided us with a limo to pick up and drop at that place. There are also more services included. I wanted to ask you, but the offer was going to expire in ten minutes, and you were sleeping at that time, so I did it myself," Alice told Ryder. "The Limo is already outside." "Did I make a mistake?" She asked. "I can cancel it if you have another plan decided. The cancellation charges are only two percent." "It''s fine. There''s no need to cancel," Ryder replied as he sighed. He entered the lift with Alice, which went down. They left the hotel only to find a long black car waiting outside for them. They confirmed with the driver if the car was here for them before they stepped inside the car. The car took them to DiskeyLand and dropped them at the entrance with the VIP tickets. The tickets gave them an even faster entry inside the venue. They stepped inside the place only to be greeted by the mascot of that place, who seemed to be a humanoid cat in coat and pant. "Look, D.i.c.key Cat! Such a classic! It was such a funny cartoon when it used to come on tv." Alice pointed out excitedly, but Ryder''s mind seemed to be in a different place altogether. He had once again tried calling Shu, but the number was out of reach again. Something didn''t seem right. Not only was Shu''s number out of reach for a long time, but he didn''t get any call from Shu either. He could be busy at work but not for so long. And how could his phone be out of reach for so long? Something didn''t make sense. He went online and tried to find the service number of Dream Corporation. Since Shu''s number was out of reach, he was going to try calling them directly. "Is something wrong?" Alice saw the seriousness on Ryder''s face. He seemed to be thinking about something else entirely. Let alone enjoying this place, he seemed to be more serious instead. "It''s nothing. I need to make a quick call. How about getting an ice-cream for yourself. I''ll join you soon," Ryder said as he pointed towards an ice-cream shop. Alice nodded her head and left to get ice cream while giving him privacy to deal with whatever matters he had. After Alice left, Ryder called the reception of Dream Corporation Headquarters. "Hello, Dream Corporation. How may I help you?" A female voice answered Ryder''s call. "Hello, I am Ryder Flynn. I need to talk to Schumacher Maxwell. His phone is out of reach. Can you transfer the call to him? Just tell him my name. He will confirm my identity," Ryder told the woman. "Mr. Maxwell? I am sorry, sir, but he isn''t here. He left a few days ago after the meeting," The woman answered Ryder. "Hmm? He left? So he isn''t working there? Did he go home or to some other business meeting?" Ryder asked. "I am sorry, but I can''t answer that. I have no information about his whereabouts," the woman answered. "Alright. Thanks," Ryder let out softly before he disconnected the call. Ryder placed his phone in his pocket as he fell in deep thought. Strange he left the office, but he didn''t call me. He isn''t even back home since I recently talked to the mansion guards regarding it. Just where is he?" He let out with concern evident on his face He was still lost in thought when an ice-cream appeared before him, held by a beautiful hand. "Here, I brought one for you too," Alice told Ryder as she gave him the ice cream. "Thanks," Ryder thanked Alice as he took the ice cream. "May I know what''s troubling you? I may not be able to help, but sharing always helps in times like this," Alice alluded to Ryder lightly. She didn''t wish to force him to tell her, but she did wish to express that she was here to listen if he wished to talk. "It''s about Shu. I don''t know where he is. His whereabouts are unknown. The office said that he left days ago. The mansion guards say that he isn''t back yet. His number is out of reach as well. The number of his butler is off as well. Something doesn''t seem right," Ryder let out. "I am worried for him," he expressed. ***** "How long are we going to keep his death a secret?" "Just a little longer. If we let this information out now, the share prices will fall like a rock from a cliff. Let us take some precautions first to protect the Dream Corporation against those variables. We need to treat this thing carefully." "Sigh, what can we even do? We can''t save the shares. The mysterious Shu Maxwell is seen as the core of this company. With his death, the Maxwell bloodline is over as well. Trust of people will certainly fall, but we can come above it." " No, I have a better idea. Only we know that Shu Maxwell died in a helicopter crash. A few people in the police and first responders know, but we already paid them money to keep silent. The people don''t know, and we must keep it that way." "How is that even possible? Shu Maxwell is the one who deals with the government on important matters. His absence will certainly arouse suspicions." "No, it won''t." "Why not?" In an adequately lit up room, the top board members of the Dream Corporation were talking amongst themselves. They had all found out about Shu''s death, but it wasn''t leaked outside the company yet. If it were out, all media outlets would be covering it by now. "Because Shu Maxwell''s death will be announced. I''m not saying that we never need to announce it. All I''m saying is to wait for a few days." "What will happen in a few days?" "I am working on a deal with Necrosis Corporation. Once the deal is finalized at our current valuation, we can let the news about his death out. The information about the merger will protect our shares from the fall. We would also retain our position while earning lots of money from this merger. It''s a win-win situation for us." "You were working on this deal; why didn''t you tell us?" " I didn''t want to tell something that had no possibility of happening. I just tried it after finding out about Shu''s death. Fortunately, it worked, and I got a positive response." "Why are we dealing with Necrosis Corporation and not other big organizations instead? Wouldn''t that be better?" "Necrosis has the best reputation at the moment, so it''s better for us. Secondly, they are closest to the government as well at the moment. So we wouldn''t have any problem with the merger. If we try to merge with others, we will face lots of problems from regulators. There are no problems with Necrosis." "Fine... You can deal with these matters. How long will it take to finalize the deal and to inform us of the conditions?" "Give me two days only." Chapter 448 - 444: Going In "So you can''t contact him at all?" Alice asked Ryder, talking about Shu. "I can''t. It''s like he has gone underground. It''s either that, or he is avoiding me," Ryder replied. This also gave him a thought. Could it be that his number was blocked? That could be why his calls weren''t getting connected. Even though it was an unlikely case, he still needed to make sure. Just to make sure that this wasn''t true, he told Alice to call herself. "Can you try calling from your phone? Maybe it''s a problem with my number." "Alright." Alice nodded her head, intending to try. Shu was like a brother to her. She was also concerned about him and wished to help in any way or shape she could. She dialed Shu''s number. After a moment of silence, she also shook her head lightly. "It''s not getting connected. His number is out of reach." "Just where the heck did he go. He said it was going to be a one-day thing, but it''s been way longer. Not only did he not go back home, but he isn''t available to contact either," He took a deep breath and tried to calm his mind, which was filled with bad thoughts about what could be happening. Even after trying, he wasn''t able to calm down. The negative thoughts were only increasing in his head. Could it be that something happened to Shu? With so much in his head, he couldn''t relax. "Alice, I think I need to go to his headquarters myself and check things out. I can''t calm down without knowing what is happening." "Right. His safety is more important. Let me come with you," Alice chimed in. "There''s no need for that. I''m only going to talk to those people. I should be enough for that. As for you, how about you travel this place without me for now?" Ryder replied, rejecting her offer. "How can I do it alone. It''s not important. I only wanted to come here with you. We can come again next time when we are sure that brother Shu is safe. If you don''t want to take me with you, that''s fine as well. I can just wait in the hotel," Alice refused to stay behind as well. "You don''t have to do that. Just see all the rides, so you know which are better ones. Next time we come, you can show me around as well. Also, you paid for both of us. Don''t waste money," Ryder let out as he chuckled. He patted her head. "Don''t worry. He must have gone to some other meeting that low-ranking receptionists don''t know about. That place must not have a good reception. It''s nothing serious..don''t stress yourself and see this place to its fullest," He comforted her as he played things down. "Go on all the rides and send me pics. If I saw you being lazy, I wouldn''t come here with you next time," he let out. "But..." "No buts! I don''t want to hear any excuses," Ryder let out as he saw Alice trying to refuse. "Now I''m bailing out. Have fun. Call me if you face any problems. I''ll be right here! Bye now." He finished hastily before he ran away, not giving her the chance to give an excuse. "Sigh, he is always like that," Alice muttered as she watched Ryder run away. She wanted to leave as well, but his words echoed in her head. If she left without spending the day here, he was going to be annoyed. He would never come back here with her then. She couldn''t go back if she wished to come here with him. She breathed in a mouthful of breath before she breathed out with a sigh. She turned back and started walking inside the facility. Ryder stepped out of the place and booked a cab that was supposed to take him to the headquarters of the Dream Corporation, which was also in this city, along with the headquarters of many other top organizations. The headquarters of the Dream Corporation was in a block of the city which was called the Dream Park, named after the Dream Corporation. Dream Corporation owned three multistorey buildings in the Dream Park. The rest of the area contained other assets like trees and recreational spaces where the employees could relax. There were many restaurants that were allowed to operate in the Dream Park as well. The cab stopped in front of one such restaurant. Ryder stepped out of the cab and paid the driver. Ryder stood on the street and saw three tall buildings in front of him. He wondered which building he was supposed to enter. He knew these three were owned by Dream Corporation, but where actually did the higher-ups stay? All three of these probably had an incharge, but he decided to enter the building, which seemed to be the tallest in this area. He climbed the stairs of the building to reach the entrance. As soon as he reached there, the door opened automatically. He stepped inside and the building and walked over to the receptionist. "Excuse me." "Yes, how may I help you?" "I am your Schumacher Maxwell''s friend. He had told me to come here to meet your executives for an important deal. Are they here?" Ryder asked. "What is your name? Do you have an appointment?" The Receptionist inquired. "Did your heads don''t tell you? How about you contact them? Tell them Mr. Flynn is here. They must be upstairs, right?" Ryder let out, casually. "Yeah. They are in a meeting. Were you supposed to be in that meeting as well? I was not informed about it," the receptionist asked. She was aware of a meeting that was taking place upstairs. Ryder''s excuse coincidentally matched the situation, making her believe that it was possible. She still needed to make sure before having him escorted there. " Do one thing. Is Alem in the meeting? Call him and tell him that I''m here to talk. He will handle the rest," Ryder replied as he named Alem. Alem was none other than the Non Executive Director of the Defence Technology Branch of Dream Corporation. He was overall fifth in the dream corporation in terms of a hierarchy of authority. Excluding Shu, there were three more people more influential than him. He was the closest to Shu, though. Ryder had met him before and also taken his help. He believed that the guy would certainly be willing to talk to him. "Ah, he is in the meeting. I am sorry, but I really can''t disturb them in meetings. I can only do that if you give me any concrete proof that you were supposed to attend that meeting as well. Since I wasn''t given any other instructions, I can''t help you more," the receptionist shook her head as she started typing something in her computer to check something. After some time, she shook her head. "As expected, your name isn''t here. I''m sorry, but you must wait until the meeting is over. You can''t attend. I can try something if you can get someone in higher-ups to contact me to verify what you''re saying." "It''s better for you to wait, in my opinion. The meeting would be over in a few minutes anyway," she continued right when Ryder was about to try something. "Fine. Contact Alem after the meeting is over. I can at least talk to him," Ryder let out as he rolled his eyes. He walked back and sat on the guest sofa. If anyone could answer him about where Shu was, it was Alem. The only problem was that he didn''t have Alem''s number, but that problem was solved as well since Alem was here and he could be contacted through the desk. Ryder sat on the sofa like a king as he started waiting for the girl to inform him that she had contacted Alem. He kept observing her, trying to see when she would call and when the meeting got over. It was after ten minutes that he finally saw her pick up the landline and call someone. She said a few things before she nodded her head. She put the phone down. "Mr. Flynn!" She called out to Ryder. Ryder stood up and approached the girl. "Alem, Sir recognized you. He told me to bring you to him. Just wait for a few seconds. I''ll arrange for someone to take you to him," the girl told Ryder before she called another number. A servant soon came to them. "Follow him. He will take you to Alem, Sir," the girl said to Ryder. Ryder followed the servant, who took him inside a lift. The lift stopped on the thirty-fifth floor where Alem''s office was. "This is his room," the servant informed Ryder before he knocked on the door. "Who is it?" A voice came from inside. "Sir, I brought Mr. Flynn." "Oh, good. The door is open. Send him in." Chapter 449 - 445: No Control The helper opened the door but didn''t step inside. He greeted Alem from outside before he gestured for Ryder to step inside. Ryder walked inside the room and walked over to the table of Alem. He reached out his hand for a handshake that was a normal custom in situations like these. Alem gazed at Ryder''s hand, but he didn''t reach out his hand. "Please sit," he said boringly. It seemed awkward as Ryder''s gesture was rejected. He pulled back his hand and sat on the chair. ''What an arrogant man. Was he always like this?'' Ryder thought while observing the face of Alem. "So, what brought you here, Mr. Flynn," Alem asked casually. His eyes kept their focus on the screen of his laptop, not even focusing on Ryder. ''If this guy weren''t the one who had helped me before, I would be so annoyed at this ignorance. But I''m giving him some leeway since he helped me before,'' Ryder thought as he ignored the negligence. "I am here to talk about Shu. He left the mansion saying that he''s coming here for a meeting. He was supposed to return in one day at most, but it has been much longer than that. His number isn''t on. The number of people who were with him is also out of reach. I came here for some answers. I am concerned about him," Ryder explained his purpose in coming here before he asked, "Just where exactly is he?" "So you''re here for him," Alem muttered as he finally looked at Ryder again. He closed his laptop before he pulled his drawer. He brought a piece of paper out of the drawer and placed it before Ryder. "Here, sign it," he said. He also slid his pan towards Ryder. Ryder looked down at the paper and picked it up. He started reading the paper line by line. "A non-disclosure agreement? What do you mean? I''m not asking about some corporate secret that I''ll leak. Tell me where he is," Ryder asked as he smashed the paper with his hand on the table. "Calm down. It''s just an NDA. I''m not asking you to give me all your property. If you want an answer from me, you must sign it. It is just a precautionary measure. If any conversation that happens here is leaked out, I will sue you. This is all," Alem answered lazily. He sat comfortably on the chair as he continued, "To sign or lot to sign, I leave that choice on you. However, if you don''t wish to sign, you can leave my office as we have nothing to talk about. I am not free to talk about my life, and I won''t talk about stuff related to the company as long as you don''t sign the NDA." Ryder gazed at the paper once again before he started wondering. Were Shu''s whereabouts a corporate secret? Or was this how Alem naturally was? Having people sign NDA that came here? "Fine. I am signing it." Having no choice, Ryder picked up the pen and signed the paper before sliding it back to Alem. Alem took the paper and observed the sign. "Good." he nodded as he placed the paper inside a file which was again kept in the drawer. "Now tell me, where he is?'' Ryder asked. "And when will he come back home?" "Schumacher Maxwell... Will not come back home," Alem answered softly. "What do you mean? Why won''t he return?" Ryder asked, seemingly confused. "Is he out of the country?" Alem shook his head before he started answering, "He is not out of the country but out of this world. He is dead. A few days ago, he was going back home after finishing the meeting with us. That''s when his helicopter crashed because of some technical malfunction." He continued, "In the crash, Schumacher Maxwell and all the people who were accompanying him died." Ryder looked at the man blankly, not believing a word. His heart did skip a beat, though, as he heard about it. Shu was nothing less than a real brother for him. His death news was something he couldn''t believe. "Stop lying," Ryder replied. Disbelief was evident on his face. "I am not lying," Alarm answered vaguely. Ryder stood up as he smashed his hand on the table in anger. He forgets to control his strength in anger. "How could this be? What kind of joke is this?" His power was so much that the table broke apart instantly. Its legs also broke as it fell down. The laptop and all other stuff which was placed on the table also fell down on the ground. Intimidated by the sudden change, Alem reacted subconsciously as he pushed his chair backward, getting away from the table. Ryder ignored the table that he had broken¡ªinstead, continuing with his statement. "You expect me to believe that Shu is dead? He is dead, and this news is not all over the world? He wasn''t a homeless beggar whose death won''t be out in the media or public. He was the king of one of the biggest companies in the country! Stop messing with me. This joke is not fun!" Alem was somewhat intimidated by what he saw. He felt like Ryder had lost his mind in anger. He was also worried that he might be beaten if he said something wrong. He couldn''t even call for security as the only way to call for security was to use the phone. He could also scream loudly and hope that someone would be outside his room to hear his screams, but he didn''t do it. It might only anger Ryder more. ''If I scream, he might smash my head like he smashed the table. He is angry. I need to calm him down first before doing anything else. I can''t make things worse,'' Alem thought as he gazed at Ryder. "Ryder, calm down. Listen to me first. This is not in the news because the other executives decided to keep this information hidden. They paid the people who know about it not to leak it outside. They don''t want the prices of shares to fall because of this news right now. That''s why this news is not in the media," he explained gently. "And I am also sad and shocked with this news. It''s as bad for you as it is for me. You know that I cared for him as well. I wish it were a lie as well, albeit it isn''t. Schumacher Maxwell is dead," he continued. Ryder clenched his fist as he felt a pain in his chest. This felt like a pair all too familiar. It felt similar to how he felt when he had heard the news of his parent''s death. It wasn''t as painful as that time, but it was close. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm himself. Seeing Ryder standing with his eyes closed, Alem wondered if he should try to get to the phone to call security or he should try leaving the office itself. Alem was still to decide what to do when Ryder opened his eyes. His eyes were slightly red as if someone whose eyes were in pain. "I''m sorry for overreacting," he said softly. "Where is Shu''s body? Is it intact, or was it burned entirely?" A thought did come into his mind about using the pill of Life that he had just received from Janus as a reward, but he soon realized that it wasn''t possible. According to the limitation, the pill only worked when it was used under five minutes of death. It had been much longer than five minutes. In fact, it had been even longer than a day, so he couldn''t even think about going back in time through death since he could only go back in time by one day through death. Even if he was to ignore the risk of bringing the wrath of God of Time on himself, he still couldn''t do it since it had been much longer than he could handle using his power. "His body, ah, it''s already buried by us. He didn''t have any family members or any close relatives. And the people who were closer to him died in the helicopter with him. So we all managed the burial ourselves. His body is buried in Saint Alea Graveyard near this place. If you want to see his grave, you can reach there in ten minutes." Alem answered. "You people buried the body of my brother without letting me know?" Ryder asked grimly. He seemed to be getting even angrier. Alem once again started feeling worried. "I''m sorry. We had no choice," Alem answered as he took a step back. "You had no choice? You didn''t think about calling the mansion to let others know? You didn''t think about letting me know? Don''t tell me you didn''t know us," Ryder let out as he stepped closer to Alen slowly. "This... I wanted to tell you about it but I couldn''t. We couldn''t let this information about his death get out." Alem kept stepping back slowly. Chapter 450 - 446: Grave "So you buried him without the presence of his brother and sister? Because you wanted to keep it a secret?" Ryder said grimly as he stepped closer to Alem. "I... This is what happened. I had no choice. And we followed all the proper procedures to do it. He is buried in the best place with the best of procedures. He got a proper send-off. I can assure you of that," Alem said as he continued stepping back. "He got a proper send-off? By being buried secretly like he didn''t even exist?" Ryder inquired as he gazed in the eyes of the man as if he could see the depths of the man''s soul. "We will tell the world. His name would be immortal in this world. I assure you. We don''t wish to keep it a secret for long either," Alem said, trying to calm Ryder down. "I thought you were his well-wisher. But even you did it without a second thought," Ryder let out, frowning. Alem''s back soon hit the wall with a place to move back. He looked around, wondering what he could do. Ryder stood two steps away from him. The distance between them shrank to only one step as Ryder took another step. "Tell me about his grave. Does it at least have his name, or you faked the name on the grave to keep it a secret as well?" Ryder asked. "It has his name. As I said, he was like a little brother to me. I am as respectful and caring for him as you can be. It isn''t that his burial didn''t have any close ones. It had me. I did it with my own hands, not letting the corporate bastards even touch his coffin," Alem answered softly. Knock! Knock! Soon, there was a knock on the door. "Excuse me, sir. Mister Mace is here for you. He says it''s urgent. Should I send him inside?" A female voice sounded from outside. Ryder gazed back towards the door before he shifted his focus back to Alem. "You did wrong. You did very wrong..." Ryder muttered softly as he gazed at Alem one last time before he turned back and left. He opened the door and left the office. As he stepped out of the office, he saw a woman standing outside. "He is a little busy. Give him a few minutes to breathe. He would call you inside," Ryder told the girl before he left. Alem watched the closest door, frowning. He released a mouthful of breath as he sighed. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief now that the crazy mad had left. He walked over to his chair and sat down to give his legs some rest. His eyes fell on the table that was lying in front of him. The table was already in pieces. Alem knew that he could press charges in Ryder, but he didn''t for many reasons. "Wait a few minutes. I''ll be outside. Have Mr. Mace sit in the conference hall. I''ll meet him there," Alem called out, without giving the girl permission to enter. "Yes, Sir," The Girl called out from outside the door before she left. **** Ryder left the headquarters of Dream Corporation, knowing full well that all his relationship with Dream Corporation was gone now. He didn''t care, though. He hasn''t used the name or influence of Dream Corporation for his business. He didn''t even borrow any money, so he didn''t care about Dream Corporation. He was just somewhat upset because Shu was gone. This news came out of nowhere. Even though he had some bad feelings about what might have happened, he would never have known that Shu was actually dead. All the memories of their past interactions played in his head, from the moment they met to the moment they separated. Alem walked over to the window of his office and looked outside. He could see Ryder stepping inside the Cab. "I''m sorry. But this was something I needed to do," he muttered. ***** Ryder stepped inside the can and told the driver to take him to the graveyard. The Can took only a few minutes to reach the graveyard. Ryder paid the cab driver before he stepped out. The cab zoomed off into the distance while Ryder gazed at the large metallic door of the cemetery. He walked towards the door and stepped inside the graveyard after pushing the doors open. As this was a graveyard that was reserved for the high profile and rich people, there were not many graves inside the place. There were only about a hundred graves that could be seen in this place. Ryder stepped forward, trying to find the grave of Shu. He checked over thirty graves before he managed to find a tomb with Shu''s name on it. The tombstone had Shu''s name and a few vague words on it. [Schumacher Maxwell] [A man who changed the world for the better and left too soon] "Left too soon, huh," Ryder muttered as he sighed. That''s certainly the truth. You left too soon," Ryder muttered as he read the words on the tomb. He dropped down to his knees before the grave. "We had so many things. You idiot, why did you have to be in such a hurry to go to heaven? You didn''t even submit the ring of Lexia. Do you know how annoying it is to have a pending quest? And we haven''t even opened our guild yet. How shameless of you," He let out softly. "How can I handle the guild alone without you. You lazy ass! You knew it would be hard work, so you left, isn''t that right? You didn''t even think about what would happen to Alice? You are lucky that you aren''t here, or I would have beat your ass up myself for this," he said as he punched the ground. He closed his eyes as he sat there in the grave. After about five minutes, he opened his eyes. "Leaving all the complainants aside, how are you?" Ryder asked softly. His eyes were red already, but there wasn''t any wetness in his eyes. "I heard heaven is a good place. You must be enjoying that place, right? At Least you get to reunite with your parents..." He let out softly. "Unlike me." ''I can''t even think about dying because of this thing. Forget about meeting my parents in heaven; I don''t even know how this thing would work with time revival when I''m old. I must say, a little part of me is jealous of you as well,'' he thought as he gazed at the bracelet of immortality in his hand. "You have worked so hard for your company since you were young. You can finally rest. Alice would really be upset, though. I don''t think I can tell her about it either. Let''s see if I can," he muttered. He gently touched the ground before he stood up. "Alright, I took a lot of your time. You can rest now." With slow steps, he started leaving. It took him much longer to leave than it took him to come here. His feet were getting much heavier right now. He soon reached the gates of the graveyard and stepped out of the place. Taking another cab, he left. He didn''t know that there were cameras all around the graveyard, and one of the cameras had transferred the footage of him visiting the cemetery to someone''s phone. A person was sitting in a properly lit room with the phone in their hand, which showed the footage of Ryder visiting the grave. A smile formed on the person''s face as they saw it. "I knew you would come after knowing. You were much faster, though..." That person muttered as they closed the screen on the phone. His voice was that of a man. "Sir, how long are we supposed to wait?" An old man stood behind the man, asked him. "A little longer. Soon it would be time," the man answered softly. "We have all the time in the world anyway. We don''t need to be in a hurry." "Wouldn''t it be bad if this news is out in public?" the old man asked. "It wouldn''t be out. Even if it''s out, I will handle everything." The younger man answered. **** Back in the FBI headquarters, people were still trying to find who killed the Director with another man. A door opened slowly as a person entered in a office. "Mam, we have located him. His car was found at the bottom of the cliff, and its condition wasn''t good. It seems like the car caught on fire as it fell down. We also found some remains inside the car, but the body is in very bad condition. Only ashes remain mostly. I doubt we can get any information from it," the man informed the woman who was sitting on the main chair. "No need. Now I am completely sure it wasn''t his work alone. It''s a bigger net," the woman replied. Chapter 451 - 447: Detective "What should we do then? We have no clue about what actually happened and who was really behind that guy going rogue and killing the director," the man told the woman as he frowned. "Who says we have no clue. We have a living clue," The woman answered. "Who?" The man inquired. "You know what Mark was investigating. The source of Ray. And the old man came here to meet Ray despite not meeting him before, according to Ray. What do you think this means?" The woman asked after giving a vague explanation. "That... Do you mean that Ray is lying?" The man asked softly. "It''s either that Ray is lying or his source had some kind of attraction that managed to bring the Owner of one of the biggest companies to him despite not knowing him. And their death is linked to this person as well. This person... Is our clue? We need to find his source," the woman said as he lazily. "Good. I will start interrogating him about the source," the man nodded his head as he turned back to leave. "There''s no need," the woman called out as she stopped the man. "Hmm?" The man turned back, confused. "You forgot, didn''t you? He already told us that he doesn''t know his source. And that he had no ways to find him," the woman said. "He''s obviously lying," the man let out, rolling his eyes. "How can he not know who was helping him." "Even I know that he is lying but trying to get him to confess is a wasted effort. He already lied to us, and he would stick to it. There''s no benefit in asking him. We wouldn''t get anything from him," the woman said. "So what should we do, Mam?" The man asked the woman who was in a much higher ranking position. The woman was the Direction of National Security of this country. Her position was higher than the position of Mark, who was the Director of FBI before his death. "Let him go," The woman answered. "What?" The man inquired in a slightly unusual tone, wondering if he misheard it. "I said let him go. Free him. You''re the acting director. He was arrested because he wasn''t telling the source who made the FBI waste their resources based on false information. You''re the acting director now. You will soon be permanent and take Mark''s position." " Go and free him. Tell him that you don''t care about a little waste of resources. We can''t keep such a talented person locked in prison for such little things. Go show him your support. He is supposedly one of the best agents, after all. Free him." The woman said lazily as she commanded the man. "But what about this case? Are we going to drop it as well?" The man asked. "Sigh, Drake. Sometimes you make me regret my decision of nominating you as the next Director. You still don''t understand what I''m trying to say? Free him, but don''t free him. Keep his phone tapped and have agents on his tail. He would most probably contact his source of these deaths if he knows something about these deaths and has links to it," the woman let out as she rolled her eyes. She was in disbelief that she still had to explain such little things to this guy. "Ah, right. I was so immersed in the possibility of interrogating him; I didn''t think of this possibility. I''ll do this right away." The man nodded his head. He opened the door to leave. "Make sure he doesn''t get suspicious. And arrange everything in his phone before giving it back. Also, get me the unlocked laptop of Mark when you come back. Our team should have unlocked it by now," the woman said again. "Yes, Mam," the man said before he left. He didn''t forget to close the door. ***** Ryder took the cab back to DiskeyLand from where Alice was still sending her pics of the ride she was taking as per his commands. He stepped out of the cab and entered the amus.e.m.e.nt park before he called Alice to know where she was. "You''re back?!" Alice exclaimed in surprise to know that Ryder was back. "Yeah. I''m back. Give me your location. I should be there soon," Ryder replied. "I''m in front of the Ronald Duck ride. It''s towards the-" "It''s fine. You don''t need to explain further. I''m in front of the map of this park. I know the ride you''re talking about. It''s towards the south, right?" Ryder asked while cutting her off. "Yeah, that''s where it is," Alice agreed. "Good. I''ll be there in a few minutes. Stay there," Ryder let out as he started walking towards the ride after disconnecting the call. He soon reached the ride, which had a big gate at the entrance. The gate seemed like the face of a white duck that had its mouth wide open. A person had to walk through the mouth to enter. He could see Alice standing near the gate. Alice saw Ryder at the same time as he saw her. "Did you find out about brother Shu?" Alice asked Ryder as soon as he reached her. He had gone to find the whereabouts of Shu. She was also concerned about that. Now that Ryder was back, she decided to ask. Ryder grew stunned as he heard her question. He hadn''t thought that this would be the first question she would ask. He wasn''t yet ready to tell her about it. It wasn''t the right time. He wanted to talk when they were in a more secluded place, preferably back in the hotel. Now was certainly not the time. "What happened? Why aren''t you saying anything? Did you not find out anything?" Alice asked softly. Ryder nodded his head and decided to go with the story that he didn''t know. In this case, he could later confess the truth to her and say that it was then that he got the information. In this way, he could delay these talks. "Yeah. I didn''t manage to get answers. I went to his office, but the higher-ups weren''t there. And the receptionist didn''t know anything," Ryder answered. "I guess they all left on some business trip outside the country. These low-ranking people in the Organization would certainly not know about this." "But why wouldn''t he tell you that he was going to go outside the country?" Alice inquired. "How would I know. Maybe there''s some problem with his phone. Or it could also be that he called in the night. That''s it. He must be in a country where it''s night when here is day. So he didn''t call us because he didn''t want us to be disturbed at night," Ryder gave an excuse. In his haste to find a justification, he had forgotten something crucial. "Couldn''t he have messaged you? From someone else''s phone?" Alice asked. Ryder felt like smacking Alice''s head lightly for asking so many questions. "Miss Detective, how should I know everything? I''m only guessing too. Shu would give his own explanation when he returns. As for your question, maybe his phone got corrupted, and he lost all his numbers. You don''t know, but that guy is pretty lazy. He certainly wouldn''t have any numbers remembered. That must be why he didn''t send a message or call," Ryder answered. "In any case, it''s only been a few days. He is so careless; he wouldn''t know how worried we are for him. Just let him come back. I''ll have him give all the answers with a big apology," he let out as he placed both his hands on Alice''s shoulder. "Now, can we stop this interrogation? Let''s have some fun. You went on all the rides alone, but I didn''t even get to go on a single. Let''s not delay anymore," Ryder insisted as he caught the hands of Alice before he started walking inside the mouth of the Duck. The ride was nothing more than a basic Ferris wheel. The only thing special about it was its design which was based after a popular cartoon, Ronald Duck. Another special thing was its speed. It was said to be the fastest Ferris wheel in existence. Ryder and Alice entered the chamber of the Ferris wheel while holding hands. They sat inside and started waiting for the ride to begin. **** "You are free. I can''t even believe that Mark had kept you in arrest for such a little thing like false information. Many pieces of information turn out to be faulty. This doesn''t mean we must arrest all informants," the new acting director of the FBI opened the hands of Ray and freed him. "Here is your phone and your gun. Welcome back to duty, agent Ray," he continued. "As you know, we have a big case about Director Mark''s death. You saw the culprit yourself¡ª the Vice-Director. Come, let me explain the updates on this case. You''ll be leading it." Chapter 452 - 448: Throne room "I''ll be leading the case? But I just..." Ray was visibly confused. Why was this case being handed over to him? He was under observation by the previous director. They should be suspicious, not reward him. "I know it''s complicated. The thing is that you are one of the one people we can trust," Drake answered vaguely, stunning Ray. They could only trust him? Why? He couldn''t help but wonder. Drake didn''t let Ray delve into his confusion for longer and explained further instead, "The Director of FBI was killed in this place. It must mean that our agents are compromised by a foreign enemy. You are the only one we can trust at the moment since you weren''t close to either the previous Director or his killer, according to our reports and witnesses." He turned back and walked closer to the door. He opened the door but didn''t step out. Instead, he gazed back at Ray. Gesturing him to follow, he said, "Come with me. I''ll explain further. I''ll give the investigation to you, but that doesn''t mean you''ll be the sole incharge. There are going to be three teams. You''ll lead your previous team in your investigation while others will investigate separately." "You''ll all report to me about how the investigations are going." "Yes." Ray stood up and followed after Drake. ***** Ryder left the amus.e.m.e.nt park with Alice after spending the rest of the day there. He and Alice went on many different rides. They even went on a few rides in which Alice had previously gone along. Ryder tried to have fun with Alice, but since he knew that Shu was dead and never going to return, he just couldn''t enjoy it. There was a certain sadness in his heart about what had happened. He could only pretend to be enjoying the rides and having fun. Fortunately, he was good at pretending, and Alice didn''t find anything strange throughout the day. It was only in the evening when the Limo returned to pick them up and to take them back to the hotel. They reached the hotel and entered their rooms. "It was so fun today. I feel like I''m going to have the best sleep I''ve had in a long while," Alice said as she entered the room. Ryder gazed at her but didn''t say anything. He was thinking about finding an opportunity to tell her the truth, but after hearing her words, he had dropped his plans of telling the truth. He was going to let her be happy tonight and wait for another opportunity to tell her the truth. "Today was certainly fun. What''s your plan for tomorrow?" Ryder asked casually. "I don''t have any plans yet. In any case, you should decide. Today was decided by me. It''s going to be your turn tomorrow. Today we did something that was fun for me. Tomorrow, let''s do something that''s fun for you tomorrow," Alice asked softly. "Alright. I''ll decide what we do tomorrow. Go sleep now. You just be tired," Ryder replied as he agreed. He was still waiting for her to confess to her that she had joined Divinity, but so far, she didn''t. He didn''t even understand why she was keeping it a secret, but he wasn''t going to ask her. He could only wait for her to come forward herself. Ryder and Alice went back to the bed and turned off the lights. Ryder placed the Divinity Glasses once again and entered Divinity. He woke up in the Royal Chambers of the Demon Realm Royal Palace, where he had logged out. Opening the gates of his room, Ryder stepped out. He could see a Miyali standing outside the room. "What are you doing here, Miyali?" Ryder asked, confused. Shouldn''t she be with Miku, learning her work? "Ah, Miku sent me here to wait for you to wake up. The High Dukes are already here. They are waiting in the Throne Room for you," Miyali answered. "Oh, they''re faster than I thought," Ryder muttered as he nodded his head. "Come." He started walking towards the throne room. "So, Miyali, how are you? Did you feel that urge again?" Ryder asked Miyali as he walked beside her. "Urge? No," Miyali answered. "Good. That''s how it should be. According to Rale, you should be better now that you faced your first turning and the side effects. From now on, you can control it better. Just find go hungry for weeks again like before. You should be fine," Ryder nodded. "Also, your body should be stronger as well. How about I get Miku to train you? She isn''t a Vampire, so she can''t tell you how to be perfect when it comes to strength, but she does know a good amount of information regarding Vampires. You''ll only get stronger under her training," he suggested. "There is no need. If I get stronger, I''ll only be more difficult to control if, God forbid, I ever lose control again. I''m fine the way I am," Miyali kindly rejected the offer. "Don''t worry. You won''t lose control again. This time we know what went wrong. You wouldn''t be allowed to go hungry again. And even if you get stronger, you''ll not be strong enough to take on Miku. Even though she isn''t included in the strongest beings of Demon Realm, she''s pretty strong indeed," Ryder answered, still insisting. "Why do you wish for me to be stronger? Will I be helpful to you if I''m stronger?" Miyali inquired, seemingly confused. "You will be. You''re a Vampire who is half Demon. You got the best of both worlds. You can have some crazy abilities. If you get stronger, you''ll be able to help me and protect our people," Ryder answered. "You heard about what happened in Devilia''s place, right? We were attacked by the Death Domain. Now we were able to stay safe, but a lot of people died. There''s no guarantee that something like this won''t happen again. I want you to be able to protect yourself if that ever happens again in this place," he continued. They soon reached the door of the throne room. Ryder stopped before the doors and gazed back at Miyali. He continued, "Only when a person can help themselves can they help others. If you can''t even protect yourself, how will you save others in the palace? You can protect the lives of our people. In that way, you can somewhat atone for the lives you took. That''s all I''ll say." "I won''t force you. You can think about it and tell me if you are ready," he let out before he pushed the door open and stepped inside. Miyali stayed back, lost in deep thought. She wasn''t allowed to enter the Throne Room so she left. A complicated look remained on her. "Saving lives is the only way I atone for the lives I took. And I can only save lives if I''m strong enough to do it. I must do it," she finally muttered as she clenched her fist. She was prepared to do it. She thought about it a lot, and she decided to tell Ryder that she was ready after he came out of the meeting. ***** Unaware of the fact that Miyali was ready so soon, Ryder stepped inside the throne room. As soon as he stepped inside, Ray dropped to one knee. Miku did the same as they greeted their Prince. The four High Dukes also stood up, but they didn''t take a knee or bow. They weren''t required to do it since their positions were equal to that of a Prince of the Demon Empire. They only needed to bow to the Emperor. Ryder wasn''t the Emperor yet. "Greetings, Your Highness." Rale and Miku greeted Ryder. "Greetings to the Prince," the High Dukes greeted as well. There was one more person who seemed like a middle-aged man. He also greeted Ryder by taking a knee like Rale and Miku. Ryder already realized who that man might be. He must be the new Marquis candidate that needed his validation. It was only for name''s sake since he was already selected by High Duke Oris. "Greetings to everyone," Ryder replied gracefully as he walked back to the throne. He sat on the throne in full glory before he gazed at everyone. "We heard you called for us. What could be so urgent?" High Duke Mila asked Ryder. "We can talk about that later. For now, let''s deal with something else," Ryder replied as he gazed at the Marquis Candidate. The other High Dukes understood his implications. It must mean that Ryder wanted to be done with the Marquis Validation faster so that the new Marquis can be sent back. Only the High Dukes were called here. So it must be a matter of grave concern that couldn''t be shared before others. High Duke Oris stood up. "That''s right. Prince Hades, let me introduce you to Kaia. He is the new Marquis candidate that I feel deserves this position. I should tell you his achievements so you can judge for yourself," High Duke Oris said before he went into the history of the man. Chapter 453 - 449: Declare High Duke Oris introduced the man who was selected to be the new marquis by him. He talked about his achievements and what he had done for the betterment of the Empire. Ryder wasn''t the least bit interested in these things since it wasn''t a big deal for him. He was certain that the man deserved the position. All needed scrutiny was most probably already done by High Duke Oris, but he still listened. He couldn''t show how bored he was when facing the people in front of him. He had to act the part at least, and thus, he listened. "Impressive," Ryder complimented after High Duke Oris finished. "I believe in your decision as well. Kaia is a good choice to take the position of the diseased Marquis." "I believe so," High Duke Oris agreed. Ryder shifted his focus back to the middle-aged man and asked, "Kaia, do you promise to work with full honesty and take care of my citizens like they are your own family?" "I promise, Your Highness." Kaia dropped to his knees as he answered. "Good," Ryder nodded as he stood up. He walked over to Kaia. Rale walked beside him. As Ryder reached near Kaia, he reached his hand towards his left where Rale was standing. Rale gave Ryder a red leaf that seemed like it was from a beautiful tree. Kaia extended his hand towards Ryder. Ryder placed the leave in the hands of Kaia. "I have high expectations from you. Don''t disappoint me." This was something that Rale had told Ryder. The leave that was given by Ryder to Kaia symbolized his acceptance of Kaia in the noble hierarchy as a Marquis. Ryder walked back to the throne and sat down. "I will die before disappointing Your Highness," Kaia said proudly as he stood up. "Good. You may leave now. Wait for me in my Palace. I should be there soon," High Duke Oris told Kaia, telling him to leave since the meeting for which all High Dukes came here also needed to take place. He could already see the first High Duke getting impatient. Kaia nodded and didn''t say anything. He understood what he needed to do and why. He simply turned back and left the hallway. "Now that he left, can you start? I have more things to do," High Duke Magna let out lazily after the man left. "Right. What could be so important?" High Duke Oris asked as he walked back to his seat. "Is this about the Death Domain?" "No. It''s about my Master," Ryder replied as he straightened up his back. "His Majesty?" All High Dukes stopped up, shocked as soon as they heard it. Rale and Miku were standing behind Ryder, but even they grew stunned. ''Emperor Salem? Is he coming back? Or did something happen to him instead?'' High Duke Oris thought, seemingly concerned for the safety of Salem. "No, you shouldn''t concern yourself. It''s nothing serious. What actually happened is Master had come here recently," Ryder said, conveniently lying. "His Majesty came here? Is he still here? Where is he? Let us meet him! It''s been so long!" High Duke Eston let out in an unusual tone. He was excited to meet Salem again now that he was here. "Yes! It would be even better if he actually decided to come back. Where is he?" High Duke Oris asked. "No, he hasn''t decided to come back. He just came to see me and ask how I''m doing. Nothing serious. He also talked about traveling the world and see even more places. Anyway, he already went back now," Ryder answered, making up even more stuff. "He even left? We really didn''t have the fortune to see him; it seems," High Duke Mila let out in disappointment. She sat back down on her seat as she continued sighing repeatedly. The other High Dukes also sat down. "How was he?" High Duke Magna inquired. "He was good. Just the way I left him. Anyway, I didn''t call you here to talk specifically about that. I called you here because of something else," Ryder replied, making them curious again. "Something else? What else could be the reason then?" High Duke Oris inquired. "It''s about the people who worked in the Royal Palace," Ryder answered. "Hmm? Now that you mention it, I did see a lack of maids or guards on the way," High Duke Eston mentioned what he observed on the way here. Other than the two guards at the entrance, he saw no one else inside the Palace. Miku and Rale were the only other people they saw. "Exactly. As High Duke Eston mentioned, you saw fewer people inside the Palace. That''s because I sent them all with my Master to take care of him outside," Ryder answered. "What? You send all helpers in the Palace away?" High Duke Oris asked, squinting his eyes. "Yeah. Since I am not with my master because of becoming the Prince of this place, my Master had become alone. It''s my duty as a student to make sure that he stays comfortable. Even though he insisted on not taking anyone, I got him to take them," Ryder explained, making a bigger story. It was all so he could find an excuse about the missing people in the Royal Palace. Rale and Miku were confused previously when Ryder mentioned meeting the previous Emperor. When did that even happen? They thought. Miku thought it happened when Ryder had left this world with Rale, but Rale knew that it wasn''t what happened. Rale wondered when it happened himself. Their confusion remained only until the moment Ryder mentioned about sending the workers of the Palace with him. They both knew that everyone was dead. How could they be sent back if they were already dead. They realized that Ryder was using the previous Emperor as an excuse. Even though it was disrespectful, they realized that this might be the best option since they wouldn''t be interrogated as much. No one was going to doubt his words. They didn''t know that Ryder had used the same trick before just because he was certain that he could keep lying his way. They still didn''t realize that, in reality, his so-called Master was already dead. And more importantly, Salem wasn''t Ryder''s master either. Unfortunately, they still didn''t expect that more lies existed. This lie itself was based on another lie. "So that''s why this Place seemed so empty. This isn''t a big deal. Those maids are lucky that they get to serve His Majesty now. It''s the blessing of their lifetime." High Duke Magna sat back comfortably as he commented. Ryder nodded, "Yeah." "In any case, since they won''t be returning anytime soon, I was thinking about hiring more people. Miku can take care of the hiring process. I just wanted to inform you all about this so that you aren''t confused when you hear the announcement of this hiring," he continued. "Oh, so that''s what it was about. You called us all for such a minor matter? You can handle things like this. You don''t need us or our permission. You couldn''t just have someone deliver the information about what happened to us, so we weren''t confused," High Duke Oris said with a calm smile on his face. "Yeah. This isn''t such a big deal," High Duke Mila said as she nodded her head. "I''ll even help with the search for new helpers in the Palace. My Palace has a few experienced maids. They would be more than happy to serve here. I have too many of them anyway," High Duke Eston chimed in. "Ah, that would be good. It would be better to have a few experienced ones to train the new ones," Ryder nodded as he thanked High Duke Eston. "I can spare a few maids as well. You should take a few guards from me as well. Your Palace is not really secure now that you don''t have anyone," High Duke Oris offered. "Well, I do have all the Royal Guards, so that isn''t needed," Ryder let out as he rejected the offer. He didn''t wish to take guards who could spy on his movement. He had a trusted group of people, and he wanted to keep it that way. As for taking the maids of other High Dukes, that was only temporary as well. He had already decided to send them back after they finished training the newly selected maids. Only Miku was enough after that with the new candidates. "Alright. I''ll only send maids," High Duke Oris agreed. "I can spare some maids as well." High Dike Mila also offered. "Looks like you have plenty. You won''t need my maids," High Duke Magna said, excusing himself. "Is that all you had to talk about?" He asked. "If this is, I''ll take my leave since we''re done here." High Duke Magna had just stood up when Ryder answered. "Not at all. There is one more thing." "I will be taking the Kingship Trial," Ryder declared, stunning everyone. Chapter 454 - 450: Merge "I will take the Kingship Trials," Ryder declared, shocking everyone once again. Today was full of shocks for High Dukes. First, the information about Salem visiting the Demon Realm. And just when they thought it was it and we''re about to leave, came the information about Ryder trying to attempt the Kingship Trial? "I don''t think this is the right time to do it," High Duke Magma straight away refuted. "I agree. You should delay the plans. There''s no need to attempt that so soon," High Duke Eston echoed the words of Magma. Ryder was surprised. He had thought they would agree. Why were they trying to get him to delay? Did they really not wish for him to finish the Kingship Trial and take the position of the Emperor? ''Well, if I were in their place, I would have also denied. A kid being a prince is good but letting him become the sole authority when I haven''t tested is not possible. They must be thinking the same thing,'' Ryder thought, trying to guess their reasoning. He soon realized how wrong he was, though as High Duke Oris also supported this notion. Fortunately, High Duke Oris also gave reasoning behind his objection, which made Ryder understand why they were against it. "It would be better not to do it now. Our relationship with the Death Domain is not good right now. Not only did their people try to kill you, but you also went there and kidnapped the girl from their place," High Duke Eston said. "If you go there, they''ll leave everything to try and kill you." "That girl... Oh right, Elisia. The second candidate for the Death Domain Hair. That crazy girl who formed the plan to infiltrate Devilia''s Palace to kill me. I had forgotten about her. We worked so hard to kidnap her from the Death Domain, right in front of their Prince," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "How''s the interrogation going with her? Did you manage to find out anything?" He asked High Duke Eaton, who was keeping Elisia in his special Space Prison. "That girl is really stubborn. High Duke Oris and I have been trying really hard to get answers from her. Albeit she doesn''t talk much. We did manage to find some things out, though," High Duke Eston said. "What did you find out?" Ryder asked curiously. "The weapon that she possesses is actually the weapon that the Death Emperor had used in the battle against His Majesty Salem in the last war. This girl is actually selected as an heir by the weapon," High Duke Eston said. "That is as per the rumors. That''s why there are two heirs in the Death Domain¡ª the weapon heir and the bloodline heir. Anyway, it''s strange. Their Prince isn''t asking for her return?" Ryder wondered. "Is he really happy that we took out an enemy of his throne?" "We did get a few requests from them to return the girl safely. They haven''t taken any offensive action yet. While requesting, their tone has been very cordial as well. It''s somewhat unsettling," High Duke Oris said. ''These guys are dealing with all that, but they didn''t tell me? As expected, they only tell me big things. They handle little things on their own. That''s to be expected, I guess. I''m only a prince and a kid before their eyes,'' Ryder thought after realizing that he didn''t know so much. ''That''s why I need to become the Emperor. I need all the authority I can get as soon as I can. After I become the Emperor, they won''t be able to do anything. I''ll be the sole ruler.'' He didn''t let his thoughts show on his face, though. "It''s really strange. Why are they so calm? They aren''t threatening war or anything. Even if they are weaker, they should still be getting worried and take strict actions. Their Royal Weapon is with the girl who is with their enemy. Still, they''re only asking for the girl and not the weapon?" he expressed his surprise. "Anyway, you must have received that weapon from the girl. Where do you keep it?" Ryder asked, wondering about the weapon of the Death Emperor. He continued, "They infiltrated last time. They can try again. The girl is in space prison, so that''s fine. But the weapon also needs to be secure." "We don''t possess the weapon," High Duke Oris answered. "It''s still with the girl." "It''s with her? Why do you let the girl still have it? Take possession of it." "We can''t. As I said, the weapon has selected the girl as the heir. It''s Bound with her soul. We can''t take it without her permission. And she doesn''t give permission no matter how much we try," High Duke Eston explained. "What if you take it with force? Why do you even need permission?" Ryder asked curiously. He suddenly remembered that he hadn''t seen the girl carrying the weapon when she was captured. "Ah, I get it. She must be keeping that weapon in her special space. You can''t get access to that place. That''s why..." "Not really. She does have a special space that we can''t access, but that''s not where the weapon is. It''s actually merged with her soul. It only appears when she calls for it," High Duke Eston refuted Ryder''s assumption. " What''s stopping that girl from just taking that weapon out and using it against us then? Can she still not get out of your Prison? Shouldn''t the weapon of the Death Emperor be stronger?" Ryder asked, surprised. The girl still possessed one of the strongest weapons even when she was under arrest? It was as if a criminal was arrested, but he was allowed to keep a rocket launcher? All weapons need to be confiscated to make sure that no mishap happens. "You don''t need to be concerned about that. We took precautions. She can''t call out the weapon," High Duke Oris said. "Anyway, it''s better not to go into detail about how we achieved it. The important thing is that she can''t use the weapon now." Ryder gazed at High Duke Oris suspiciously, but he didn''t say anything to oppose that. Even he didn''t wish to go into technical details about how they stopped her. From what he guessed, it must be one of their skills. "What else did you manage to find out from her? Was she the mastermind behind the attacks?" Ryder asked curiously. "She says she was, but I have my suspicions. We''re still interrogating her slowly. Hopefully, we''ll find our more soon enough," High Duke Eston explained. Chapter 455 - 451: Secret Weapon "Good. You can interrogate her. In the meantime, I''ll take a little trip to the Death Domain and complete the Kingship Trial," Ryder expressed his eagerness to finish the trial. Since they had received no information from the girl, it was useless to ask about it. It was better to focus on the trial, which needed him to go to the death domain. "Did you not listen? If you go there, it would be risky. In Kingship Trials, you can''t take anyone with you. You''ll have to go all alone. And if they find you, they''ll imprison you in the better scenario or kill you in, the worse case. This is not the right time." High Duke Oris shook his head. "No sane person would go to Death Domain at times like this," High Duke Magna chimed in. "That''s exactly what I''m thinking. And that''s that they''ll think as well," Ryder said as he stood up. He walked to the center of the hall and faced the High Dukes. "Do you think the people in the Death Domain don''t know about the Kingship Trials? They know I would have Kingship trials. If I do it in the future when everything is fine, it would be much riskier for me," he explained. "When people start dying, they''ll suspect the Kingship Trial of ours. But if we do it now, it would be different," he continued. "Even they wouldn''t think that I would be stupid enough to enter their land when we possess one of their own and when the relationship between the two places is so tense," he alluded to the High Dukes. "Furthermore, there is one more element of interest," he further said. "The Vampire King... He has a little skirmish with the Death Domain now. Their first suspicion would be on him if something happened there now. By the time they know it was me, I would be back here." "How is my plan?" He asked. "This is somewhat clever, but still, the risk is still high," High Duke Eston said in concern. "You should get stronger before you attempt the Kingship Trial," High Duke Oris suggested. "I am strong enough. And I believe I can do it now. Do you really wish to stop me? This is the perfect opportunity," Ryder insisted. Even after saying all that, he was sure that they weren''t going to agree now. There was definitely some risk, but this was something he must do. There was a Fragment of his Bracelet of Immortality in that place. While doing Rale''s quest, he could get that. He didn''t want to delay that any further. That was why he decided to pull out his hidden secret card that he knew was always successful. He was sure after he used this, he was going to get permission. "I talked to my Master about it as well. He said it was the right time for me to go as well," he said. No one was going to call him a liar or doubt his words. So, of course, they believed him. However, this only meant that Salem himself allowed it. If their Emperor allowed it, who were they not to allow it. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place. They didn''t wish to allow Ryder since it was risky. Simultaneously they couldn''t say no, or it would be disrespectful to Salem. It would imply they didn''t trust his decision which they didn''t want to do. They could only agree. Ryder waited patiently for their response, but he was already sure that it was going to be a yes. He had no doubt about it. All the High Dukes gazed at each other as silence ensued in the place. "Fine. If His Majesty thinks it''s a good idea, who are we to refuse," High Duke Magna said after some time. It was obvious that he didn''t wish to give the permission, but he had no choice. "You can go," High Duke Oris said. "Who are we to stop," High Duke Mila also agreed. "I agree as well," High Duke Eston also affirmed. "When are you planning to leave?" High Duke Oris asked. "I will go today. In the evening would be the right time to leave. In my absence, Miku and Rale can handle everything here regarding the recruitment," Ryder answered softly. Rale seemed like he wanted to say something, but he controlled himself. "Alright. I''ll leave you there personally before I come back. I''ll tell you everything you need to know about this trial as well," High Duke Oris said as he stood up. "Alright. You handle it," High Duke Magna agreed as he also stood up. He walked over to Ryder. "I wish you all the success. I''ll see you when you return. I''ll take my leave now." After saying that, he left. High Duke Mila and High Duke Eston also wished Ryder luck before they left. They did spend a little more time than High Duke Eston, though. This trial was something where Ryder needed to go alone. He couldn''t take any person with him even if he wished. So Ryder only needed one person to transport him to the Death Domain. They couldn''t do anything but waste time here even if they stayed here. High Duke Oris was already the best choice since he could Teleport him straight to the Death Domain, and he also knew all the things about it. "You can also go back for now. Send Marais Kaia back. You can come in the evening. I''ll be ready to leave by then," Ryder told High Duke Oris after everyone else left. "It''s fine. I can wait here and help you prepare," High Duke Oris replied as he shook his head. "I can send Kaia back after I come back from Death Domain." "It''s fine. I don''t need much preparation. I''ll mostly rest and collect my energy. So you can go for now," Ryder rejected the offer. He wanted his privacy during his last few hours since there were a few things he couldn''t talk openly about if High Duke Oris were walking beside him all the time. High Duke Oris gazed at Ryder briefly for some time. He ultimately nodded his head. "I''ll be back in the evening," he said before he departed as well. Ryder watched High Duke Oris leave. After High Duke Oris left, he asked Rale to close the door before he walked back to the throne. "I know what you''re thinking. And yes, I lied. My master didn''t come here. He is right where I left him," Ryder told Rale and Miku. ''...dead,'' he added to his statement in his head. "I used him as an excuse to deal with the matter of missing maids," he continued. Chapter 456 - 452: Offer to break rules "I used my master an excuse to deal with the matter of missing maids," Ryder confessed to Rale and Miku. It was certain that they knew about him lying about maids going with Salem since they both saw the dead bodies. They have to be stupid not to know that he actually lied to them. It was better to confess to them. "My master didn''t come back. And I decided to use him in my plan. I know he wouldn''t mind me using his name. Still, I''ll apologize to him the next time I see him," he continued, using soft words to present to them that his master was actually alive in case one of them was suspicious. He was sitting on the throne as he talked. Rale and Miku were the only two people present in the room. Both of them stood in front of Ryder. "We understand, Your Highness," Miku let out as she nodded her head. "You don''t have to explain," Rale also chimed in. "Good. Now let''s get back to the main topic," Ryder said as he changed the topic. "I will be leaving this place soon. You two are incharge of the Palace in my absence." "Rale, make sure that the Palace stays safe in my absence," he told Rale before he shifted his gaze to Miku. "As for you, Miku. Take care of the recruitment of maids. Select some good ones that you think would be good," he said to Miku. "And Rale, make sure you check the background of every candidate who is selected. I don''t want spies in my Palace." Rale and Miku nodded, but Rale still seemed somewhat uncertain. It was as if he wished to talk about something, but he didn''t know how to start. "Do you desire to say something?" Ryder asked softly. "You know, you can tell me anything you wish." Rale opened his mouth, but he again closed as if he was still not sure if he should say it. He took a deep breath before he ultimately said, "Your Highness, how about I come with you to the Death Domain? I don''t feel well with you going alone. It''s actually risky." He knew that it was not allowed. Talking about this was only going to express his willingness to break the rules. That was why he had to think so much before saying it. He didn''t want Ryder to think of him as a delinquent who didn''t care for rules. "I wish I could take you myself. It would have been so much easier to travel. I would also feel much safer. Unfortunately, I can''t. From what I am told about the Kingship Trial, the candidate is supposed to be alone in the Death Domain without any help. I can''t take you. Or this wouldn''t be a kingship trial," Ryder replied as he shook his head. Rale hesitated for a few seconds before he gathered his courage and followed up, "I can go separately. You, on the other hand, will go with High Duke Oris. I can meet you in the Death Domain. No one will know." Ryder gazed at Rale in surprise. Was this man actually talking about breaking the rules? He had always seen Rale as someone who respected all the rules. To see his willingness to break the rules for him was both shocking and surprising. He didn''t know that Rale had already broken many rules for Ryder before. "Your plan isn''t bad, honestly. The problem is something else entirely. It is the unlikely scenario in which someone finds out that you were there with me. If you come with me there and someone finds out, not only will I lose my chances of becoming the Demon King, you will also be put to death most probably," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "I am ready for death if it keeps you safe. I can tell them that you didn''t know about me coming there even if someone found me there. No blame shall come to you," Rale replied. "There''s no need to take the risk. I can take care of myself there. I''ll be safe. Don''t worry about me. I have tricks of my own. In fact, you coming with me will be riskier. I need you here to keep appearances," Ryder expressed as he shook his head. He continued with his thought process, "As long as my Royal Commander is seen publicly often, no one would doubt that I''m not in the palace. For my safety, it''s better for you to stay here." "This..." "No this or that. It''s my order. You will stay here. That''s final," Ryder interjected without letting Rale complete his words. He didn''t wish to talk about it any longer. "As Your Highness wishes," Rale bowed as he accepted the command respectfully. "That''s better," Ryder acknowledged. ''Why do I feel like I''m forgetting something?'' he soon thought. He was feeling as if he needed to talk about something else as well, which he had decided before. It was only now that he forgot it. "Oh right, there''s one more thing," he let out as he remembered what it was about. "Miku," he called out. "Yes, Your Highness," Miku responded instantly without a moment of delay. "I told Miyali that she should get fighting training from you. I left the decision to her. If she comes to you for help, train her in the ways of a warrior. Also, teach her how she should use her powers better," Ryder told Miku. "To train her?" Miku asked. "Yeah. I don''t think there is any risk in training her. She won''t lose control any longer. Even if she loses it, you and Rale will be here to control her," Ryder answered. " Also, we need her to be able to defend herself and the others in case we are ever under attack. She is a hybrid. She can be of great help to us. Not training her would be stupid," he continued. "Ah, Yes. If she asks, I will train her as one of our own," Miku accepted, but she also expressed her concern. "But I believe Master Rale can help her more in training." "Rale can train her better, but he needs to train the Royal Guards first. I want all the Royal Guards to be stronger. I don''t want to divert his attention to too many things. Times are uncertain. We need to be as strong as we can," Ryder answered as he stood up. "Anyway, now that I am going to the Death Domain, I need the clothes to seem like one of them. We have some, right? Bring them to me. It''s time I start preparation as well." Chapter 457 - 453: Accepted Miku instantly left the hall to bring things Ryder might need, leaving only Rale behind with Ryder. As she stepped out of the hall, she saw Miyali standing at the door. Miyali had stood there, waiting for Ryder since the moment the High Dukes left to tell him about her willingness to train. "Miyali, do you need something here?" Miku asked curiously. "Ah, yeah. I wish to meet him to tell him something," Miyali answered. "Oh, he is free right now. You can go in, I suppose," Miku told Miyali. "Anyway, he told me about your training. Do you actually accept to be trained?" She inquired further. "Ah," Miku was surprised that Ryder already told her about it. "Yes. I am ready. That''s what I wished to tell him as well," she continued further. "Oh, good. We can start training from tomorrow. I look forward to training you," Miku responded. "Anyway, I should get going now. I have to prepare for his highness''s departure as well." "His departure? Is he leaving again?" Miyali asked, surprised. "Yeah. He is leaving again. His trip this time might be long as well," Miku surmised before she left. Miyali stood at the entrance for a long time, simply lost in thought about the possibility of not seeing Ryder for a long time. "She didn''t like that. She didn''t know why but from the moment she saw Ryder, there was some part of her that made her feel close to him. She didn''t understand it herself but it was as if there was some old connection between them. She felt at peace when she was with him and felt sad when she didn''t see him for a long time. She wished to understand what it was about herself, but she didn''t. There seemed to be some unknown element that she couldn''t place her hand on. After quite some time, she shook her head as he tried to stop thinking about it. She even patted both her cheeks lightly to get her out of it. After taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open slightly. Even before she could ask for permission to enter, Ryder noticed her. "Miyali, why are you standing outside? Come on inside." Miyali opened the door even more and stepped inside. "Did you need something?" Ryder inquired softly. "Ah, Yes. I came to talk about what you said recently." Miku nodded her head. "Oh, about that. Good. So, did you think about it already? What''s your decision? Do you wish to train? Or you don''t?" Ryder asked softly. "I accept. If this is a way in which I can''t help this place and atone for what I did, I accept. I wish to be helpful any way I can," Miyali acknowledged in full seriousness. "Awesome. I''ve already told Miku about it. She can train you. Just tell her you agree to be trained." Ryder stood up from his throne with a pleasing look on his face to see Miku agree. "Alright. You can get back to work now," he told Miyali as he reached her. He walked out of the Hall. Rale followed behind, not even asking where Ryder was going. As Ryder left the hall, Miyali remained alone inside. She simply stood there as if she didn''t know what to do. She felt like something was not right. Ryder left the palace with Rale. The guards who stood outside greeted Ryder respectfully. "I wish to take a walk in our Royal City. It''s been quite some time since I actually saw it. I heard there is a pretty neat marketplace. Come, we''ll take a short trip while we''re free. Let the city see the glory of their Prince and make sure that I''m actually here. So no one suspects that I have gone somewhere else," Ryder told Rale as he flew into the air alone. He was able to fly for longer than two hours now because of his level being higher. This made him not need Rale''s help since he was only going to fly for a short distance. His cloak flew in the air behind him as he flew against the flow of air. He wasn''t wearing a crown at the moment. It was in his inventory. But he still looked glorious even without the crown because of the special boots, the robe that was given by the High Dukes. His Royal Clothes made him seem even better. Rale closely followed behind Ryder. As they were going nearby, he didn''t feel like there was a need for more guards. He alone was enough. Ryder and Rale soon reached a cross-section at the most famous crossing in the main market of the Royal City. It was a place that had most of the famous shops in the Royal City. He had not walked through the Royal City previously. He had walked through a few cities and met up with people when he was on the trip to roam the duchies. But he still hasn''t walked through the Royal City. He did see the citizens of the Royal City right after his coronation, though. As Ryder and Rale landed in the middle of the crowded place, the entire place went silent. All the eyes ended up on him as the citizens recognized them. The citizens recognized Ryder and Rale. They instantly dropped to their knees in the form of respect and bowed their heads. Ryder roamed his gaze over the people on the street. Only Rale and Ryder could be seen standing. [Intimation activated] Ryder instantly activated his intimation skill to have an intimidating aura around him. "You can stand," Ryder said casually. Even though he talked normally, because of his intimation, he sounded much more dignified. Unfortunately, the citizens were much higher level than him, so the skill could only have the effect of making him seem dignified. After his commands, the people stood up, but their gazes didn''t leave Ryder. "You guys can continue doing what you were doing. I''m just here to take a walk and see the city," Ryder further said. His words weren''t as effective this time, though. At Least not as much as he had hoped. The citizens did get back to their work, but it was evident that they were much more interested in Ryder. Their gazes never left Ryder. Ryder could only sigh and regret his choice of not disguising himself before coming here. If he had done so, he might be able to have a better experience. "Is there an accessory shop nearby?" Ryder asked Rale. "Treasure accessory or just the fashion ones? There are many of both types," Rale inquired in return. Chapter 458 - 454: Nature Fairy "I have things that are already attracting so much attention. I don''t need things to make me look even more noticeable. Accessories that are for fashion are useless. I want something that I can use for my advantage," Ryder answered to Rale''s query as he cleared his desire. "I think I know just the right place," Rale acknowledged as he nodded. "It''s in this direction." He told Ryder the direction to walk in while taking the lead, and Ryder followed. Everyone on the street moved to the side to clear the path for Ryder and Rale. The street that was filled a moment ago seemed entirely empty now as people stood on the opposing sides of the road. An ancient-looking building stood near the end of the marketplace. "This is a place which is most famous for selling the treasured accessories," Rale introduced the shop to Ryder as he walked towards the glass door of the shop. He pushed the door open and held it open for Ryder. "It looks good," Ryder complimented as he entered the shop. His hands were behind his back. After Ryder entered, Rale also stepped inside. "Hmm? High Duke Eston''s portrait? And my Master Salem''s portrait beside him? I understand why someone will have their Emperor''s portrait, but why to have the portrait of only one High Duke and not all?" Ryder asked curiously as he noticed the two portraits on top of the wall. The portrait of Salem seemed to be higher, while the portrait of High Duke Eston was lower. "This is a shop which belongs to the family of High Duke Eston. That''s why his portrait is here. We placed it over there as a form of respect to the owner," a voice fell over Ryder''s ears. Ryder looked left and saw a woman walking towards him. The woman seemed like she was in her thirties. She was wearing a long yellow gown. "Greetings to Your Highness," She continued as she dropped to both knees. As her gown didn''t allow for her to get down on one knee, she had to get down on both her knees, or it would be considered disrespectful. "Greetings to the Royal Commander," she said as she greeted Rale as well. "You may stand," Ryder responded as he proceeded towards the wall where many bracelets could be seen. The girl stood up and walked behind Ryder. "Are you the only one here? You manage this shop alone?" Ryder asked the girl. She seemed to be the only one here. "I''m not the only one. We actually have five more people. Unfortunately, they''re all sick today. That leaves only me to handle," the girl answered respectfully. "Why didn''t you ask High Duke Eston''s estate to send more people for help? It''s not like he would lack people there. It''s also his business, after all," Ryder asked curiously. "There is no need for that. The five of us who handle this shop are experienced. Just for one or two days, if we ask for help from inexperienced people, it would be less helpful. So we didn''t ask for help. I''m fully able to handle the shop alone," the girl answered. "Oh?" Ryder turned back and gazed at the face of the girl. "What is your name?" he asked. "I am Kia," the girl answered respectfully. "So, Kia. What will you do if, right now, another person steps inside the shop? Will you keep them waiting while you help us?" Ryder inquired with a curious look on his face. He shook his head before he shifted his focus back to the accessories. "As I said, one person, to handle such a big place, it''s not good for you. Well, it''s your wish. I won''t force you." The girl also didn''t stay behind as she answered instantly, "When Your Highness is here, even nobles would think twice before entering this place, let alone normal people." This was an answer which Ryder didn''t expect. It surprised him a little. "I want some treasure accessories. What do you have that can be good for me? I need something diverse and useful," he told the girl. "Oh, we have many incredible treasures. Let me show you some of our best pieces," the girl asserted as she walked back towards a shelf. "Hmm?" Ryder looked back in confusion. He thought she was going to show something from the items on the wall, which Ryder was observing already, but she was showing something else entirely? "The items on the wall are the worst items in the shop. They are cheap and for commoners who come here to buy. The special items are kept in the back," Rale explained to Ryder as he noticed his confusion. "Oh, so that''s what it is," Ryder muttered as he understood. He looked at the girl who came back with a small box in her hand. She placed the box on the table, which was near the wall. "These are the most precious treasures that are available here. I''m only allowed to show these when someone from the highest ranks of nobility comes here. No one less than the Dukes is allowed to possess these items." "Interesting. Items that are reserved for High Dukes and above." Ryder observed the box, which seemed like a normal box. There was nothing strange about the box. It seemed to be made of normal wood as well. "Shouldn''t these special items be kept in some special-looking box?" He asked the girl. Rale brought his face near Ryder and whispered in his ears, "This box only looks old. It''s made from the most special mystical wood." He made sure to speak in a low voice so that the girl wouldn''t hear. He knew that Ryder wasn''t from this place. So it was not strange that he thought of this box as a useless box. Rale could have answered openly, but that would be like showing Ryder didn''t know such basic things before a stranger who didn''t know where Ryder was from. After informing Ryder, Rale returned to his original position and got back to damage control. "Your Highness is right. It would be fascinating to have these items in some special looking back to improve the presentation. Even though Mystical wood is good, its looks are average. I agree with Your Highness," he said to make it seem like that was what Ryder meant. "I would suggest this to Master," the girl acknowledged their concern. She opened the box and revealed the things that were inside, but as Ryder and Rale were standing farther from the box, they didn''t see. "Let''s start with one of the most precious items even amongst this box," she let out as she brought an item outside. It was a silver bracelet that had a green wings pattern. "This is the Nature Fairy Bracelet which is contributed to our collection by High Duke Eston himself. He had received it after he helped a Nature Fairy during his younger days. The fairy gifted him this bracelet as a form of thanks," Kia informed Ryder about the bracelet. ''Nature fairy? There is a myth about the nature fairies in the world of Divinity. It was expected that I''d hear about their lore in later stages of the game. Albeit it is just now that I see something related to them,'' Ryder thought as he observed the bracelet. He reached out his hand towards the bracelet to take it in his hand. Usually, the girl wouldn''t have let anyone else touch the bracelet, but it was the Prince of the Demon Realm. It would be preposterous for her to even think about stopping Ryder. She gave the bracelet to him. As Ryder took the bracelet and ran his analysis on it, he could see more about the bracelet. [Name: Nature Fairy Bracelet] [Grade: Epic Grade] [Description: A bracelet made by the fairy queen of the Nature Fairies. It is said only to be given to the most high ranking Nature Fairies as a gift by the Fairy Queen for certain achievements] [Stats] [HP: +25000 MP: +5000 Strength: +1000 Defense: +1000 Speed: +200 Dexterity: +50 Stamina: +700 Intelligence: +20] [Special Ability: Invisibility for one minute Cooldown time: 24 hours] ''Incredible. These stats are definitely not bad. Did Eston actually save the Nature Fairy Queen in his younger days since she makes it? Or he saved some other high-ranking fairy that received it as a gift? In any case, he was definitely lucky,'' Ryder thought as he observed the status. "It even comes with an Invisibility skill. The duration of skill is not high, but it''s a very useful skill," he muttered softly. "As expected of Your Highness. You managed to see what''s so special about it without me even telling," the girl said as she nodded her head, seemingly impressed. "That''s right. This bracelet gives the wearer ability to go invisible," she continued. "It''s definitely a good item. How much is it worth?" Ryder asked right away. He hadn''t expected that he would be impressed by the first item itself. Chapter 459 - Choate 455: Stupid Trail "It''s worth 5 Million Gold," Kia told Ryder when he asked for the price of Nature Fairy Bracelet. "Rale, We have the money, right?" Ryder asked Rale. He was the Prince, he should have the money, but he decided that it was better to be certain. "Yes, Your Highness. The treasury at the Royal Palace can cover everything," Rale answered. ''Incredible. This is so overpowered. When the real-world money system is activated, people would be able to convert their real-world money to in-game money. Still, they would have to spend millions to have enough to buy the items. I, on the other hand, got this treasury without doing anything?'' he was amazed to know how much money he had. It was incredible, after all. "There is a limitation, though. As a Prince, you can only use up to ten million gold coins every six months," Rale continued. ''Ten million, huh. So I''m a millionaire in the game without having to do anything. That''s still incredible. I can buy two of these items easily. And this is only the limitation until I finish the Kingship Trial. After I finish, I won''t have to worry about anything.'' Ryder gazed at the bracelet in his hand. "I''m taking this. You can collect the money from the Palace. Or I''ll send someone with the money," Ryder told the girl before he wore the bracelet in his left hand. [Nature Bracelet Equipped] [Invisibility Unlocked] [Please read more for description] A screen opened in front of him, but he ignored it since he already knew what it was. "You must be jesting, Your Highness." the girl commented as she seemed to be taken aback. "Why? Do you think I would default and not pay?" Ryder inquired in confusion. "Of course not. I can''t even dare to think that. What I meant is that you''re the Prince. There is no way we would take money from you. You can take this bracelet for free. That''s what I meant," the girl clarified. "Oh." Realizing that he misunderstood her, Ryder was somewhat embarrassed, but he didn''t let it show on his face. "Thank you for the kind offer, but I can''t let you do this. It''s High Duke Eston''s place. Even if I pay, the money will go to a good place," Ryder insisted on paying now that it was one that. It was about reputation. He could get it for free, but he didn''t wish to have that. Money was going to be a fleeting thing once he became the Emperor. How could he let people talk about him not paying what he owes? His reputation was going to suffer if people got to know about it. "But..." "No, but. This is my command. Now show me the other artifacts. I seem to have room for one more," Ryder didn''t even let the girl continue her words before he stopped her and changed the topic. Kia could only give up, seeing that she had no choice. It was the command of the Prince. She knew that High Duke Eston was going to be upset after knowing that she took money from him. At Least she had an excuse now. And she did try. There is nothing more that she could do. She turned back to the box and brought the next item out of it. It was a ring this time. The ring seemed to be made of gold, but it had a mysterious stone placed inside it which acted as the jewel of the ring. The stone was green in color, but there seemed to be a blue illusory mist around it. "This is the Ring of Blue Sea. Another incredible artifact that is made by the hobbits during the old times," Lia told Ryder. "It is said to be from the time when His Majesty Salem was still a youngster. Its history is also fascinating." "It is said that the Hobbit King came to visit His Majesty Draia at that time. When he happened to enter the Throne Room, His Majesty Draia was in the place with his son. The son was none other than His Majesty Salem, who was still young," she continued. "He offered to pay His Majesty Draia anything in exchange for help, but His Majesty Draia refused to take anything else in return when agreeing to help," she said. "Impressed by this selfless will to help them, the Hobbit King kept His Majesty Draia''s words and didn''t insult him by offering anything in return. Instead, he gave His Majesty Salem this ring as a gift for their first meeting from an a.d.u.l.t to a kid." "His Majesty Draia didn''t stop His Majesty Salem from taking the ring. That''s how this precious ring of Hobbit King ended up in the hands of His Majesty Salem." "His Majesty Salem wore this ring throughout His Young life. He only took it off five years after he became the King. And that too when he gifted this ring to the Previous Royal Commander." The girl seemed to be completely immersed in the story as she told it. Ryder also found this fascinating. The ring ended up in the hand of such high-profile people. First the Hobbit King, then the Demon King, and then the Royal Commander? "Wait a minute!" Ryder suddenly exclaimed as he thought of something. He gazed at Rale with surprise written on his face. "The previous Royal Commander, wasn''t that your father?" he asked. "That''s right. He was. And I recognize this ring. My father had the ring," Rale acknowledged. "Strange. How did it end up in this place then? Did your father really sell the ring that was given to be by the King? That doesn''t seem unlikely. I don''t think he would have given this ring to someone else either. It was a precious gift, after all." Ryder had found the story fascinating so far, but the end confused him. It was as if someone had left the climax of the movie and abruptly ended it. "I told you about my father. The Royal Commanders have a rule. When they pass their position to someone else, they are supposed to leave the Demon Realm not to make the balance of power uncertain. When they leave, they aren''t allowed to take any treasure with them even if it was a gift," Rale answered softly. "That was why he donated all his Treasures to this place," he continued. "Strange. Why didn''t he give it to you then? He couldn''t take it, but he should be able to give it to you then?" Ryder inquired. "He said I hadn''t proven myself yet. So I wasn''t worthy of the ring. So he gave the ring to High Duke Eston and told him that only someone worthy should take it," Rale answered Ryder. "That''s right. High Duke Eston placed the ring here. This is the only treasure in the entire shop that can''t be sold even to Dukes. It can only be sent to the ones who get a medal of bravery," Kia added to Rale''s statement to explain more. "Medal of Bravery? What''s that? Am I allowed to get that medal to be allowed to get this ring?" Ryder asked. "How can I get that medal?" Rale smiled wryly as he shook his head. "You don''t need any medals. You are the Prince. You should be allowed to get this. Even my father would have given this to you if you were here during his time." "As for the medal of bravery, it''s a medal of achievement that is given by High Dukes and the Royals to the ones they deem to have given extraordinary service to this Empire," he continued. "Royalty? So I can give this to you?" Ryder asked. "You can," Rale answered. He understood what Ryder was thinking about, so he immediately clarified. "But I haven''t done anything. You shouldn''t even consider what you''re thinking." "Yeah. It would be a hassle and would take a lot of time. I''m leaving tonight, so I don''t have time either," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. "It''s fine. I am allowed to buy it. That''s enough. How much is it worth?" He asked Kia. "No money was set for it. It''s free as long as the person satisfies the criteria to get it," Kia told Ryder as he extended her hand towards Ryder, which held the ring. She was already sure that Ryder was going to ask for it. "Good. I''m taking this," Ryder took as he took the ring. [Ring of Blue River received] [Item Grade: Mystical] [Description: The Treasure Ring of the Hobbits made by the Hobbit King during his ruling days] Ryder went through the stats of the ring, which was surprisingly more or less the same as the bracelet that he had purchased for 5 million. It also had a special ability in it. The special ability was somewhat useless for Ryder, though. It allowed a person to be able to lock in on another person so they could be found easily in case they are lost and sense when the person was in life-threatening danger. Chapter 460 - 456: Divine Oracle Alice ''What''s wrong with everyone. Why would someone add such a stupid ability in a ring-like that?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''I should choose something else that has a better ability. I have a limited number of accessory slots that can be equipped, after all. What should I do? It would be embarrassing if I returned the ring wore by Salem for being useless,'' He walked back and forth as he fell in deep thought. He understood that it was a bad idea to use this item. He only had the slot of one more item after he equipped the Crown, Wind Shoes, and the robe that were given by High Dukes. That wasn''t even counting the bracelet of Immortality that was occupying the permanent slot that he couldn''t remove. He could only equip one more accessory, and this seemed not to be worth it. The problem was how he should get rid of it after finding its history. ''Wait a minute... This ability, it can be useful. Why didn''t I think of it before!'' Ryder looked back at Rale as he smiled subtly. "Rale," he called out. "Yes, Your Highness?" Rale responded respectfully. "Your father didn''t give you this ring because he said you hadn''t earned it. I seem to believe you all the rights a person can have. You shall wear it," he said as he reached out his hand towards Rale. "This... But Commander Rale didn''t satisfy the criteria of having a medal of bravery," Kia pointed out as she tried to stop Ryder. Ryder gazed back at the girl with a clever look on his face as he said, "You seem to be forgetting something really important, little girl." Even though the girl seemed older than him, he still called her little girl, which was a force of habit from his real life. "Hmm?" Not only Kia but even Rale seemed confused. "The criteria is for you people selling it. As you said, I satisfy the criteria. So I took it from you. From this point onwards, your responsibility is over, and I''m the owner of this ring," Ryder explained to the girl. "I don''t need to follow your criteria to decide who I can give my thing to," he said before he looked back at Rale. "Come on, take it." "Your Highness, I am not worthy of it," Rale told Ryder as he took a step back. "Are you going to ignore my commands?" Ryder inquired as he squinted his eyes. "As for your worthiness, that''s for me to decide. You have helped me so much throughout thick and thin. You even fought so bravely against the intruders from the Death Domain. Your contribution to my life is a lot more than I could have hoped. Here, take it," Ryder told Rale as he smiled. Rale looked at Ryder blankly while he reached out his hand and accepted the ring. It was the first time Ryder had seen some wetness in Rale''s eyes which amazed Ryder. Did rale become so emotional from this small gesture? [Congrats: You have achieved the hidden requirements of absolute loyalty. Royal Commander will be absolutely loyal to you even when you go against the law or against this Empire] A notification appeared on a semi-transparent screen in front of Ryder. Reading that only startled Ryder. ''A hidden Criteria? Absolute Loyalty of Rale even to the point where he can betray the Empire for me? Amazing. So there are criteria like this sprinkled throughout. I didn''t expect that,'' Ryder thought as he finished reading the system notification from the game. That wasn''t all. After he closed the screen, more notifications started popping up in continuation. [Hidden Criteria of Quest of Salem fulfilled] [Salem Class Upgrade Quest is Available] [Quest: Secret] [You can only read the details of the quest after you accept the quest] [Failing the quest after accepting will result in your failure in Quest of Salem. You''ll lose all further class quest] [Would you accept the Class Upgrade Quest] [Yes] [No] ''Hmm, A secret quest that I can''t even read? How can I decide if it''s worth accepting or not in case this is some disaster? The failure will limit me from getting further related quest.'' The information about the quest made him uncertain. He would have accepted in a heartbeat if there wasn''t a thing about the outcome of failure. "Your Highness, I would like to thank you for this great honor. I, Rale Akazer, pledge my full allegiance once again." Rale''s Voice brought Ryder out of his daze. Ryder watched Rale sitting on his knees. "I know how loyal you are, Rale. You don''t have to pledge anything," Ryder answered as he smiled. "You may stand." Watching Rale''s determination and support gave Ryder more motivation. ''That''s right. Why am I even worrying about it? I have Rale and everyone else. Why do I have to be scared of a simple quest.'' He pressed Yes on the screen and accepted the quest. [Quest: Become the King of Death Domain] As Ryder accepted the quest, what it was, got revealed before him, which was enough to shock him thoroughly. Just what kind of quest was it? Was this system of the game malfunctioning? How can he be told to become the King of a realm which literally hated him? He was not only the soon-to-be king of the Demon Realm, which was an eternal enemy of this place. It wasn''t as simple as becoming the Prince of this place to become the King there. He knew that if he tried to swim in two boats, he was going to drown, but he had accepted the quest. There was no going back unless he wanted to lose all future opportunities. ''War? I can wage war. The quest didn''t say that I must become their King with their will. If I wage a war and win over them, I''ll become the King of both places. They should satisfy the criteria of Salem,'' he thought of a way that made it possible to achieve it. But he knew that there was still a problem. Was it really possible to achieve it? He didn''t see his probability of successfully getting it done even with war. Those people would all be willing to die before accepting their enemy race as their King. And would he even be considered a king of the Death Domain if it''s just barren land? That was something that he could only leave to possibility. The thing to do now was becoming the King of Demon Realm by finishing the Kingship Trial. Rale stood up after Ryder''s command. "Show me other items," Ryder told Kia to show him more. He had one more slot for an accessory. And he wanted to find something which really offered him the best support. "Oh, right. Rale, I forgot to tell you something about that ring." While Kia turned back to the back, Ryder started talking to Rale. "This ring has a special ability where you can lock onto one person. When you do that, you''ll know when the person is in danger. I want you to use that ability on me after wearing that ring. Through that, you''ll know when I''m in life-threatening danger," he told Rale. "When that happens, you can bring High Dukes to help me. In this way, it can act as a homing beacon." This was also one of the reasons Ryder decided to give this to Rale. He wanted to die as little as possible for certain reasons. This special ability of the ring was useless for him, but it was something that gained much more importance when it was used by someone else for his Protection. "That''s right. This way I don''t have to worry about you. I can be there when you need me," Rale exclaimed. He was fascinated. Why didn''t he think of this before? He hurriedly wore the ring and used the ability on Ryder. ***** [New Class Upgrade Quest unlocked] [Quest: Use your army to take over the Demon Realm] [After finishing the quest, your special class will be further upgraded] [Failure to finish the quest will result in all further quests being locked] [Would you like to accept] [Yes] [No] "How did I even end up here? What is this war quest? Why is this game so weird? I thought it would be a fun adventure. Why does this seem so stupid?" A girl was standing in front of a semi-transparent screen that was showing her a quest. She was wearing an adventurer attire. A confused look was on her face as she gazed back and forth between the screen and the hundreds of people that were lying on their knees before her, chanting, "Long Live the Divine Oracle Alice!" "Fine. If this means I can become a High-Level player and surprise him, I will finish this quest," the girl muttered as she made a determined face. Reaching out her finger, she tapped on [Yes] Chapter 461 - 457: Departure Ryder went through more of the accessories in the palace before he selected his second item. It was also a ring, but it didn''t have a special history like the Hobbit Ring. It also had some stats lacking, but Ryder still liked it mostly because of its abilities. This ring was much cheaper than his bracelet as well. It only cost him three million coins. "This would be all. Send someone to the Palace to collect the money. Rale will handle the stuff. Alright?" The girl wanted to say no since it was better not to take the money from Ryder, but she couldn''t do anything. In the end, she could only agree. "Yes, Your Highness." "Good girl." Ryder nodded in acknowledgment before he turned back and left the place. There were still many people outside who were looking at him, but he ignored them all. Instead, he looked towards the sky. "A lot of time has passed. We should be getting back to the Palace," Ryder told Rale. He had told High Duke Oris to come in the evening, and it was almost that time. He flew into the air and shot straight towards the Place. Rale also did the same, but he made sure to control his speed enough to be behind Ryder. Ryder and Rale soon reached the Palace. "Did High Duke Oris arrive?" Ryder asked the guards at the entrance. "Since he left in the afternoon, he hadn''t returned," the guards answered Ryder as they opened the doors for him. Ryder and Rale stepped inside the palace and walked straight to the throne room where Miku was supposed to be with the bag, which Ryder was going to carry as per his commands. As they entered the throne room, the two of them found it empty. "She''s late?" "I''m so sorry for being late. It took some time to find the clothes." Right then, a voice came from behind. Turning back, the two of them saw Miku walking inside with a bag in her hand. "It''s fine," Ryder told Miku calmly. "Leave the bag here and get out." "Your Highness?" Even though Ryder''s expression seemed calm, his words seemed sharp. Was he angry? Why was he telling her to leave? "Did I do something wrong?" Miku asked. "You duffer, I didn''t mean it like that. I meant to leave for now so I can get dressed. I need to get ready to leave. You don''t wish for me to get dressed before you, right?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. "Oh, right." Miku''s face turned red as she heard Ryder''s reasoning. Hearing his words, a visual of Ryder changing clothes before her also appeared in her head, which embarrassed her even more. To hide her face, she instantly turned back as she left. She didn''t forget to close the door behind him. Even though Miku had left, Rale was still left behind. "Rale?" Ryder let out softly. Understanding Ryder''s words, Rale also started leaving. "It''s fine. You''re a guy as well. You don''t have to leave. Just turn back, and that would be fine." Rale did as he was told and made his back face Ryder. Ryder walked towards the bad that Miku had brought. Opening the bag, he saw old-looking clothes inside. The Demon Realm had many spies in the Death Domain who collected a few items, which they brought back with them when they returned. All the new items were given to the Palace while the used items were kept by them. These clothes were also brought back by them. The clothes seemed rather ordinary but darker. He had seen a few people wearing similar clothes when he had gone to the Death Domain last time. He was certain that these were their clothes. He took the Wind Boots that were given to him by High Duke and kept them in his inventory. He didn''t use such things there. The same was done to the robe. One by one, he took off all the equipment from his body that he wore last time he went to the Death Domain. These identified him as someone from the Demon Realm. He only kept the ring and the bracelet that he had purchased recently. The Bracelet of Immortality was also something he couldn''t take off. Fortunately, this was not a defining treasure of Demon Realm. The only few people who had seen this bracelet in his hand were the Prince of the Death Domain and a few Death Envoys. As they were all going to be near their Royal Palace, he needed to be careful. He had decided to wrap the bracelet of immortality in an old-looking cloth. He also changed the clothes. The rest of the clothes he kept in his inventory. "I''m done. You can turn back." Hearing Ryder''s command to turn back, Rale did so. "How do I look?" Ryder asked as he spread his hands out. "These dark clothes don''t suit many people, but as it''s Your Highness wearing them, they look good," Rale praised Ryder. "Hahaha," Ryder couldn''t help but laugh as he heard Rale''s answer. "I should''ve expected this answer from you." "Honestly though, I do like dark clothes but not this dark. I am one haircut away from looking emo," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "Emo?" Rale asked curiously. "It''s nothing," Ryder answered. He didn''t wish to explain to Rale what Emo was. "Your Highness, are you prepared? High Duke Oris is here!" Rale opened his mouth to say something, but a female voice fell into Ryder''s ears first as Miku called out from outside. "You can come inside. I''m done!" Ryder answered, keeping his tone high in return to make sure that his voice reached outside. The door opened as High Duke Oris stepped inside. Miku followed behind him. "You''re prepared. That''s good. Let''s leave. If we go now, you won''t have to look for a place to stay at night. It''s better to go in now," High Duke Oris said softly. "It''s fine. It doesn''t matter. I do have a treasure where I can spend the night. You don''t have to worry about that," Ryder answered to put High Duke Oris at ease. "That''s good. Now you can at least be safe at night. Stay alert, though. The place is much riskier than you thought. In the Trial, I can''t drop you straight at the Royal City. You''ll need to begin from the farthest town on your own. I can only help to get you there. Are you prepared?" "I know that. I was told about such things. I made my plan accordingly. Don''t worry. I''ll be safe," Ryder answered. "I have a map using which I''ll go to the Royal City of Death Domain and start my mission... The mission to kill," he continued. "That''s good. However, there is one more concern. You need to kill a lot of people. When one of them dies, they will start getting suspicious. The Death Envoys might get involved as well," High Duke Oris informed Ryder. Ryder seemed confused. What was High Duke Oris trying to say? These were the things that he knew already. These were so obvious. What was the need to speak again? "Think again. You don''t have to be in such a hurry to go there. You''re still young. You have plenty of time. You can get more experienced and a better understanding before you try. For someone like you, ten years are nothing," High Dike Oris said softly. ''Oh, so that''s what he was trying to say. He''s getting worried and doesn''t want me to go and risk myself,'' Ryder thought as he understood the hidden meaning behind the words. "As I said, I''m fully prepared to go there. And if you''re still worried about my safety, you can rest assured. I am leaving something behind," he answered. "If I fail the trial and I am in life-threatening danger, Rale would find out. He will inform you, and you can come to the rescue," he continued. "How is that possible?" High Duke Oris asked in confusion. Ryder looked at Rale and commanded, "Rale, show him." Raising his hand, Rale showed the ring that he had received from Ryder. "Ah, the ring... So that''s how. Clever idea. Even though the risk still remains, I can at least put my mind at a little ease," High Duke Oris acknowledged. "Alright. Since I am ready, and I have already handled everything, we can leave." Ryder stepped towards High Duke Oris and reached out his hand. High Duke Oris caught Ryder''s hand. "Are you ready?" He asked Ryder. "Best of luck. I''m sure you''ll handle everything in my absence perfectly. I''ll be back soon," Ryder told Rale and Miku in a caring tone to leave a decent impression even when leaving. "I''m ready." As soon as he said that, he disappeared. High Duke Oris and Ryder disappeared from Rale''s view. He wanted to say something back to Ryder, but he didn''t get the opportunity; they left. Chapter 462 - 458: The News Ryder and High Duke Oris appeared in a forest inside the Death Domain. The light seemed like it was on the cusp of disappearing as the night drew close. As soon as Ryder appeared in the place, he brought a scroll out of his inventory and opened it before High Duke Oris. "Your is the map of Death Domain. Where are we on the map?" he asked High Duke Oris. High Duke Oris gazed at the man briefly before he placed his hand on one spot in the map. "This is where we are." As soon as Ryder saw the spot, a wry smile appeared on his face. "You just had to drop me at the farthest edge from the Royal City, didn''t you?" He asked softly. If the point where High Duke Oris touched was supposed to be believed, that meant Ryder was as far from the Royal City of the Death Domain as he could possibly be. It only increased his distance that he had to cover. ''There are many edges of the Death Domain, but he just had to drop me here,'' he thought as he took another glance at the map. "These are the rules. I can do nothing about it," High Duke Oris innocently raised his hand as he rid himself of the responsibility. "It''s fine. It just means some extra travel. You can leave now," Ryder let out as he shook his head. It wasn''t worth it to argue with High Duke Oris since he said it was the rule. "Alright. I''ll leave now. You already have the map, so you know about the village nearby. But you won''t need to stay there since you have that treasure. I wish you all the luck. I hope you''ll be successful and increase our fame even further." After finishing what he had to say, High Duke Oris took another full glance at Ryder before he disappeared. "Hah, this guy is finally gone. So much for thinking, he''ll drop me somewhat closer," Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the nearest village. It was finally the time for him to be alone in the Death Domain amidst his enemies. According to the map, he only needed to walk for half an hour to get out of the forest and entered the village, but he didn''t feel like wasting time. Since he wasn''t going to stay in the village, he didn''t need to bother. Instead, he had to go even farther. He took out the map once again and saw the direction of the Royal City and planned accordingly about how far he could go to reach there before it was time to log out. He thought of a path with which he could travel without having to go near any of the populated places. It was much safer to fly alone without interacting with anyone since the real trial was going to begin when he reached the Royal City. After making the best plan of approach, he started rising into the air and shot straight towards the Royal City, avoiding the villages in the path. He flew straight for close to two hours before he finally stopped as the time of his ability was almost over. He wanted to save some in case of emergency, so he didn''t use it all. The place where he stopped was a beautiful pond that was shining beautifully. This seemed like a perfect place to end his journey. He landed near the pond, which seemed to have still water. After he landed, he noticed that a few bubbles were coming out of the water. "Are there some Fishes in water too?" He had to log out, but the bubbles made him curious. Albeit the curiosity only lasted for a few minutes before he decided that it was better to just log out now instead of wait there. He opened the system screen to log out, but just as he was about to tap on the logout button, he saw the ripples in the water increase. He stopped as he looked back at the water, only to see the ripples coming towards him. "Hmm?" As the ripples reached the end of the pond, a hand came out of the water. Soon, another hand came out before a head became visible. "A girl?" Ryder muttered in confusion as he saw the person. It seemed like a girl. The girl pushed herself up, revealing the top half of her body which was not covered in the least. Only after she had come halfway out did she open her eyes which revealed her blue pupils before Ryder. "Yaaa!" As soon as she opened her eyes, a scream left her mouth before she ducked her body inside the water once again. "Who the hell are you! How dare you enter this place??" The girl asked, screaming. ''Hmm? How did I get here? Did she find out who I am?" Ryder wondered, misunderstanding her words. "Are you deaf?! How did you enter this area! I had sealed the area. No one should have been able to get inside! Who exactly are you?" The girl asked again as she got no response. ''Oh, she''s talking about this place, not the Death Domain. I''m an Idiot to misunderstand that,'' Ryder thought as he smiled wryly. ''But what barrier is she talking about? I saw none on the way. Could it be that the barrier was on the ground? Maybe that''s why I wasn''t affected.'' While Ryder thought of a reason for not being affected, he was wrong. The barrier was not only covering the ground but the sky as well. The only reason he didn''t feel or see the barrier was because it was only effective against people from the death domain. As the girl hadn''t thought of a person from realms infiltrating, she didn''t realize the obvious that was right in front of her. "Maybe you made a mistake in creating the barrier. The place I came from had no barrier. I''m sorry, I didn''t know you were bathing here. I''ll take my leave now," Ryder let out as he started walking away. "You bastard, you think you can leave after seeing me?!" the girl asked Ryder loudly. Ryder stopped in his tracks as he turned back. "What are you going to do? Come out of the water and let me see even more?" "I already told you that it was an accident. I didn''t even know you were inside. Now that I know, I''ll leave. I have no interest in seeing people nude after all," Ryder let out as he turned back and started leaving. The girl watched him leave without saying anything. He was right. If she came out to stop him, he was only going to see more. She wanted to let him go somewhat far before she came out to get dressed. She could find the guy after she was dressed. Albeit, she didn''t realize that she wasn''t going to find him. Ryder didn''t wish to run away. He only wanted to get out of her view before he logged out. "That girl was pretty tough. Not a bad place," Ryder muttered as he tapped on the logout button The world became blurry before it turned black. Ryder found himself lying on his bed. He opened his eyes only to find Alice coming inside his house. "You are up! Good! You need to see this!" She told Ryder in a hurry. "Huh? What happened?" Ryder inquired as he stood up. "The tv! See what they''re showing. Brother Shu''s company... It''s being sold!" Alice declared. "What the heck?" Ryder got off the bed and walked out of the room without even taking time to wash his face. He entered the room where the TV was placed. The TV was showing a news channel called CNPC. In the program, two anchors could be seen talking amongst themselves. A headline was shown on the bottom of the screen. "Dream Corporation to be brought by Necrosis?" "Please welcome our correspondent Alison who is in front of the headquarters of Dream Corporation. Allison, give us an update on what you managed to find out. And what can you tell is our readers?" The Anchor asked the girl who was being shown on a split-screen now. "Jay, I''ve been trying to get a statement from the Executives of the Dream Corporation since the Washington Host published the news about the possibility of the sale. Albeit no one has commented. Their silence was somewhat telling, though," the girl answered. "So they have refused to deny the reports? There is a possibility of this going through. When can we expect the sale to happen? And what reasons do you see for them taking this decision? You''ve been covering them for a long time. Give us some of your theories," the anchor further asked. "Jay, from what I know about the Dream Corporation, this decision is pretty shocking. I''m not sure, but it seems like it''s a decision made with the support of all executives and Mr. Maxwell, who owns the Organisation. We haven''t heard any news of any arguments between them." Chapter 463 - 459: Lied "So Alison, do you have anything else to share with our readers that can give them more details?" The Anchor asked the girl. "There is one more thing, Jay. All the executives are in this building in front of us except Mr. Maxwell. He doesn''t generally show himself except on rare occasions, so we believe he might come here today. If that happens, we would have our confirmation about this sale. We can only wait until then," Alison answered as she closed the mike firmly. "If he doesn''t come, would that mean there is no sale or that Mr. Maxwell doesn''t agree with it?" Jay asked. "That''s right. From what we knew about Mr. Maxwell and the way he handled the story, it seems highly unlikely that he would sell the company instead of buying necrosis corporation, but that''s where all clues point at. We would have to wait to get more information about these," Alison replied. "Thanks a lot, Allison, for keeping our readers up to date with all this. We''ll get back to you soon. Have fun out there." The channel stopped showing the visuals of Alison as they returned to focus on the anchor. "There, you have it. This news just broke this morning. By the evening, the image should be more clear about the sale and if it''s going through. From the thing we can''t confirm now, let''s take you to something that is confirmed," the anchor let out as the screen started showing the price of Dream Corporation Stocks. "This is the stock price right now. The stocks of Necrosis have increased by three hundred Points, increasing their net worth massively, whereas the stocks prices of Dream Corporation have also seen a massive jump." "The stocks of Necrosis Corporation are being traded one hundred fifty points higher than their usual price. It''s a big day for the business world today. Stay with us to stay up to date." "We''ll be right back after this commercial break." The News Anchor declared before announcing a break. "Do you know what this is about? Wasn''t he out of the country? How is it that his company is being sold? I remember him talking about it once, saying this is the only thing that he received from his family and that he didn''t want to sell it ever. What happened to him? Why is he selling it?" Alice asked Ryder as he stood behind him. Ryder also remembered the moment when Shu had told them. This company was precious to him, and that''s why he worked hard. How come these Bastards were selling it! Was this the reason they kept his death a secret? It didn''t matter. He couldn''t let the company he sold. This belonged to Shu, and now it was his job to keep it safe. It was never to be sold. He looked back at Alice and smiled. Don''t worry. This company isn''t going to be sold. These must be rumors. Since Shu isn''t here, these rumors are only increasing. If he were here, he would have cleared them instantly. "Oh, that must be it. I got worried for nothing." Believing Ryder''s words, Alice sighed in relief. She has thought that it was true. She didn''t even consider the possibility of this being a lie. "Yeah. Don''t worry. A rumor doesn''t hold any weight," Ryder let out as a fake smile covered his face. "That''s better. These idiots, how can they believe such rumors? What nonsense is this?" Alice added as she rolled her eyes. "These news channels are always like this. Jumping the gun on rumors and airing them without verifying. They scared me so much.'' "So, where are we going today?" She asked Ryder. "Nowhere. I just remembered that he has some minor work today. I won''t be able to accompany you for now," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "What? But you said that you''d be free." "I know. This just came so suddenly. It will only take a day. I''m sorry," Ryder apologized. He didn''t wish to tell her the truth about what he was going to do. So he could only use this excuse. As work was important as well, Alice agreed. "Fine. Come back fast. And best of luck with your work." "That''s like my good girl. I''ll be back soon." Ryder walked back into his room and hopped into the shower. "Little Shu, I know it''s none of my business, but I won''t let your dream shatter after you did so much for me. It''s time Shu Maxwell returns for this world," he muttered as the droplets of water kept falling over his well-chiseled body. After a short show, he left the shower and got dressed after drying his body. He left his room. Alice was sitting on the sofa. As soon as she saw him step out, wholly ready, she asked, "Aren''t you going to have dinner either? The room service will be on its way." "It''s fine. I''ll eat at work. Those guys should be coming without eating as well. It''s just the work which is so urgent," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "Eat without me." Ryder left the room and entered the lift, which brought him to the ground floor. He had already booked a cab to take him to his destination. The cab soon stopped in a place. It was the same graveyard where Shu was buried, according to what Ryder knew. He paid the cab before he entered the cemetery. He walked straight to the grave of Shu Maxwell in a graveyard that had no security at all. He stopped in front of Shu''s grave. "I''m sorry, brother. It looks like I''ll have to disturb your eternal slumber. Don''t worry. I''ll bury you back at an even more peaceful place. Just let me get done with this..." Ryder muttered as he gazed at the tombstone. He soon took out a shovel before he started digging the grave. Tuck! After digging for close to twenty minutes, he finally heard the sound of the shovel hitting something solid. "There it is." He intensified his digging, and soon, the entire coffin was revealed before his eyes. The coffin seemed to be made of pure gold, which made it even heavier; however, Ryder''s strength had increased a lot in the last few days because of the mission and the pills. The coffin felt very light to him. Ryder took a deep breath as he prepared himself. Even though he had seen a lot of Dead Bodies, it was the first time he felt intimidated by seeing a body. Watching the person, he knew dead, seemed tough. After waiting for a few more moments, he finally gathered enough determination and opened the coffin. His plan was simple. Using the pill from the system that let him impersonate any person he touched. Even the fingerprints and everything else remained the same in that case. He wanted to use this method to impersonate Shu and stop the sale. Who would dare to go against Shu''s wishes? If Shu Maxwell appeared before them, the sale would be stopped, and the name of Dream Corporation wouldn''t disappear. That was his plan; at least, however, the plan went headfirst into the grave as Ryder opened the coffin. A weird expression covered his face. "Shu''s body isn''t here? What the heck?!" Ryder was shocked to find the coffin empty. He remembered Alem''s words, who told him that he himself buried the body of Shu Maxwell in front of others. How was it that the body wasn''t here? "That Bastard Alem! He lied to me?! Where is Shu''s body?! That idiot is going to die in my hands for lying about this. I don''t even know where the body of Shu is? He must answer," Ryder let out as he clenched his fist. He decided to get the answers from Alem at all cost as he stood up. He didn''t forget to keep the coffin in his inventory. If Alem lied to him again, he was going to throw this golden coffin straight at his face. Ryder left the graveyard and took another cab which was to take him to the Dream Corporation Headquarters. As he reached the headquarters, he saw many Vehicles of prominent new channels outside who were trying to cover a story. The security seemed to be more than last time to stop these people. Stepping out of the cab, Ryder walked straight to the gates. "What is your purpose?" The guards asked Ryder. "I need to meet Alem. I have an appointment. That girl knows me as well," Ryder let out as he pointed towards the receptionist. It was the same girl he had met last time. "Wait right here." The girl walked back inside the building and asked the receptionist. As the receptionist saw Ryder, she recognized him. He was here just a few days ago afterall to take part in the meetings of the executives. At Least that''s what she thought. As Alem told her to send him to his room, she didn''t think that Ryder was lying. "Send him in," she told the guards. Chapter 464 - 460: Infiltrating As the woman confirmed him not to be a stranger or a reporter, he was allowed inside. Ryder approached the woman and asked, "Alem is upstairs, right?" "Yeah. Sir is in his room. Do you have a meeting today as well? Sigh, why am I never told about meetings related to you? It was the same last time as well. It''s fine. Let me call him to confirm," the woman answered before she picked up the phone to dial Alem. "It''s fine. You call him; I''ll use the restroom in the meanwhile," Ryder let out as he smiled innocently. "Sure. It''s towards the left," the woman let out as she pointed towards the left side. Ryder had hoped for that place to be close to the lift or the stairs, but it was in the complete opposite direction. Having no choice, he walked away towards the toilet. "Hello. Yes, Sir. Mister Ryder is here to meet you again. He says that he had a meeting with you," the woman informed Alem. When Alem was informed of Ryder''s, he was sitting in his office. He couldn''t help but stand up, shocked at the information. He remembered how damaging the last visit of Ryder was. He didn''t wish to meet him today. As Ryder entered the toilet, he already expected how Alem would answer. ''That idiot would certainly tell her to make an excuse to send me away. Too bad for him, I know all tricks of people like him,'' Ryder thought as he stepped inside the toilet. He saw only one person inside the place who was washing his hand. Ryder silently approached the man from behind before he hit the back of the man''s neck, making him lose consciousness. The man was a worker in this place as he had the identity card of dream corporation. This was what Ryder needed. It was a permit to reach Alem. After making the man lose consciousness, he tied the man''s hand using his tie before he placed his body inside a stall and closed the door from inside. After closing the door from inside, he jumped outside from the top using his flying abilities. He didn''t forget to tie the man''s mouth as well. He had changed his looks with the looks of the unconscious man and also switched the clothes. The unconscious man only remained in his underwear now. After being done with the preparation, Ryder left the washroom. "He is here? Make an excuse. I don''t wish to meet him now. Tell him that I have left. Tell him to come next week. He shouldn''t know I''m still in this building," Alem told the receptionist who had just informed him of Ryder''s arrival. The receptionist was increasingly shocked. Alem was more like a stern boss in her head. Why did it seem like he was scared of Ryder? It was not her position to ask more questions to him, so she agreed. "Yes, Sir, I''ll send him back." After her acknowledgment, Alem disconnected the call. Since the woman was given the commands to send Ryder back, she started looking towards the washroom in order to wait for Ryder. Ryder did walk out of the washroom in front of her eyes, but he was an entirely different person altogether. Ryder was wearing a professional black suit and black pants. There was a company identification card hanging on his neck. Only a necktie was missing to complete his professional look. As his face was different, the woman didn''t recognize him. He walked to the lift right in front of her eyes and entered the lift. He was taken to Alem''s room using the lift last time, so he knew how to go there. The lift made a sound as it stopped on his desired floor. Ryder stepped out of the left and walked towards the left where Alem''s room was. There were no guards on this floor as most of the security was on the first floor. Without any trouble, Ryder reached before Alem''s office. He looked around to make sure that there were no cameras. Only when he was sure did he cancel the transformation. Knock! Knock! He knocked on the door respectfully. "Who is it?" A voice came from inside, which belonged to Alem. After making sure that it was Alem who was inside, Ryder opened the door and stepped inside. "You!" Seeing Ryder, Alem hurriedly stood up. Ryder had thought that Alem would try to press the help button, which was on the table. That''s why he has prepared against that as well. However, against all expectations, Alem didn''t try anything. He just stood surprised that Ryder had managed to reach that place. Ryder stepped towards Alem as he commanded, "Don''t you dare try anything to call for help. I''m just here for some answers." "Sure. What do you want to know?" Alem asked as he gestured for Ryder to sit. Ryder pulled the chair back before he sat on it. "Aren''t you going to get me to sign an NDA this time?" "There''s no need anymore," Alem answered. "Oh, because you''re already selling Shu''s company? It''s too late for anything to go wrong, isn''t it?" Ryder asked. Alem didn''t answer this time as he sat down as well. "Alright. I''ll get back to my question. I''m here to ask about Shu," Ryder let out. "Where is he?" "What do you mean where he is? He is dead. He is in heaven. Where else?" Alem answered carefully. "Oh? Heaven, huh. And where is his body?" Ryder inquired further. "It''s buried in the graveyard that I told you about. Did you not go to that Place? There''s a big tombstone with his name. His body is inside a fully gold engraved coffin. You should go there and pay respect." Alem didn''t seem to be getting a hint. "I should go to the Graveyard to pay respect to an empty coffin? Interesting concept," Ryder let out lazily as he rolled his eyes. Even though he seemed like he had lazily said it, he was still carefully observing Alem''s reaction. As soon as he talked about the empty coffin, he got a strong response from Alem, which made him certain that Alen knew something about it. "What do you mean? What empty coffin?" Alem asked as he controlled his emotions, hoping that Ryder hadn''t seen them. "Did you really think I wouldn''t know? You gave him the burial yourself, right? So could you explain to me a simple thing? Why is his coffin empty?" Ryder inquired. "What empty? If not empty at all," Alem replied. "Oh? It isn''t? I might be wrong then. Why don''t you come with me then? We''ll get the coffin out of the ground in front of its eyes. Let''s see how truthful you are," Ryder let out as he grinned. That was when Alem''s phone started ringing. "Pick it up. If you said anything about me, you know the consequences," Ryder warned Alem while giving him the permission to pick up the phone. Alem nodded as he picked up the call. "Hello?" He only said one word before he went silent. After a few minutes, he continued. " Right away." He pushed the phone towards Ryder. "It''s for you." "For me? Who is calling me on your number? No one knows I''m here," Ryder let out in confusion, but he still took the phone. As soon as he placed the phone on his ear, his mouth opened slightly. A familiar voice fell on his ears. "Brother, please don''t make things difficult for Alem." The voice... Ryder couldn''t forget this voice. It belonged to... "Shu?" he exclaimed in surprise. "One and only," Shu answered as he smiled. "You are still alive?" Ryder asked as he stood up. "Of course I am alive. How else do you expect me to talk to you?" Shu answered instantly. "What is this about? Alem told me that you''re dead. Was he joking with me?" Ryder asked Shu. "It wasn''t a joke. All the Higher-ups think that I''m dead. Don''t worry; today is the last day of this misunderstanding. Everything will be clear today," Shu replied to Ryder. "Also, I have something to tell you," he continued. Ryder waited patiently to hear what Shu had to say, but he couldn''t get the smile off his face. Shu was alive. This dumbass was actually alive. He was so happy that the guy didn''t die. "I would like to apologize to you. Because of my plan, I couldn''t contact you. I didn''t expect you to come here and find out about my so-called death. It''s not true. I didn''t want to worry you unnecessarily, so I told Alem not to include you in this. I''m sorry," Shu apologized to Ryder. "You duffer, you could''ve at least messaged me once. I would have helped you in whatever you''re trying to do. Sigh, you really scared me, you know that? I haven''t even told Alice about this yet. You owe her an apology for disappearing like that," Ryder responded. "Of course. I would explain everything soon," Shu answered. Chapter 465 - 461: Entrance "Alright. I''ll wait for your explanation. In the meanwhile, tell me how I can help," Ryder with Shu. He wasn''t going to ask everything if Shu wasn''t ready, but he was still free to help. "There''s nothing for you to do. Go back and enjoy your time with Alice. Everything is under my control here," Shu replied, sounding confident. Ryder went silent as he thought for a little. "Are you sure?" He asked. "Absolutely. There is no problem here. It''s completely in my control. In fact, it would be bad for me if you don''t leave Alem''s office soon. The stage is set. I can start as soon as you leave," Shu told Ryder. "Alright. I''ll trust you. I''m so glad that you''re safe. I''ll wait for you to return," Ryder commented before he returned the phone to Alem. He suddenly thought of something as a suspicious look appeared on his face. ''Is that really Shu? How can I believe so easily when there are so many people who can copy someone''s voice to perfection. I need to confirm,'' he thought as he suddenly took the phone back from Alem before he could even say something. "Shu?" Ryder asked Shu. "Yes?" Shu answered. "The ring is still with your character. You do know that we will fail, right?" Ryder inquired casually. "Ah, right. The ring of lexini. I still have to return that. How can I forget that? Don''t worry; I won''t fail the mission," Shu chuckled as he acknowledged. A smile formed on Ryder''s face as he confirmed that it was Shu indeed. He nodded as said, "That''s better." He returned the phone to Alem before he stood up and left the office. He didn''t even bother changing his looks again as he was done with the work. The receptionist was still waiting for Ryder to come out of the washroom. "Strange. How can he spend so long there? Did he fall asleep? I should get someone to check on him," she muttered as she worried about Ryder. She decided to send someone to check on him; however, that''s when she saw Ryder coming out of the lift from the opposite side. Ryder had kept the identity card in his storage, and he had also changed his clothes in the bathroom on the higher floor. He was in his normal clothes now. "W-what? How did he get there?" She let out in shock. She was told to stop Ryder, but he had already gone ahead? "You! Come here!" She told Ryder as she puffed her cheeks. Ryder walked up to the girl, "Yeah?" "How did you get there? Didn''t you go to the bathroom?" The girl asked Ryder. "What are you talking about? What bathroom? You told me to go straight up. You even watched me go to the lift. Did you hit your head or something to forget it?" Ryder asked innocently. "I did?" the girl asked in confusion. Why did she have no recollection of that ever happening? In fact, she remembered the complete opposite. "It''s fine. You must be tired after working for so long. I''ll talk to Alem to get you a paid leave for a few days. Don''t worry. You''ll be fine after a good rest," Ryder let out as he smiled while patting her head innocently. He soon turned back and left the premises. The people from the media were still standing outside when Ryder left. He took a cab while ignoring them. ''It makes sense why the coffin was empty now. Shu is still alive. But what is it about? It seems to be something related to the deal with Necrosis. While Ryder was going back in the cab, a helicopter landed on top of the Dream Corporation. Two men who were dressed in black coats and pants came out of the helicopter. They were greeted by the people from the Dream Corporation, who escorted them to the meeting hall. **** Ring! Ring! Alem was in his office when his phone started ringing. He picked up the phone. Before he could even say hello, the person on the other side started speaking. "Alem, get to the conference room immediately. People from the Necrosis Corporation are here already." "I''m coming," Alem replied before he disconnected the call. "Thus, it begins," he muttered as he stood up. He left his office and went straight to the conference hall. ***** Not having anything to do with what happened in Dream Corporation, Ryder reached his hotel room. As he got back home, he told Alice that Shu was hoping to return soon and that they talked. Now that he was back and claiming to be done with his work, he suggested going out with Alice. Alice excitedly agreed without denying. The two of them left the hotel soon. **** Drake Lamia was the Managing Director of the Dream Corporation. He had the highest authority after Shu, who was now assumed to be dead. He welcomed the Director of Necrosis Corporation, Rai. He was accompanied by someone from the army. "Welcome, Mister Rai. To the place where we are going to write the history. After the merger, our success will reach the stars," Drake told Rai, who also smiled in return. "Of course," Rai answered as he smiled. Drake introduced Rai to the others from the Dream Corporation, including Rai. Rai sat on the chair which was beside the chair of Drake as he placed a briefcase on top of the table. He opened the briefcase and pulled out a few files, which he pushed towards the members of the Dream Corporation. "This is our offer in response to what you asked for. Read it so we can move forward," Rai informed the members of Dream Corporation as he sat completely relaxed on his chair. There were four people here from the Dream Corporation, including Alem. All four of them picked up the files as they started going through them. It took everyone half an hour to go through it. Drake was the first one to comment on it. "This seems fine. You''ve agreed to all our terms, I believe. We can still optimize it a little more, but it''s good as it is," he said. "Yeah. This seems good enough." The others also agreed. "I have a question." Alem was the only one who raised his voice. "Yes," Rai asked casually. "What about the regulating authority of Dream Corporation? Will they agree to the merger? It''s not a small thing after all," Alem asked. "Good question," Rai let out as he smiled. He looked towards his left side, where the second person that came with him was sitting. "General Kale, why don''t you comment on it?" He asked the man. "There is no problem. We already managed to get the permission for the merger. This is the doc.u.ment from the regulatory authority that claims that there is nothing wrong if the merger happens," General Kale said as he also brought four files and pushed them towards Dream Corporation members. As soon as Alem saw the doc.u.ments, a smile formed on his face. "Perfect. The regulation authority claims that there is nothing wrong with the possible merger. They can''t go back from their stance now, or we can sue them in the court of law." Drake thought that Alem was talking to himself, but he didn''t know that Alem was talking to someone else through the microphone that was placed inside his shirt. As soon as he finished saying it, two helicopters took to the air from nearby buildings, flying straight towards the headquarters of Dream Corporation. "Yup. Now that the regulatory authority has also permitted it, nothing can go wrong. Should we consider the deal finalized?" Rai asked Drake. "I have one more problem with this contract. Point 5a claims that..." Alem started talking about small things that he found confusing in the contract. Even though these things were not severe enough to stop a deal, they were sufficient to delay it for a little as all questions needed to be clarified. Necrosis wanted to buy Dream Corporation through common consensus so as to not get any negative publicity later on. Rai heard the question of Alem carefully and started answering. It was at that point; two helicopters landed on top of the Dream Corporation. A chubby youngster stepped out of the first helicopter. He was followed behind by a person who seemed like his butler. There were also a lot of guards surrounding him. They entered the building of Dream Corporation and walked towards the conference hall. "So that''s it. It''s a small misprint which we''ll clear in the final version. As for point 5b, we will also make the wordings a little clearer so as to not leave any scope of misuse later. You can rest assured," Rai answered with a calm smile. "Are there any other questions? Or should we consider it final?" He asked after he finished clarifying. "I have a question," a voice filled the conference hall as the door opener. A man stepped inside the conference hall with his head held high. Chapter 466 - 462: Deal "I have a question," a voice filled the conference hall as the doors opened. A chubby man barged inside the conference hall with a confident smile on his face. Everyone looked towards the door. The people from Necrosis Corporation didn''t stand up. They didn''t even look shocked as they hadn''t seen this person before. The others, however, recognized the person. Derek and the others stood up, shocked as they watched the person who had just entered the conference hall. Except for Alem and the people from Necrosis Corporation, the faces of others turned pale. It was as if someone had sucked all the blood from their body. "You?" Derek exclaimed as his mouth remained open. The person who had entered was none other than Shu. He was followed behind by a few armored guards and his butler. "Derek, it''s surprising. We''re having a party, and I wasn''t even invited?" Shu asked with an amused smile on his face. He walked over to Alen with slow steps. Derek still had a hard time understanding what was happening. "H-how?" "How? Don''t worry. Everything will be revealed soon enough," Shu muttered as he grinned. He stopped near Alem and picked up the file that was lying in front of him. He read the papers in the file before he commented, "As expected, you got this permission pretty fast. It would have been impossible even for me to get them to give this certificate. In any case, this is going to come in handy. I should thank you a lot." "Who is this person?" Rai asked Derek. He was confused. Who was it that had the capacity of stunning the man thoroughly? "Oh, I apologize. Where are my manners? I forgot to introduce myself before guests," Hearing Rai''s question, Shu tapped his forehead lightly. "Welcome to the Dream Corporation, Mister Rai. I am Shu Maxwell. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he introduced himself respectfully. After finding the name of Shu, even the two people from the Necrosis Corporation who had remained sitting also stood up. "Weren''t you dead?" Rai asked, seemingly confused. He looked back towards Derek as he inquired, "Didn''t you tell me he was dead and you had the authority of this deal?" "Oh, of course, he would say it. It''s not like he left any stone unturned to make that happen," Shu chimed in before Derek could even answer. "What are you saying?" Derek asked as he took a step back. His words, what did they implied? Did they know something? "Oh, right. Derek. It''s good to meet you after so long. I brought a gift for you," Shu answered while ignoring the question of Derek. He placed his right hand in his pocket and pulled out a Pendrive which he tossed towards Derek. "Go ahead. Open it," Shu let out with a smile. Derek hurriedly inserted the Pendrive into the laptop that was lying in front of him. As he opened the Pendrive, he found only one folder inside it, titled "Gift." He opened the folders, which seemed to contain many doc.u.ments and footage that made him look even more scared. "This! This is a lie!" Derek exclaimed as he waved his hand innocently. "It''s fine. I''m not accusing you. That''s why we have laws. You''re innocent till proven guilty," Shu declared as he smiled. Suddenly his expressions changed as they became sterner. "Unfortunately, that''s not all," He placed his left hand in his other pocket and pulled out another Pendrive which he tossed Derek as well. "Open it," he said casually as he pulled a chair behind and took a seat. Derek inserted the next Pendrive as well, which had another folder named "Bonanza Surprise." As he opened the folder, his mouth opened wide in shock. ''H-how did he get these proofs? How? This should be impossible!'' he thought, unable to close his mouth. "It''s fine. You can think in prison. Go ahead. Take him," Shu commanded as he gazed towards the door. As soon as he commanded, police stepped inside the conference hall to handcuff Derek. They took Derek outside the conference hall. Derek refused to beg or say anything as he kept his mouth closed. Derek was taken to the police station using the helicopter to protect him from the media at the moment. "Alright, gentleman. Let''s begin the meeting. Although Derek is no longer with us, I am here to take care of the deal. My terms are slightly different, though," Shu told Rai before he looked back at the file in his hand, which was the permission. "Fortunately, this makes it easier." ****** While Shu had turned the whole deal upside down and removed the Managing Director from his position, the media outside was still unaware of what was happening. Ryder, on the other hand, was still outside with Alice, enjoying his time, but he did keep an eye on the news using his phone. Unfortunately, the news seemed to know even less than him at the moment. They were still in the phase of conjecture. It was only in the evening even the news about the arrest of Derek broke. He was accused of trying to kill Shu Maxwell, according to the police statement. ***** " I''m sorry, but I don''t accept your terms. We refused to sell Necrosis," Rai refused Shu''s offer as he stood up to leave. The General who stood beside him also stood up to leave. "Are you sure? You gain to lose a lot more than I do," Shu let out as he chuckled. His vague wording forced Rai to stop. He turned back as he asked, "What do you mean?" "Why will I lose anything?" he inquired. "Isn''t it obvious? I am the Victim, Shu Maxwell. The managing director of my company tried to kill me. There couldn''t be any more proof than I already passed to get him convicted. That leaves you," Shu answered. "Why do you think Dream Corporation would sell itself to a small company? Unless you had a hand in trying to take me out while paying Derek. As I said, I only need proof to convict him, which I already have. As for the rest, it can only be a vague theory. Just think about the reputation hit you''ll take," he continued. "I don''t know about the real consequences, but your share prices will fall while mine will increase. The more you fall, the more I''ll rise. And it''ll become easier for me to buy you. So think again. You have an hour to think." Shu stood up as he also started to leave. "Gentlemen, please leave the conference hall to these two. They have a lot to think about," he told Alem and the other Executive Directors who listened to the commands like robots. "I''ll return after an hour. If you''re still here, we can discuss further. If you left before that, please don''t blame me for what happens next." Shu left with his team, leaving Rai behind. **** It was in the evening when Ryder returned to the hotel with Alice. As soon as he reached the hotel, he called out Shu, hoping to get the call through now that he was back. Fortunately, the phone rang this time. "Hello," Shu answered as he picked up the call. "Are you coming to meet us today? I''ll give you the address of the hotel if you are," Ryder told Shu. "I can''t today. I promise I''ll come back tomorrow. I''m working on a deal with Necrosis. It seems like things might go through," Shu answered. He sounded somewhat pleased. "Yeah. I heard about the arrest of Derek. You''re really fine, right?" Ryder asked as he walked back to his room. Alice had already gone inside the washroom to take a shower. "Of course I am fine. Not only me but others as well. You can see tomorrow," Shu responded. "Anyway, I''ll go back to work so I can finish fast. I''ll call you in the morning." "Alright." Ryder disconnected the call before he laid in his room. He had already wished goodnight to Alice. He wore the Divinity Glasses and got ready to enter the World of Divinity. "Take me to Divinity." Ryder appeared where he had logged out. He was still near the pond. "That girl must have left by now." Despite being sure, he still remained alert as he slowly walked back towards the pond. Fortunately, the girl was not here in this place. "Good. She left," Ryder muttered as he nodded in relief. He walked closer to the pond and washed his hand to feel the beautiful water before he started walking slowly towards his destination. As twenty-four hours hadn''t passed, his limitation on flying hadn''t been removed yet. As he was, he couldn''t fly today and could only watch. He walked for twelve hours straight while occasionally resting whenever he ran out of the stamina. He did the same throughout the day and logged out when it was the night. As he woke, he heard the chatter coming from outside. "Shu?" Chapter 467 - 463: Return Ryder had just come out of Divinity when he heard the voice of Shu coming from outside. He took off the glasses and kept that in his inventory before he got off the bed and stepped outside. As soon as Ryder stepped into the hall, he saw Shu sitting on the sofa. A cup of coffee was in his hand, which he was sipping casually. Alice sat some distance from him. "Why was your phone off? You didn''t even message. Do you know how worried we were?" she asked Shu. "I''m sorry. Circ.u.mstances were such where I was unable to contact you. I''ll make up for it, though. Let''s go to the Maldives on a two-day vacation with Ryder," Shu told Alice as he smiled apologetically. "Maldives? But it''ll take time. Tickets and everything else needs to be arranged. Moreover, we don''t have many days left. College is about to open soon," Alice asked with a concerned look on her face. "Don''t worry about anything. You just convince him. As for the trip, I have my private jet. Let''s go there and have some fun. The last few days have been stressful. I just want to relax for now," Shu let out as he smiled wryly. "As for college, I own the damn thing. It''ll stay closed for as long as I want," he continued. "Alright. I''ll talk to him," Alice agreed. "He should be up soon." "There''s no need to talk. I heard everything. And it does sound like a good idea after all that happened," Ryder chimed in, letting everyone know of his presence. "Ah, you''re up," Shu exclaimed as he stood up. He walked towards Ryder in significant steps as he hugged him firmly. "I''m glad you''re alive, little guy," Ryder let out in a low voice as he hugged Shu back. The hug was not long-lasting as both of them separated from each other. "So when are we leaving?" Ryder asked Shu. "I see no reason to delay. We can leave in an hour. I''ll arrange for everything," Shu answered as he nodded his head. "That sounds good. Anyway, I want to talk to you about something important. Let''s go outside and have some fresh air while we talk," Ryder told Shu as he stood up. "Alright," Shu nodded his head as he left. Alice gazed at the both of them suspiciously as they left. "You want to know everything?'' Shu asked Ryder as he stepped outside. "Yeah. But that can wait. Let''s talk on the roof," Ryder replied as he entered the lift with Shu. Both of them went to the roof of the hotel. "I didn''t tell Alice about anything. She only knew that you went to work and stopped contacting us. I''m sure you might have already guessed that, though," Ryder told Shu as he stepped on the edge of the roof. "Yeah. I realized that." Shu nodded. "So tell me what happened. Why did you pretend to be dead? And what''s this about your MD trying to kill you?" Ryder inquired. "That''s what happened. I already had some information about Derek scheming to kill me. And I wanted to use that to my advantage. I let him do as he pleased. The proofs kept stocking. Finally, the right time came when he thought he could actually kill me," Shu started explaining everything. "Anyway, in short, he thought he succeeded. And joined up with Necrosis to use this to his advantage. That got him to play right into my hand. Now I have everything I need. I have Necrosis at a disadvantage for mixing up with him, and I have a doc.u.ment from the regulatory authority, which was the biggest obstacle previously. Every piece of the puzzle is at the right place," he continued. "So you did this because you wanted the merger?" Ryder inquired. "Not a merger. I want to own them. I want all the information they have. I''ve been suspicious of them for a long time, and I want to know what they''re hiding," Shu answered as he looked at the clouded sky which had hidden the sun. "So did you succeed? Are you able to buy them now?" Ryder asked, wondering if it worked. "Not yet. I thought I would be able to, but they''re too stubborn. Let''s see what happens. There''s another meeting next week," Shu answered as he smiled wryly. "So this was the thing. You could''ve told me before. But I won''t keep it over your head," Ryder acknowledged that there must be some reason behind the thought of Shu. He was in no position to complain after all the things he kept hidden from the people close to him. If he was in the position of Shu, he might have done the same after all. No one wished to trouble the people who were close to them. "Let''s go back," he let out as he started walking back. "Thank you for understanding," Shu told Ryder. He paused for a second before he continued, "Also, I am happy." "Happy for what?" Ryder inquired as he turned back to look at Shu. "To see you concerned for me. It''s been a long time since someone worried for me like that," Shu explained to Ryder as he stepped towards him. Both of them went back downstairs. Ryder and Alice started packing bags for the trip that remained ahead of them. The three of them got ready in an hour before they departed from the hotel. Shu''s car was already waiting outside for them. The three of them stepped inside the car, which took them to the airport where the private jet of Dream Corporation was standing. They entered the jet, which took to air after getting permission to fly. The luxury jet seemed beautiful from the outside, but it was even better from the inside. It was the first time Ryder was sitting inside something so luxurious. Alice was also amazed at the sight of it. "It''s so fascinating how money can buy so many things," She muttered as she looked around at the interior of the jet. "Yeah. Unfortunately, money can''t buy everything," Shu muttered as he gazed outside the window. A few faces flashed before his eyes that seemed to belong to his brother and his parents. The jet also had a beautiful kitchen that was filled with ingredients and the service staff that served the food for them. They were served juice and sandwiches at the start of the journey whereas they were served some heavy food near the end. The jet landed at the airport in the Maldives, where another car was waiting to take them to their beach resort. The place where they were staying was nothing less than a beautiful Mansion for the rich, which was facing the beautiful sea. The beach was right in front of the mansion, where a few foreigners could be seen resting. The three of them spent the day sitting on the beach as they enjoyed the soothing winds coming from the sea. "We should go back," Ryder suggested as the sky turned dark. "Yeah," Shu and Alice agreed as they stood up. The three of them went back inside the mansion. "Don''t forget to return the ring today, or the quest will expire," Ryder reminded Shu before they separated. Ryder walked back to his room and once again jumped inside the World of Divinity. For the next two days, time kept passing just like that. During the day, they enjoyed the beauty of Maldives, while during the night, Ryder treaded through the Death Domain to reach the Royal City. In the meantime, Shu had finished the worst by returning the ring of lexini to the place it was stolen from. Ryder was inside the Death Domain. It was his second and last night before he had to go back home with Alice and Shu. He gazed at the map which was in his hand. "I should reach the Royal City tomorrow," he muttered as he folded the map again before placing it in his inventory. He opened the screen and logged out. The sun had just started to rise in the Maldives when Ryder woke up. He took a shower before he got ready to leave. The three of them once again went to the airport, where the private jet was ready to take off. Only a few minutes after they entered, the plane took off. Ryder and Alice were sitting near each other, excited to get back home after all this time. None of them had any idea that a person was waiting for them eagerly near the mansion. Their jet landed at the airport, from where they entered a helicopter which brought them to the mansion. A man was staying in a nearby mansion. He was keeping the owners of the mansion hostage as he stayed in that place. It was the best place to keep an eye on Maxwell Estate. The man watched a helicopter land inside the Maxwell Estate. "They are back." A smile formed on the lips of the man. Chapter 468 - 464: Insisting Ryder and Shu got back to the Maxwell Estate with Alice. The three of them got out of the helicopter with the guards as they stepped inside the mansion. After entering the Mansion, Shu greeted the servants, who expressed how much they missed him. Even though these were servants, they were a lot like family in terms of the respect and care they gave Shu. The Dinner was prepared, which was nothing less than a feast to celebrate the return of Shu Maxwell. While the dinner was going on inside the Maxwell Estate, outside the estate, a man was walking towards the entrance. It was a young-looking man who had beautiful dark hair that wasn''t very long. His eyes seemed slightly red. He was wearing a professional black coat as if he was a businessman. Both his hands had dark gloves that appeared to have diamonds in the knuckles. He stopped at the entrance of the Estate. The guards that protected the Estate recognized the man as the man who had arrived here about a week ago. "You are, Luke, right?" One of the guards asked as he remembered the name of the man. "Yeah. Is Miss Alice back? I''ve been waiting and delaying my other work. It''s been a week. As you said that she''ll be back by now, I decided to check out," Luke told the security personnel. The guards were somewhat surprised at his precise timing. She had just returned, and the man was here? That too at night. Was it a coincidence or something more? It wasn''t under their authority to decide for Alice, though. Now that she was back, they needed to inform her. "Yeah. She is back. Wait a minute. I''ll inform her of your arrival," the guard told Luke before he started walking back towards the Estate. The others kept an eye on the man without opening the gates for him to enter. Luke seemed to be in no hurry. He could easily barge inside; however, he didn''t have the authority from Adrian. He had to make a good and civil first impression. If he screwed this up, he was going to be in trouble. "Excuse me, Mam." The guard entered the estate. He could see that Alice was having dinner. Even though he didn''t want to disturb her, this seemed important. "Yes?" Alice asked the guard. Ryder and Shu also looked at the man. "A man is outside to meet you. He claims that he''s from Russia from a university where you applied to. He says that he needs to talk to you regarding that," the guard informed Alice. "You applied in Russia? Why? Didn''t you say you weren''t going to study outside?" Ryder asked Alice. In the original timeline, he only knew that Alice had applied to study in China. That''s where she had gone to study as well. Unfortunately, he didn''t realize that in the previous timeline as well, Alice had applied to more countries. In that timeline as well, Alice had applied in Russia. However, things were different. In that timeline, Adrian hadn''t seen her application form. That was the thing that was different in this timeline for some reason. "I applied long ago. After talking to you, I canceled all plans to go to other countries," Alice answered as she shook her head innocently. "Strange. Did you not tell the Russian University about the change in plan? They sent a guy so far for you?" Shu chimed in, finding this situation strange. "Their chancellor called me and insisted that I join his University. But I refused him. I don''t know why he should still send people here. Maybe there was a misunderstanding. I''ll clear it with them," Alice let out as she stood up. "Don''t go now. Finish dinner first. It''s not good to leave in the middle. He can wait for a few minutes," Ryder told Alice as he placed his hand on her back. Alice listened to him and sat back down as she resumed eating. "Tell the man that we''ll be out in a few minutes," Ryder told the Guard, who left swiftly. It took the three of them ten more minutes to finish the dinner. They all washed their hands in a bowl before they got up. "I''ll come with you," Ryder told Alice, who walked towards the door. "I''ll join too. Let''s see what this is about," Shu also chimed in. Ryder and Alice got out of the mansion, with Shu following them closely behind. They soon reached the entrance of the Estate, where Luke was waiting patiently. Luke''s eyes lit up as he saw Alice. He had seen her portrait, so he recognized her instantly. Finally, he found himself closer to his goal. "Yes? I am Alice. I heard you''re here for me. How may I help you?" Alice asked Luke. Ryder stopped right beside her. His gaze observed Luke. He didn''t know why but he wasn''t feeling anything good about this man. There was an intrinsic feeling about the man that was making him feel like the man was dangerous. His forearm was also itching at the moment where he had a strange, mysterious tattoo. He couldn''t help but rub the tattoo gently, wondering if he was having an infection from this strange tattoo. "Hello, Miss Alice. I am Luke. This is my card," Luke introduced himself as he gave Alice his card. Alice took the card and read it. The card had the university name, which was precisely the one that she had applied to. It confirmed to her that he was from the University. "You applied to our university. I''m here about that," Like said softly. "Yeah, I did. But I changed the plan. I think I already informed the university that I no longer plan to join," Alice informed Luke as she shook her head lightly. "I know about that. But you don''t know our chancellor. He really appreciates talented students. Your application and your answers really impressed him. He really wishes to have more students like you in the university to Grace us and to help with our diversity," Luke told Alice. "Even though you refused to join, he still didn''t give up. He sent me here to try to convince you so that we don''t lose a good student. More importantly, he is ready to give you a full scholarship and many more benefits on the campus. If only you are interested, I can tell you more," he continued respectfully. There was a calm and respectful look on his face which made it seem like there was anything wrong. He seemed perfectly professional. A complete scholarship did seem interesting to Alice. It wasn''t as if the university was bad. It was one of the best universities in the world according to the international rankings. It was one of the top five universities at the moment. It was as expensive as it was prestigious. And to get a full scholarship and the grace of the chancellor, that wasn''t a small thing. Alice was having second thoughts about joining the university. She looked towards Ryder to take his opinion about what to do. "I''m sorry, but we don''t need a scholarship. As you may already see, we are fully capable of paying the fees. And we don''t need a scholarship. Moreover, I don''t wish for her to go far from me. She will join one of the universities here. Thank you for considering her, but we would have to kindly refuse," Ryder answered as he took over the conversation. Luke''s face finally twitched as he heard Ryder. He controlled his anger in his heart and didn''t let his calm smile disappear. In his mind, he was cursing Ryder. ''Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me?!'' He wanted to slap Ryder to oblivion for being so inconsiderate. He was here for Adrian''s mission, and the only one who could talk to him was Alice. No one in his eyes had enough worth to talk to him as equal here. "I understand that, Sir. But please reconsider. At Least hear the things we are offering first," Luke replied with respect. "I know you don''t want to see someone close to you go far, but it''s only a two-year course. It would be a worthy sacrifice for her future. Let me tell you what we are offering," he continued. "Why do you sound like a salesman and not someone from a university?" Ryder asked curiously. The man seemed awfully interested in getting her to agree to come to Russia. Something seemed strange. It seemed suspicious. "As I said, we aren''t interested. You may leave," he told Luke before he caught the hand of Alice and started walking back with her. Shu also walked back. "You did well. There was something wrong with the man. He was insisting a little too much," Shu finally opened his mouth as he entered the estate with Ryder. "Yeah. This wasn''t normal. Or maybe he''s just a person who gets too passionate about his work. In any case, Alice isn''t going there," Ryder told Shu. Chapter 469 - 465: Kidnapped "Alice isn''t going with him," Ryder told Shu before he shook his head. "Though I am suspicious about him." "Don''t worry. I will make sure that our men keep an eye on him," Shu acknowledged as he understood what Ryder was trying to say. Even though the chances were almost negligible, there was still some hope that the man might try to kidnap her. There was a sense of unwillingness and a craze in his eyes. "Yeah. If he has the skill to break inside or not doesn''t matter. It''s better to stay alert," Ryder agreed. Shu called his security incharge, who was at the entrance of the estate. "Is that man still there? Or did he leave?" He asked the security head. "He''s standing at some distance, talking to someone over the phone," the security head answered. "Can you hear what he''s saying?" Shu inquired. "We can''t hear what he''s saying. But from his expressions, it seems like he''s talking about failing," the security head replied. "Alright. Keep an eye on him. And stay alert. Inform me if he doesn''t leave after he finishes talking. The security should be high tonight," Shu commanded the man before he disconnected the call. Shu gazed at Ryder after he finished the call. He placed his hand on Ryder''s shoulder as he alluded, "You can rest assured. Nothing would happen here." He shifted his gaze at Alice. "Sleep comfortably." ***** Alice was inside her room, immersed in the world of Divinity. Ryder was also supposed to be inside Divinity, but he wasn''t. He was on the roof instead. He had a feeling that he needed to stay alert. Even though there was a high possibility that it was his misconception, he still didn''t want to take the risk. He walked back and forth on the roof of the estate while keeping an eye on the road. Minutes turned to hours as time started passing away. Ryder stood on the roof all night without feeling the least bit tired. The night passed away; however, not a single person barged inside the mansion. As the first ray of light fell on his face, Ryder went downstairs. He checked Alice''s room one last time to make sure that she was fine. After making sure that she was fine, he went back to his room and dropped to his bed. "It''s good. I was wrong," he muttered slowly as he closed his eyes. Now that it was morning, the risk was over. If someone were going to barge inside, they would have don''t so in might when most of the little was sleeping. Now that everyone in the mansion was up, he could sleep. As he was already tired after staying up for close to twenty-four hours, he instantly fell asleep as he lost himself in the world of dreams. After another hour, Alice woke up. She went to wake Ryder up to have dinner with her but seeing him sound asleep, she gave up and let him sleep. ****** "One of our men was killed, and you still haven''t found out who managed to do it?" "Any random man wasn''t killed! The Fourth King was killed! And we don''t know who the culprit is? It''s been so many days!" Inside a Palace on an unknown island, some people were discussing. A look of discomfort was on their faces. "Second King Riaf, you were put in charge to find that person. What have you been doing for so long? Why don''t we have that person before us?" A dark-haired middle-aged man asked a Red-haired man who was sitting near the throne. A young-looking silver-haired man was sitting on the throne, lazily hearing the discussion of people. "Is there even a doubt? Of course, it''s that masked Bastard! The Fourth King had gone there to find his identity, and he was killed. Who else but that that masked Bastard was going to have the ability to achieve that!" "Second King, Now he''s even killing our Kings! We can''t delay it any longer. How long do you expect us to wait? His Majesty has given you the responsibility to find him! What have you been doing?" One after another, everyone kept asking for an explanation from the red-haired man. The red-haired man kept his mouth closed as he lazily kept sitting as if he didn''t care enough to explain to these people. "Riaf, answer," It was evident that the man wasn''t going to answer, but that changed as the man on the throne asked him a question. The red-haired man stood alert as he nodded. He looked towards the throne before he started explaining, "Your Majesty, I have already taken the right steps. We would have the identity of that man soon enough." "What steps did you take?" Aluren inquired casually. "Your Majesty, when Gong died, there were three more people in the room. One of those three was the Director, who also died with him. The second person is the one who is blamed to have killed them. And the third person is Ray, who Gong had gone to interrogate." Riaf started explaining. "Now the story is that the Vice-Director killed Gong. But we know that he also worked for us. So this doesn''t make sense. The only person who can reveal this is Ray, as everyone else has already been found dead. So the steps I took are for precisely that," he continued. "I have found Ray''s sister and have her kidnapped. Our man finished the task only today. Soon I''ll have then contact Ray and have him answer if he wants his sister alive. We will have our answers soon if he wants to see his sister alive," he further added. "And what if he didn''t answer?" The Ninth King asked. " He will. He sure will," The red-haired man answered. "You can''t be so certain," the Third King chimed in. He further added, "What if Ray is the masked man himself? What if he lies to us and name a random person? Or if he keeps pretending to be ignorant?" "That''s right. If he is the culprit himself, he might not tell the truth. He''ll keep acting ignorant to keep himself safe," Another King said. "If he lets his sister die and still acts ignorant, then it''s fine. Next would be his number to die then," the red-haired man answered. "Just have some patience. I know what I''m doing," he added. "You have five days," Aluren commanded as he nodded. Knock! Knock! A sudden knock on the door attracted everyone''s attention. The door was opened a little as a person took one step inside. "Master Riaf, we brought the girl here." The man informed Riaf. "Good. I''m coming there. Wait," Riaf nodded as he stood up. "Your Majesty, I''ll be right back," he told Aluren. After getting Aluren''s permission to, he left. ***** Ring! Ray was sitting in his car, thinking something, when his phone rang. He checked his phone only to find out that it was an unknown number. He picked up the call and placed the phone near his ears. "Hello?" As soon as he spoke, his face turned pale. From the other end of the call, he heard the screams of someone he cared about. It was as if his face had lost all its blood. The windows of his car were closed, so his voice didn''t come out of the car, but if someone were to look in the direction of the car, they could see a man screaming inside the car with a phone in his ear. "Don''t! Don''t do anything to her! I''ll do as you say!" Ray thundered. " Good. Tell us the name of the man who helped you in DC. The person who was behind a mask while killing all the terrorists. And the person who killed your director and the old man who was with him. Give us the name of that person." Ray went silent as he heard the conditions. He had to give up Ryder. How was it that a situation like this happened twice in such little time? It was once again the same. His sister''s life was at risk if he didn''t answer? ''They won''t know if I lie. As long as I''m convincing,'' he thought as he decided to lie. It was risky, but he had faith in his abilities. He lied about not knowing the person who had killed the terrorists in DC. As for the death of the Director, he placed the blame on the Vice-Director. His acting was good, according to him, but it was as if the others refused to believe him. "I''ll count to three. If you don''t tell me, the girl will die. The question is simple. Answer us. Either that man will live or your sister. The decision is yours." A grim voice from the other end of the call said. Ray''s heart skipped another beat as he heard their threat. He was going to stay calm and think of a way, but he lost his composure as he heard the sound of a gunshot, which was followed by a scream of their sister. Chapter 470 - 466: Discovered "You Bastard, I''ll kill you!'' Ray roared in rage as he heard the scream of his sister after the gunshot. He thought that they had shot his sister. "Don''t worry. The bullet only grazed her arm. But we can''t guarantee if the next shot will be the same or if it''ll pass through her heart. Everything depends on your answer. This is the last chance." Ray clenched his fist as he looked at the dashboard of his car. "Fine. It looks like you have decided. Don''t blame us now," As Ray didn''t answer, the person on the other end of the call let out. He was just about to disconnect the call. "Wait. It''s Ryder Flynn!" Ray accepted as he gave up on protecting Ryder for his sister. In his heart, he kept apologizing to Ryder as he threw him under the bus. "That person who killed the terrorist was Ryder Flynn! He is the one. Now release my sister. I told you everything I know! Nothing should happen to my sister. She doesn''t know anything!" He continued. "Give us more details about this Ryder Flynn. His address and everything you know!" The person on the other end of the call asked. Ray took a deep breath before he started telling everyone. Beep! Beep! There was no response from the other end of the call after that, as the call was disconnected as soon as Ray finished telling everything he knew about Ryder. "Hello? Hello?" He kept asking despite knowing that the call was disconnected. He soon got a message on his phone which told him not to talk about this to anyone and that the person close to him will be safe. He looked at the message before he sighed. He looked into the distant horizon as he shook his head. He was disappointed in himself, but there was nothing he could do about this. What he didn''t know was that his calls were getting tapped. So there was someone else who heard his conversation. It was the new Director of the FBI who had released him only to get to his source. "Interesting. They''re lucky it was me who heard this. If it were someone else, we would have been exposed. These guys, can''t they be a little careful?" The new Director muttered as he rolled his eyes. He deleted the recording to make sure it wasn''t in the system for anyone else to hear, especially the higher-ups. **** Ryder was sleeping in his bed peacefully. He was unaware that danger was looming over his head. His identity was exposed, and the enemies knew who he was. He slept peacefully throughout the day and only woke up near the evening when he went downstairs to eat. "Did Alice eat?" Ryder asked the servant who was serving him. "Yes." Ryder finished eating and stood up. "Where''s Shu?" he casually asked. "Master Shu is in his room, resting. Should I call him?" the servant answered. "There''s no need. I was just asking casually. Anyway, if they ask about me, tell them I went out for a little while," he let out as he started walking towards the gate. He left the Estate estate on foot to take a walk on the road. As Ryder walked through the empty road in the posh area, he breathed in the fresh air. He had only walked for a short while when he noticed a person inside a nearby house from the corner of his eyes. "This guy... He''s still here?" he muttered as he frowned. He could see Luke behind the glass window of a nearby house. Usually, it was impossible to look through the window clearly, but he was able to get a glance which made him over ninety percent sure that it was Luke. "That house wasn''t for sale or rent. How is he staying there, though?" He wondered. "Or am I wrong?" He decided to check out. "Stanner!" He called out the name of the Spirit that always followed him. "Here," Stanner answered. "You see the house to my left? Go inside and check the condition. Return in ten minutes to explain what you see," Ryder commanded Stanner. Stanner immediately followed the commands and left. While Stanner searched the house, Ryder walked on the streets as if he was just having fun. He also stretched his arms occasionally as he yawned. After ten minutes, he started walking back as he waited for Stanner to return. Stanner soon returned and stopped in front of him. "What did you find out?" Ryder inquired. "The people inside the house are kept as hostages. The dark-haired man near the window is the only one who is free. I think he''s the one who held them hostage. The people are tied up and kept in a room. Also, that person is observing you," Stanner explained. "Cheh, I thought this thing was my misconception. But this man... He''s really a psychopath. It looks like I''ll have to take some action myself," Ryder thought as he decided to take action. "Go back to him. Keep an eye on him and inform me if he leaves the house," he informed Stanner before he walked back to his Mansion. Ryder walked back to his room and sat on his bed. "That man, he''s really looking to die if he''s scheming something. I thought I could be at peace, at least here, but he''s really annoying me." He opened his inventory and brought a Mask out. He used to wear random masks whenever he used his powers to take action against anyone. This time as well, he was going to use the same thing. He had already prepared many masks so that he wouldn''t need to repeat any. The Mask he pulled out right now was not a mask of a famous animated character, though. It was a mask of a real actor this time. He was going to wear the Mask of an actor called Dom Cruise, who was known as an action star. He not only prepared a mask but a leather jacket and other things like shoes, gloves and everything else. After making sure that everything was ready, he started waiting as he walked closer to the window. He looked outside the window to see how the protection of this place was. There were guards everywhere. Shu did have good protection, it seemed. His protection seemed only better now. He left the Estate once again, but this time with the keys of his car. He stepped inside the car and drove it outside the Estate before zooming off into the distance. He left the area in his car, but he didn''t go too far. He only went fat enough to make sure that he was in an isolated place before he stepped out of the car. He looked all around to make sure that no one was here before he changed his clothes and donned a mask. After getting ready, he started walking back. He even flew when no one was nearby. When people were nearby, he was on the ground. His mask attracted a few gazes, but no one paid much heed or interfered with his matter. Ryder soon reached the house where Luke was keeping people hostage. He landed on the roof of the house. As soon as Ryder landed on the roof of the house, a frown appeared on the face of Luke, who was still standing near the window. He looked upwards. " Did they find me?" he muttered softly. "I promise him that I''ll try to stay out of conflict with Aluren and his men. But if they''re here on their own, I don''t have to hold back." He had realized that someone was on the roof, but he misunderstood one thing. He thought that it was a King from Aluren''s side. He didn''t know that it was Ryder who had just left. He prepared to kill whomever the intruder was. He cracked his knuckles as he walked back to the chair and sat on it. Instead of going to the roof on his own, he started waiting here. If someone was here to kill him, that person was going to come on his own. On the other hand, if the person was not here for him, then he didn''t need to involve himself. In any case, he didn''t want to work too much. ***** Ryder went downstairs in slow steps as he tried to locate the room where Luke was. It didn''t take him long to get there. He slowly pushed the door open as he stepped inside. A gun was tucked in his pants. As soon as he stepped inside the room, he found Luke sitting on the chair. Luke gazed back at Ryder only to find a man in a human mask. "Why are you dressed like a joker?" Luke asked with a weird look on his face. Ryder didn''t shoot him directly because he was already told by Stanner that the man had known about his arrival as soon as Ryder landed on the roof. Chapter 471 - 467: Weak Hearing Ryder stood in front of Luke. A gun was tucked behind him in his pants, away from the man''s sight. "Who are you? And why are you after Alice?" Ryder asked straight away. He had come to kill Luke initially, but as he was told about Luke finding his arrival so easily, he realized that things were not so simple. With that, he started thinking about it deeper. Why was Luke here? Why was he after his sister? Moreover, was he the one who was after her? Or was he just a pawn? If Luke was Pawn, then who was the mastermind? If he killed Luke without finding the truth, he was going to have trouble later on. That was why he decided to change his plan and handle things a little bit differently. "Who am I?" Luke asked with an amused smile on his face. "A man who wears the mask of another man is asking me for my identity? Is this really how stupid a person can be?" he further asked. He turned his back towards Ryder as he walked back to the window. He placed his right hand over the window as he said, "You don''t have to tell me your identity, though. I already know your identity. You really think making your voice heavier; I won''t recognize you? Master Ryder Flynn? The guardian of Alice?" Ryder''s face twitched unwillingly as he realized that he was exposed. It was strange. His voice was nothing like his normal voice, yet he was found out? It seemed strange. ''Is he bluffing?'' he thought as he frowned. "If you''re thinking that I''m bluffing, you should think again. I have no doubt in my mind that you''re Ryder, and I''m not bluffing. As for the gun that''s behind you, I''d suggest you not even touch the gun," Luke replied as if he was able to read Ryder''s thoughts. "I was told to be a gentleman on my trip. I''ve been trying not to kill people on this journey. That''s why the people who own this house are kept as a hostage even though it was easier to kill them. So it would be good if you don''t force me to kill you. I won''t know how to explain to him that I killed the guardian of Alice," he added. "Him? Who are you talking about?" Ryder asked as his frown deepened. He was right? There was actually someone behind this guy? Who was that person? This man had strange talents, which made Ryder think that he was from the uprising. But if this were the case, this man would be after him, not after Alice. Still, he decided to make sure. "Are you from the uprising?" Ryder asked. "Uprising? Oh, that thing I was told about. The small try group of Aluren? Don''t worry. Even on the worst day, I won''t join things like those. It would be an embarrassment worthy of death to work for things like those," Luke answered. "Who do you work for then?" Ryder inquired. "Sure. It''s not like his name is embarrassing to tell. But it does feel strange talking to a mask. Take that mask off, and I''ll talk. Don''t worry, that mask isn''t going you any favors," Luke answered as he rolled his eyes. Ryder took a deep breath before he placed his hand over his mask and slid it down. There was a possibility that the man was bluffing, but he had his own ideas at the moment. He removed the mask slowly. His handsome face was revealed before the enemy, who had already seen him previously. "This is better," Luke acknowledged as he walked back to the chair. He gestured for Ryder to sit as well while pointing towards a nearby chair, "Have a seat." Ryder walked, stepped forward, and sat on the chair. When he had decided to come here, he had thought of many possibilities about how it can go. Unfortunately, he never expected to be discussing things with Luke like it was a meeting. ***** In another part of the country, many helicopters flew into the air. The members of the Uprising were inside the helicopter along with the Third King, The Seventh King, and the Eighth Ling, who were personally coming to take care of Ryder. Not only them but even the Second King was coming with the team against all expectations. He was sitting in a different helicopter, though. Five helicopters flew straight towards Shu''s Estate. "Finally, I''ll get to see how strong this masked hero is. My blood has been boiling a lot to face a strong opponent," the Seventh King let out as he grinned. "Don''t get overconfident. That guy had managed to kill the Fourth King. He''s quite strong, and we still don''t know what his abilities are," the Eighth King explained with a concerned look on his face. "Meh, you know our numbers aren''t decided based on strength but by the order of us joining the organization. Why should I care that the Fourth King was killed? I was stronger than him after all," The Seventh King let out as he rolled his eyes. Silence ensued as the Eighth King stopped speaking. He understood that whatever he said wasn''t going to penetrate the thick skull of the Seventh King. "Now tell me who you are?" Ryder asked Luke. "I already told you who I am. My name is Luke, and I came from Russia to take Alice with me," Luke answered lazily. "Why are you after her? She doesn''t want to study in Russia. Why do you still insist? What will you get if she goes with you, and what will you lose if she doesn''t go with you?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "Hah, so many questions. Alright. I''ll answer them all. It''s better to talk to you directly in any case. You''re her guardian. She''ll definitely come with me if you tell her. I saw the respect in her eyes for you. So convincing you is better," Luke alluded as he nodded. "First, why am I after her? It''s not because I wish to have her study in Russia. It''s because someone I work for wants her to study there," Luke answered. "What will I get if she studies there? I''ll get satisfaction from getting the wishes of that person completed. What will I lose if I fail to take her? I might lose my life and my respect for failing such a simple mission," he further added. "Alright. Who is the person that you work for? Why does he want Alice specifically?" Ryder asked curiously. " My boss read her application for admission. He is very impressed by her answers. You can think of it as him falling in love with Alice because of her thinking. My boss is the ruler of Russia. He''s a god! Let your sister come with me. She''ll be happy like a queen," Luke told Ryder. "He''s a god?" Ryder inquired as he rolled his eyes. He didn''t take his words seriously. Many people called humans as gods just because they were stronger. Some citizens of monarchies also called their emperors as gods. So he thought it to be the same thing. He didn''t think he was actually referring to god. "Even if he''s an actual god, so what? He has a crush on Alice, and he thinks he can force her? Is he even a man? He couldn''t even come himself instead of sending you? What God, even humans would be more courageous," Ryder let out as he rolled his eyes. "Oho? You do know that I can kill you for your disrespect, right? If you weren''t the Guardian of Alice, your head would be rolling on the groom at the moment," Luke answered as his gaze sharpened like it was a sword capable of cutting Ryder''s neck. "My head, huh," Ryder muttered as he lowered his gaze. ''This guy does have some arrogance,'' he thought as he smiled. "You''re not strong enough to kill me," he told Luke as he placed one of his legs above the other while sitting more comfortably. He blinked for a moment, only to be shocked as he saw Luke disappear. Luke disappeared from his chair and appeared in front of Ryder as he grabbed Ryder by his neck. He raised Ryder up in the air as he tightened his grip. "Would you care to repeat what you just said? I hear a little slow sometimes. I thought you said that I''m not capable enough to kill you. It''s not what you did, right? Obviously, you won''t be so careless," Luke told Ryder in a grim tone. "I said you aren''t strong enough to kill me. Let alone you; even your god, won''t be able to kill me. I''m not sure if I should be happy for that or sad," Ryder let out as he rolled his eyes. The immortality he received from the bracelet of immortality was a double-edged sword. It did make him Immortal, but it also brought him at an odds-against real gods. Chapter 472 - 468: Decision "I said you aren''t strong enough to kill me. Let alone you; even your god won''t be able to kill me. I''m not sure if I should be happy about that or sad," Ryder declared proudly as he gazed into the eyes of Luke. Not even the least bit of fear was visible in his eyes as he answered Luke. Fear of death was the last thing he even thought he''d have. Still, he was actually somewhat concerned. Dying was something he preferred to progress without. "I''m not sure if I should laugh at you or feel pity. Fear of death is something that all weak people like you should possess. It keeps you grounded to reality and makes you stay within your limit," Luke told Ryder as he frowned. "Without fear of death, you wouldn''t even know how you''ll die," he continued. "Unfortunately, you seem like the unlucky one that won''t know when death comes at his door," he continued as he rolled his eyes. He loosened his grip as he freed Ryder before he walked back to his seat. Luke sat down comfortably. "I''ll repeat the same thing again. You''re lucky that you''re her guardian. Or you would be dead a thousand times by now," he further said. "Sure. If that''s what you want to think," Ryder replied as he patted his clothes before he sat back on the chair as if nothing had happened. "She will come with me. That''s final. I have wasted too many words only because I want things to be civil. If that doesn''t work, I''ll have to take action. In any case, she''ll come with me," Luke told Ryder. "You only have one thing to decide. Do you want to be alive when she comes with me? If yes, then agree. If you don''t want to be alive, then keep saying no. She''ll still live. The only difference is that you won''t be alive to watch that," he continued. "I''ll count to ten. If I don''t hear yes as an answer, then I''ll wish you well for the journey in advance..." Luke said casually. A smirk formed on his face. "For the journey to hell." Ryder only smiled but didn''t reply. He placed his hand behind his head as he positioned himself to be more comfortable. He watched Luke, who started counting as if it was something Ryder should have been scared about. "One..." "Two..." Luke''s countdown kept advancing. The Pin Drop silence inside the room was only broken whenever the next number in the countdown was spoken by Luke. "Eight..." Luke soon reached the count, which was awfully close to the end. He observed Ryder''s expression, which still seemed careless. He unintentionally slowed down the count to give Ryder a little more time to consider. "Nine..." Luke took a deep breath before he finished, "Ten." "Looks like you have decided to die in peace here," Luke let out as he sighed. "Wait a minute. Let me inform him about what I''m going to do. I don''t want him to blame me. I tried my best after all," he declared as he stood up. He brought a phone out of his pocket as he dialed the numbers of Adrian. "Hello. I''m standing before Alice''s guardian..." He started explaining everything that had happened and how Ryder refused to cooperate with them. It didn''t take him long to explain everything. After explaining, he started waiting for the reply of Adrian. Adrian paused for a moment as he thought about it. His thoughts took a minute. After a minute, he opened his lips as he spoke a few words of his command, "Fine. Kill him." "Yes," Luke responded. He was about to disconnect the call when he heard Ryder''s words. "Wait. Give me the phone. I want to talk to your boss as well," he said. Adrian also heard Ryder''s words. He told Luke to give the phone to Ryder. Luke followed the commands as he gave the phone to Ryder. Ryder took the phone and placed it on his ears. "Hello. I heard you''re looking for someone I care about. May I help you with that?" Ryder asked Luke. "That''s right. I like Alice, and I want to get to know her," Adrian answered normally. "You want to know her. Is that how a man behaves when they want to know a girl? Either my understanding of a man is wrong, or your understanding of a man is wrong," Ryder answered. "According to me, a man should approach the girl if he likes her. Not act as a goon and send their man to kidnap the girl. You act like you''re a proper man? You''re nothing but a petty person," Ryder let out as he rolled his eyes. "You misunderstand me. I wanted to meet her myself. I even came there to meet her. Unfortunately, I wasn''t able to meet her. Also, because of some misunderstanding and some situation, I''m unable to step foot there. There is why I had to send my men. Don''t think I''m wrong. It''s the situation which is wrong," Adrian answered in full seriousness. "So you''re banned by the government to step foot here? Interesting. I''m finding you worse each second. When even the government doesn''t think you''re good for a country that allows all kinds of people, then I can only imagine what you must have done," Ryder let out as he frowned. "I didn''t do anything. And it''s not your government that''s the reason for me being unable to come here. It''s something else," Adrian answered as he shook his head. "I don''t care. I will only listen to you if you come here personally. No idiot like the man you send shall be allowed to even step near Alice. If you want, you can again command him to kill me. But just remember, if he tried it, you wouldn''t hear from him again," Ryder let out as he frowned before he tossed the phone towards Luke''s head. Luke caught the phone and placed it on his ears. "Hello." "Turn the phone on speaker," Adrian commanded Luke. Luke listened to the commands and turned the call on speaker. "It''s done," he commanded. "Listen to me, Mr. Ryder Flynn. And listen carefully because I''m not going to repeat it again," Adrian declared. "I would have come if I could. But no way in hell do I have a chance to come there. If I even tried to, I''d lose everything. If you want to meet me, you can come with Luke and Alice. That''s the best I can do. You''ll be treated like a King here. So think carefully," he added. "If you still say no, then Luke will kill you. And I am very interested in seeing how you can stop Luke. Think carefully. Don''t underestimate Luke. You can overestimate yourself but underestimating Luke, that would be foolish," he continued. "My answer," Ryder let out as he smiled. He stretched his arms while he stood up. A yawn escaped his lips. "Fine," he said softly. A smile appeared on Luke''s face as he saw Ryder agree. Adrian also smiled as he thought Ryder agreed. Unfortunately, Ryder''s next words broke the misunderstanding of the both of them. "Fine. I''ll have to show you how no works," Ryder answered as he pulled out his gun. He aimed the gun towards Luke as he smiled. "Embarrassing. I thought you''d say yes. I thought even if you said no, you''ll at least have some trick. But all your confidence is because of a gun?" A mocking grin remained on Luke''s face as he saw the gun. ****** In a different part of the city, Ryder''s Divine Corporation Headquarters was situated. He had brought an entire building that was set up as a base. He had even hired a lot of little. Two of the branches of Divine Corporation were already completed. One of which was the Aviation Branch which was led by Herriet. The Aviation Branch of the Divine Corporation had started turning in profits because of Ryder''s help. Ryder had all the knowledge about the future. Unfortunately, he didn''t know much about Aviation Industry. He only knew the method Herriet had used in the previous timeline to make sure her company came out of the slump. He just told the same ideas to Herriet before she could come up with them. This not only elevated the position of Herriet in Ryder''s head but it also impressed her. Herriet could see Ryder as a genius when it came to business, unaware that all these were her ideas which he was borrowing from her older shelf. In any case, she followed the methods that were told her by Ryder. Not only the aviation branch started rising, but it also started bringing in the profits for Ryder''s Divine Corporation. There was another branch of Divine Corporation at the moment. It was related to the research and development of medicine and medicinal equipment. It was led by the man that was the first person Ryder had hired. Chapter 473 - 469: His Arrival In a crowded room, multiple people were arguing over a stack of papers. An older gentleman banged his hands on the table. "That''s insane. There is no way that will work! Are we going to take a child''s word that this is plausible?" A slender woman looked over, questioning the numbers and the odds before speaking, " John, I think Aleson is onto something that might work. Why don''t we just try?" A young man was sitting nearby. The man looked like he was in his early twenties. He was the youngest person here; however, he was technically the boss. He was Aleson, who was the first person Ryder had hired to lead the medical division. In the previous timeline, Aleson was a jobless person who didn''t have money. His grandfather''s death motivated him to push himself into research which made him come up with a great discovery that changed how cancer was detected in advance. Unfortunately, that was a different timeline. Aleson was in a different timeline now, which was changed by Ryder. Ryder had hired Aleson already. Not only that, he even gave some research which he had only known because of Aleson in the previous timeline. John was another high-profile hire in the medical division. He had years of experience and a big name; that''s why he didn''t like working under Aleson. He didn''t trust Aleson either. John grumbled as he stood up, looking angry at the woman. "Fine, Jane, you want to waste your time with Aleson chasing after an improbable odd! I won''t stop you." "Once you two make idiots of yourselves, then I will be promoted. I''ll be seen as the only reliable person, and I will have you both gone!" John stormed out of the office, heading in the opposite direction of the lift. Aleson watched John storm out of the office. He didn''t stop John or try to convince him. An incomprehensible yet confident look remained on his face. Aleson turned over to Jane. "Well, It looks like we are on our own here. Doesn''t matter. Let''s test this and see how well it works out. According to my calculations, it should have at least a forty percent chance of success." Jane sighed as she walked over towards the testing station, "You know the boss might get upset at us for wasting his money and not making any progress. You might even lose your role. Can you afford to make this kind of mistake?" Shaun pulled out a vial of blood with a frown on his face, "If we don''t take a risk, we will never make progress. Without risk, we become complacent, and we will not strive for better. I am willing to take this gamble." Aleson put the vial into the testing equipment and started the simulation. As they were watching the progress move slowly, their faces held more and more shock and anticipation. "There seems to be a reaction. Maybe this will really work. If we pull this off, we will save a lot of lives. Early testing will be more accessible, and we will be heroes," Aleson muttered as he watched the test. A hopeful look remained on his face. "Aleson, you are a genius. Even if this fails, you don''t have to be disappointed. You''re really talented. You''ll soon find the solution." Down the hall, John started to fiddle with a lock to one of the bigger offices, trying to get in, "Come on¡­ Come on; I''m so close, just open up already." With a loud pop, the handle came loose, and the door opened. He smirked as he entered and shut the door going through doc.u.ments looking for the information he wanted. "This is it. I finally have what I wanted." A wide grin remained on his face as he watched the doc.u.ments that were in his hand. There was a word written on the top of this file that read, "Classified!" ****** "All your confidence is because of a Gun? I am disappointed," Luke told Ryder as he watched the gun being aimed at him. He didn''t seem shocked. Instead, he was disappointed. Ryder opened his lips as if he was going to say something, but he didn''t speak. Instead, he directly pulled the trigger. He only showed that he was going to talk more to throw Luke off. It was much easier to shoot someone when they didn''t think that they were going to be shot. As Ryder pulled the trigger, a bullet left the gun with the sound of a bang. Teck! The bullet hit the wall as Luke disappeared from his position. Luke was missed. Luke watched Ryder as he appeared behind him. Tap! He tapped on Ryder''s shoulder. "Anything else? Why don''t you show me more." Ryder turned back as he frowned. The smiling face of Luke fell in his eyes. Unfortunately, he could only see that smile before a punch landed on his chest, making him fly back. Ryder was tossed back like a bow from an arrow as he smashed on the wall. "Urgh." He couldn''t help but cough out extensively. The gun also fell off from his hand. Luke stepped forward and picked up the gun which was lying on the ground. "This thing is so funny. A small metal piece gives you such a sense of security that you even decide to face death. Interesting indeed," he muttered as he frowned. He aimed the gun towards Ryder. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! One after another, he fired four shots. All of the shots were fired towards Ryder. One bullet entered his right hand. Another entered his left arm. The third bullet penetrated his right leg, whereas the fourth bullet was aimed at his left leg. "Argh!" A painted grunt left Ryder''s lips as he was shot. His clothes became colored in red as his blood spilled out. The bullets remained inside his body. "Funny, right? I gave you a choice. I didn''t want to do it. I wanted to be a gentleman, but you forced me. It''s fine. I''m a sensible person. I won''t give you a painful death," Luke let out as he smiled. He didn''t know that the bullets which were inside Ryder''s body had started melting already. The bullets melted inside his body and turned to nutrition as his wounds started healing. It was all because of the Nature fragment of his bracelet of Immortality. Ryder had many abilities because he had managed to collect four fragments already, one of which gave him the ability to heal. Second gave him the ability of going back in time. The third gave him the ability to fly, whereas the fourth gave him the ability to rule pure water. Unfortunately, there was no pure water here. "I''m sorry for this. But I''ll take care of Alice really well on this journey. You can rest in peace," Luke let out as he aimed the gun at Ryder''s head. Ryder had just finished healing, but his body was still not in full control as he tried to stand up. Ryder was certain that it was going to penetrate his skull this time. Even though he didn''t want to have to go back in time, he had no choice. He started to utilize the ability to go back in time by half an hour. As long as he didn''t die through death, the Lord of Time wasn''t going to know. That''s what he wanted to do to have an advantage since his body wasn''t moving or listening to him. Unfortunately, his ability didn''t work either this time. He wasn''t able to travel back in time. A perplexed look was on his face as he didn''t understand what was happening. Why was his ability not working? His wounds were still healing, but his ability of time wasn''t working. Why? Bang! He heard another gunshot as he watched a bullet leave the gun of Luke. The bullet advanced towards Ryder''s skull. He had no choice. It seemed like his death was near, and he was going to be forced back in time by twenty-four hours. That was when something strange happened, though. The bullet, which was mid-air, stopped in its tracks. Everything turned grey, and nothing moved. The world lost its color. Ryder''s eyes widened in surprise. What happened? Everything had stopped. Even Luke wasn''t moving at the moment. While Ryder was trying to understand what had happened, he felt an itch in his hand where the strange black tattoo had appeared. The itching became so unbearable that he wanted to scratch; unfortunately, his body wasn''t moving either. "So this is where the time distortions happened." A calm voice filled the room suddenly. It didn''t belong to Luke. ''Who said that? No one else is here,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. This voice seemed like it was coming from everywhere. It was impossible to locate its location. A white portal appeared between Ryder and Luke. A young boy stepped out of the portal. A curious gaze of his looked everywhere. Chapter 474 - 470: Janus arrives A crimson portal appeared between Ryder and Luke. Initially, nothing was visible throughout the portal except the crimson, which seemed like blood. Soon, a person stepped out of the portal. It was a young boy. The boy had beautiful blonde hair and smooth skin, making him look out of this world. The boy stepped out of the Portal as he muttered to himself, "So this is the world where the distortions in time happen. I felt the effort to manipulate time once again." As he stepped out, he looked around. His gaze soon fell over Ryder, who was lying on the ground. Looking back, the young man saw Luke as well. Luke was paused in time. His breathing, as well as his movement, had stopped. Fortunately, he didn''t seem like he was harmed despite being unable to breathe. It was as if the entire world had stopped in time. "Interesting. You can still move," the young boy let out as he observed Ryder. Even though Ryder wasn''t able to move his body yet, his pupils and his gaze were still moving, which made the young man know that he could move. "Very interesting. How can you move? Could it be that you''re the reason for this distortion?" the young boy declared as he started walking towards Ryder. "Who are you?" Ryder asked curiously. He might have thought that the person was Janus who was messing with him, but the voice was different than Janus. ''Who am I? Hmm. You''re the one who should tell who he is. Not a single person in this world can resist time. But you are clearly doing it. Who exactly are you?" the young boy let out as he stopped a few centimeters away from Ryder. It was at that moment, Ryder finally felt some movement in his arms. His body had finally decided to listen to him again as he gained back the control of his body. The itching of his right arm had stopped as well. He placed both his hands on the ground to propel himself upwards. "Interesting. Not only your eyes and your mouth, but your entire body is free of bounds. Very interesting," the young boy kept repeating his words. The more he observed Ryder; the more fascinated he became. Ryder stood tall and asked the young boy, "Did you stop time?'' "I thought I did," the young boy muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Maybe not entirely." Ryder understood what he was implying. "You answer me, and I''ll answer you. Who are you?" He asked softly. Even though Ryder was talking to the young boy, he didn''t stop moving his hands. He brought a gun out. He wanted to utilize this opportunity. The time was stopped. If he could kill Luke right now, that was going to save him a lot of trouble. He aimed the gun towards Luke''s head. Luke was already paused in time. He had no way to oppose Ryder as even his thoughts had stopped in time. After taking a nice aim, Ryder pressed the trigger. A bullet left his gun, which soon found its way into Luke''s head. A hole was left behind in Luke''s head. Strangely enough, Luke didn''t make any noise. His eyes remained open as if his body was still paused in time despite his death. "Cheh, You''re really a petty human, aren''t you?" The blonde boy asked Ryder as he smirked wryly. "Here I am talking about something so important. And there you''re busy in something else entirely?" "Didn''t I tell you already? I''ll only answer you if you answer me. Who are you," Ryder responded with a carefree gaze. " I am known by many names. I don''t think you''ll know even if I tell you my real name. I''ll tell you my title to make it easier for you," the blonde boy nodded his head as he replied. "The world knows me as the Lord of Time. Who are you?" he inquired. ''Lord of Time? The person Janus warned me about?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. Janus had warned him against excessively using the bracelet of immortality to go back in time just for this guy. According to Janus, Ryder was going to be in trouble if this person found him. He couldn''t believe that the person was actually standing before him. Also, why was this person a young boy? Ryder had imagined the Lord of Time to be an a.d.u.l.t, not a kid. "From your expressions, it seems like you know about it. You''re increasing my curiosity more and more," the blonde boy let out as he grinned. He observed Ryder from top to bottom to find what was strange about him. His eyes soon fell on Ryder''s bracelet. Ryder noticed the boy looking at his bracelet of immortality. He subconsciously moved his hand behind his back to get the bracelet away from the boy''s view. Unfortunately, it was too late already. The boy had already seen the bracelet. " That bracelet... I can''t tell you how long it''s been since I last saw it. I never thought I''d see it again after that day. So this is the thing that''s creating so much commotion," the boy let out as he nodded. "I told them that we shouldn''t throw this place in a random corner of this world. See? Someone but only found it but also got it to work. It''s such a hassle," the boy let out as he frowned. He raised his right hand towards Ryder as he commanded, "Give me that bracelet!" Ryder squinted his eyes as he heard the orders. Who did this boy think he was? So what if he was the Lord of Time? The bracelet belonged to him. How could he just ask for it like that? Also, even if Ryder wanted to give the bracelet of Immortality to this boy, how could he even do it? That bracelet was impossible to be refused. If he could, he wouldn''t keep that double-edged sword on his wrist always. "Give me that bracelet. We can talk about the rest later," the young boy told Ryder. "I''m sorry, but I can''t give this bracelet to you. It''s stuck in my hands. How about you leave it just the way it is?'' Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. He only had two ways he could deal with the situation. One was by fighting the boy using all his abilities. The second option was to tread with care and solve problems through words. The first option was thrown out the window since the boy was the Lord of Time. According to Janus, he was literally the god of time. Ryder didn''t even think that he could face this boy who was an actual god. That only gave him the option to use his wits. "This bracelet is stuck. I can''t remove it. Be a little considerate, Mister Lord of Time," Ryder told the boy. "I''m sorry, but that''s not an option. The thing that''s in your hand is too powerful. It can''t be allowed to be in your hand," the boy answered. "See how much you disturbed my precious space already?" "As for not being able to take it off, I have a solution for that as well. What I need to do is simple. All I have to do is go back in time to the moment you got the bracelet and prevent you from taking it. That''s all. So tell me, when did you get this bracelet," he further added. "Or you can stay silent and refuse to cooperate. In that case, I''ll have to follow an even simpler method. And that is to kill you right now." "Can I say that both options sound bad?" Ryder inquired as he frowned. "If this guy goes back in time and takes the bracelet, the future will change. Without the bracelet, I would be dead many times already. I can''t let that moment be changed. And I can''t die now either,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''Janus, it would be the right time to help if you want to!'' "You must choose one. I''ll count to three. If you don''t, I''ll go with the second option since that''s the one which is easier for me," the young boy replied as he smiled subtly. ''Sigh, it Looks like I''ll have no choice but to try to kill a god. He is too stubborn,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. The blonde boy opened his lips as he started his countdown. "Three..." The boy had spoken the first word itself when a clapping sound filled the room. With a curious gaze, the boy looked back. "Of course, you would prefer to kill him. It won''t be the first time you''ll do it after all." As the blonde boy looked back, he saw another person standing there. A silver-haired boy stood behind him. "Hahaha, Janus. It''s you. What are you doing here, little boy?" The blonde boy inquired with a curious gaze. Chapter 475 - 471: Destroy Soul "Janus. It''s you. What are you doing here, little boy?" The blonde boy inquired with a curious gaze as he looked at the silver-haired boy who stood before him. "Let me guess... You know this boy? That must be it. Were you helping the boy find the fragments? You were the one who gave the idea to toss everything aside. Was that all for this?" he further inquired. ''This boy is Janus? His voice does sound the same,'' Ryder thought as he noticed that the voice of the Silver Haired Boy was the same as the one he had been hearing. Janus was actually here? And he really was a kid? In any case, a smile was on Ryder''s face. Finally, he had some support. He was sure that Janus would be able to support him against the Lord of Time. According to him, Janus wouldn''t have even come here if he didn''t have enough strength. He opened his lips to speak something to Janus, but he couldn''t say anything as he was taken aback by Janus''s words. "I''m not here for that. Don''t worry. I don''t even know the boy," Janus told the blonde boy. "Hmm?" The blonde boy looked at Janus curiously, whereas Ryder looked at Janus in shock. What was he talking about? Was this a different Janus? Or was this guy throwing him under the bus because he couldn''t face the Lord of Time? The Lord of Time couldn''t help but shake his head. "So you don''t know him? Why are you here then?" "Little Janus, don''t tell me that you''re here to meet me instead," he couldn''t help but chuckle. "I just came out. There''s no way you could have known where I was," he further added. "Do you really think I couldn''t have known?" Janus let out as he rolled his eyes. "You have stopped the time of not only this house but of this entire world. Do you really think I wouldn''t know who would be behind it? It was obvious that it''s you here," he continued. "If I''m not wrong, more people will come here soon because of the commotion you have caused," Janus let out lazily. ''Hmm? Is this guy trying to act like a stranger? A way to help me? Could he be trying to help as a stranger without becoming the enemy of the Lord of Time?'' Ryder wondered as he felt like he understood what Janus was trying to do. "So you''re really not here for him? Hahaha, Interesting. Then you wouldn''t care about whatever happens to him, right?" The blonde boy inquired as he pointed towards Ryder. "Why should I care?" Janus asked in return. "Good. Then help me deal with the boy and prove it. Since you don''t care, do it with your own hands. Get the bracelet for me," The blonde boy told Ryder as he smiled cheekily. He placed both his hands behind his back as he casually commanded the boy. "How?" Janus asked. "Kill the boy or do whatever. I don''t think I need to tell you what you can do. You''re the reason this bracelet ended up here. So it''s your responsibility to get this. That is... As long as you aren''t related to the boy." The blonde-haired boy let out as he stood up. "Fine. I''ll cut his hand and get the bracelet for you," Janus let out as he nodded. "Huh? What nonsense are you all talking about? Cutting my hand? Did you all lose your head?" Ryder blurted out furiously as he saw Janus agree. He still didn''t expose that Janus knew him, but he did curse them both. "Silence!" Janus shouted at Ryder. As soon as his voice fell in Ryder''s ears, Ryder felt a pain in his head. It felt as if his head was going to blow up. The nerves in his head were thumping. A pressure was also falling on his body which made him feel like a mountain was placed on his shoulder. He had the urge to go down on his knees to give his body some relaxation from this stress. All of it because of a shout. "You''re lucky that we are only cutting your hand. It''s better than losing your head," Janus told Ryder as he started walking towards Janus. Janus reached Ryder, who was still resisting the pressure on his knees to stay standing. "Don''t do this! This bracelet can''t be removed!" Ryder told Janus as he took a step back. "Leave that to me. I''ll get that bracelet off," Janus told Ryder as he reached out his hand. He caught the hand of Ryder right away using his left hand. His right hand was placed on Ryder''s shoulder. All of it happened so fast that Ryder couldn''t even react before his right hand was torn off from his shoulder. A pained scream left Ryder''s lips as his hand was torn off. A soul stabbing pain moved through his entire body as he yelled. "You Bastard! What the hell are you doing!" Ryder roared in pain. Janus ignored Ryder''s scream as he removed his hand from Ryder''s shoulder. With Ryder''s left hand in his hand, he turned back towards the blonde-haired boy. "Here, take the bracelet along with the hand," Janus said as he tossed the arm towards the Lord of Time. The Lord of Time caught the hand. "I asked you for the bracelet, not the arm," the Lord of time let out as he tossed the arm back towards Janus. "This thing doesn''t have the bracelet anymore." Janus''s eyes opened wide in surprise as he realized that the arm didn''t have the bracelet of immortality. He looked back at Ryder in surprise. ''I told you. It''s impossible to take the bracelet. You think I didn''t suffer this before? The bracelet disappears as soon as my hand is cut. And it will only appear when my hand appears again," Ryder declared as he held his bleeding shoulder with his left hand. Fortunately, the bleeding seemed to have slowed down as his Healing of Nature took place. His face was still sweating profusely, though. "As I expected, this is impossible through normal methods. We can only take some extra steps. Kill him and lose the bracelet forever or find when this boy got the bracelet and stop that moment from happening," the Lord of Time muttered as he rubbed his chin. "No!" Janus straight away refused. "It''s better to destroy him simply!" Ryder''s eyes opened wide in shock as he heard Janus''s suggestion. It was confirmed. This guy had gone crazy. He was throwing Ryder under the bus to get himself rid of the responsibility. Without giving the Lord of Time the opportunity to ask, Janus explained, "The other methods are too time-consuming. And you already know my stance on all this. I was against people possessing this bracelet. And I still don''t want that. So I''ll simply kill the boy to make sure that the bracelet never finds a way to return." Ryder was getting more and more sure that Janus had betrayed him, but after seeing Janus suggest to kill him, Ryder realized that it wasn''t right. There was no way that Janus wouldn''t know that he had the power of the bracelet. As long as he was killed, he was going to be sent back in time by a day. That acted as an opportunity for him to make different decisions. Was that what Janus was trying? ''No! This doesn''t make sense either,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. This wasn''t a normal person who wouldn''t know the truth. This was the Lord of Time! Weren''t they worried that the guy would know if they traveled in time? How was it possible that this person wouldn''t know if Ryder was killed and traveled back in time because of the bracelet? The disturbance in time will still be there after all. What was Janus trying to do then? Did he have a way to make sure that the Lord of Time didn''t realize? "That''s true. Killing him would be better. Do it," the Lord of time nodded his head as he commanded Janus. "No, I can''t do it," Janus shook his head. ''This guy, just what is he trying to do?'' Ryder was having a hard time understanding what was happening. What was the end goal? Just what exactly was happening here? "So you do care for this boy?" The Lord of Time inquired. "No. What I mean is something different. There''s another reason I can''t do it," Janus answered as he gazed back at Ryder. "This bracelet was made by him. I know a lot about this bracelet. I''m sure this bracelet will help him if we kill him. The ability of time can clearly be felt in the bracelet. I''m sure he''ll just go back in time if I kill him. That''s why we don''t need to kill him. Instead, we must destroy him!" Janus declared. A cruel smile was on his face. "Your abilities are the ones that can destroy his soul from its core!" he continued. Chapter 476 - 472: Silencing Ryder "Killing him is the best option as that would make sure that the Bracelet of Immortality is lost again. I didn''t want it in our hands, and I still don''t want that. So that''s the only option I can support," Janus told the blonde-haired Lord of Time. "But killing him with the conventional methods is useless. We can only kill him properly by destroying him from his core. And only you can do that with your abilities. Reverse the time of his soul until it''s destroyed. Problem solved," he added. The Lord of Time rubbed his chin as he fell on deep thought. "What you say does make sense. Getting rid of the bracelet is the best. But isn''t that what you said last time as well?" "We got rid of it last time as well, and this guy found it. What''s stopping it from being found in the future! Aren''t we only delaying the problem? It''s better if we keep the bracelet," he further explained. "No! The bracelet won''t be found. And even if it''s fine by a mortal, that''s still less dangerous than this thing being in the hand of the gods!" Janus let out sternly. "We already talked about this last time. You know why we can''t possess it. It''s already rare that a mortal managed to find the bracelet and fragment. But the chances of this happening again are even less. Destroying this boy and lodging and bracelet forever is still the better option," he insisted. "Hmm? You''re still as passionate about it as last time. But you suggest that I kill this man. So I think I was wrong about you. You didn''t have a hand in the boy finding the bracelet," the Lord of Time nodded his head as he accepted. "But there are more parties that should have a say in it. You said you found out because I stopped the time of this world. Other gods should be getting here soon as well. It''s better if we all decide how to deal with it. They should have a say in it as well," he continued. Janus looked back and forth between the Lord of Time and Ryder before he nodded his head. "If that''s what you want." Ryder was standing in the back, not believing his ears. Janus was actually suggesting his soul being destroyed. Not only that, but he even exposed the powers and told the Lord of Time that he couldn''t be killed normally? Just what kind of betrayal was it? To save his own skin, this guy was pushing him off a cliff? ''This Bastard! He is getting me blamed to save himself! He is getting me killed! I won''t let him get out scot-free as well! I''ll expose him that he knows me and that he helped me. Maybe both of them will fight and kill each other. I''ll survive and rid myself of both of them. That''s best!'' he thought as he decided to do something incomprehensible as well. He was going to betray Janus and expose him as this guy had exposed him! This guy was a bastard who deserved no pity or help from him. Why should Ryder be the only one who died? He opened his lips as he exclaimed, "Wait a minute!! This b-" Ryder had not even finished his sentence when his head started spinning. Everything turned dark before his eyes as he dropped to the ground, losing consciousness. "What did you do," the Lord of Time asked Janus as he watched Ryder drop to the ground. "Don''t worry. I just made him unconscious. He was making too much noise," Janus answered casually. "Now, he won''t disturb us." The Lord of Time nodded his head as he walked towards the window. He looked outside the window. He could see a bird stopped in its place mid-air. It was neither going forward nor backward. The clouds were also not moving. Trees and leaves were also as it is. They weren''t moving as if no wind was moving in this world. A person was seen on the streets. One of his legs was in the air as if he was taking a step forward when he was stopped in time. "You''re right. It looks like I don''t underestimate my abilities. I thought I controlled my ability enough only to target the source of distortion, which was this house. How unfortunate. I guess spending so long inside a relaxed environment created by the Lord of Space made me rusted," the Lord of Time smiled wryly as he looked outside. "No wonder you noticed me," he further added. "Hahaha, Lord of Time! You are finally out of your seclusion. How have you been?" A manly laughter filled the room. Lord of Time turned back as he watched the person who was laughing. As he turned back, he saw a bulky man standing behind him. The man had four arms with sharp Claws. It seemed as if the top half of his body was made from magma, blazing in flames. Each of his arms was thicker than Ryder''s chest itself. "God of War... You''re the second to arrive here. Honestly, though, I expected the Goddess of Destiny to come before you," The Lord of Time nodded casually as he recognized the man. "Hahaha, I guess I should apologize for disappointing you here. But what could I do? I saw the level of disturbance and realized that there is only one person who could do this. And that one person is the Great Lord of Time himself. After knowing about it, I couldn''t stop myself from coming as fast as I can," the God of War said. Another portal appeared in the room. "Hah, I guess she is here as well," the Lord of Time let out as he saw the Portal. A beautiful woman stepped out of the portal. The woman seemed to be as pretty as a goddess. Her eyes seemed to encompass the universe itself. "I guess I''m a little late in welcoming the Lord of Time. Please forgive me," the woman said as soon as she stepped out. She greeted the Lord of Time. "It''s not a race. Don''t worry. But I am surprised," The Lord of Time muttered. "May I ask what surprised the Lord of Time so much?" The God of War asked the Lord of Time. " I''m not surprised that Janus was the first person to arrive here. But it was unexpected that the God of War would be second. I also mentioned this to him before you came here," the Lord of Time muttered as he acknowledged. "May I ask what brought you out of your seclusion?" The Goddess of Destiny asked curiously. "The Bracelet has returned," the Lord of Time said softly. "Bracelet? What bracelet?" the God of War asked in confusion. What bracelet was he talking about? The God of War pointed back without even looking. His finger was pointed straight towards Ryder''s hand that had healed by now. The bracelet of immortality was also visible on his hands. It had returned. Both God of War and Goddesses of Destiny looked where the Lord of Time was pointing. Their eyes fell on Ryder''s hands which had the Bracelet of Immortality. Their lips opened wide in shock, along with their eyes as they recognized the voice. "This bracelet... I never thought I''d see it again after we placed it inside the box of anonymity. Even though it''s been so long, but to see it before my eyes, it makes me remember the events that happened because of this bracelet like they happened yesterday," the Goddess of Destiny muttered. The Lord of Time was about to reply when he turned to his left at the sight of another portal appearing. A handsome middle-aged man stepped out of the portal. The man sported long white hair. His pale eyes gave a mysterious feeling to the man. "Old Friend, you have returned," the man muttered softly. "Lord of Space, You have returned as well?" The God of War exclaimed in surprise. ''Both, the Lord of Time and the Lord of Space, went into seclusion in mysterious spaces created by the Lord of Space after the last great war. To see them both come out, it''s surprising,'' he thought. "But this makes sense..." he muttered as he gazed back at the Bracelet of Immortality of Ryder. The bracelet had appeared once again. It was such a special item. It made perfect sense. "You''re here as well. I didn''t expect you to come. I not only stopped my rest but also made you come out. I should apologize to you," the Lord of Time answered as he smiled wryly. "Don''t worry, old friend. Also, stepping out once in a while is good for health, especially when I get to meet my friends," the Lord of Space replied. Three more portals appeared nearby as more people stepped out. Portals kept appearing from which the gods kept stepping out one after another. Soon, the room was filled with tens of people. Chapter 477 - 473: For us The room was filled with more and more gods as they kept appearing here one after another. It seemed to be a mass gathering. The newly arrived people didn''t forget to greet the Lord of Time and the Lord of Space as they had come out of their seclusion after a long time. Most of them were still confused as to what the Lord of Time was doing in this world. And why had he stopped the time of this world? The only thing that they found special about this world was that the sons of gods were in this world going through their trials. A few of them noticed the bracelet and understood everything. The others, however, had to resort to asking to find the truth. ***** Other than the Gods, there were a few more youngsters that were free of the restriction in time. The Lord of Time wanted to stop the time of only this house, but he had subconsciously stopped the time of this world. Fortunately, his power was still in his control up to some extent despite using it after centuries. Because the Lord of Time didn''t intend it, the Sons of Gods weren''t affected. It was similar to why Ryder wasn''t affected. It wasn''t because of the bracelet of immortality that he was free of restriction from time. It was because of his inner strength that no one knew about. The Bracelet of Immortality didn''t even have to activate to keep him free. Unfortunately, despite all that, Ryder still failed to stay conscious against the abilities of Janus. He was lying unconscious, unaware of the conversation that was taking place between others. He had no control over his destiny and what was about to happen. All it depended on was what the Lord of Time did and how the bracelet reacted to it. ***** "I''m sure some of you may know why I came out of my seclusion. It''s because of too much disturbance in time. I just couldn''t stop myself," the Lord of Time explained to others. "When I came out, I found out the source of that distortion, and it led me to this place. To make sure that the time wasn''t affected too much because of the distortion, I used my abilities in this house, only to later realize that I had affected this world," he continued as he smiled wryly. "In any case, what happened next is me finding the distortion to be coming from this boy who was able to move even after being affected by my abilities," he added as he pointed towards the Lord of Time. "And you all can understand why he wasn''t affected like I did. It''s because of the bracelet," he said as he squinted his eyes. Most of the Gods had already noticed the bracelet. There were still some who hadn''t noticed the bracelet yet. Even those people noticed it after the Lord of Time pointed towards him. A wave of gasps filled the room. "That bracelet!" "After so long, it appeared again!" "I can''t believe it was found again. How was it able to protect him, though? Wasn''t the bracelet sealed by all of us? It shouldn''t have any abilities left?" Along with the shocked gasps, a few questions were also raised. The Lord of Time gazed at Janus as he smiled amusingly. "Janus, would you like to answer them or should I?" he asked vaguely. Janus squinted his eyes as he wondered if the Lord of Time was actually asking him to answer or implying something. He kept his head calm as he answered, "I think he found some keys that you all used to seal the bracelet. We can only conclude that his luck was too good," Janus told everyone as he glanced back at Ryder. His tone was as calm as always. "I knew something like this would happen. That''s why it''s better to keep dangerous things with us instead of throwing them away randomly!" "That''s right. We made a mistake last time. Instead of being scared of the bracelet and trying to throw it away, we should have found methods to control it. In any case, it''s a miraculous item that was created by him." "Exactly. We have another opportunity to correct our past mistakes. The bracelet has returned to us. Let''s just take it this time." Some of the gods started chiming in with their opinions. Their opinions went against the suggestion of Janus. There were some that opposed this as well, giving Janus some boost. "The problem still remains! Which one of us can keep the bracelet in control? It''s a dark power that might have the Demon God''s vengeance and his wrath. He was killed while wearing this thing, after all. It would be risky for us." The Lord of Wind said in a heavy tone. "That''s right. The last time was the same. This bracelet is a double-edged sword that is more dangerous to keep with us than it is to throw away!" The Lord of Lakes chimed in. "Exactly! Moreover, which one of us can keep it? Will others agree to that? Can any of us be allowed to keep it? It''s too strong. If I keep it, you''ll be suspicious of me, and you''ll try to kill me. Others might do the same if one of you gets to keep it!" The God of Rage supported the notion. "That''s right. We''re all equally strong, mostly. But the bracelet will give an undue advantage to whoever keeps it. Even though it''s sealed, it''s still not good. It will only end up in a war amongst ourselves," Janus chimed in, trying to make the balance tilt towards his side. "That''s why I opposed keeping it last time. And this is also why I''ll suggest the same thing," he further added. "It was an unfortunate event that a mortal managed to find the bracelet and get its fragments. But this still proves it. That this was a better option; if a god had kept it, we might have had many civil wars. But a mortal got it." Janus walked towards Ryder slowly. He kicked Ryder''s arms lightly as he continued, "And what''s the worse a mortal can do? Even with the bracelet, there can be no irreversible damage that can be created by a Mortal." Janus''s gaze moved through everyone who was present inside this place. "We''re here to decide what to do with the bracelet. There are two suggestions. One is to keep the bracelet with one of us, and the other is to do the same as we did last time. You can all decide what to do." "But just remember... Choosing the first option means setting up the foundation of a civil war. You thought the last great war was bad? Going against one powerful God was bad." "Just imagine the chaos when we all go against each other. None can survive. It''s for you to decide. Do you support leaving, or you support a civil war," Janus finished before he folded his arms. "That''s right. I don''t want a civil war!" The Lord of Wing voiced loudly. "There won''t be a war. It''s just fear-mongering of Janus like last time. I support keeping the bracelet by one of us. And I also nominate me to be the person who keeps the bracelet!" The God of War declared proudly. "I support keeping it as well. And I nominate myself to be the one who keeps it," the Goddess of Destiny chimed in. "Hey, why do you get to keep it? You''re the worst person to keep it. I should be the one who keeps it!" the God of War retorted. "Just shut up. I''m the best person to keep it!" the God of Thunder let out arrogantly as he threw his nomination into the mix. After the three of them started asking for the bracelet, more gods started doing the same. The voices that were supporting throwing away the bracelet were drowned in the voices that supported keeping the bracelet for themselves. It seemed less like a nominal and more like a vocal fight. "Sigh, I guess you were right. I can see them going to war for this bracelet if one of them is allowed to keep it," the Lord of Time muttered as he gazed at Janus. " I would never suggest the things that are bad for us. Of course, I was only thinking for ourselves," Janus muttered vaguely, not signifying what he meant by, "Us." He made it feel like he was talking about the gods, but only he knew what he truly meant. "Silence!" the Lord of Space yelled. His single yell was enough to shake the entire space of this universe. Fortunately, he had controlled himself, or he would have caused spatial storms to appear everywhere. " Is this the etiquette you show when all of us gather at one place? Why do you fight like mortals? Stop showing me something so unsightly. Janus is right. If we keep it, the only thing we''ll receive is devastation. I support losing the bracelet!" he declared. Chapter 478 - 474: Awakening "I''m starting to tilt more towards Janus''s suggestion after seeing this sight as well. If we''re fighting like this before even getting the bracelet, how will we fight after one of us gets it? I don''t want to be a part of another great war like last time. One had been more than enough for me," the Lord of Time muttered as he nodded his head. "I support this decision as well." Lord of Space also declared. Soon, more and more gods started supporting the decision. The voices of support that had drowned previously against the voice of opposition again got the lead as two Great Gods supported Janus. The God of War looked at the people who were supporting losing the bracelet. "You''ve all gone crazy. We shouldn''t lose this bracelet again." "Alright. Let''s do one thing. We will give the bracelet to the Goddess of Destiny. If you agree to that, we''ll keep it," Janus took a step forth as he chimed in. The Lord of Time understood what Janus was trying to do. He couldn''t help but laugh out loud. "Interesting. That''s right. You and Goddess of Destiny seem to want the bracelet more. If you can sacrifice it for her, it would mean that we can deal with one person keeping the bracelet. What do you say?" he let out. "Letting her keep it?! No way! I would rather lose it forever than give this to her!" The God of War war exclaimed furiously. With his decline, the decision was made. "And with that, the people who support losing the bracelet again have the majority. It''s decided. We''ll go with Janus''s suggestion," the Lord of Time acknowledged. "Even though it would mean that I''ll need to destroy the soul of an innocent mortal, it''s worth it," he added as he looked towards Ryder. "Destroyed his soul? What do you mean?" The Lord of Space asked curiously. The Lord of Time breathed a sigh of relief as he explained, "This guy seems to have managed to unlock a few of the bracelet''s seals. One of which happened to be the seal made by me." "With that, we can''t kill him. Even if we kill him, he''ll just go back in time and make sure that he isn''t found again. The only way to stop him is to reverse the time of his soul until the moment it doesn''t exist anymore," he further said. He added, "That way, there would be nothing to bring back. He would be dead. The bracelet would be ownerless, and it would be lost in the void." "Interesting. So only you can kill him," the Lord of Space muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Previously, Janus got to kill the owner of this bracelet. Now it''s your turn. He had to kill his brother, whereas you have to kill an unaware mortal. I guess every time this bracelet appears; it makes us decide between a rock and a hard place," he added as he found similarities between both situations related to the Bracelet. "That''s a good analogy. Hopefully, we won''t see this bracelet ever again," the Lord of Time muttered as a sad smile appeared on his face. He started stepping towards a Ryder. There were a few gods that still didn''t support losing the Bracelet of Immortality like this, but they couldn''t do anything as it was decided with the majority like last time. They could only fight if they wanted to keep the bracelet, but they knew that it was going to be a bad decision. The Lord of Time stopped a few inches away from Ryder, who was lying on the ground. Janus stood in the back with an expressionless face as if it was something he didn''t care much about. The Lord of Time raised his right palm towards Ryder''s face. "Forgive me for taking your life. After your soul is destroyed by going to nothingness, not only will you die, but you won''t even come to being ever again. But this is something we just do. Yours is a necessary sacrifice," the Lord of Time said as he closed his eyes. His entire body started shining with mystical light. His body shone for a few minutes as he stood still with his palm raised towards Ryder''s face. After a few minutes, his shine started decreasing as his body returned to normal. The Lord of Time slowly opened his eyes which were pure white as if there was only a white abyss inside. "Return to nothingness," the Lord of Time muttered softly as a small white speck of light left his palm. The speck of light moved towards Ryder''s chest. It hit Ryder''s chest and disappeared. "Now his soul will keep regressing into reverse time until it completely returns to the time when it didn''t even exist," the Lord of Time muttered as he smiled. "Looks like we''re done here." On the side, Janus couldn''t help but shake his head. ''No, we''re not done here. We''re just getting started,'' Janus thought as he gazed towards Ryder. ''I''m sorry, brother. I know I''m pitting you against them all by exposing you, but it''s the only thing I can do. The situation was completely out of my hand with the arrival of Lord of Time. I didn''t think he would find the distance in time big though to come out. With him here, the only thing I could think of was to use him,'' he thought as he shook his head. Ryder laid on the ground. He remained unconscious. His face seemed so peaceful that it seemed like he was sleeping. But only the knowledgeable ones knew what was truly happening. Even though his body seemed to be normal, it was his soul which was suffering. Ryder''s soul started going back in time. It started regressing. The Lord of Time had thought that Ryder was a normal mortal. Unfortunately, he didn''t realize what Ryder actually was. He had thought that Ryder''s soul would be destroyed by reversing its time. Unfortunately, that was only possible on a mortal''s soul. On a god''s soul, it was impossible. The only possibility to destroy a god was if their soul had lost its divinity. Ryder''s soul had lost its divinity which it was gaining back slowly. Unfortunately, with the time-reversal, something mystical happened. Ryder''s soul regressed in time to the moment when it had its Divine Powers. It was Janus''s entire plan. He wanted Ryder to awaken his powers so he could deal with the situation himself. It was out of his range now, after all. He couldn''t face so many gods. Only Ryder was the one who could deal with the situation and survive. Ryder''s soul kept regressing. It regressed to the lowest of his mortal lifespan. Typically, before this point was nothingness. But for Ryder, before this point was the time where his soul had complete Divinity. Thud... Thud... Thud.... The ground started shaking. Winds began moving faster as if a storm was on the way. "Hmm? How is this possible? I didn''t free the time. Why is this world moving again?" The Lord of Time muttered in confusion. He looked back towards the God of Wind and the other gods. "Are you guys doing it?" he asked softly. "Not at all. We thought you released time, and that''s why it was happening. If you didn''t free time, then how...?" The God of Wind exclaimed as he talked about his non-involvement in these things. "Strange. What''s happening then?" The Lord of Time muttered in confusion. "The only thing I did differently is send his soul back in time to nothingness," she let out as he shifted his gaze to Ryder. It was at that moment, Ryder''s eyes opened suddenly. As soon as his eyes opened, a wave of energy came out of his body that tossed back all the gods. Not even the Lord of Time and Lord of Space were safe. Even the two of them were tossed back like stones. As none of the gods had expected it, they didn''t take any precautions to protect themselves from this wage of energy. All the gods crashed on the wall in the back. Not even Janus was safe who suffered the same thing. Ryder''s eyes had opened, but they were different. His eyes weren''t blue like that had been previously. Instead, his eyes were blood-red in color. His hair started growing. His hair got longer and longer until they came down to his waist. His height also started increasing. His face also changed a little bit. It kept most of the features of Ryder''s face, but it seemed a little more devilishly charming now. Ryder breathed out a mouthful of air before his body started flying upwards. He stood up without having to use his legs or hands. He did all that with what could only be described as controlling his surroundings. "Janus, Oh Janus. You just had to drag me into this again, didn''t you?" Ryder muttered softly. His voice was a little heavier and sounded much more intimidating. His voice sounded especially intimating to the gods that recognized it. The gods seemed like they had seen a ghost. Chapter 479 - 475: Old Friend "Janus, Oh Janus. You just had to drag me into this again, didn''t you?" Ryder muttered softly. His voice was a little heavier and sounded much more intimidating. His voice sounded especially intimating to the gods that recognized it. The gods seemed like they had seen a ghost. Most of them went deathly pale. "It''s you..." The Lord of Space muttered as he stood up. "So you were alive," the Lord of Time muttered as he also flew up. His body floated a few inches above the ground. "It''s good to meet you too, old friend," Ryder muttered softly with an expressionless face. He gazed back towards the bracelet that was in his hand. "My bracelet has gained some powers. Unfortunately, the seals of most of you still exist. It''s good that I got the seal of yours removed. That is good. Now I don''t have to face all of you at once," Ryder let out as he gazed at the bracelet of immortality. "What do you mean?" The Lord of Time exclaimed as he squinted his eyes. "Janus, I''ll talk to you later, you troublemaker," Ryder ignored the question of Lord of Time to talk to Janus. Janus couldn''t help but smile like a kid in embarrassment. "So I was right. Janus did have a hand in the appearance of the bracelet again," the Lord of Time muttered as he saw the chemistry of Janus and Ryder. It didn''t seem like the way someone would talk to a person who killed them. It was definitely that Janus was supporting Ryder in some scheme. "You bastard! You betrayed us!" the Lord of Space cursed at Janus as he understood what it implied. "I knew we couldn''t trust you!" The God of War roared in rage. "Just wait and watch how I deal with you after I kill your brother again!" "Kill him? I don''t think it would be as easy as you think," Janus let out as he rolled his eyes. Ryder, on the other hand, raised his right hand. "My dear friend, I''ll meet you really soon. Don''t worry," he said casually. "As for the others, you''ll have to wait a little longer." Snap! Ryder snapped his fingers. As soon as he snapped his fingers, everything turned white. ***** The Bracelet of Immortality was an item that was said to be one of the strongest creations. It could have the powers of every god. Unfortunately, it hadn''t fully awakened previously when Ryder fought all the gods. Moreover, it was sealed after that by the gods. Now that it''s been so long, the bracelet had awakened, but it still had the seals of the gods, which was preventing it from showing all its abilities. Ryder had still managed to unseal it a little bit. And one of those unsealing was with the Fragment of Time itself which unsealed the seal cast by the Lord of Time himself. That unsealing gave Ryder the ability to go back in time by a few hours. It also gave him the ability to go back in time by a day after dying. Fortunately, now that his soul had its Divinity, the restriction didn''t apply to him. He didn''t need to die to go back in time by a day. Last time he didn''t have the power of time but now that he had it, he wanted to use it. He used the Bracelet of Immortality to go back in time by a day. Not only that, but he also hid his aura to make sure that the Gods in the new timeline couldn''t sense him. The only person who would be twenty-four hours ago who will know what actually happened is the Lord of Time. That guy ruled time. Time couldn''t be used to fool him. He was going to know about what happened before him in this timeline. Janus could also use a few abilities of time so he could also remember what happened before him. As for the other gods, they would be completely unaware as times of this timeline wouldn''t have happened. They couldn''t know about Ryder''s return. Ryder moved back in time as he appeared in the same house where he was before. Luke stood in front of the window, looking outside. It was a different timeline, and Ryder hadn''t arrived yet. He hadn''t gone to invite Alice yet. He wasn''t rejected at the moment either. Ryder''s deep red eyes gazed towards Luke. He remembered everything that had happened previously. This guy was here for Alice to forcefully take her if she said no. "People like you don''t deserve to live. I declare death to you," Ryder said in a grim reaper-like tone. Luke looked back in shock as he heard a chilling voice behind him. How was it that someone managed to enter his house without him knowing? Unfortunately, he couldn''t even turn back to see the face of Ryder before he heard the snap of Ryder"a finger. One snap... Just a single snap''s noise was enough to deal with Luke. As soon as the sound of Ryder''s snap fell on Luke''s ears, his heart stopped beating as he dropped to the ground. Ryder didn''t waste even a second more as he disappeared. The place he was going to was a place he didn''t want to have to go so soon. Unfortunately, the situation didn''t give him much time. ***** In a distant place, a special realm existed. Inside the spatial realm, a young boy was sitting with his feet inside a pond. The cold water brushed against his warm feet as he moved them. The boy was sitting calmly, but suddenly his expressions changed. Many thoughts flooded his head as the boy got his memories from a different timeline about what he had seen. He understood what had happened. Ryder used his abilities to go back in time. He hurriedly stood up. "You don''t have to be in such a hurry, old friend." The boy was just about to leave the special realm when he heard a voice. "So you not only came back in time, but you came straight to me," the young boy muttered as he gazed back at the long-haired man who possessed beautiful yet frightening red eyes. "Of course. Only you know about me now. Who will I go to if not you," Ryder told the Lord of Time calmly. "Strange. I think you''ve changed. If it were the old you, you wouldn''t be scared to fight all the gods at once. Instead, you chose to run back in time so you won''t have to face them. Not only that, you came straight to me, so I can''t inform them," the Lord of Time muttered as he rubbed his chin. Ryder squinted his eyes, but he didn''t say anything. The truth was different, honestly. It wasn''t because he was scared to face the gods at once. But he came back in time for something else. " All I can say is that you''re wrong. I would still have preferred to face you all at once, but I have my reasons," he said after quite some time. "Interesting. I wonder what those reasons are. Can''t you tell me? I''ll be dead shortly, after all," the Lord of Time let out softly as he sat down on the ground again. "You''re giving up so fast? I don''t know about me, but you certainly seem to have changed," Ryder muttered as he walked closer to the Lord of Time. He sat beside him as he looked straight into the distant horizon. "Do I even have another choice? That bracelet is in your hand. And it seems to have powers of time. Even before, time couldn''t affect you when I had stopped the time of the entire world. And that was when you didn''t have your Divinity, I believe." Lord of Time let out. "I won''t even imagine that I''ll be able to affect you with my powers now. This bracelet certainly proved to be a game-changer. Especially with my seal being unlocked first. You''re invincible to my powers." he continued. "Even before when you didn''t have the bracelet, these powers barely affected you. As of now, It''s only a fool''s wish to kill you. At Least, I can''t do it." He placed his feet in the water again as he closed his eyes. Honestly, though, I never expected to lose my life to you after so long. I thought it''d be much sooner." "I honestly expected to die in the last Great War. But you didn''t attack me that much. Was that intentional?" he asked Ryder. Ryder looked towards the Lord of Time as he confessed, "I don''t want to kill you. Let me seal you, and you''ll survive. After I''m finished with what I want to do, you''ll be free. Please don''t make me kill you. You are one of the only few people I honestly don''t want to kill." The Lord of Time looked back at Ryder. He couldn''t help but burst into laughter as he laid on the ground. Chapter 480 - 476: Caught The Lord of Time couldn''t help but laugh out loud as he heard Ryder suggest that he accept to be sealed. "You must be joking, my friend," the Lord of Time let out as he rolled his eyes. "I will never accept being sealed. Even if you give me a choice between dying and getting sealed, I''ll prefer to die," he added. Ryder was sitting on the right side of the Lord of Time. He wasn''t even looking at the boy. Instead, he looked straight ahead. The Lord of Time slowly yet carefully started moving his left hand, making sure that he wasn''t caught. A small portal appeared near his hand from which a paper-like object came out. The paper floated in front of his left hand, close to the ground to make sure that it remained out of Ryder''s sight even if he looked in the direction of the Lord of Time. The Lord of Time glanced towards Ryder and kept his eyes on him as he started talking. "You know me. And I know you. Both of us are the same at the core. We would never accept being sealed. Even your offer to make me do it makes me think that you never knew me that well. You better kill me," the Lord of Time said softly. Even though he talked to Ryder on one side, on the other hand, he kept moving his fingers. As his fingers moved, words kept taking shape on the paper that was floated in front of his fingers. Soon, the entire paper was filled with words. The Lord of Time tapped his finger on the ground after he finished what he was trying to do. Another small portal opened near paper which was floating above the ground. The paper entered inside the portal and disappeared along with the portal. "You''re right. You know me. And I know you. Both of us are the same at the core. So the little tricks of yours won''t work here, my friend," Ryder said in a grim tone as he shook his head. The Lord of Time frowned as he wondered if Ryder had known what he did. That should be impossible. He couldn''t have seen. He was very careful after all. "What do you mean?" he inquired. Ryder finally moved his head as he looked back towards the boy who was on his left. A deep sigh escaped the lips of Ryder that seemed to encompass the entire universe inside it. It seemed to be filled with thousands of memories and emotions. It seemed mostly sad, though. Ryder raised his right hand and snapped his finger. A snapping sound echoed in the entire special realm, which started shaking this whole realm. The Lord of Time grew stunned as he felt the realm shake. Just how strong was Ryder? Did he have all his old powers? How was that possible?. Even if his soul had returned to normal, his body still shouldn''t be able to support all this power. As for his Divine Body, that was already destroyed. How was he still so strong? Ryder didn''t mind the shock of the Lord of Time. Instead, he gazed at the white portal that had opened in front of him. The Lord of Time''s face went pale as he saw the portal and the object that came out of the portal. How was this possible? What came out of the portal was no other thing but the paper that he had sent previously. "You know me. And I know you. Both of us are the same at the core. Do you think I really wouldn''t know the tricks you might use? As for you accepting death? Sigh, I didn''t know you would resort to tricks, but I can''t say I didn''t expect it," Ryder muttered as he caught the paper that was floating before him. He started reading it and soon finished. "As expected. You were informing them about my return. Unfortunately, they''ll never get this message," Ryder muttered. He said a single word, "Burn." The mystical paper that was in his hand started burning. It caught the flames and burned to dust. The flames that were in the hands of Ryder disappeared as soon as the paper was destroyed. "Now that the tricks are over, you can attack me," Ryder muttered as he patted his head as he stood up. "It''s useless. Why will I attack you? As I said, my powers won''t affect you," the Lord of Time let out as he stood up as well. "Sigh, My friend. Please don''t forget what you said. You know me. And I know you. Both of us are the same at the core. You''ll do what I would do, and that is to fight even if I have no chance of victory. You''ll never surrender. So you can drop the act," Ryder answered as a knowing smile appeared on his face. It had been a long time since a smile like this was on Ryder''s face but watching his old friend lie through open teeth was indeed amusing. "Sigh, I guess this really won''t work. It''s fine. I''ll handle things myself the old way then," the Lord of Time muttered as he patted his clothes. He clapped his hands once. A wave of energy came out of his clap that spread in every direction. Ryder watched the wave of energy advance towards him as well, but he didn''t move. The wave of energy reached him and passed through him without even harming him a little bit. ''You''ll never change. You''re going to fight to the death here, but you''re more concerned about the Special Realm that was created. You brought us to a different time to make sure our battle doesn''t have any effect on reality," Ryder let out as he understood what had happened. He and the Lord of Time weren''t in the real timeline now. Instead, they were in a different time realm which seemed like the real thing. "What can I do? I care about my things. If I manage to kill you, I need a place to go back to. I can''t keep asking him to make another special realm for my seclusion after I''m done here," the Lord of Time muttered as he chuckled. ''That''s like the ruler of time I used to know. Anyway, this is the last time I address you as a friend. I''m offering you again. Agree to be sealed by me, and everything will be fine. This is the last chance for you," Ryder alluded to the Lord of Time. "Say yes, and you''ll still have a friend before you. Say no, and you won''t have a friend before you. What you''ll have is an enemy. This is for you to decide," he said softly. "My decision, huh," the Lord of Time muttered as he rubbed his chin. He raised his right feet above the ground and tapped the ground lightly with his feelings. The ground started shining brightly as a portal appeared inside. A pointy thing started coming out of the ground, which revealed itself to be a spear. "The Spear of Time. I guess I know your decision now. How unfortunate," Ryder muttered as he shook his head in disappointment. The Spear was the Spear of Time which was the signature weapon of the Lord of Time. It was said to be a weapon that ruled over time. "Seeing that thing reminds me of my sword. Where are you guys keeping that thing?" Ryder asked the Lord of Time. "That abomination of a weapon that drank the blood of so many gods in the Last Great War? Don''t worry. It''s in a place where you can never get to. You''ll never get your sword again. And it''s not like you''ll need it. Dead men don''t need a Sword!" the Lord of Time exclaimed as he caught the hilt of the Spear of Time. He flew straight towards Ryder with his Spear of Time. "Sigh. It''s fine. I don''t think I can keep that thing as I am right now. There is still more preparation to be done," Ryder muttered as he disappeared just when the tip of the Spear of Time was about to touch him. He appeared behind the Lord of Time. He seemed to be holding a scythe in his hand, which he didn''t have previously. "For now, I''ll use this. It''s not too bad either," Ryder said softly as he held the Scythe in his hand. If the previous Ryder were here, he would be shocked to see this Scythe. It was the Moon Scythe that was a special weapon in the world of Divinity. He would have been shocked to see this thing here. Unfortunately, it was a different Ryder here who was holding the Scythe. The Lord of Time landed on the ground as he turned back towards Ryder to see the Scythe. "That Scythe? It looks weak," he said. "It''s not the weapon that makes a person but a person that man a man," Ryder let out as a cruel smile appeared on his face. He flew towards the Lord of Time, who did the same. Chapter 481 - 477: Exposing Weakness Ryder flew towards the Lord of Time with the Moon Scythe in his hand. At the same time, the Lord of Time shot towards Ryder with the Spear of Time in his hand. The distance between the Lord of Time and Ryder, which was about ten meters previously, kept decreasing rapidly, and soon it was a few meters only. "You died once! Today, you will die again!" The Lord of Time declared as he threw the Spear towards Ryder when Ryder was too close to dodge. Unfortunately for him, Ryder had a good battle awareness, and he expected this. He was already prepared for something like this. At the sight of a Spear coming towards him, he dodged mid-way. The air seemed like it was already prepared to support the battle of Ryder. It moved as he wished and allowed him to dodge effectively. The bracelet had given Ryder some abilities of wind, water, Healing, and time. Those abilities came with certain restrictions, but with his Divine Powers, those restrictions didn''t apply. Not only did he have his old powers, but he also had extra because of being able to use some fragments in the bracelet. As the Wind helped Ryder, he was able to dodge to the left as he continued flying towards the Lord of Time. Unfortunately for him, the Spear of Time that he had managed to dodge underwent a reversal in time as he appeared in the hands of the Lord of Time again. "Useless tricks," Ryder exclaimed as he swung his Moon Scythe towards the neck of Time. "I can only use tricks against you, my friend," the Lord of Time exclaimed as he snapped the fingers of his left hand. As the sound of snap moved through the realm, time seemed to stop. Even though the stopping of time didn''t affect Ryder, it did affect the Scythe, which was in Ryder''s hand. The Scythe seemed to have become immovable. It didn''t move forward, no matter despite the immense strength of Ryder. The Moon Scythe was a miraculous item, but even it couldn''t resist the time. The Moon Scythe stopped just a few inches away from the Lord of Time''s neck, who didn''t even move. The Lord of Time watched Ryder and didn''t even move. Not even a single worry could be seen on his face. "I can''t affect the time for you. But I can affect it for the weapons you use. Pretty neat, isn''t it?" The Lord of Time asked Ryder as he smiled. "It''s a good trick. I guess I can''t use a weapon against you. This is a headache," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. Ryder freed the Moon Scythe that was in his hands. He snapped his fingers. The moon scythe also disappeared and went back to where it came from. "It''s fine. Other than my old sword, nothing suits me anyway," Ryder muttered as he shook his head. "Too bad for you, My friend. That Sword isn''t coming to you ever again," the Lord of Time responded as he shook his head. "That''s what you think. If I want, I can find it even from the depths of hell. But I just can''t make too much noise right now. So I''ll just use my hands," Ryder alluded to the Lord of Time as he shook his head. "You might be strong, but even you aren''t strong enough to face me without a weapon when I possess my Divine Weapon of Time," the Lord of Time said as he took a step back. "Last time you had that weapon. And you had your full strength. But you have none at the moment. I can already feel that you''re weaker. That must be why you used this trick to come back in time, don''t you? You weren''t confident in being able to kill them all?" he asked Ryder. "Previously, you gave me a choice. Now, I''m giving you the same. Surrender, and you''ll live. Oppose, and you''ll die. Even I don''t want to kill you. So don''t force me. You have three seconds to think," he further added. "Interesting. Using my tricks on me. You''re learning," Ryder let out as he gazed at the person who used to be one of his closest friends. They had done so many times together. He still couldn''t believe that they were against each other even though it was his second time fighting the Lord of Time. "You''re right, though. I don''t have my old powers. And I''m losing the ones I have. The trick you used to return my soul to nothingness brought it back to the time I had powers. But my body isn''t ready to accept these powers now. It will be destroyed if I use them all," he acknowledged as he sighed. "Also, even the little bit of power I can use now won''t last for long. The trick you used on my soul brought it back. But the effects won''t last long. My soul is a Divine Soul. The only person who can actually affect it is me. You''re strong and managed to affect it because it didn''t have Divinity. But even still, my Soul resists foreign powers." "The effects of your powers are running out. My soul will soon return to the way it was. So I don''t have long. That''s why I decided to come back in time. I could kill you all if this were my permanent state. But I only have a day at best. I can''t afford to fight you all even though I hate it," Ryder told the Lord of Time. "So you actually decided to run. You accept it. You''ve changed," the Lord of Time said softly. "You''re wrong. I did this for her. If we all had fought there, she would have died. And you all wouldn''t let me change locations. I know the God of War. Is he very..." Ryder muttered, but he didn''t complete his sentence. "Think of it as delaying the battle to save some people," he said. "Her?" The Lord of Time asked. "Who is this ''Her'' you speak of?" he inquired curiously. "You don''t need to know," Ryder retorted. "That''s fine. I have a more important question to ask anyway," the Lord of Time replied. "Why did you tell me about this?" "Now I know your weakness. All I need to do is drag the battle for a day, and you''ll be over. So why... Why did you tell me?" The Lord of Time asked. "Think of it as me giving myself a handicap. I took the opportunity from you to fight me with the others. The least I can do is give myself a handicap," Ryder replied as the glimpse of a smile appeared on his lips. "Moreover, you can''t live for more than 2 hours anyway. So it doesn''t matter even I tell you about it," he added as the smile again disappeared, only to be replaced by the grim look that suited Ryder''s face more. He didn''t tell one thing, though. Another reason why he told the Lord of Time about this was because that man was his friend. And he was going to kill him. The least he could do was do this. It was his form of making up for what he was about to do. The Lord of Time couldn''t help but laugh out loud. "Again, with this confidence. I don''t know if I should praise you for your consistency or to blame you for such arrogance. If you didn''t have this, maybe the events of the past wouldn''t have happened previously," he let out as he reminisced about the pasts and the events that led to the great war amongst the gods. "This is the only thing I inherited from my great father. I can die, but I can''t lose good confidence of mine," Ryder replied. "Anyway, I''m running out of time. Even though I have a day, I want to finish within a few hours so I could do more things," Ryder said. "As for your offer, I don''t think I''ll be able to accept," he acknowledged. "You have twenty-four hours, but you want to kill me within a few hours? Isn''t that disrespectful to think you can kill me so soon? That too without a weapon?" The Lord of Time asked again as he tightened the grip on his spear. "I only said a few hours because I respect you. What would be embarrassing is to kill you within a few minutes. So don''t give me an opportunity," Ryder said as he clenched his fist before he shot out towards the Lord of Time. "You''ll need an eternity to kill me! Time is Immortal?" the Lord of Time roared as he tapped the other end of his Spear on the ground. As soon as his spear touched the ground, an illusory clock started taking shape behind him. The Clock seemed to have only one hand, which was pointing straight up towards the sky as if signaling that it was twelve o clock. Chapter 412 - 408: Trip Ryder left with Alice for the airport. He tried dialing Shu''s name as he wanted to ask him what had happened last time and why Shu hadn''t logged in last night. "The number you''re trying to reach has been switched off. Please try again later." As he called, he only heard the recorded message about the number being switched off. "What''s happening to him? Did he forget to charge his phone?" He wondered. He didn''t outright think of bad things that could have happened. Instead, he tried to make excuses to make sense of the situation. Shu was a multi-billionaire, and he was in the office of the company he owned, which was one of the safest places in the world because of the security. He didn''t think that something could have happened to him. ''Sigh, he''s so busy at work that he didn''t even call. He even didn''t keep his phone charged. Is this the Work-mode of Shu?'' Ryder thought. There weren''t many times when Shu had left the Estate for work, so Ryder didn''t know how Shu was at work generally, but he did hear that Shu was very serious when he was at work and didn''t waste time. He kept the phone in his pocket and started. "He must be busy at work. I heard there are people that keep their phone off when they want to immerse themselves in work entirely," Alice told Ryder, seeing the concern on his face. "Right," Ryder replied. They reached the airport and boarded the plane that was destined to take them to the new capital. At the same time, Luke boarded a plane in Russia that was going to lead him to Ryder''s City. And two planes coincidentally took off at the same time from different places towards different destinations. Ryder and Alice got the seats right beside each other. Both of them relaxed in comfort and played a movie on the screens in front of them. The movie was selected by Alice, and it happened to be a romance movie. The two watched the movie together. As the journey was not long, they couldn''t even finish the movie before it was time to land. They left the airport, got a taxi, and stopped straight at the hotel that Ryder had booked for the two of them. The hotel was close to the FBI headquarters, but it wasn''t too close. He had tried to keep sufficient distance not to make it too obvious even if someone had found out. "So, where are we going to travel and when? How long will it take for you to be done with your work?" Alice asked Ryder after they kept the stuff in their room. They had only booked a single room, but it was big enough for them to share without worrying. "How about we go out right now? We can take a walk through the city since it''s still morning? As for work, my meetings start from tomorrow, and they will continue for 2-3 days. After that, I''ll be free, and we can spend more time together," Ryder told Alice. As he talked to her, he checked about the city and various places of tourism that were near the FBI headquarters since he wanted to go there to see the place with his own eyes to have a general idea as to what he was dealing with. "We can go out now? Awesome!" Alice said excitedly as she hugged Ryder tightly. "I thought you''d get busy right away and leave me alone." "Let''s get going," she said as she freed Ryder. She held his hand and dragged him outside without letting him rest. "You''re too excited today, aren''t you?" Ryder asked as he smiled wryly. "Of course I am. I always wanted to travel here, and it''s not every day that we come to places like this," Alice answered. "That''s all fine and well, but Alice, aren''t you going to let me freshen up? We just arrived here, and I was thinking of taking a shower. We still have a lot of time after all," Ryder told Alice by the time she dragged him to the door. Alice freed Ryder with an embarrassed look on her face. "Oh, right. What are you waiting for? Go and get ready." "Little girl, don''t worry. We will have a lot of time to travel the city. We''re here for six days. Even if I exclude the two days that I''ll need for work, we would still have seven days left," Ryder said. "You won''t be disappointed." He walked towards the bed and opened the bag. He took out a new pair of clothes and entered the shower room. **** On a beautiful Island, a palace existed surrounded by nature. Aluren was sitting on his throne inside the Palace. The Thirteen Kings were also in the chamber as well. "Speak. What matter did you want to talk about?" Aluren asked casually. "Your Majesty, our bases were raided by the FBI," the Fifth King said. "They were raided? Since you tell me now, I suppose this matter isn''t as serious. Tell me what actually happened," Aluren said. "Your Majesty, we already knew about the situation since the people already tipped us off. We had changed our bases." "Good. Then what are you talking for? This can''t be as simple," Aluren muttered. "The interesting part is about the person who found out about our locations. I had noticed something strange about the locations that were discovered. Strangely enough, these were all the places that the Twelfth and the Thirteenth King had stayed in during the last month. No other place was exposed." the Fifth King said. "Are you accusing us of telling them?" The Thirteenth King asked in a grim tone. "Not at all. Why would I accuse you? You know as much as I do about our sources in the agency. You would never be so stupid as to tell them about us. But guess who could be the person that tipped them off?" the Fifth King asked, frowning. "The person that I think is the person who beat you," the Fifth King said, smiling. His taunt frustrated the Thirteenth King. "I wasn''t defeated! I was about to kill him! Who knew he would use our own bombs on us. I only underestimated him." "Wait a minute, are you saying that he''s the one that tipped them off?" he suddenly asked. "I think so," the Fifth King said, nodding his head. "Doesn''t that mean we can get to him?" The Third King asked. "That''s right. This can lead us to that guy," the other kings also agreed. Aluren slowly raised his hand, gesturing for others to be silent. He gazed at the Fifth King and asked, "What are you doing about that then? Why haven''t you found him?" "The guy in the agency who had a link to the tipster has been captured. Our guy is already interrogating him. In no time, we will have an answer. The guy will expose the truth soon enough," the Fifth King said. "If what you''re saying is true and you find the guy, you would be rewarded heavily. If you''re wrong, be ready to be punished for telling us unverified information," Aluren warned the Fifth King before he closed his eyes. "This is the famous statue of the Capital. It was created in the last ten years, but it''s one of the most amazing pieces of artwork known throughout the world," Alice told Ryder as she pointed towards the fifteen feet tall statue. The statue was of a man who was riding a horse. It was said to be the artwork of a famous sculptor. Ryder and Alice had left the hotel long ago after getting dressed, and they were treading towards the destination that Ryder actually wanted to go to. Alice didn''t know that it was mostly a reconnaissance mission for Ryder, which was disguised as the sightseeing of a couple. "Not a bad one. I did see it in pics, but it looks even better in real life," Ryder said, nodding his head. "Let''s continue. I heard that the FBI headquarters are nearby. One of the biggest malls in the country is also in that area. Let''s go check that place out," he told Alice. "Ah, right. The mall is also here. How could I forget about that? Let''s go!" Alice said excitedly as she held Ryder''s hand and dragged him. "I can walk myself," Ryder replied as he laughed. He matched her face. ''She looks really cute when she acts like a kid. If I knew it was going to make her so happy, I would have arranged for more trips like these,'' he thought as he saw the smile on her face. Soon, they reached outside the FBI Headquarters, which was a massive building that covered a significant portion of the land. ''The security here isn''t bad. As expected of a place like this. It''s going to be tough breaking inside. There are cameras everywhere as well," Ryder thought as he subtly observed the security details of the place. Chapter 413 - 409: House Arrest ''It''s going to be tough breaking inside,'' Ryder thought as he observed the strict security of the headquarters. The place was nothing less than a fortress. Ryder wanted to call Ray directly and ask about the head and where his office was, but he couldn''t even do that. After he had disconnected the call with Ray last time, Ray had called him again, saying that he was going to delete Ryder''s number. He told Ryder to never call his number again unless he called from his side. It was to protect Ryder since Ray was sure that after he went back, there was a good chance that his phone was going to be taken. He was sure that someone had leaked the information since he believed Ryder''s words. That only left one possibility. The chief was the one who was working for the Dark Uprising members, using their team as a pawn to further their mission. He found it absurd to believe, but it was the only possibility. Thus, he removed all his connection with Ryder to make sure that the enemies didn''t reach them. Ryder also respected his wishes; thus, he didn''t call Ray. It was obvious that calling Ray was going to reveal his identity at this crucial moment, which he didn''t want, especially since it was evident that this information was going to go to the Dark Uprising guys. That not only placed him in danger but Alice as well. He needed to finish this mission and get four times stronger, even to have a chance of battling the Kings on a close to equal footing. Alice looked to her side but didn''t find Ryder there. With a confused look on her face, she looked back. She could see Ryder walking slowly. "Come on, turtle. Why did you slow down? The mall is there!" Alice told Ryder as she gestured for him to move faster. Ryder stopped watching the FBI Headquarters and shifted his focus back to Alice. "Sorry. I was just fascinated by the buildings here," Ryder answered jokingly. He increased his pace and caught up to Alice. He had already memorized the security details that he was able to see from outside anyway. Ryder and Alice went to the Jigglybuff Mall, which was the largest mall in the country. It was also a part of the Jigglybuff group of companies that owned malls with similar names all around the world. They were also one of the big names when it came to business. The two of them entered the Mall, which was said to consist of almost everything. It was a mall consisting of 27 floors with the bottom floor being mostly a place for relaxation. "It''s so big; it''ll take us hours to finish going through all the floors. Do you have anything specific in mind that you want to see?" Ryder asked Alice. "Nothing like that. I just wanted to see this place, not because I wanted to buy anything. Let''s just roam around. There should be many places we can enjoy," Alice answered as she dragged Ryder towards the lift. ****** "It has been hours. Ray, why don''t you give up. Tell us the man who pranked you by giving you false information. He needs to face the consequences of toying with us. If he''s someone you know, we can go easy on him. All we ask for is his name so we can tell him never to do it again." Inside a room, Ray was sitting on a chair in front of a table. There were only three people in the room. One was Ray, another was the Director of the Bureau, and the last one was another Agent who had the same position as Ray in the agency. The Director of the FBI was called Mark Rubin. He was a middle-aged man who had short silver hair, brown eyes, and pale looking skin. The other person was called Sui, who was a dark-haired young man. Mark was the one who was asking the questions at the moment. "Ray, don''t be stubborn. You are one of us. We are a team. We all work for this country. Why are you trying to hide information from us?" Mark asked again. "I already promised you we wouldn''t harm your source. We would only tell him that it''s not good to lie." "I''m not hiding anything. It was an anonymous tip. It''s the anonymous tipster that had been leaving true information around my house for a while, and most of them turned out to be true. So when he gave this information, I believed that as well. It was my mistake. I should have been more careful," Ray answered, not seeming as if he was lying at all. "Do you really expect us to believe that? Ray, you have worked under me for years now. I know you more than you know yourself at this point. I''m not a kid you can fool with this excuse," Mark said, shaking his head. He was sure that Ray was lying. No Agent could be stupid enough to place at much information on a tipster without actually knowing them and discussing with them. He was sure that Ray knew the person who gave this information, and he wanted the name of that person at any cost. Even he was under pressure. "Ray, I''m sorry, but I need to ask for your phone since you aren''t cooperating with us. For national security, we are taking your phone. Since you claim that you don''t know the tipster and never talked to him, then you wouldn''t need to worry about anything, right?" Mark inquired as he squinted his eyes. "Of course, not at all. Here, you can go wild with my phone. I''m not lying, so I have nothing to fear," Ray said as he confidently handed over the phone up Mark. "Sigh, I''m sure you already took all the precautions to make sure that we don''t find anything from your phone, but as I said, you can be rest assured, we aren''t taking your phone thinking that we can find the tipster using it," Mark let out as he took over the phone. He and Sui left the room. After they stepped out, Mark gave the phone to Sui. "Sui, after we are done here, give this phone to forensics. I want you to get the contacts of Ray and all the details about the people he called recently. I''ll handle the rest from there." Mark''s plan was simple. He wished to see the contacts of Ray to find the tipster but not only that, but he also wished to see who else Ray was in contact with to make sure he covered all bases. While schemes were going on in the FBI headquarters, Ryder and Alice were going around the Jigglybuff mall, seeing the various attractions that this place had. There were water fountains on the floors. Small Trains that led people to different sections of the mall and even the staircase that had games on them. The staircase had some screen technology used, which tracked the motion of feet. It made the images of squishy slimes on the stairs that the people going up or down needed to step on. If a person broke the record of the lost slimes squished in the time the bottom stair took to reach the top, then the person was rewarded heavily. Ryder didn''t play the silly game, but Alice played the game with full zeal. She stepped on all the smiles she could before they disappeared; however, she still failed to break the record. Seeing the depressed look on Alice''s face, Ryder gently rubbed her head. He softly said, "You can try again when we go to higher floors." "Right. I''m already enjoying being here," Alice said as she hugged Ryder''s hand. The two of them spent the rest of their day together, going on rides inside the place, eating icecreams, fast food, and even shopping a little. It was only at night when the two of them left the place. Ray was in a room that had a glass window looking outside. Even though he wasn''t arrested, he was kind of under house arrest. He wasn''t allowed to leave his room. There was only a single bed in his room. There was also a small camera placed on all four corners of the room. Ray walked towards the window and looked outside, bored. ''I don''t think they can find anything even if they trace my call details. They have no idea who they are dealing with. As for me, I can easily take care of myself. They can''t do anything to me without proof. At least, he can be safe, fighting against the Dark Uprising,'' Ray thought as he looked outside. Cough! Cough! He abruptly started coughing intently as he saw something he initially thought to be his imagination. He closed his eyes and rubbed them to make sure before he looked outside again, but he was still seeing the same. He could see Ryder walking with Alice on the streets. ''Why is he here?!'' he thought. Chapter 414 - 410: Blood ''Why is he here? Is he looking to get caught?'' Rale thought as he saw Ryder walking on the streets. He had thought that Ryder would lay low for a while since Ray was caught. He didn''t expect him to come here. ''Is he worried that I''ll expose him?'' he thought as he sighed. ''He''s here to silence me?'' Bad thoughts were floating in his head. He soon shook his head. ''It can''t be. He wouldn''t bring his sister here. Why did he come then? Sigh, I hope he isn''t caught,'' he thought before he turned back. He knew that he was being recorded, so he didn''t say anything. He even kept his expressions mostly normal. He walked back and sat on his bed. Just as Ray turned back, Ryder happened to look towards the building once more. He couldn''t see through the glass, so he didn''t see Ray. He was simply wondering which floor that guy might be at. He and Alice went back to the hotel as it was already late at night. The suite had two rooms, each with a Queen Sized bed. Alice walked to her room and fell asleep. Ryder wanted to do some thinking, but he wanted to give some rest to his body as well so it could be in its optimal condition in the morning. He wore the Divinity Glasses and dove into the world of Divinity to spend his night there. He wanted to do his thinking while he was hastening to go back to the Demon Realm. "I''m here. Let''s continue," he told Rale as soon as he found himself in the world of Divinity. Rale held Ryder''s hand and started flying once again. Ryder soon flew above the Kingdom where the Princess was waiting for him, but he decided against going down and greeting her since it was going to take a long time. He needed to meet her, meet the King, make an excuse, and leave. That was all an unnecessarily long process since he was in a hurry. As he and Rale flew, he tried to come up with a plan to break inside the FBI base. ''There would be cameras everywhere, so I can''t go in without getting caught. I can only change my face with someone else. That is a pretty easy part. The problem is that I can only do that with someone I touch, and that person would see me transform,'' he thought as he tried to come up with a better plan. "I can do it like that. Right. I can wear a mask and do it. No one would see my real face or my face being transformed. After that, it''s all about entering. Since I''m already taking a risk like that, I might as well disguise myself as an agent.'' ''Alright. It''s decided. The entire day tomorrow will be used to find the perfect target that I can use. After that, it would be easy to enter the place. As an agent, I can also roam much more freely without getting caught. I''ll be able to use the authentication as well. Perfect. I can easily find Ray and the Director. Killing that person isn''t going to be trouble either as long as I find him alone. Escaping would be even less of a hassle.'' With this line of thought, Ryder realized that what he thought to be complicated was much more simpler. In his mind, it was an easy mission that was almost finished. The crux of the plan rested on finding a perfect guy to impersonate, which was why he gave it the whole day. The day after that was the day of the game when he was going to actually enter and do the killing. A smile formed on his face as a much more relieved look appeared on his face now that he was free of worrying. "Your Highness, you have been looking stressed since you arrived. I am glad to see you look happy now," Rale told Ryder. "Oh? You didn''t ask why I was stressed?" "I assumed it was for the safety of the Realm. I didn''t ask you regarding that since I myself worry about that. Seeing you relaxed, it''s pretty good. I''m glad," Rale said softly as he smiled. He was not only worried for the Demon Realm but for Ryder as well. He could see that Ryder had come here to have an adventure in the outer world. He could understand that Ryder had lived in the outer world for a long time. From what he had heard, Ryder only entered the Demon Realm recently on the commands of the Previous King to get some experience. It was obvious that someone who lived in the outer world for most of his life was going to have a hard time adjusting to the Demon Realm. Ryder not only adjusted but helped them all so much. He even put his life in danger so many times. He was glad that Ryder was taking a trip outside to relax. That''s why he didn''t resist whether Ryder wished to go out. He didn''t even tell anyone about it. Rale had never broken the rules in his life. It was a rule that whenever the King or Prince left the Kingdom, the High Dukes needed to be informed. It was Rale''s responsibility to inform them, but he hid it. If it was ever exposed, the punishment was massive. Rale could not only lose his position, but there was a chance that he was going to be executed for putting the life of Ryder in danger by not stopping him or informing the others. Despite such a scary punishment, Rale didn''t stop Ryder. Neither did he inform the High Dukes. He didn''t even tell Ryder about this rule because he didn''t want Ryder to be tied to the Demon Realm as if he was prisoned for the sake of Rale. Ryder still had no idea the risk that Rale was taking by doing all this. After some time, they reached the forest where they had appeared after they jumped out of the portal. Ryder checked the messages to see if he had Shu''s reply since he couldn''t see messages after he entered the Demon Realm. Unfortunately, there were no messages. ''Just where exactly is that guy?'' he thought in concern. Unfortunately, he couldn''t do anything. Ryder brought a golden key out of his inventory and raised it towards the sky. The key started shining, and soon, a portal opened before them. "Let''s go and see what''s the commotion that you feel," Ryder muttered as he stepped inside the portal. Rale entered the portal after him. The two of them appeared in the room, which had five doors. The door behind them closed after Rale had stepped out. After making sure that Rale was here, Ryder started walking towards the stairs that led to the ground floor. At the end of the stairs, there was a for which required another key to exit or enter, which only Ryder had. Ryder unlocked the door and went left with Rale. "I smell blood." This was the first thing that Rale said as soon as he stepped out. His words gave Ryder an ominous feeling. Blood? Did the Death Domain really attack? The first thing he did was run towards the door outside the palace. There were always guards that were outside. He found it the fastest way to make sure if the Death Domain attacked or not. If the guards were safe, that means they weren''t under attack, and if the guards were dead, it meant that they were in danger. Rale ran beside Ryder to keep him safe in any situation. Ryder opened the main door and stepped outside. "Your Highness!" As soon as he stepped outside, the guards got down on one knee and greeted him with full respect. "Did someone attack us?" Ryder asked the guards. "Attack?" The guards asked, clearly looking confused. From their reaction, it was evident that nothing strange had happened. Everything seemed to be normal. "Nothing. It''s nothing," Ryder muttered softly as he turned back. He walked back inside the Palace. The guards closed the doors again. Ryder gazed at Rale and said, "What were you talking about? Blood? You must be wrong. No one attacked us. Why should there be blo-" As he was talking, he suddenly stopped as his face turned pale. "F.u.c.k!" He suddenly cursed as he ran towards the stairs. Without stopping, he ran upstairs. ''Oh god, Don''t tell me it''s Miyali. I thought she would be living a decent life here. Did something happen to her? I completely forgot to go and interact with her because of other matters. She is a half-Vampire. If she turns, she will cause an onslaught. If it isn''t an outer enemy, it must be an inside one. Please don''t let it be her, or I''ll be in a big mess,'' he thought as he continued running towards her room. He soon reached there. He opened the room, only to get stunned. He didn''t seem happy with what he saw. Chapter 415 - 411: Fired? As soon as Ryder opened the room of Miyali, he was appalled. He saw five bodies lying inside the room. All five bodies were of maids that worked in the palace. Their bodies also seemed pale and dry as all their blood had dried up. "It is that girl. Just what the heck happened. I heard that she wouldn''t turn if she got to drink real blood once every few weeks. How come she turned? Could it be that she didn''t get to drink? Or she refused to drink beast blood," Ryder muttered in confusion as he stepped inside the room. Rale was near him. He also looked stunned, but he didn''t say anything about it. He knew this place belonged to Miyali, who was with Ryder. He had also expected that Miyali wasn''t a pure demon. He had guessed something when last time he talked to Ryder about half-vampires and how they turned bloodthirsty if they didn''t eat for some time. They were outside at that time. After hearing that information, Ryder had hurried back to here. That was a moment when Rale got suspicious. After that, he heard that Ryder had told the maids to bring wild uncooked beasts to Miyali''s room, which confirmed his suspicions. He had realized that Miyali was a half-vampire who needed to drink blood at some time. He still didn''t tell him that he knew. He let a half Vampire stay here since he trusted Ryder and his decisions. He hadn''t expected something like this to happen, though. This was a massacre. He waited for Ryder to tell him himself. Ryder looked all around the room but didn''t find Miyali. He turned back and looked at Rale, who was following behind silently. "You aren''t asking anything?" He asked. "Do you already know?" "Know what?" Rale asked ignorantly. "Fine. I will tell you. Miyali is a half Vampire. I think she lost control of herself. I don''t know how it happened or the reasons behind it. She is the type of person that hates violence. She lived on things that we eat. But as you said, half Vampires need blood once in a while, too, no matter how nice they are. She was handling that with beast blood." "I had arranged for beasts to be delivered to her regularly, so she doesn''t have to suffer. I don''t know what happened or why it happened, but something terribly went wrong," he muttered. "Yeah. It doesn''t seem like her normal self. She lost control," Rale answered. Ryder walked towards the door and stepped outside. "Since the guards outside don''t know, that means she hasn''t left the palace yet. We need to find her." "Do you have a way to find her fast?" he asked Rale, wondering if he had a way to find her. "I can''t. I wish I did," Rale answered, sighing. The two of them ran till the end of the corridor, which further split into two. "Let''s separate. We can cover more grounds," Ryder told Rale before he ran towards the left side. Rale, however, didn''t go to the right side and followed Ryder instead. "What are you doing?" Ryder asked, sternly. "I can''t leave you alone at times like this. Your life can be in danger," Rale answered softly. "Rale, I''m telling you. I can protect myself. Didn''t you say yourself that I''m as strong as the High Dukes, according to your estimates? We can separate for a few minutes, and then we can search. That doesn''t mean something will happen to me," Ryder responded, looking upset. "Your Highness, I know you can possibly keep yourself safe, but I can''t ignore the risk. I am to be your sword and shield. I can''t be left behind. I apologize," Rale answered without backing off. "Sigh, so you''re really ignoring my commands? You know how grave of a crime that is?" Ryder asked, sighing. "I will accept any punishment after we are done with the problem at hand. I wouldn''t resist even if I get the death penalty. As long as I can keep you safe until my last breath, that''s enough," Rale answered, not backing off. "Sigh, what am I going to do with you? You always get this serious. Rale, honestly. Miyali won''t be able to hurt me. I am strong," Ryder insisted again. "You go search the other way." "I can''t leave you alone," Rale denied the request again. "Sigh, fine. I hope we are searching the right way. If she is in the right, it would be a lost opportunity," Ryder muttered, sighing. Rale was also concerned about that, but he didn''t leave Ryder''s side. He could let more people die, but he couldn''t see Ryder get injured because he wasn''t there to protect him. "I thought Miyali was strong. She was taking care of this place. How come she didn''t stop it? Could it be that she is also...?" Ryder muttered, but he didn''t finish his thought. "Miyali isn''t as strong as the Dukes, but she should be strong enough to handle an inexperienced half Vampire like Miss Miyali," Rale answered. "If she was here, she should have been able to handle Miss Miyali." "Are you saying that he left the Palace unsupervised?" Ryder asked. "It is either that or she... She was attacked from behind when she was unaware," he continued. " Sigh, so she''s either out or dead?" Ryder asked, sighing. "I hope it''s not the latter." "Me too," Rale nodded. The two of them kept flying through the corridor. Ryder was also using his ability to the fullest since he didn''t have time to spare. "Sigh, the High Dukes are going to climb over my head after they find out what happened. It''s going to be a mess dealing with them," Ryder muttered, sighing. "Yeah. He wouldn''t be happy to know that you were keeping a Vampire in your palace without them knowing. And they would be especially upset since the Vampire killed so many people," Rale muttered. "They can''t fire me, right?" Ryder asked, confused. "Fire?" Rale asked, not understanding the meaning. "Oh, I mean, can they remove me from the position of the Prince?" He asked. Ryder was wondering if four high Dukes had the authority to remove him from the position of the Prince? If that happened, it was going to be a big problem. "Remove you from the position? It''s impossible to do that unless you betray the Kingdom by joining the enemy and attacking our own. They can''t do it for something like this. They can claim that you were working with Vampires, but they can''t prove that you had a hand in the death of anyone. I will be a witness as well," Rale answered. "At worst, we can just tell the truth that we weren''t even here at the time of this assault. It would be exposed that we were going out secretly, but you would be safe from blame," he continued. Rale still didn''t tell Ryder the whole truth. If Rale did tell the truth about them leaving, Rale would be the one leaving his position and possibly have execution, but he didn''t tell Ryder that. Ryder''s well being was most important to him. Ryder didn''t realize the depths that were involved. He was just relieved to know that he wasn''t going to be fired. He was still going to try to keep everything under wraps, though. He still didn''t wish to have things come out in the open. He was still going to try and cover-up. At worst, he was going to tell the Second High Duke the truth since they were close to each other. He could take his help. With the help of one High Duke, it was going to be safe. Ryder kept flying through the corridor. "There''s more blood in this room," Rale suddenly exclaimed as he looked to the side. Ryder stopped and turned back. He walked towards the room that Rale was looking at. He kicked the door open and stepped inside. "Sigh... More," Ryder muttered as he saw more dead bodies in the same condition "Rale, the half Vampires go in thirst mode when they don''t get blood for a long time. Shouldn''t she be back to normal after she had blood? Why did she continue killing?" Ryder asked Rale. "It''s much easier to control the Vampire self from going crazy by giving your body blood once in a while, but it''s different when they go crazy. Especially if it''s their first time going through that." "If it''s their first time, they will go crazy, drink blood and return to normal. They think that they are fine, but it doesn''t last even two hours. If they don''t drink blood in the next two hours, they lose complete control over themselves and become bloodthirsty," Rale answered. "So she can''t return now?" Ryder asked. "She can, but it''s uncertain how long her bloodthirst will last. It might be over in a day, or it can last for weeks. It''s different for everyone," Rale muttered as he sighed. Chapter 417 - 413: Caught Miku saw the face of Miyali, who was covered in blood as if she had just finished feeding on the blood. "So you''re a Vampire. Did his Highness know? Or were you hiding this from him as well? Whatever being the case, I can''t let you roam around freely," Miku muttered as she looked at the bodies on the ground. "You have already killed enough." Miyali''s face looked as emotionless as ever. She simply looked at Miku as if she was looking at a prey who was nothing but a blood bag for her. There was a moment of silence, which seemed like it lasted for an eternity; however, it was not even a second. The two women disappeared from their position at the same time. There were ten meters of distance between the two previously, which was reduced to only a meter within a second. Miyali threw her hand towards the neck of Miku to grab her by the neck, whereas Miku threw a punch towards the chest of Miyali. Both of their hands moved just as fast; however, Miku''s hand seemed to be a few seconds faster as her fist landed on Miku''s cheat when the hands of Miyali were only a few inches away from her neck. The punch that encompassed all the strength of Miku landed on the chest of Miyali, crushing her chest. Miyali flew back like a broken doll, crashing on the wall in the back. The wall broke as the force of the impact was so powerful. Miyali crashed in a different room as she coughed out a mouthful of blood. The bones of her chest were broken, and she wasn''t able to sit up. Her bones started healing because of her vampire abilities, but their speed of healing was slow. She couldn''t heal in enough time as Miku was already standing near her. Her healing was still going to take a few more minutes, but she didn''t have much time since her life was already in jeopardy. Miku raised her feet and stomped on Miyali''s chest again. "Your healing is slow. Too bad for you that I know all about your kind. In the time you heal, I can break you ten times more," Miku let out as she smiled. She kept stomping on Miyali, who wasn''t able to resist. "How does it feel to beat weaker people? Did you enjoy killing innocent maids? Unfortunately, I can''t be as cruel as you. Still, I can at least keep you in prison. His Highness can decide on your punishment later," she continued, but she didn''t stop stomping. "Miku, what''s happening here?" Just as Miku was busy stomping on Miyali, a voice fell on her ears. "Y-your Highness?" Miku exclaimed as she turned back. "Oh, you caught her," Ryder muttered as she saw Miyali lying on the ground, unconscious. "She is already unconscious. You can stop beating her," he let out as he smiled wryly. "Rale, take Miyali and keep her imprisoned until she recovers. I''ll interrogate her later about how it happened later," Ryder told Rale as he sighed. Rale nodded his head as he stepped forward. "Move aside, Miku," he told Miku, who had her feet on Miyali''s chest. "Ah, right," Miku muttered as she moved back. "Your Highness, I was called by Miss Feline. To not get you caught, I went to her palace to help, saying you had given me permission. When I came back, I saw this. I hope you forgive me for taking action," Miku explained to Ryder, hoping that he doesn''t misunderstand. "It''s fine. I understand what happened. We will discuss this later," Ryder muttered as he sighed. "Take care of the bodies. I want the entire palace cleaned, and no information should leak out. I will interrogate her first to know what happened before we decide what course to take," Ryder told Miku. "You understand, right?" "Yes. It shall be done. I''ll take a short trip to see how many people are alive while I take care of the bodies," Miku replied. She understood how it was important to handle this matter carefully, so it doesn''t get out of hand. If things were handled inappropriately, the High Dukes might have been angered. She decided to help Ryder as she believed that he wasn''t a traitor. Ryder stepped out of the room. Rale was carrying Miyali, whose hands were tied. They walked to the Throne Room. Rale placed Miyali before Ryder. "Rale, what do you think we should do. Should we keep her imprisoned in a cell, or is it faster if we stay before her eyes?" Ryder asked Rale. "We should lock her up. The time in both cases would be the same, but we can keep her out of eyes if we keep her in a cell. If someone comes, we can''t be carrying her," Rale explained to Ryder. "That''s true. Fine. Take her in the cell. You are responsible for checking up on her every day," Ryder let out as he nodded his head. "I''ll be going now. I''ll talk to you in the morning. I''m sure you can handle the rest. The palace should be cleaned at night. I''m trusting you," he told Rale as he opened the logout screen. Ryder tapped on the log-out option, which brought him out of the world of Divinity. Ryder appeared in the real world, where he was lying on his bed. He tried to move his hand but realized that someone was on his left hand, stopping it from moving. Using his left hand, he took off the Divinity Glasses and looked to the side. "Alice?" Ryder muttered softly as he saw the peaceful sleeping face of Alice, which was resting in her hand. Her hand was lying on his chest. "When did she come here?" he muttered in confusion. He placed the glass in his inventory. Picking up the phone, he checked the time. ''It''s only five, but I need to hurry since it''s important today," he muttered as he looked at the time. He used his right hand to raise Alice''s head before he pulled out his left hand. He gently placed down her head before he got off the bed. He hurriedly brought some less noticeable clothes out of his bags that were black and walked into the shower room. While Ryder was showering, Alice woke up. She still seemed sleepy as she had just woken up. Her eyes weren''t even fully opening as she was so sleepy. She walked to the bathroom, which was attached to the shower room, unaware that she wasn''t in her room. At night, she saw a rat in her room. She ran out in fear and closed the door. Unable to step into her room in fear, Alice could only go into Ryder''s room. As she entered his room, she saw him lying on the bed, wearing Divinity Glasses. She laid beside him and soon fell asleep. As she woke up in the morning, she forgot that she wasn''t in her room, but Ryder''s as she stepped inside the bathroom. "Hmm? Is someone here?" She muttered in confusion, still sleepy as she slid the glass door to the side. She could see the back of a man who had his eyes closed. Ryder had shampoo in her head, which was sliding down her face. He couldn''t see as his eyes were closed, but Alice''s eyes opened wide as she saw Ryder. A scream was about to escape her lips, but she covered her mouth to make sure that no voice came out of her mouth. Ryder''s back was facing her, so she couldn''t see anything more. She decided to slowly walk back and get out of this place; however, that''s Whalen Ryder turned back as he started rubbing the back of his head. As he turned back, that proved to be the final straw as there were no covers between the two. Alice could see Ryder''s n.a.k.e.d body before her eyes. Water was dripping down his body, highlighting his chiseled body and well-toned muscles. Alice stopped moving back as her eyes started moving down from her chest. Her face was as red as a Tomato as her heartbeat at the speed that she rarely experienced. The more her gaze went down, the more her heartbeat increased until her gaze was right above his waist. Just a bit more, and she was going to see his thing that she wasn''t supposed to. Her mind was telling her not to do it and to go back, but her heart was beating fast, and there was some inexplicable feeling inside her heart that was making her think that she needed to do it. Ultimately, she couldn''t take it anymore as she finally lowered her gaze and saw every bit of Ryder. She could see the thing between his legs that seemed long but not too long. She wondered if that''s how it was supposed to be as it was kind of her first time properly seeing it. She didn''t know that it was because he wasn''t hard and he was showering. Chapter 418 - 414: Spying Alice''s eyes rested on the place where it shouldn''t have been, but she didn''t seem to care. She could see that Ryder couldn''t see because of shampoo, and his eyes were closed. She wanted to leave but she couldn''t at the same time. After finishing the shampoo, Ryder reached out his hand to find the knob to turn on the shower. Seeing that, Alice slowly walked back since she knew that he would be able to see after he did that. She left the bathroom and went back to her room, where she used the toilet. Ryder turned on the shower, which fell over his head. He rinsed his head as the shampoo slid down. After a few more minutes, he turned off the shower. He picked up the shower and started wiping the body as he walked out of there, only to get stunned after seeing the door open. He remembered closing the door. How was it open? Did someone enter? He thought as he frowned. He looked around, but he didn''t find anyone. He wrapped the towel around his waist before he stepped out. "She isn''t sleeping? Could it be that she?" He muttered as he wondered. He knew that he couldn''t do anything even if she saw since she wasn''t saying anything. Asking anything was only going to embarrass her. He closed the door of his room before he started getting dressed. He dressed in black clothes and made sure that his clothes were the least standing out. He soon left the room. "Alice?" He called out as he opened the door of her room. Alice was covering herself with a blanket, pretending to be sleeping, but Ryder had a feeling that she was up. "I am going to work. I can be late tonight. Don''t wait for me. Use room service to order food and don''t leave the room," he told Alice before he left. Ryder left the hotel and walked towards the FBI headquarters. It was only 6 in the morning. Ryder knew that the FBI office always had agents inside, but he still went so early to find people that were going to start their work after 6. He wanted to find one such guy and observe him without being caught. After walking for twenty minutes, he found a completely empty street which was surrounded by tall buildings on both sides. He entered the street and decided to hide his face. He wore black gloves on his face and changed his shoes, and brought another one of the masks that he had purchased. The mask this time was from another popular character nowadays. It was the main character of a famous series called Tokemon. The character was called Tash Retchum, who was a kids'' favorite. Ryder wore the mask with his face to hide his real face. After getting ready, he took one last glance at his surroundings. After making sure he was completely alone, he started using his abilities and flew up. He flew straight up to the top of the building and landed on it. After making sure there was no one on the roofs and no helicopters around, he left his conservations and flew straight towards the FBI building. It didn''t take him long to get near the building; however, he didn''t go straight to the building. He stopped in the nearest building that was even taller than the FBI headquarters. He decided to stay there. He brought out his binoculars, which he was going to use to keep an eye on the entrance of the building to find his perfect prey. For the next hour, he kept an eye on the entrance and soon found a guy he thought had a high enough authority. It was a man who had come in a black sedan. The man was dressed in a white shirt and black coat. He commanded an authoritative aura that made Ryder feel like he had a pretty high position. The agents at the entrance also greeted him with full respect, which made him even more sure that the person was the one he needed. Ryder watched the man enter the place. After that, he started waiting. He waited for the man to come out of the building. He realized the wait was going to be long since there was a good chance that the man wasn''t going to come out until the evening, but he had already prepared for the wait. While he was waiting, he also did something else. He had noticed the direction that the car came from. It was mostly certain that the man lived in that direction, but he couldn''t wait there as that was going to attract a lot of attention, so he did something else. He decided to change places, so he could be sitting in a building in that direction. He wanted to be closer to the car when it left the headquarters so that he didn''t need to chase after it as much. He once again found the right opportunity before he flew over to the other side of the FBI headquarters and landed on the building. He again positioned himself to make sure that he couldn''t be seen by anyone before he continued keeping watch. The day started passing. Time seemed to be moving as slow as a snail. Since Ryder was waiting, it moved even slower for him. He decided to do some time pass, but as he couldn''t use his phone or take his eyes off, the only thing he could do was to call someone. As he thought to call someone, two names came to his head¡ª Esmi and Herriet. He had last talked to the two of them at the same time, which wasn''t that long ago. He was much closer to Esmi, so he called her first. After only two rings, Esmi picked up the call. "You finally remembered me, did you?" She asked, sounding upset. "What do you mean? We last talked the day before yesterday. It''s not even been that long," Ryder asked, smiling wryly. "Are you out of the city?" Esmi asked suddenly. "How do you know?" Ryder asked, stunned at the fact that she knew. "It''s nothing. Bastion came back to the city. He went to meet you at the new address you had given. He came back to inform me that you left the city, which was surprising since you didn''t tell me," Esmi explained, sighing. Ryder could feel that this call was turning into a complaint call at this point. "It all happened so fast, and the stress of work, I couldn''t tell you. I called you to tell you about it now," he made an excuse. He knew that it wouldn''t work, so before Esmi could point anything, he changed the topic subtly. "Why didn''t he call me, though? He went to meet me and didn''t even call? Is everything alright?" He asked. "I know you''re changing the topic, but I''ll let it go now," Esmi muttered, shaking her head. "I don''t know why. I think he brought a gift for you from his journey. He probably wanted to give you a surprise. That''s why he didn''t tell you, I think. After finding out that you were out of the city, he came back." "Did you see what gift he brought?"Ryder asked, curious. "I''m not sure," Esmi asked, shaking her head. "Alright. I''ll come back and meet him to see myself. That aside, did you find anything about the guys behind contracting to kill Bastion?" Ryder inquired. "You don''t have to worry about that," Esmi answered. "The right people will be dealing with that stuff." Their conversation continued lightly about random things before it changed to some spicy topics, which even made Ryder stunned. He couldn''t believe this was a conversation he was having when he was out on such a serious mission, but he didn''t deny. He engaged in the conversation properly, which lasted for two hours. After two hours, Ryder disconnected the call since Esmi needed to get to some work. After being done with her, he called Herriet to ask her how work was going and how things were progressing. He had already suggested to her the plans to make the Aviation Branch more successful, which was something he had copied from the main timeline where Herriet had come up with them on her own. Herriet made her company rise to the top using them, but now that she was part of Ryder''s company, he gave her those ideas himself since he couldn''t wait for her to come up with the ideas herself. "Yeah. If everything goes the way planned, we could be really profitable," Herriet told Ryder as she smiled. "We can make a commotion in the business world." "That''s what my plan is. We won''t only create commotion, but we would create explosions that will have everyone talking about us for months to come. It''s just going to be the start," Ryder answered as he smiled. "Alright. I''ll call you later. Something important has come up," he said as he noticed his target come out of the building. Chapter 419 - 415: Thief "I''ll call you later," Ryder let out as he disconnected the call after he saw his target leaving the headquarters. He kept the phone in his pocket before he got ready to jump down. He walked to the other side of the roof and jumped down where no one was supposed to see him. He walked all around the building to get to the main road where the car was supposed to pass from. He started waiting on the corner of the street. He had already removed the mask by now since he didn''t need that anymore. The man who Ryder was waiting for, entered his car and left the vicinity. He drove towards where Ryder was standing. At the sight of the car, a grin formed on Ryder''s face. He could see the blonde man driving the car. He hurriedly walked on the road as if he was in a hurry to get to the other side. He made his timing just perfect so he would be right before the car, almost hitting it. The blonde man was driving at regular speed; however, he didn''t know that right at the end moment, a man was going to jump before him. He hastily pressed the break, which still wasn''t enough to stop the car on time. The bonnet of the car touched the knees of Ryder, hitting him. Ryder rolled over the car, falling behind it. "F.u.c.k!" The blonde man cursed as he stepped out of the car to check up on Ryder. "Are you fine?" He asked Ryder, who fortunately seemed uninjured. "Ah, I''m fine. I don''t think I''m hurt," Ryder replied as he smiled apologetically. He stood up and waved his hand, gesturing that he was fine. "Hmph, next time, walk more carefully. I don''t want to have to deal with dead bodies outside my field of work." After hearing that Ryder was fine, the blonde man stopped focusing on Ryder. He warned him a little before he turned back. He entered his car and left. Watching the car leave, Ryder smiled as he crossed the road. "Don''t worry. You won''t be dealing with dead bodies. I will be the one dealing," Ryder muttered softly as he smirked. The blonde man didn''t know that the accident was fully planned by Ryder with only one goal. The goal was to place a tracker on the car so he could know the house of the guy. He couldn''t beat the man in public. As for chasing the car, that was another tough job with a rare probability of success. So he formulated this plan. Now that the tracker was placed, he could simply wait for the night to get to work and start the new day as the Blonde haired man. After placing the tracker, he started relaxing. He went to a small restaurant nearby to have a light meal since he hadn''t eaten anything while waiting since the morning. He ordered a burger and a few French Fries to go along with it. He also had a glass of coffee. Even after that, he still felt a little hungry, so he continued ordering. Only when he was satisfied did he stand up. He paid the bill along with the tip before he left the place. He checked the location of the car once again, which was finally showing to be stable. "Looks like he''s finally home. Better start now," Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the location that the tracker was showing. He took a cab along the way, which he used to drop him at a mall near the location. From there, he walked on foot and soon reached a big house. The tracker was showing this house, meaning the car was somewhere inside in the parking lot; however, he couldn''t be sure since the doors were closed and there was a guard at the door. There was also a security camera placed there, which Ryder worked hard to avoid. The house was a 3-floor building which seemed like it could very well belong to more than one people. There wasn''t any other way to enter except from the main entrance. The walls were too high for any normal man to jump, leaving only one path to enter, which was secured. Fortunately for Ryder, he wasn''t a normal man, so he didn''t need to take the risk of trying to infiltrate through the main path. He could easily pass through any wall no matter how tall it was as long as he hadn''t used all his flying time. It was proving to be a really useful ability for sneaking inside. He once again walked to the less guarded side of the house carefully before he covered his face with the same mask. He flew straight up and landed on the wall that surrounded the house. After looking around, he flew straight to the balcony of the house, which had a glass window. He tried opening the window, but it happened to be locked, leaving him no other option but to use the various gadgets that he had purchased. As he was more and more involved in breaking in, he had decided to buy the items normally instead of using his Origin Points in the system store. He had brought a laser pen that was capable of cutting the glass. He turned on the pen, which released a red laser, which was later used by Ryder to cut the glass of the window. He cut the glass in a rectangular shape. After cutting the glass, he used the gloves with suction to pull out the piece of glass that was cut. He placed the glass to the side before he entered the house. As soon as he entered, the first thing he did was to check for cameras to see if there was anything like that there. He didn''t find any cameras in the room or the hallway outside. He walked inside the empty-looking house, trying to find the man. The entire house was brightly lit, but no one could be seen. Ryder could also see dirt on the ground as if there wasn''t a servant to clean the place. He was getting confused. Was it the right place, or was it some temporary meeting place where the guy was meeting someone else? He searched the entire floor but didn''t find anyone. There was furniture, but it didn''t seem like it was used in a long time. He soon reached the stairs using which he went to the ground floor. It was only then did he find something. A door was open, and he could hear some noise coming from inside. He brought a tranquilizer gun from his inventory and got ready to shoot the man if he saw. He slowly walked towards the room. Entering the room, he soon found the guy he was looking for. The man seemed like he was looking for something in a safe that was embedded in the wall. From the back view, Ryder was sure that the man was the one he was looking for. He had blonde hair and the same height. He was also wearing the same clothes. Ryder aimed his gun before he pulled the trigger. The tranquilizer hit the neck of the man, who had a painful grunt. He opened his mouth, but no voice came out of his mouth. The effects of the tranquilizer were so fast that he couldn''t even turn back to see who had hit him. His vision went blurry before he dropped to the ground. Ryder stepped forward and turned the guy over to see his face. He wanted to make sure he got the right guy. "Yeah. He is the same," Ryder muttered as he picked up the unconscious man over his shoulders. He walked upstairs with the man on his shoulders. He walked to the top floor and dropped the man on the ground. He tried to find a wire to tie the man. Even though he was unable to find a wire, he did find a rope. He used the rope to tie the hands of the man properly. He knew that man was probably an agent, so he might have ways of untying himself; that''s why Ryder took proper precautions. After tying the man, he started waiting for him to wake up. The tranquilizer effects weren''t long lasting, so they started wearing off after an hour. The blonde man slowly opened his eyes as he looked around. It took him a brief moment to be able to see clearly since his vision was blurry when he woke up. Aas his vision cleared, he saw a man standing in front of him. The man was wearing what seemed like the mask of an animated character. "Who are you?" He asked, confused. "Hmm?" He soon realized that his hands and feet were tied. "Are you a thief? Do you know who you are dealing with here? I''m warning you. Free me and leave or you don''t know how you might suffer," he threatened Ryder. In his mind, Ryder was probably a thief who was looking for valuables. Chapter 420 - 416: Game "A thief? Maybe I am," Ryder muttered as he smiled. He was talking in a different accent than his normal one and using a rich voice to make it difficult for the man to realize who he was. "I''m warning you. You don''t know who you''re dealing with. I am from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a thief, you''re not worth my time. If you free me, you can leave. I won''t stop you," the blonde man said, threatening Ryder. Ryder squinted his eyes as he gazed at the man as if he was looking at an idiot. He replied, "Why should I care who you are? From the FBI or from the government, after one bullet, you''re going to be a corpse. You know, Dead Men tell no tales. I don''t need to worry about anything. So don''t even bother trying to scare me about your position." The blonde man could sense that it wasn''t a normal robbery. The masked man wasn''t trying to find anything valuable even though he had tied the man. This felt more like a kidnapping and less like a robbery. "What do you want then?" The blonde man asked, understanding that this wasn''t what he initially thought. "What are you after?" "I am after you. You were looking at something in the safe. Unfortunately, you didn''t have the time to take it before I hit you," Ryder let out as he pulled out a doc.u.ment. "Is it right? The doc.u.ment is pretty interesting. Should I leak it in the media?" He continued as he waved the doc.u.ment. ''He saw it. I was here to take that back so I can sell the land, but he has the paper now,'' the blonde man thought, frowning. "The worth of this land is so much that I don''t think even the Director of your headquarters can buy this in his lifetime. It along with inheritance properly, but that seems to be impossible as well since this paper shows that you purchased it," Ryder let out as he gazed at the paper. He took out a wallet from his pocket. "My wallet," the blonde man called out as he recognized the wallet. "Yeah. It''s your wallet. Oh, sorry. I misspoke. This used to be your wallet. Now, this wallet belongs to this thief," Ryder said, smiling. He folded the doc.u.ment and kept it in his pocket before he opened the wallet. He pulled out the identity card of the man. "Hmm, so you''re actually an FBI member. You weren''t kidding. Assistant Director, huh? Not bad. You look young. Who would have known that you were already over 40 and had such a high position? Not bad," he muttered as he read the card. "Now that you know who I am, free me. It''s an honest mistake. I will really forgive you. If you kill me, the Entire Bureau will be after you. You won''t be able to escape. Even if I will be dead, you won''t survive either. Please don''t make the biggest mistake of your life," the Blonde haired man said again, thinking that Ryder would be more cooperative after knowing about his high position. "Well, Mister Handerson, As I said before, I wouldn''t care about you or your position. Answer me one question. Where did you get money to buy this from? Were you the one who leaked the information to Uprising?" Ryder asked, shooting an arrow in the dark. He didn''t expect it to hit its spot since there was a possibility that the man was rich enough to buy on his own, but the man''s expression gave him away. As soon as Ryder mentioned the name, the man''s face went pale, which was shocking. It was more surprising since the FBI knew that organization as a different name. The only people who knew about the real name were Ryder and Ray. Ryder was sure that other than Ray, no one knew about the real name of the organization since the FBI referred to them as BioTerror. As the man reacted, it was as if he was stunned to know that name from Ryder, making it evident that he had some link. "So I was right. You are the leak. Interesting. From what I knew, only the Director knew about the locations, but the locations were leaked. So you and the Director are working with them. It''s either that, or you used some other method to get the information from him without him knowing, is that right?" Ryder asked with an amused smile on his face. "Who are you?! How do you know about them?" Handerson asked grimly as he squinted his eyes. "Who I am doesn''t matter. What mattered was the answer which I got now," Ryder muttered as he sighed. He walked over to the window and looked outside. There was only a single guard outside who was still standing at the main entrance. Ryder brought a gun out of his pocket, which already has the silencer attached to it. He turned back and walked closer to Handerson. Seeing the gun in Ryder''s hand, Handerson was stunned. He had a bad feeling. "What do you want? Why do you have the gun? We can talk it out!" Handerson called out, looking scared. "I''m doing nothing. I''m only arranging for a game. Let me tell you the game. For every wrong answer, I''ll shoot you. And for every right answer, you''ll get one point. If you get three points, you''ll win, and you will be freed. That''s all. Simple and easy, right?" Ryder asked, smiling. "You! Stop it this instant and free me! I don''t want to play any game! Free me this instant!" Handerson protested. "Are you in a feast or something? When you''ll be allowed to leave whenever you desire? Sit there silently. I''m the king here, and only my rules will be followed. I make rules here! You either follow that, or you die without even playing. You can decide," Ryder said, smiling like the devil. "You..." The man was stunned, but he didn''t know how to react. His threat wasn''t working, and Ryder had a gun. Ryder wasn''t budging from his original position either. He could see no other option but to give in and play by his rules. "I will agree. Ask your three questions," the man said, feeling confident that he would win easily. All he needed was to answer three questions correctly in a row or at least respond in such a way that Ryder wouldn''t know that he was lying. "Alright. That''s like a good boy. Let us start then." Ryder smiled, pleased at the answer. "First question. Are you linked to the Dark Uprising? Is the Director also associated with you guys," Ryder asked. "That''s two questions," Handerson pointed out. "I told you I make the rules. It''s counted as one question," Ryder asked, smiling. The man wanted to curse Ryder for openly cheating, but he controlled himself. It was a situation where he couldn''t lose his calm, or his death was going to be the consequence of his actions. "I heard about the Dark Uprising, but I''m not working with them closely. I only leak information once in a while. Also, I don''t think the Director knows about it. I was the only one involved in leaking," The man answered. "Oh? The Director didn''t know?" Ryder said, smiling. "I told you, no lying, right?" Bang! He fired the bullet aimed at the knee of the man. As soon as the bullet "You bastard! How did you know I was lying! F.u.c.k you! You attacked randomly! There''s no way you knew I was lying!" Ryder smirked as he heard the response. It was true. He internationally asked this question since no matter what the answer was, he was going to shoot the man. In his mind, if the man was telling the truth and Ryder shot, he would curse Ryder for shooting even when he was telling the truth in anger. If the man was lying and Ryder shot, his initial response would be completely different. In that case, the response was going to be of shock. This was a testing mechanism for him; that''s why he asked the main question in the first turn. "I told you, don''t try to lie to me. I have my methods to know that you lied to me. See? Because if you lie, you lose one leg. You won''t be able to walk properly," Ryder said, sighing. "Don''t lie again. I don''t want you to lose your other leg as well," he continued "Second Question... Where is the office of the Director?" Ryder asked his second question. "On the top floor. Room 1709!" The man let out as he groaned in pain. He couldn''t even stop the bleeding since his hands were tied. ''At Least stop the bleeding now! My leg can still be saved! I answered!" He continued. "You can do that yourself after answering two more questions. I''ll free you. Then you can stop your bleeding or make it worse. I don''t care." Chapter 482 - 478: Mystical Sword An illusory clock started taking shape behind the Lord of Time as soon as the back of his spear tapped the ground. The clock only had one hand, which was pointing straight towards the sky. The Illusory Clock seemed to be made of shadows. It was dark in color, but the hand which was pointing at the sky was stark white in contrast to the color of the clock. "It''s Time!" The Lord of Time thundered as he clenched his fist and punched the ground. To punch the ground, he had to bow down, which gave the clock behind him the space to attack freely without the worries of having the Lord of Time be affected. The fist of Lord of Time crashing on the ground seemed to act as an intermediate to provide more energy to the illusory clock behind him, which seemed to have gotten more real and less Illusory. Ryder didn''t help but frown as he saw the clock. He knew what it was, and it wasn''t a good deal for him. Yet, he didn''t back off. His fist was tightly clenched, with which he punched straight ahead. A giant dark hand took shape before his fist, which seemed to be multiple times bigger than Ryder''s real fist. The hand also seemed more frightening as the dark hand seemed to be made of shadows that were even darker than what the Clock was made of. The slender fingers of the hand seemed less like the fingers of humans and more like the claws of a beast. The dark hand shot straight towards the Clock, which acted at the same time by shooting out a white ray of light to match the attack of Ryder. The dark and the white ray of light clashed with each other, effectively fighting for supremely. The Clash was so powerful that it created a powerful wave of wind that spread everywhere. The wind was powerful enough to toss any human dozens of meters away, but it wasn''t strong enough to affect Ryder and the Lord of Time that held their ground. Ryder had to stop in his tracks as he didn''t go close to the place of impact. Even though he was strong, it was because of his soul. His body was still weak. He had to be careful when dealing with such things. If it were the old him, he wouldn''t even need to use the Dark Hand to take care of the Annihilation of Time. Only good physical prowess would have been enough. Unfortunately for him, his body didn''t support him, and he had to stay effectively carefully. As the Dark Hand and the white ray of light kept clashing for supremacy, Ryder acted with swift hands as he raised his right hand towards the sky. Another dark ray shot out towards the sky, coming out of his palm, which seemed only to be an inch thick. The ray of light shot out for about Twenty meters before it stopped. Ryder caught the other end of the Ray of Light to use it as a rope. He jerked his hand to make the rope follow the Lord of Time who had just stood up. Even though it seemed like a long time had passed between the previous attacks, in reality, only a moment had passed. The Lord of Time''s fist was still on the ground, which he was slowly raising to stand up. The rope made of Dark Ray of light shot towards the Lord of Time and wrapped around his legs. The Lord of Time had barely managed to stand up when the rope suddenly wrapped around his leg. Ryder pulled the rope as soon as it got a hold of him. The Lord of Time lost his balance as he was pulled by Ryder. Ryder watched the Lord of Time being dragged towards him at the speed of light. He already seemed to have prepared for it as he freed the rope and punched out. It all happened so fast that even the person that ruled over the time couldn''t do anything when Ryder''s fist connected with his face, making him shoot straight towards the pond. The Lord of Time landed on the pond of water. Unfortunately for him, despite that, Ryder didn''t give him the time to recover as he raised both his hands towards the sky. "Come and show this place a glimpse of your true Strength!" Ryder roared in a voice full of emotions as he looked towards the Sky. The wind started moving even faster as the sky started turning red. Even the Sound of Thunder could be heard despite there being no presence of any clouds. The Sky was perfectly clear of clouds despite being covered in what seemed like the blood-red hue. The Blood Red Hue started collecting in one place, getting denser and denser. It could be seen taking shape already. The shape it was taking seemed to be of what could only be described as a silhouette of a sword. The Sword didn''t seem sharp, but it did seem to be filled with power. As for the sharpness, that didn''t seem to be possible as it was made from a misty red hue. The sword started taking shape and became denser and denser with each moment. As it became denser, the problem of its sharpness also seemed to be stopped. The Red Sword''s edge became sharper and sharper as it took shape. Within moments, the sword was complete. It seemed to be a sword that was seventh meters long and a meter wife. The hilt of the sword itself seemed to be a few meters long. As the Sword finished taking shape, it was also looking more realistic, as if it was a real sword. There also seemed to be a strange pattern on the blade of the Sword, which was incomprehensible and unclear. Only Ryder knew what that pattern meant. The Lord of Time had a moment to get to his senses after the punch that had managed to knock the lights out of his brain. He was still at the depths of the pond, but he swam upwards. As soon as he managed to get his head out of the water, his gaze fell on Ryder, who was standing at a distance. Ryder had his hand aiming towards the sky. A shade of red was visible on his face and his body which was making him look even more demonic. That wasn''t strange, though. What was strange was that the entire place seemed to have a shade of red. Curious about what it was, the Lord of Time slowly raising his head towards the sky. As soon as the Lord of Time looked towards the sky, he saw a giant sword hanging above his head. The Sword seemed to be something he recognized which made his face go pale as he blurted out, "That sword... How..." Unfortunately for him, he couldn''t ask as Ryder didn''t give him time to. Ryder started bringing his hand down slowly. As soon as his hand started moving, the Sword that was hanging above the Lord of Time''s head also started falling down. The Lord of Time tried to move out of the water, but it seemed like the presence of the sword was making him unable to move. A restriction was applied to him, which was stopping him from flying. He could only swim. The Lord of Time started swimming towards the edge of the pond to get out of here as fast as he could. Albeit, his speed seemed like the speed of a turtle compared to the giant red Sword, which appeared to be a tiger chasing after the turtle. The Turtle realized that he couldn''t get out on time. The only way to get out of it was facing the sword head-on. He raised his hand towards the sky to call out the Spear of Time which had fallen somewhere when he was punched. Unfortunately, the Spear didn''t come flying to him despite his expectations. "Looking for this?" The Lord of Time heard Ryder''s voice. He looked towards Ryder only to find the Spear of Time in his hand now. The Spear of Time was trying to get out of Ryder''s grip, but it seemed to be failing badly. It wasn''t able to get out of Ryder''s hand. "I''m sorry, my friend. But this is as far as you go," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the Lord of Time. The red Sword had reached awfully close to him "Stop everything!" The Lord of Time roared as he used the last option he had. It was to destroy this special realm and run to a different place. Unfortunately for him, this also didn''t work. "What he didn''t know was that Ryder had already cast his Domain which sealed everything inside this realm. Let alone time; not even space could be affected here anymore. He did all this to make sure that the energy that came out of this battle did not reach the other gods. Chapter 483 - 479: Apology The Lord of Time tried to break this special realm to run to a different timeline only to fail. He was inside a domain of Ryder, which stopped him from doing the things he had planned. Strangely enough, he didn''t even realize when Ryder had cast his Domain in the first place. How was it possible that he... A god of Time couldn''t know that he was in the domain of another god? Just how strong was this guy? The Lord of Time didn''t remember Ryder being this strong. Or was it that he always had an ability like this which he never used? He had so many questions that he wanted to ask. Unfortunately for him, the questions were never going to get any answers. He only now realized how late it was for him. Death was above his head, and it was going to reach him without moments. He only had the time to say one word at best. He didn''t wish to waste that one word in a question, the answer of which he wasn''t even going to be able to hear. He opened his lips as he said his last word, "Goodbye." He had only finished his word when the Sword landed on his head. Shake! Tremble! The entire special realm started trembling as soon as the sword crashed on the head of the Lord of Time. Fortunately, Ryder had already casted his domain which was the best weapon to contain this energy. If he hadn''t, the energy that came out of this attack would have been devastating. It could have destroyed the Entire Realm, and not only that, the extreme strength of it could have alerted the Lord of Space and the other gods. It was absolutely necessary for him to stop all that, and the Domain was just the tool he needed. The Destructive energy was contained inside the findings, but not much before it destroyed the entire pond and everything else in its range. It even reached Ryder, who raised his right hand to stop the impact from reaching him. A dark barrier appeared before him that stopped the devastating power that was capable of destroying his mortal body. Within minutes, the smoke and dust settled only to reveal what could only be described as a carnage. A big hole could be seen in the ground where there happened to be a pond until recently. Not even a glimpse of the Lord of Time could be seen anywhere, but Ryder knew what had happened. It was over. It was all over. The Lord of Time was never going to return. He was dead. Ryder had killed another one of his friends with his own hands. He gazed at the big crater in the ground where the Lord of Time was previously. Ryder didn''t have time to respond to the last words of his friend. He could only reply now when that man didn''t exist. He opened his lips and muttered, "Goodbye. And I''m sorry." He gazed at the Spear of Time which was in his hand. This was said to be one of the most precious items. A spear that could rule over the time. In fact, Ryder had used a small part of this spear when making the bracelet of immortality. He hadn''t told the Lord of Time, but there was a time long ago when he had borrowed the Spear of Time to hold it. That was when Ryder had taken a barely noticeable part of the spear. As it was the Spear of Time, it had the ability to heal itself. The part which was broken by Ryder healed. That was why the Lord of Time never knew how his spear was basically a part of the cursed bracelet of immortality that caused all this. Spear of Time was an item that was bound to the Lord of Time. No one except the Lord of Time could use its abilities. That''s why it was useless for Ryder. It was basically just a spear that could heal, for him. The Spear of Time disappeared from Ryder''s hands as he turned back. It was unclear where Ryder had sent it. He started walking in an unknown direction. After having taken only a few steps, a portal appeared before him. Ryder entered the Portal and disappeared from the realm that was left in a carnage. The Lord of Time was no more. Unfortunately, no one was going to know that. The special realm where the Lord of Time had gone into seclusion was still intact. In the eyes of other gods, the Lord of Time was in seclusion there. No one was going to come to check. It was unclear if it was ever going to be discovered that Lord of Time was wiped off of existence. ****** In a different part of the universe, a young silver-haired boy was walking back and forth. A look of worry was evident in Janus'' face as he walked in front of a small pond that only had two fishes¡ª the fish of Sun and the fish of moon. "I''m dead. Absolutely dead," Janus muttered as he frowned. It was at that point; a portal appeared before Janus. At the sight of the portal, it was as if Janus''s heartbeat stopped. He knew who was going to come from that portal. He instantly got down on his knees to prepare for the arrival and to have an edge. "I''m sorry! I''m sorry! I''m sorry!" Janus started yelling even before Ryder came out of the Portal. His voice only increased as soon as he actually saw Ryder. Ryder was indeed the person who had stepped out of the portal. A look of arrogance mixed with some reminisce was on Ryder''s face as he stepped out of the portal. "Does it matter now?" Ryder asked lazily as he gazed at Janus. "It doesn''t. What happened has happened, but still, please allow me to apologize. I couldn''t stop it from happening. If only I were more alert," Janus let out as he kept his head down. He didn''t even dare look into Ryder''s eyes. "If it''s about you, let alone you, even I wouldn''t be able to know. He was the ruler of time, after all. It''s fine. I don''t blame you. Stand up," Ryder let out as he walked over to the pond. "Was?" Janus muttered as he frowned. Did it mean the Lord of Time was no more? He gazed at Ryder with a face full of emotions. He could only imagine what Ryder was going through. In the Last War, Ryder had many opportunities to kill the Lord of Time and the Lord of Space, but he didn''t do it. It was because they used to be his friends. ''Sigh, this is really a mess. Even after all that, it actually came to this. I can''t say I didn''t expect this. It was the most probable outcome after he had disappeared by going back in time,'' Janus thought as he gazed at the back of Ryder, which looked somewhat lonely. He knew that it was going to be a battle between Ryder and the Lord of Time. It was because all gods could forget about Ryder coming back to life after he went back in time but not the ones that had the power of time. Janus was one of them, but the Lord of Time was in a whole different league altogether. He was never going to forget about Ryder''s return. Ryder could only kill him. But Janus had still hoped that things between them could be solved with talks. No matter how unlikely, there was still hope. Unfortunately, that hope was gone now. "These two. They''re still here," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the two fishes in the pond. Finally, a smile appeared on Ryder''s face. "Of course. I could let nothing happen to your favorites," Janus let out as he stood up. He stepped closer to the pond and stepped beside Ryder, who sat down near the pond. "These two are the only things that are still uniform in my life. I can never lose them," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the fishes. "Thank you for taking care of them. And of everyone else." "Now that you''re back, I don''t think I need to anymore," Janus let out as he smiled. "You can take care of everything now." "I can''t," Ryder let out as he gazed at his hands. "It won''t last long." "What do you mean?" Janus asked as confusion engulfed him. "The power of the Lord of Time which brought me back... Their effect is running out. I''ll have to go back soon. You''ll need to handle things for a little longer," Ryder said, shifting his gaze to Janus. "But... What about you? You''re back. Why do you have to go back? Your soul is completely awake. What are you talking about?" Janus asked. Even though he had some idea about what Ryder was talking about, he still didn''t want to believe it. "Now, you can use your powers. You should be able to find ways," he added. Chapter 484 - 480: Last Minutes "You have your powers now. You should be able to heal your soul to stay like this. Why do you have to go back?" Janus asked, not understanding why Ryder couldn''t do it. Was there really something that wasn''t possible for him? Ryder simply gazed at his brother without saying anything. After a brief pause, he finally said something, "My physique... My body won''t even adjust to my powers if I did that. Forcefully doing something like that will only destroy this body. And everything would be over." "I''m sorry. I forgot about that," Janus let out as he lowered his head. "How long do you have before... you have to go back?" Janus asked as he frowned. "I have a few minutes if I''m not wrong," Ryder muttered as he gazed towards the fishes in the pond that were swimming without a single care in the world. Even though he had told the Lord of Time that he had a day, in reality, he had much less time which decreased, even more, the more he used his powers. The ability he used, in the end, was too strong for him to use at the moment, but still, he did that. That decreased his time here, even more, leaving only a few minutes for him to meet Janus and talk. "I was thinking you could meet the Goddess of Life and Death if you had time, but you only have a few minutes. That won''t be enough," Janus muttered as he shook his head in disappointment. "The time you have is not even enough for me, let alone her," he added. Ryder heard about the Goddess of Life and Death. A smile appeared on his lips that seemed almost non-existent. But it was evident at the same time. "That girl, she must be really angry at me if I''m not wrong," Ryder let out as he gazed at Janus. "She was," Janus muttered as he smiled wryly. "Hmm?" Suddenly, a frown appeared on Janus'' face as if he was stunned. He stood up. "What happened?" Ryder asked, seemingly confused. What had happened to make this guy so shocked? " I believe I''ll have to disturb you a little bit. Some trouble is approaching you. I don''t know why I didn''t know about this last time. Was it because of the Lord of Time or something? Anyway, some trouble is going to come soon to you if you don''t take action," Janus told Ryder. "What do you mean?" Ryder asked, frowning. "Ray is a person who knows about your real identity. If that identity is exposed, people will come after you. And you''ll be sleeping when they do. I don''t think the other you can face so many people at once," Janus informed Ryder. "You can directly solve the problem by going to the source, but the source is the son of a god. That would create a bigger mess. You''ll have to stop the information from leaking. That girl can''t be allowed to be Kidnapped. I can''t go down, so you must do it," he further added. "Fine. I''ll do it myself," Ryder let out as he gazed at the sky. "Where is that girl?" he asked. Janus snapped his fingers, making a portal appear before Ryder. "She''s on the other side of the portal. Try to stay out of her sight," Janus told Ryder. Ryder didn''t respond and simply started walking towards the Portal in slow steps. "Brother!" Just as Ryder was about to step inside the portal, he heard the voice of Janus, who called out to him. "Hmm?" Ryder turned back to gaze at Janus. As soon as he turned back, a figure closed in and hugged him tightly. "I missed you so much," Janus said softly as he hugged Ryder. "I hope this all gets over soon." His voice felt like it was breaking up because of emotions as he spoke. Ryder couldn''t help but shake his head. He raised his hand and placed it over the head of Janus. "I missed you too, little guy. Sorry for leaving you alone. And I can''t tell you how proud I am of you. Father would be so happy to see you grow up so much," Ryder muttered as he rubbed Janus''s head. "Now leave me. I don''t have long," he continued as he freed himself. After freeing himself, Ryder stepped inside the Portal only to find himself in a different corner of the universe. He was inside a room. Ray''s sister was drying her hair using a hairdryer. It seemed like she had just come out of the shower. Fortunately, she was fully dressed. The girl looked in the direction of Ryder as she frowned. "What? How?" She muttered in confusion as she walked towards Ryder. As she reached near Ryder, he stepped aside and let her pass. The girl walked behind him and closed the window. "Strange. How could I forget to close the window?" She muttered before she walked back to the mirror. The door and the window were closed now. She didn''t see Ryder because he was hiding using his abilities. Ryde gazed towards the door. Even though the girl couldn''t see, Ryder was able to see through the walls now that he had his powers. Through the walls, he was able to see outside. A group of black-cloaked men could be seen standing in front of the door. It seemed like they were ready to break the doors. Ryder raised his right hand towards the door. He brought his finger and his thumb together before he snapped his fingers. Snap! A snapping sound filled the room, stunning the girl who looked around, wondering where that voice came from. Was it a knocking sound? She wondered as she walked towards the door. She opened the door and looked outside. "Huh? Who left ash here?" As she opened the door, all she saw was ash. She didn''t know that what she found to be ash used to be humans until a moment ago. The snap she had heard a moment ago not only filled the room, but it also left the room. As soon as these men heard the snap, their bodies started deteriorating. They all turned to ash. Ryder was standing behind the girl, gazing at the ash outside. More use of power had further decreased his time. He had to go back now. He didn''t have much time. He snapped his finger once again and disappeared to go back to the house where Ryder was at this point in time. As soon as he had appeared here, the Ryder of this timeline had disappeared. He was the only Ryder here. He Teleported straight to where Alice and Shu were. The only difference was that they were at the beach, whereas he had teleported inside the room. As soon as he appeared inside the room, he sat on the bed. He could feel his hand shaking. His body was at the limit. If he still didn''t leave, it was going to be destroyed. His soul had also reverted back to how it was before the Lord of Time had reverted it. Ryder laid on the bed and closed his eyes. One last change in his soul, and everything was over. The soul had reverted back to normal. The old Ryder was back, and the older Ryder had returned to the unknown. "Hmm? Where is Ryder?" Shu asked Alice. He was on the beach with her. "Hmm? He was just here. Where did he go?" Alice looked around in confusion, not finding Ryder. "Did he go back to the room?" Shu wondered as he called Ryder. Ryder''s phone rang, but he seemed to be unconscious and not picking up the phone. After not seeing the phone be picked up, Shu and Alice started getting worried. "He''s not picking up. I''ll check our rooms," Shu told Alice as he started walking back. "I''ll also come with you," Alice chimed in as she started walking back with Shu. ***** "Hah, You''re again gone, leaving me," Janus muttered as he gazed at the pond. Ryder''s favorite fishes were still swimming carefree. ****** "He''s here. He must be tired. He came back and fell asleep. He could''ve at least told us." Shu and Alice were standing before Ryder, who was lying on the bed. He seemed like he was sleeping peacefully. Alice walked over to the bed and sat beside him. "I''ll stay with him." ***** Things progressed like last time. Ryder woke up with most of his memories blurry. The only thing he knew was that he was on the beach with Alice and Shu. How did he get here? Shu and Alice went to the private jet with Ryder as it was time to go back. They entered the jet, which took to the air and led them to their home. The next event was also the same. Ryder and Alice were having dinner with Shu when they were informed of Luke''s arrival. Ryder once again denied Luke. Chapter 485 - 481: Aim The progression of things was awfully similar to the last time. There were only a few differences. The first was that Janus had told Ryder to inform Ray about the kidnap attempt on his sister. It came as a mission that was easily finished by Ryder, all to keep him away from the things that were too high level for him to understand or be part of at the moment. That wasn''t the only change in this timeline, though. Ryder had walked to the roof like last time to keep an eye on the streets to make sure nothing bad happens. As he was walking on the roof, he heard Janus'' voice once more. "Hmm? Killing Luke? And what''s happening? How come Janus is giving me a description of the mission about the reason for this mission. This wasn''t like this last time," Ryder muttered as he frowned. Previously, Janus only gave him missions while telling him what he should do and what he shouldn''t do. How come things were different this time? Or was it that Janus was finally trying to involve him more and keep him aware? In any case, now that he knew that Luke had some powers, he knew that he couldn''t just treat Luke like an average person. He needed to take extraordinary measures. "But first things first, where is that guy actually? I need to find him first. If he will cause problems for me, he must be somewhere nearby," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. "That''s right. I can use him," he let out as he thought of an idea. There was a way to make it easier. "Stanner!" He called out. A semi-transparent spirit appeared before Ryder. "Stanner, do one thing for me. Search all houses nearby and find out if Luke is staying in any of them. Come back to me fast after you finish," he added. Stanner was a Spirit that could only be seen by him. He was the best option to sneak around and find out where a person was hiding without risking anything. Stanner nodded as he started flying away. Ryder remained on the roof as he walked back and forth, waiting for Stanner''s return. He even pulled out his phone once in a while. He was already getting a lot of calls from Ray, who was apologizing to him for what he did after he had called him to tell him to have good sister change places to be safe. "Nineteen miss calls and ten messages of apology. Sigh, this guy is really regretful, it seems," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly. "But it''s better if I stay away from him. There will be too much attention on him at the moment. That attention will only fall on me if I keep utilizing him." "I thought I could use him and the FBI to take care of the enemies, but that was a bad move. Not only was I not successful, but it brought more troubles on me instead," Ryder let out as he cleared all the notifications before he opened the news articles to see what the latest news was. Apparently, the thing about Dream Corporation was all over the place. The arrest of their MD was making big headlines, and there were already rumors out that the MD had tried to kill Schumacher Maxwell. There was no mention about how, though. Ryder already knew why. He had talked to Shu about it and knew that Shu was going to leak the information about the attempt on his life. Ryder just didn''t know that he would be this fast. He also knew that Shu was keeping Necrosis hostage, and that''s why he wasn''t leaking the rumors about why the attempt on his life was made. If Necrosis didn''t go with the feel, the next day itself, rumors were going to fill the sites that Necrosis was working with the MD of Dream Corporation to kill their owner. On the other hand, if the deal went through, it was going to be a different matter altogether. Just as Ryder was going through various articles, Stanner returned to him. "You came back fast. Did you find him?" Ryder asked Stanner. "Yeah. I didn''t have to go far. He''s in that house," Stanner let out as he pointed towards the nearby house. "Interesting. As expected, he''s keeping an eye on us," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the house where Luke was staying in. "He is sitting in a room near the window that faces this mansion''s entrance. But there''s more wrong with him. There is a middle-aged couple who is tied and kept hostage, I think. They''re kept in the bas.e.m.e.nt," Stanner informed Ryder. "Oh, they must be owners of the house. I seem to remember a middle-aged couple owning the house. In any case, those guys don''t have anything to do with me. After taking care of Luke, they would be free as well," Ryder let out as he gazed towards the Window. The window was on the first floor of that house, whereas Ryder was on a higher floor in Maxwell Estate. Even though he could see the window, his angel and field of view didn''t allow him to look inside, just like the one from inside wasn''t able to see him. "Will you go straight to kill him?" Stanner asked. "Not really. If he were a normal enemy, I would have, but he isn''t. Modern problems require modern solutions. So I won''t approach him personally," Ryder muttered as he opened the screen of his system. He got a sniper gun out of the system. He gazed at the long sniper gun as he smiled, "Why should I go near him when I can handle him from far away. I wish I didn''t have to do it like this, though. There are risks to getting caught, but some risks are worth it." "For me to be successful, we need two things. First, you need to make sure that he doesn''t have binoculars or things that can help him look inside our windows. Secondly, I need his exact position to know which window in the mansion would be most suitable," he told Stanner. "He doesn''t have binoculars. As for his position..." Stanner answered Ryder in proper detail. After getting the answers, Ryder thought for a little while and tried to visualize which place would be better for this task. After thinking for a while, he shortlisted two rooms that could be perfect for this task but to select the best amongst them was going to require him going there and checking himself. After thinking for a while, he went downstairs to the first room he had selected. The sniper gun was already in his hand as he walked downstairs. Fortunately, no one inside the Palace was awake to see Ryder carrying a weapon. If someone had seen it, they might actually misunderstand him. He pushed the door open as he stepped inside the room before he raised his gun. Through the scope attached to the gun, he took an aim and tested to see if he was able to see Luke. He could see the window which Stanner had told him about, and he could also see inside, but he wasn''t able to see Luke. The wall and his position were making the angle unsuitable. Ryder lowered the gun and left the room. This was a failure. He walked over to the next room. He once again approached the window as he looked outside to throw the scope. A smile appeared on his face as he finally got a proper view. He could see Luke sitting on a chair with his eyes closed. It was unclear if he was trying to sleep or if he had actually fallen asleep. "Perfect," Ryder let out as he smiled. It was right to take aim, but he still wants to be more certain. He looked around the room and saw a table. He walked over to the table and picked it up before he brought it closer to the window. He placed the sniper gun on the table before he walked over to the window. He slid the window open after unlocking it. After opening the window, he walked back to the table that came up to his waist height. The table was still a bit small, but he always had an idea. He had a wooden box nearby that he placed above the table. The top of the box came just under his shoulder hearing. After making sure that the arrangement wasn''t unstable, he placed the gun on top of it and started taking aim with his finger on the trigger. Chapter 486 - 482: Find Her Ryder placed the gun over the stand before he started aiming it towards Luke, who was sleeping on the chair. His finger reached the trigger as he looked through the scope. He took a deep breath as he calmed his head to make sure that his aim didn''t miss. Once he shot, the bullet was going to break the window of Luke''s room. If he missed, the noise of window breaking was going to wake up Luke. Ryder didn''t wish to have this happen. The first aim was something he wanted to make his final aim. The cross in his view was on Luke''s forehead. After becoming calmer, he pulled the trigger. A bullet shot out of the gun zoomed towards the house ahead. It soon reached the window of Luke and penetrated through it. The window shattered, creating a loud noise. Luke''s eyes opened wide at the sound of the breaking of the window, but it was too late for him as the bullet penetrated his forehead as soon as his eyes opened. "Wa..." He couldn''t even finish his words as he dropped to the ground, dead instantly. Ryder placed back the gun in his inventory before he walked closer to the window. He closed the window and went upstairs once again. As he reached upstairs, he looked around the estate to see if there was any commotion amongst the guards. The house he shot at was pretty far. So the noise shouldn''t have reached here. As he looked around the Estate, he realized that it was safe. No guards seemed to have noticed. "Good. Now I should go and check. I also need to free the owners of the house that are tied. Without anyone knowing, they might die of hunger as well," Ryder muttered as he thought of some things. He placed a black cloak around him to hide his clothes. Moreover, he also donned a mask that he had worn in the previous timeline when he had gone to take care of Luke. After making sure his identity was completely hidden, he chose a route that he believed to be the best for dodging the gazes of the guards. He decided to go around the house after thinking for a while. Even though it was a bit longer, it was the safest path. After selecting the path, he started floating in the air before he shot out like a superhuman. As Ryder flew, he couldn''t help but smile wryly. He remembered a famous superhero that was no less than a god. He could also fly; the only difference was that he flew with both his hands raised towards the front. It was a superhero known as BlooperMan in BC Comics. Ryder wondered if there was any logic to flying like that. Did it increase speed or something? He decided to try it as he raised both his hands towards the front. "It''s useless. I don''t see any change in speed with this. On the contrary, I feel tired," Ryder let out as he returned to his usual position after not finding the change to be beneficial. "At Least now I know how BlooperMan feels when he files," he chuckled, trying to find some childish logic in this whole thing. He was basically trying to divert his mind from thinking about how he was going to clean a body from his neighborhood belonging to a person that he had killed. He didn''t want to think how close trouble came to the place he stayed. Even though he took a long route, it didn''t take him long before he reached the house where Ryder''s body was lying. The window was already broken, so he didn''t have a hard time entering the place. As he entered through the broken window, he ended up right before the dead body of Luke, which was lying on the ground with a hole clearly visible on his forehead. His eyes were still open as the poor man didn''t have the time even to close his eyes as he died. "Sigh, bro. When I shot you, you had your eyes closed. And that was when you happened to be alive. And bow that you''re dead, you have your eyes open," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly while walking towards the dead body. He placed his finger on Luke''s wrist to once again make sure if he was actually dead or not. "I now pronounce you dead¡ªtime of death, twelve a.m. Rest in peace, bro. And sorry for killing you, but you can''t blame me for that. Apparently, you were going to be trouble." "And from what I understood from your behavior, this trouble was going to involve her. So please don''t complain to the Devil too much about me when you reach hell. In exchange, I''ll close your eyes. Deal?" Even though Ryder expresses his views before a dead body, he still closed the eyes of Luke. "Sigh, my inventory will become a graveyard, I believe. There goes another body," he let out after he sent Luke''s body inside his inventory. After cleaning up the body, he stood up and started walking towards the room where the owner of this house was held, hostage. Reaching the room, he opened the door and saw a middle-aged man and woman lying in one corner. Their hands were tied behind their backs, and the two of them seemed unconscious. He closed in on the two to check if these two were fine. "They seem fine. But I should still help out," he muttered as he opened their rope. He carried the both of them separately to their bedroom and placed them on the bed safely. After that, he found a phone inside the house and called 911. "I have an emergency. A man infiltrated my house, and he''s keeping me hostage. Please send help. My address is..." He informed the authorities of the address before he disconnected the call. Throughout his time inside this house, he hadn''t used his normal voice. Instead, he had talked in a heavy voice with a British accent to make sure no one can link anything to him. After informing the authorities, he started flying back and reached the Maxwell Estate''s roof. "Cops will come. They''ll find the couple. Probably help them. Problem solved," he muttered as he started walking downstairs. Now that Luke was dead, he has no reason to stay up. He could go back downstairs and enter Divinity. The problem was solved, according to him. As he wasn''t able to talk to Luke in this timeline, he didn''t know that Luke was only following someone''s commands. In the previous timeline, he had talked to Luke, and he has also talked to Adrian, but here, he was able to do none, making him unaware of everything. As for the memories of the previous timeline, he didn''t remember anything. ***** In a different part of the country, a man was frowning deeply as the phone remained close to his ears. "What do you mean all our men disappeared? Did the earth eat them, or the sky swallowed them?" The man roared in anger. "They could have been killed? You''re saying some of our best men were killed in an attempt to kidnap a single girl? Do you know your it might have happened?" He asked again, seemingly not happy with whatever response he had received. "No idea? Then get an idea, you useless man! That''s not the response I wish to hear!" he scolded again. He took a deep breath to calm down so as not to lose his control. "Where is the girl now?" he asked after taking a long pause. "No ide-, ah, Sir, I mean. She is in the hiding, most probably. She isn''t at her house. We''re still trying to find ourselves," the man, on the other end of the call, replied, barely stopping before saying the words that could have made the man angry. "I don''t want to hear excuses. Find Ray''s sister fast!" The man commanded before he disconnected the call. ***** On the other hand, Ray was inside his bedroom in the New Capital City. He had been released from the FBI''s cell and brought back to the force. Not only that but he was also given the command to find the killer of the previous Director. He didn''t know if it was even possible for him to find the guy. He already knew who the man was, but the thought of going against Ryder hadn''t even crossed Ray''s head. He still thought of Ryder as a friend whom he had betrayed once. He couldn''t feel ashamed of what he had done, but he was sure that he would have done the same if he was given another choice if his sister''s life depended on it. In any case, Ryder still saved his sister despite all that. Not only that, he saved his sister once again by calling him only recently. That made him even more ashamed that he had to betray Ryder. He was calling him again and again to apologize, but no one picked up his calls. Chapter 487 - 483: Smuggling Even though Ray kept calling Ryder, he took all necessary precautions and used another phone to call him and not the phone which had the number known by everyone. Even after all that, the signal of his calls was keeping it encrypted to add additional protection. "He isn''t picking up," Ray muttered as he once again heard the call being disconnected after it rang for a while. "Sigh, this guy is really upset, I guess." "What can I do as a form of apology? How can I help him when I''m myself in danger..." He wondered as he frowned. "Apparently, the bad guys are after my family and me to get an answer from me about my Ryder. If I''m not wrong, my own organization will also be suspicious of me. It doesn''t make sense for them to free me like this. What can I do?" He kept thinking as he tried to come up with a plan. "I need to give up my source. That will be the only solution, but I can''t give him up. I can only forge my source and its death story. But I still need some help. There will be too many eyes on me," he muttered as he tried to think of a plan. After some time of thinking, his eyes lit up as he thought of a person that could help him. He picked up his second phone and dialed a number. ***** Ryder had placed his phone on silent after being annoyed at all the calls. He put his phone to the side as he laid on the bed. He laid on the bed and placed the Divinity Glasses on his eyes. "Take me to Divinity!" **** After a long travel, Ryder had finally reached the royal City of Death Domain inside the world of Divinity. He was here on a mission to kill to finish his task to become the Emperor. Throughout the journey, he had dodged most of the cities in his path, but as he got near the Royal City, he stopped dodging the cities. Age needed to enter the Death Domain Royal City, and he needed more information before that and an understanding of the behavior of the people of Death Domain. The place where he could get the best idea of it was in the cities that were closest to the Royal City. He needed to understand their culture and behavior. He had done all that throughout his journey, and after finishing it, he finally reached the Royal City. The Royal City of the Death Domain had a giant barrier, as he had seen last time when he had come here previously. The barrier prevented anyone who wasn''t from the Death Domain from entering. There was one path that led inside the city, which was for the official purpose from where envoys of other Realms could enter to dodge the barrier. It was made so that the Death Domain wouldn''t need to stop the entire barrier and reactive it whenever a foreign guest came. It was hard after all. That''s why they had left some gap in the barrier. The Demon Realm''s Royal Barrier was also made by the same guy, so it had the same thing. These entrances were a weak point of a barrier from which enemies could also pass through; that''s why heavy security was placed on the entrance to make sure no one without permission could enter. Not only that but traps were also placed, which only the High ranking protectors knew how to pass. Ryder stood in front of the barrier. "It''s repaired. Pretty fast," He muttered as he smiled wryly. He could remember how High Duke has broken the barrier within a few attacks to allow them entry last time. Unlike that, this time, he couldn''t have it that easy. If he tried breaking the barrier, not only would the infiltration be known by the Death Domain, but it would also make them alert. They would search the whole city, which would be a mess for him. His face was already hidden because of the disguise treasure he had collected. The mask had allowed him to change his face. He had worked really hard to find this mask to make sure no one in Divinity knew what Hades actually looked like. Fortunately, this mask was coming in more handy here. He was disguised as someone from the Death Domain that he had seen in the last city he stopped at. It was a fat and chubby man that seemed like he was quite wealthy. When Ryder was in the last city, he had killed the chubby man who tried to create trouble for him. After killing the man in secret, he hid the body of the man and stole all his clothes before he took the man''s place. At the moment, he seemed like a chubby man with long white hair and big cheeks. His big round eyes were looking at the barrier. "I might have the looks, but I still need to enter. The only path of the entrance is a mess. Can I even enter without being caught? I got some instructions from Rale and the others but still, why do I feel like this might be a mess?" He wondered as he gazed towards the left where the path of the entrance was. He started walking towards the path which led to the entrance. "What''s happening?" As Ryder was walking towards the entrance, he noticed a hole in the barrier. A few people could be seen transferring some boxes from inside the Royal City to outside through the hole. "Hah? Smuggling?" A smile formed on his face as he saw that. Apparently, some people here had found a way to make a hole in the barrier to probably smuggle items outside the royal City. "It was strange, though. They were a hole in the barrier which protects the city. That, too, not long after the Demon Realm had broken inside? How could the Death Domain allow it? How was it that they didn''t know yet?" He wondered. He observed the whole debacle from a distance and soon realized something. The hole wasn''t permanent. It was healing and closing in, but whenever it closed in too much, one of the men used a strange torch-like artifact to open it once again. "Ahh, I get it. They didn''t know because it isn''t permanent. They smuggle things and then the barrier heals. No one knows. Interesting approach," Ryder thought as he nodded his head in understanding. The answer was right before his eyes. There were still some questions as to why these people had to snuggle stuff out. Was the Royal City not allowing some trade? Or was it something else? Or was it to get robbed items outside the Royal City? None of the questions mattered. What actually mattered was that Ryder had found a way to sneak inside. He needed that torch or to kill them all to sneak inside. But killing them all at once seemed tough when they all had such strength. He was sure that if he tried, it wasn''t going to turn out the way he planned. It wasn''t that easy to kill so many people together. There were two options before him. One was to wait a bit to try to steal the item so he could sneak inside later. The other was to go through the tougher part. He was told how he could successfully enter through that path, but it still possessed risks. As for the second option, it was to wait and try to steal. It was going to waste a bit more time, and it was also a bit risky but not as much as the first option. He decided to go with the second option as he remembered the face of the person who held the item. It was a bulky man that seemed to be telling everyone to be fast. A carriage could also be seen nearby inside which these men were placing these boxes. Two horses were attached to the carriage, ready to pull it when everything was loaded in the carriage. Behind these carriages, a much better-looking horse was also standing with an armor around it, looking like a stronger and more expensive horse compared to the horses that were tied to the carriage. "Alright, that''s the last box! Place it inside the carriage!" The bulky men told his men who were carrying out the last carriage through the opening. The men placed the box in the carriage before they looked towards the bulky man who seemed like the leader here. "We''re done, boss. All boxes are inside the carriage. Should we leave?" One of the men asked the bulky man. "You guys go ahead. I still need to wait for Kaxia. He''s keeping an eye on the guards to make sure they can''t see us," the bulky man replied. "You guys leave; I''ll come back with him," he added. The men agreed as they entered the carriage and left. Chapter 488 - 484: Dark Grade The men entered the carriage, which started moving away. The bulky man, on the other hand, stayed back with the independent horse, seemingly waiting for someone. As the carriage left, the man climbed on his horse and let the hold heal. Soon, the hole wholly closed. Since there was no need to keep the hole open, he let out closed as he waited for his friend to come. After he was here, the man could open the hole again, which was less risky than keeping it constantly opened. The carriage soon disappeared from the sight, but the man kept sitting on the horse that was striding back and forth. Ryder remained hidden behind a giant tree, waiting for the carriage to leave so that the man had no reinforcement. After the carriage was left, Ryder finally stepped out of the carriage. He started walking towards the bulky man who was looking towards the barrier, wondering if the man was going to return. As the barrier cut all the voices from inside to outside, he couldn''t just look elsewhere and hope to hear the man screaming when he was here. He had to keep looking inside the barrier, waiting for the man. He constantly looked inside the barrier, only occasionally taking his gaze off as he looked around to check his surroundings. As he looked around, he noticed Ryder in some distance, walking towards him. The hole was already closed, so he didn''t have to worry about anything. He was just like a random person, riding on a horse near the Royal City. No rules were broken, so he remained calm. He did seem a bit curious as to why another person was walking here. The path that most common people used to enter the city was in the opposite direction. He didn''t know why someone would be walking here. He had no idea that Ryder wasn''t from the Death Domain, so he couldn''t enter using the old path. The barrier only stopped people that weren''t from the death domain from entering and unauthorized items from being taken out. That was the one reason they had to make a hole in the barrier even though they could go in and out of there easily. As the bulky man was staring at Ryder, Ryder was also gazing back at him. Ryder was using his All-Seer to get more information about this man. ''As I expected, his level is too high for me to fight him like this now. I can only get by with some tricks,'' Ryder thought as he gazed at the screen in front of him. He reached near the man who kept his eyes on him. He stopped near him and looked back at him. "What are you staring at?" the man asked Ryder, trying to "May I ask if you have seen my Dark Grade Pendant here?" Ryder asked the man who was sitting in some distance. "Dark Grade Pendant?!" The man exclaimed in shock as he heard Ryder''s words. The Dark Grade was a grade of treasures here which was one of the highest grades. The treasures were so expensive that only the richest of the rich could possess them. "Yeah. I had found it, but I dropped it somewhere around here. I can''t seem to find it. I''m a poor man and don''t have much money. I was hoping to sell that to earn something, but when I reached the shop, I realized that I didn''t even have it anymore," Ryder told the man with an innocent look on his face. " I''m sure if it was dropped, it''s somewhere around here. Did you see it anywhere?" he asked the man. The man blankly shook his head, whereas, in his mind, he could only think how amazing it was. If he could get the Dark Grade treasure, it was going to be so amazing. "Oh, you didn''t see him. I will keep searching then," Ryder replied in concern as he shook his head, seeming a bit disappointed. He started walking away, looking at the ground as if he was genuinely trying to find something. The bulky man known as Dark Tooth had completely forgotten about his friend and was waiting for him. Instead, he was more interested in the pendant now. He kept his eyes on Ryder. Only Ryder knew where he had walked and where he might have lost his pendant. If he kept his eyes on him, he might get to the Dark Grade treasure soon. He slowly started following after Ryder, trying to act too casual. A smile appeared on Ryder''s face as he realized that the man was following after him. "Oh god! It''s here! I can''t believe I actually found it!" Ryder exclaimed out loud as if he was so excited that he had failed to control his voice. He was so loud that the man who was on a horse behind him also managed to hear him. Ryder bent forward and picked up something, and started laughing out loud. "Little guy, you troubled me so much! But finally, I found you. Don''t worry; I won''t lose you again!" he exclaimed as he smiled. Ryder turned back and noticed that the man in the house was near him. A suspicious look arrived on his face as he placed his hand behind her back to hide something. "What are you doing here?" he asked Dark Tooth. "Why are you getting scared?" Dark Tooth grinned as he looked at Ryder. "I''m only here, trying to help you find the pendant," he added with a smug look on his face. "It''s fine. I already found it. I appreciate the intention, though. You can go back," Ryder replied as he took a short step back. "Hahaha, what''s the hurry? Don''t worry. I''m here for you. Don''t be scared," the man said as he got down from the horse. He started closing in on Ryder. "Can you let me see what a Dark Grade Pendant looks like? I want to be able to tell my children that I was able to touch such a high-grade item once. I''ll give it back to you right away," he added as he raised his hand towards Ryder. "Ah, sorry. But I''m not comfortable giving that to you. Please forgive me. And don''t close," Ryder let out as he slowly kept stepping back. "How cruel. Here I was, trying to help you, and you can''t even let me hold that pendant for a moment? Come on, don''t be that selfish," the man said as he didn''t stop. He kept closing in on Ryder. "I-i can''t! Please stop!" Ryder called out. "You bastard! Enough of playing around! I thought the nice guy act would let me have it easy, but if you don''t want to go along with that, then I''ll force you!" The man roared as the expression on his face changed. A sword appeared in his hand, which he aimed towards Ryder. "If you don''t give me the sword, I''ll cut you in a thousand small pieces right here! Give me the sword!" he warned Ryder. "I''m Dark Tooth! I''ve already killed tens of people already. So don''t try testing me!" He added. "This..." A complex look appeared on Ryder''s face, which was mixed with a bit of fear. "But... It''s mine. Please let me leave with it," Ryder requested. "I''m warning you for the last time! Are you giving me or not?" The man asked Ryder. "Fine," Ryder let out as he unwillingly brought his arm to the front, revealing a pendant in his hand. "Can you at least give me some money in exchange?" he asked. "Hahaha, Of course. I''ll pay you the worth of this bracelet. I have lots of money with me. Give me the bracelet first!" Dark Tooth told Ryder with a cheeky grin. Ryder thought for a while before he nodded his head. He started stepping closer to the man. "No need to come close. Throw the pendant towards me!" Dark Tooth stopped Ryder from approaching him. Ryder stopped as he tossed the bracelet towards the man. The man caught the bracelet as a wider grin formed on his face. "Give me my money now," Ryder told the man. "Hahaha, you idiot. Don''t tell me you really expect me to pay you. I''m allowing you to leave with your life intact; you should be glad for that. Don''t even think about getting anything else! Scram now!" Dark Tooth started laughing at Ryder for talking about return. It was obvious that he wasn''t going to give any money in return. "Now run before I change my mind and kill you! Scram!" he threatened Ryder before he started laughing out loud. Ryder looked down in disappointment before he turned back and started walking away. As soon as he turned back, a smile appeared on his face. Chapter 489 - 485: Level Up Ryder turned back and started walking away, but there was a pleased look on his face as he counted inside his head, "One...Two..." He stopped walking as soon as he finished counting to three. He turned back only to find the bulky man lying on the ground. The man remained on the dust-covered ground, seemingly unconscious. Two items were lying inside the man''s body. One of which happened to be the torch that he had used to create the opening in the barrier, whereas the other was the pendant that Ryder had given to the man. The pendant seemed a bit different, though. It was as if it had lost its color. It seemed a bit semi-transparent. "The item Rale gave me did come in handy. Now this man won''t wake up before an hour, at least from what he had told me," Ryder muttered as he walked towards the man who was lying on the ground, unmoving. As he reached the man, he picked up the pendant first and sent it in his inventory before he walked over to the torch-like item and picked it up as well. "So you are going to help me enter," he let out as he placed the torch in his pocket before he shifted his gaze back at the man who was lying on the ground. "I wonder if it counts towards the Kingship Trial. I need to kill the people of the Royal City. Is he from there or not?" Ryder thought as he raised his left hand. There was a bracelet in his hand that was different from the Bracelet of Immortality. "I really love this ability of Moon Scythe. It can change shapes as well. When it''s in pendant form, I can carry it with me, and no one can recognize," Ryder muttered as he waved his hand. The Bracelet that was in his hand started getting bigger and changed shape as if it was water. It moved and appeared before his hand in the form of a Scythe. Ryder held the scythe and roamed his gaze over his surroundings. The bright sun was shining even brighter over this deserted ground, but fortunately, not a single person could be seen as far as his gaze reached. He raised the Moon Scythe high in the sky before he slashed it down, stabbing the man. He could see a small trickle down in the man''s HP, which seemed to be about five percent only. "Come on, just how high is your level? Your HP gets down so slowly. Die fast before someone comes and sees me," Ryder said as he tightened his grip on the scythe. His beautiful robe waved with the wind as he once again hackled down, decreasing the man''s HP even further. Ryder kept attacking with his scythe again and again as the unconscious man remained unmoving. After a long time and much more effort, he finally achieved success. Ryder knew that his arms would have been aching by now if he was in the real world, but in the world of Divinity, he had better stamina to cope with it. Dark Tooth''s HP reached zero, and his body disappeared. [Killed Dark Tooth] [Experience: +50000000] [ Level +1] [ Level +1] [ Level +1] ... [ Level +1] "What the heck? Just how strong was this guy? He alone was able to bring me to level 200? So much level gain. If all people in the Death Domain are so strong, then just by finishing the Kingship Trial, how strong will I be?" Ryder muttered in shock as he stared at the screen before him. He was a level 200 player now? How was it so fast? [Class Upgrade Available] [Would you like to upgrade Class to Salem''s Demon Ruler?] [Yes] [No] "Another class Upgrade?" Ryder exclaimed in surprise as he saw the notification. As it was a class available after reaching level two hundred, it was obviously going to be better than the previous class. However, he still decided to read what it was about to make sure he didn''t make an update by upgrading. He tapped on the ''i'' Icon near the Notification. [Salem''s Demon Ruler] [As the inheritor of Salem and after achieving certain criteria, the inheritor can get the Salem'' Demon Ruler class] "Strange. There''s no description of this class other than some useless stuff." Ryder gazed at the semi-transparent screen before his eyes as he rubbed his chin. "Is this a class that''s really worth upgrading?" "Heck it. It shouldn''t be bad," he declared, not intending to waste too much time. Raising his right hand, he tapped on yes. [Class Upgraded] [Skill received: Demon Control] "Demon Control, so that''s what this upgrade came with." Ryder once again opened the description, hoping that it wouldn''t be as useless as last time. Fortunately, this time the description didn''t tell him the things he already knew. Instead, it actually gave him the description. [Demon Control] [Description: The caster can control the Demons up to a hundred levels higher than them for up to ten minutes.] [Note: At most, hundred Demons can be controlled without upgrading the skill] Ryder''s mouth slightly opened as he saw the skill''s description. It was a pretty overpowered skill for most. Using the skill, a level 200 player could control up to a hundred level 300 Demons? No one would call this ability useless except for Ryder. He found it to be useless to the highest extent. It is an ability that only works on Demons. And after he went back, finishing the Kingship Trial, he was going to become the Demon King. As the Demon King, let alone a hundred Demons, but the entire Demon Realm was going to listen to him without any time duration. What use did this skill have then? The only use he could think of was when he needed to control someone absolutely without taking to command them. He closed the screen only to have another screen pop open in front of him as a notification resounded in his head. [New Title Received: Shameless High Killer] "This useless game. Why does it always give me such stupid astounding titles?" Even though Ryder cursed, he still read the description of the title to see if it was worth anything. [Shameless High Killer] [Description: Title given to the players that use shameless methods to kill beings that are more than a hundred levels higher than them] [HP: +50000] [Mana: +600] [Strength: +2000] [Dexterity: +700] [Speed: -200] [Defence: -500] "The heck? It not only increase some of my stats but also decrease some? The increased stats do seem worth it, though." Ryder couldn''t help but lose himself in deep thought as he saw the description of the skill. It was a skill that had some advantages, but it also had some disadvantages. "I have to lose a bit of my defense in exchange for my strength." After some time looking at the advantages and disadvantages, he decided to equip this title as his second title. The primary title was still going to be Salem''s successor. He hastily equipped the title before he started walking towards the barrier. He had wasted enough time here already. He needed to leave before the man Dark Tooth was waiting for arrived here. He reached the barrier and used the torch to create a hole in the barrier that was wide enough for him to enter. The barrier right away started healing, but that much time was enough for Ryder to step inside the barrier. He didn''t stop after entering the barrier. Instead, he started advancing towards the city while making sure that he wasn''t seen by anyone. The first house of the city wasn''t too far away from the barrier, so it didn''t take him long to enter the populated area of the city. He was a stranger here, but no one was going to focus on him as a lot of strangers came from nearby cities in this city to sell items. Ryder was wearing a long sleeve dress that was hiding his bracelet of immortality since that was his only problem. It was something that could give him away, so he kept it hidden. Many guards patrolled the city, which was to be expected as it was the Royal City, but still, the security of this place didn''t seem as good as the security of the Demon Realm. ''Are these guys useless? Someone was smuggling items from the city, and they don''t even know? The guards of our Death Domain would never be as ignorant,'' he thought as he shook his head. He soon thought of something that made him stunned. Smuggling was taking place here, but the Prince didn''t know. Or he would have stopped it. What if the same thing was taking place in Demon Realm. It was possible that he wasn''t going to know about that either. ''Could it be that the security of Royal Cities is really that bad? These torch-like items, what if there are some for Demon Realm Barriers as well? If this is the case, the Demon Realm Royal City is not as secure as I thought...'' he frowned, imagining a scene where thousands of enemies crossed through their barrier. Chapter 490 - 486: Deciding "I was talking about their Prince, but I might be just as ignorant as well," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly at the ignorance. He didn''t even know items like these existed. Didn''t this basically mean that the Royal City has no safety? Their barrier was truly useless? He released a mouthful of breath, trying to think of ways to make sure that he didn''t become a part of another sneak attack that seemed inevitable one day. "It would be time to leave soon. Until then, I can try to find a place that would be a good target. I need to stay here to not bring in more suspicions to me," he mumbled under his breath as he tried to find a person to target. ''If I kill a person here, I''ll not only achieve my target, but I can also take his identity and their house as my own. So finding the person who lives alone should be best,'' he thought as his gaze roamed over all the well-dressed people walking back and forth in the marketplace. It seemed a bit too crowded. There were shops, but a lot of people could also be seen on the streets, trying to sell their items. ''Last time I came here, I didn''t notice it last time, but this place is actually a bit less arranged than ours. They seem to have no proper arrangement here.'' As he walked and observed his surroundings, he couldn''t help but think of the differences between this place compared to the Demon Realm Royal City. Even though he took casual steps not to attract any attention, it didn''t take him long before he left the marketplace and reached a more isolated part of the city. Not many people could be seen on the roads here, but the houses here seemed to be in decent condition. Ryder was following after a middle-aged Death Dweller, who he had noticed in the marketplace. Even though the person was not intimidating, he had a lot of muscles on his body. Strangely enough, though, he wasn''t strong. Unlike Dark Tooth, whose level Ryder couldn''t see because of being too high, this man''s level was clearly visible. Through his ''All-Seer'', he was able to see the man''s stats. A screen was floating on the outer edge of his view with the stats of the person. [Name: Old Jiw] [Species: Death Dweller] [Level: 1] [Strength: 1] [Defence: 1] [Speed:1] [Dexterity:1] [Stamina:1] ... Even though Ryder found it weird that the man was so weak, he didn''t care. It was a good thing to find a person like that. It was an easy kill. He could kill the man with one strike, but he wanted to wait for the time when they were alone. Killing this man was going to bring his score in the Kingship Trial to one. Even though this man was unbelievably weak, he was still a person who lived here. So he satisfied the criteria. After following the man for some time, Ryder finally got the opportunity to be alone with the guy. This man had finally stopped, and they also happened to be in a place where not a single person was there. ''Is that his house?'' Ryder thought as he noticed the man looking to the south towards one of the houses. He also started walking towards the house. He brought some key out of his pocket and opened the lock of the house before he entered. Ryder nodded his head, realizing that he was right. This house belonged to this man, and since it was locked, he probably lived here alone. The target couldn''t be any more perfect. He strode towards the house that Old Jiw gas already entered. Standing before the door, he looked at both sides to make sure that not a single person was there. Only after making sure, he brought out the Moon Scythe to its real shape. He knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened. As soon as the door opened, he swung his scythe, not waiting for a moment. The scythe stabbed in the heart of the man that had just opened the door. The man seemed stunned as he was attacked by the person he didn''t even know about. His death came as a shock to him, that too after he had just returned home. He died with so many questions in his head. ... As the man''s body disappeared, Ryder stepped over the ground where the man happened to be standing until a few moments ago. Closing the door, Ryder started searching the house to make sure that no one else was there. Knock! Ryder had just finished checking the whole house. He was glad that no one was inside, but a known stunned him. It seemed to be coming from the door. "Who could it be? A neighbor?" Ryder muttered, gazing at the pale door. ''I''m not opening. If they think that no one is inside, they''ll go away,'' he thought as he refused to open the door. "Is that guy late today?" A female-sounding voice came from outside before the creaking sound of the door resounded inside the house. Ryder hastily uses the mask to change himself to the man he had killed just now as he saw the door open, not understanding how someone could open the locked door so easily. Did they have a key as well? Was it someone who lived here too? He thought as he stood calmly to see who it was. As the door opened, Ryder saw a beautiful woman. The woman had shiny dark hair that seemingly came down to her waist. Her hourglass-shaped body was even more visible in the tight-fitting dress which she was wearing. The woman saw Ryder standing before him. "You are here, and you refused to open the door?" She said, frowning as she started walking towards Ryder. Ryder activated All-Seer and tried to see the stats of the woman who was before him. Unfortunately, he couldn''t see anything. The woman was much stronger than him in levels compared to the man had been. The woman approached Ryder, who got ready to use his other methods to take care of the woman, but her following words made him stop. "Darling, were you busy inside? You could''ve told me. I wouldn''t have knocked. I would have used my keys in the first place instead," the Woman told Ryder. These words made Ryder realize that he wasn''t in danger. This woman was probably the wife of the man. It was still strange, though. A man that was level one was married to a woman who had a level he couldn''t see. ''Love is truly blind, I guess,'' he thought, justifying it with that. The woman approached Ryder and wrapped her arms around him. "I missed you so much," she said with a longing look on her face as she brought her face closer to Ryder''s face and kissed his lips. The kiss felt as real as it could be. "Blood, don''t make me wait longer. Let''s go to the bedroom. I need to go back home as well. I only have a few hours to spend with you," the woman said. ''So she is here for a few hours. She has a different home. It must be an affair or something, I guess. What can I do? If I log out, I''ll lose this house which I can use. And the girl can even report to the Guards about this suspicious thing. That would be a mess,'' Ryder thought, wondering what he could do. He couldn''t just disappear now. The only other option was to spend the next few hours with the girl but what it implied was that the girl probably wanted to have something intimate with him. If he stayed, it was going to be his first time doing that in divinity and to go that with this woman? He tried to think of the advantages and disadvantages, including the moral dilemmas. He didn''t have much time to think, so he came to a decision as the women started pulling him towards the bedroom. ... "That was great. Am I just imagining it, or did you actually improve?" Ryder was lying on the bed while the woman laid beside him, her hand resting on his bare chest. "Why aren''t you saying anything, by the way?" She further asked, wondering why Ryder was silent throughout this. Since she had come here, he hadn''t spoken a single word. "Is your throat aching or something?" She asked Ryder, who nodded in response. Since she gave him the excuse herself, who was he to say no. "Oh, don''t speak then. Give your throat some rest. You should be fine in some time," the woman said to Ryder as she sat up. "Anyway, I should be leaving. My husband should be getting home soon." She got off the bed and started getting dressed. After getting dressed, she slid over the bed and gave Ryder another kiss. Chapter 491 - 487: Tender "I''ll be back after three days," the Woman whispered in Ryder''s ears before she got off the bed and left. Ryder laid on the bed, placing his palm on his face. "Just what magic is this? This seemed so real..." Ryder thought as though about what he had gone through just now. He stood up after a while and got dressed before he walked over to the door to check if the woman had left. After confirming, he walked back to the room and closed the door before he logged out. ... It was already morning in the real world when Ryder had woken up from his slumber. He got off the bed and freshened up before leaving the room. He walked downstairs, where he saw Shu sitting before the TV. "You woke up. Pretty late today. Did you have a good sleep?" Shu asked Ryder. "Yeah, a bit too good sleep," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. "Don''t tell me you were in Divinity until now?" Shu asked, rubbing his chin. "Maybe," Ryder let out as he stepped forward and sat on the chair beside Shu. "Anyway, you might not have heard, but something shocking happened last night. Apparently, someone kept the owners of a nearby house hostage," Shu told Ryder. "From what I was told, it sounded like the work of that guy who had come to bring Alice. He is currently missing." Ryder nodded his head, not much shocked. He already knew about it, though. "Did Alice go to college?" Ryder asked. "Nah, she was about to go. And I know how stubborn she is. She wasn''t going to stop if I had told her. And going out when that guy is missing was risky," Shu responded. A cheeky smile graced his cute yet chubby face. "Oh god, what did you do then?" Ryder inquired, feeling suspicious after seeing that smile. "Don''t tell me you called the university and got them to cancel all classes for the day?" "Hahaha," Shu started laughing after hearing Ryder''s reply, but he ultimately nodded his head. " You know me so well." "Sigh, you didn''t need to do it. Actually, that guy is already dead," Ryder told Shu, coming clear with him. He at least had that much trust in him. "What?" Shu''s laughter disappeared as he heard Ryder''s words. "How do you know that?" " Because I killed him last night. As you said, he was keeping the people hostage. Moreover, he wanted to kidnap Alice. So I took him out," Ryder said calmly, not much emotion on his face. "But... Sigh, I won''t ask. He wanted to hurt Alice, so he deserved it. I''m still shocked, though," Shu let out. "If you knew his intentions, you could''ve told me. I would send my guards. You wouldn''t have had to dirty your hands." "Oh right, did you return the Ring of Lexini?" Ryder asked Shu, trying to change the topic. Shu noticed that Ryder was trying to change the topic, but he pretended to be ignorant and went along with it. "That''s right. I returned the ring and got the rewards." Shu answered. He picked up the remote and changed the channel to a news channel as he asked, "Also, I have the Guild Token. When are you going to establish the guild?" "I heard some people are already after the tokens. If they found them, they''ll establish their guilds first. We''ll lose the opportunity to be first. So I think we should do it as soon as we can," he added. "Yeah. I think so too. I''ve also selected a Place and arranged for the Land where our Guild will be established. But at the moment, I can''t do it. I''m stuck on a mission that I can''t get out of. So you''ll have to wait," Ryder answered, without explaining things about the Death Domain. "That''s fine. If you''re stuck, we can''t do anything. The others also wouldn''t have an easy time getting this. So we should have some more time," Shu nodded. "Is Alice upstairs?" Ryder asked Shu, looking back towards the wall. "I thought she''d be in college, so I didn''t check." "Yeah. She had lunch and went back to her room. Maybe she''s resting now," Shu suggested as he rubbed his chin. "I didn''t check either." "I''ll go see her. Anyway, don''t cancel the classes tomorrow. She should be safe from now on," Ryder told Shu as he stood up and started walking towards the stars. "Understood, I''ll only keep our best guards with her and tell them to inform us if anything suspicious happens around her when she goes out," Shy responded before she shifted her gaze back to the TV. ''I know he isn''t my brother, but his instinct to kill to protect is just like my brother''s. Should I tell him the truth? That I came close to him because he reminded me of my brother?'' Shu thought as he closed his eyes and laid on the sofa, lost in thought. ''No, he''ll be weirded out by me. It''s fine the way it is. I can''t lose my family again.'' ... Ryder opened the door of Alice''s room only to find him lying in bed. The Divinity Glasses were on her face. ''This girl, Looks like she''s addicted to this as well,'' Ryder thought as he closed the door and walked back to his room. He picked up the keys of the car he had purchased after his old car was broken previously. Placing the keys in his pocket, he left the room. "I''m going out." After reminding Shu, he left the Estate and stepped inside his car. His car passed through the house where Luke was staying previously. A cop car was outside the house. He zoomed off into the distance. ... Ryder''s car stopped before the building, which was the headquarters of the Dream Corporation. It has been quite some time since he has come here. In the previous timeline, he had gone to kill Luke instead of coming here. As he stepped inside the building, he was greeted by the guards who had known him all too well. Almost everyone here had seen the picture of the person who was the owner here. No-one stopped him from going anywhere he wished. Ryder stepped inside the lift, which took him to the floor, where the medical researchers recently finished a discussion about a new test to verify their research. If they were successful, it was going to be tremendous progress. Ryder asked one of the guys where the main members of the team were. None of them could be seen in their offices. In the response to his question, he was told that they were in the lab, testing something. "Shall I inform them about your arrival?" "No, it''s fine. Let them focus on work. I was just casually here," Ryder replied before he turned back and walked to the lift. He went to the upper floors where the aviation department of Divine Corporation was. Herriet was the leading person there. Fortunately, she was in her office and free as well. "Herriet, how are you?" He asked the woman as he opened the door. "Ah, so you finally have the time to come and meet me after so long. Have a seat," Herriet told Ryder as a smile covered her face. Ryder stepped forward and sat on the chair before her. "After that day, you finally come to meet me now. I wonder if I should be glad," she muttered as she smiled wryly. "Ah, I told you. I had to go out of the city. I just came back now. I came back here to meet you right after coming back," Ryder explained himself as he smiled wryly. "Anyway, how''s work going? Is everything fine?" He asked Herriet. "Yeah. I was just about to call you. I just got information that we got a tender. It''s a big tender, and with that, we might be able to earn our first big break after this merger. But we do need more money, too," she told Ryder. "We are already entering the aviation business. But if we simultaneously manufacture as well, we''ll be really good," she said. "Hmm?" Hearing her words, Ryder fell in deep thought. ''Just what was it about? The last timeline didn''t have this. There was no tender after that. The change here seems to be after the merger,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "Can I know more about the tender and where it''s from?" Ryder asked. "Oh, it''s from the Max Corporation. Apparently, they''re outsourcing some of their stuff to us," Herriet answered. "Max Corporation?" Ryder muttered, not remembering the name. He pulled up his phone and searched the name. "Ah, got it," he muttered as he looked at the information he received. "Apparently, they''re a subsidiary of Dream Corporation. It might be Shu trying to help us. But we don''t need it. Don''t worry; I have faith. The aviation industry will be much more beneficial," Ryder said, shaking his head. Chapter 492 - 488: Princess "I''m sure he''s trying to help us, but we don''t need it at the moment. In fact, getting back into manufacturing will be harmful at the moment. Just focus all our resources on what we planned before. That should be all," he added as he smiled wryly. "Sigh, alright. You''re the boss. Even though I don''t see any loss in it, I''ll listen to you," Herriet nodded as she sighed. "Oh right, could it be that you don''t want this because it''s from a company owned by a friend? I did remember last time it mentioned that you took no help in establishing this company. Could it be you want it that way, so the credit of your success isn''t given to your friendship with someone big?" She asked, frowning. "Maybe, that''s one of the reasons. I don''t want anyone to say that I only succeeded because of him. Or that I only became his friend for financial goals," Ryder answered as he nodded. "But there''s another reason. I really think that it''s a bad idea to do it. Must listen to me on this," he insisted. "Alright," Herriet nodded. She decided to go with his suggestion. Noticing the time on the clock, he asked, "Oh right, did you have lunch?" "Not yet," Ryder shook his head as he realized that he had not only skipped breakfast but lunch as well. It was only now that he realized about that. He didn''t even feel hungry in any case. "It''s already lunchtime. How about we go out and have lunch? Or I can have something ordered here?" Herriet inquired, wondering what he preferred. "Well, it''s better to go out. Come, it''s my treat for doing such a great work," Ryder told Harriet as he smiled wryly. Herriet nodded her head as she stood up. She followed after Ryder as she left the office. ... "This is the place that isn''t recently opened here, but the reviews are really good about this place," Herriet escorted Ryder to a newly opened restaurant nearby that had become her favorite in such a short time. She was the one who suggested them to come here when Ryder asked where they should go. They entered the restaurant and sat on a sofa near the window. The sofa given to them was only big enough for two people. A table was placed before them on which the food was served. "So, I don''t know much about you. Why don''t you tell me a bit. Other than the mysterious rich boss, what else are you? Do you have a family? Or a girlfriend?" Herriet asked as she started drinking the wine that was served to them. "There''s nothing to know about a boring person like me. Instead, you should tell me about yourself. Who is in your family?" Ryder asked, changing the topic from him to the girl. Seeing his tactics, Herriet started laughing. "Hahaha, don''t think I don''t know what you''re doing. You''re changing the topic," Herriet let out as she rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I''m the only child in my family. My father and my mother live in a far out of state. They don''t like the hustle of the city. So I live alone here," she explained. "And your boyfriend?" Ryder asked casually. "I don''t have a boyfriend. I''m still single. Why? Are you interesting?" she asked as she gazed at Ryder, who had taken another sip of the wine. Hearing Herriet''s words, Ryder coughed out the mouthful of wine that he had just drunk. "Ahem, Excuse me," he let out as he smiled wryly. The waiter came to their table to clean it. After the table was cleaned, Ryder and Herriet again continued their conversation. " I had casually asked. It''s not like I was asking you to be my boyfriend? You didn''t have to choke," Herriet chuckled as she covered her lips with her hand. "It''s not that. I just remember something else. Don''t worry," Ryder replied, shaking his head. "You didn''t answer about yourself. Tell me something," Herriet asked Ryder, not going deep into his previous reaction. "Me? As I said, I am a really boring person. My parents died a long time ago. I don''t have any family except for a girl," Ryder answered, smiling wryly. "Which girl?" Herriet asked, curious. "She is called Alice. She''s the daughter of a family friend I guess you can call technically," Ryder explained. "Oh." "There''s Shu as well. He''s no less than a real brother to me," Ryder continued. "I''m Jealous. You get to be brothers with Shu Maxwell. If I were in your place, I would never have faced a single problem," Herriet muttered as she looked at Ryder with cute jealousy, making it evident that she was just joking. "It''s fine. I know how amazing it is to a normal person. So I can understand," Ryder replied as he smiled wryly. .. "Thanks for the treat. Next time it''ll be my treat," Herriet told Ryder as he dropped her off in front of the office. "Didn''t you say this the last time as well?" Ryder inquired, smiling wryly. "Anyway, you don''t need to treat me." " No, I need to. I owe you two now," she said as she smiled cheekily. She turned back and entered the building. Ryder, on the other hand, went back to the Maxwell Estate. As he reached the Maxwell Estate, it was already near the evening. Shu wasn''t in the hallway anymore. On asking the staff, he was told that Shu had left the Estate for some work. As for when he was going to be back, according to them, he was going to come back by night. After checking Alice''s room and making sure that she was inside Divinity, he went back to his room. Taking all his clothes off, he entered the shower and only left after a long half-hour shower. Dressed in comfortable clothes, he laid on his bed and entered Divinity once again. As he entered the world of Divinity, it was night time. There seemed to be a few hours before it was going to be the time for sunrise. Ryder stood outside the house he had taken over as he gazed at the sky. The entire city was filled with darkness, but it was still visible for some reason. Ryder stepped on the empty streets as he started roaming inside the city to see if he could find any prey. Even if there were guards of the city, he could still use some trick to kill them or at least try to find some people who lived alone here. Unfortunately, even after searching for hours, he could find no one. Why was it that this entire city seemed like a ghost town at night? Let alone seeing any guards, he couldn''t even see a single person outside. He wondered if the town even had any security at night. This should have been the heaven for thieves with this level of laziness, but he couldn''t even see thieves out on the streets. Just what was happening? Just as he was wondering what was happening, he saw a massive group of soldiers that came running from the distance. They were running beside a horse on top of which a woman was sitting. Shockingly though, the woman was sitting. It was a beautiful woman who could only be described as charming by people. She was wearing a long gown as she sat on top of the horse sideways. The horse raced inside the city. Even though the speed of the horse was fast, it was surprisingly matched by the guards that were running beside the house as if protecting the woman. Ryder couldn''t help but hide behind a tree as he let the horse pass. ''That girl, what is she doing here?'' he thought as he frowned, recognizing the woman who was sitting on the horse. She was none other than the that that Ryder had seen when he had just entered the Death Domain. The woman was inside the water, not wearing anything. He had even managed to see a lot of her. It was as surprising to see her here as it was stunning to see the security around her as if she was a princess. Just who was this girl exactly? It was something that made him really curious. In any case, it was already going to be morning, so he decided to walk back after the entourage had left, feeling like the emptiness of the city probably had something to do with them. He entered inside the house again and started waiting while forming a plan to finish the trial faster. It was the truth that he didn''t actually have the strength to kill most of these people openly, even though he was a level 200 player. These were monsters that were too high in the level that he couldn''t even see. So his entire plan rested on scheming to achieve his target here to make sure he could survive as well as finish the trial. Chapter 493 - 489: Poison Ryder went inside the house that he had taken over as he started trying to prepare for his plan. Sitting inside the house, he started wondering, "To finish the Kingship Trial, I need to kill a hundred citizens of the Royal City and bring their heads back to the High Dukes. But that''s impossible since they disappear after I kill them." "Fortunately, they also gave me this badge. It will light up after I kill hundreds of citizens of the Royal City. Now I only need ninety-nine more," Ryder thought, smiling wryly. "I also need to get the next fragment after I finish this trial. That will mark the end of Rale''s quest too. But first, this trial is more important. Ninety-nine more people," Ryder wondered as he rubbed his chin. "I do have my tricks, but that might not be feasible to use on so many people. The bracelet to make them unconscious also has limited use like many other items. So the work here is somewhat different. How could I make it easier and faster for me?" he wondered as he frowned. "Oh, right. That''s it!" Suddenly Ryder''s eyes lit up as he thought of something. "If I do this, I can kill them all in one stroke," he muttered as a smile formed on his face. "But first, I need to understand things more. What do these people like to eat? I need to make it but the least bit suspicious," he added as he stood up. He started searching for something left and right inside the room he was sitting. "Come on. I need some money for this place. It would help if you had something hidden here. Let me see..." he asked himself, frowning. He searched the entire bedroom from top to bedroom, unable to find what could be described as money. He did find some weird things, though. Under the bed, the underwear of the woman was lying, which brought so many questions to Ryder''s mind. Just how did this get inside there? Could it be that the woman had forgotten it? "But she did wear one when she was leaving. I do remember seeing..." he muttered but realising what he was saying, he stopped abruptly. "Ahem, I mean I happened to coincidentally see. Janus, I''m sure you''re listening. Don''t think I''m a pervert! I''m innocent!" He hadn''t expected Janus'' reply, but unfortunately, this was precisely when Janus finally answered. "You bastard! You''re accusing me! I can hear it from your tone! Is this how you treat me after I let you delay my rewards for killing Luke?" Ryder asked as he frowned. "But still, I didn''t complain, did I? You were supposed to give right away after I finished killing him, but you said that you can''t give rewards right now because of some risk in sending things to me at this time. I didn''t ask twice, but here you are, accusing me of being a pervert," Ryder asked as he gave a hurtful look as if his heart was broken. "You break my heart, Janus! I didn''t expect this from you!" ... Back in the God Realm, Janus was sitting near the pond, watching the antics of Ryder. He didn''t know if he should laugh or cry at this. In any case, it was amusing. Just as he was about to reply to Ryder, he stopped. Snapping his finger, he made the pond go back to normal. Behind him, a portal opened. He didn''t even gaze back as if he knew who it was. It was his domain. No one could enter here without his permission in any case. "Godden of Life, what brought you here?" he asked the beautiful woman who stood behind him. The goddess of Life and Death cast a barrier surrounding them to protect their conversation. Janus also did the same to make it more secure n "You consider me Goddess of Life, but you forget I''m the goddess of death as well. I know things that others won''t. So tell me... Did you have a hand in the death of the Lord of Time?" she asked Janus. "Oh? That guy is dead? I''m shocked," Janus let out with a fake shock on his face. Finding his action to be obviously fake, the Goddess of Life and Death understood that he did have something to do with it. "Lord of Time was living in seclusion. He wasn''t interfering in outside matters. So why did you decide to kill him? If I don''t get any satisfactory answer, I''ll kill you today. Enough of these games," Goddess of Life and Death asked Ryder as she frowned. "I didn''t do it. He did it," Janus answered calmly as he touched the pond with his finger lightly. The scene in the pond changed to reveal Ryder when he was completely awoken previously. It was from the time when he had come here to talk to Janus. The goddess of Time took a few steps forward to look inside the pond, only to fall in a daze. This guy... He had returned? After a long pause, she finally collected her thoughts as she asked, "He returned? His powers are back? So he went to kill the Lord of Time in revenge for last time?" "Not entirely. Actually, the Lord of Time found him when he wasn''t awake. He was about to be killed for that bracelet. So I played a little trick on the Lord of Time to make him revert Ryder''s soul back to nihility to make sure the bracelet disappeared forever," Janus explained. "But when used that on a God whose soul is sleeping, it will..." The Goddess of Life muttered. "That''s right. He woke up, and after that, he protected himself while making sure no one else found out because the power of the Lord of time couldn''t keep his soul awaken for long. After killing him, he went back to his old self," Janus answered. "So he killed the Lord of Time in self-defense..." the Goddess of Life and Death muttered as she frowned. "That''s right. You can only blame the Lord of Time for trying to kill him," Janus further added. ... "See? You ran away. You don''t have a reply. You know I''m the most innocent person in existence," Ryder let out, not getting any reaction from Janus. He continued his search throughout the house, widening his parameters to the other rooms since the bedroom didn''t have the thing he needed. As he searched the other rooms, he did find a few black gold coins. From what he has understood previously, the black gold coins with the face of the previous Emperor were the most expensive. "This should be enough to arrange a feast," Ryder thought as he gazed at the coins. He picked them up and continued his search to find as many as he could. By the time he ended his search, he had seven black gold coins in his hand. These seven coins were just expensive because of the image on them. It was even surprising to know that this guy possessed these seven. He lived in this house which wasn''t the best. So he didn''t seem. How did he get them? "The bribe from that woman? In any case, I don''t have to worry about such things," he thought as he shook his head. He left the house and walked towards the market. It was early morning now, but most of the shops were already open by now. He brought them to the restaurants and got some food packed. Since the food was enough for ninety people, he couldn''t carry it alone. So he asked the restaurant to have it delivered to his home while paying a bit extra for this. The restaurant agreed. Since it was early morning, they weren''t crowded. Instead, the staff was mostly free. They packed the food before they went to deliver it, following behind Ryder. Reaching the house, Ryder opened the door and allowed them to place the packets of food inside. He closed the door after everything was delivered. "So much, and it cost less than one black gold coin. This thing is really expensive," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the rest of the coins in his pocket before he kept it back. "Alright. Food is here. Poison is here. All I need to do is mix the two. Invite the people for a feast. It''ll be mission finished at one strike," Ryder muttered as he started taking the packets to the kitchen. He brought a packet of poison and mixed it in all food items. After preparing everything, he left his house to invite his neighbours, not knowing if it was going to work as he planned or a bit different. In any case, he knew that he could only give it a try. If he was successful, it was a win situation. Chapter 494 - 490: Come with me Ryder finished mixing the food with the poison and arranged it all in the hundred plates that he had purchased. He even arranged all the plates before he left the house and walked to the nearest house. It was a house that looked similar to his but was in a better condition. The house belonged to a lady that opened the door right after Ryder had knocked without delaying as if she was standing right behind the door waiting for Ryder. Unlike the woman that had barged inside his house, this woman was much older. Wrinkles could clearly be seen on her face, but she still looked perfectly healthy. Her body was a bit too strong. Her muscles were clearly visible. Her biceps themselves were twice the size of the head of the man Ryder was impersonating. The first glance itself was enough to surprise Ryder at the physique of this woman, but he maintained his composure. He didn''t even know how the man he impersonated used to talk to his neighbors. He could only try his best. "Hey, Actually I''m having a celebration at my house. I''ve prepared a feast. I would be happy if you can come and attend that," he said as he started waiting for her response to see if he had made any mistakes or not. The woman did gaze at him oddly for a moment. "You pipsqueak, did you finally gather the courage to talk to me? I often notice you are so scared to even look at people. Anyway, what''s the celebration for?" the woman asked Ryder, confused. "It''s because I found ten dark gold coins today. They were dropped by someone. When I returned them, I was awarded one coin in return. But I don''t have many expenses, so I thought to use that to give you all a feast," Ryder explained. He didn''t know what excuse to give, so he went with this one. "Hmm? That''s quite lucky. Generally, it''s rare for someone to drop that much money. So did you spend all that money on food already?" She asked. Ryder could see a sneaky light shine in her eyes. He was sure that if he said that he didn''t, the woman was going to probably snatch the money from him. "Yeah. I brought the food for a hundred people from chubby place. Their most expensive dish. So they took all my money," Ryder explained. "Cheh, what a waste. That place is indeed expensive. Fine. You have food; I''ll come to eat that. When is the feast?" she asked Ryder. "It''ll start in the evening. I still need to invite more people. So you can come at 6?" he asked the woman. "Will that be alright?" "Fine. I''m going out now, but I''ll come on time," the woman nodded before she left. Ryder watched the woman go away as he smiled, ''One down. Ninety-eight to go.'' He started walking towards the nearest house. The house belonged to a man who was much more kinder than the woman previously. The man talked more calmly and listened to Ryder with a smile on his face. The man agreed instantly. He didn''t even ask the reason for a feast. Ryder gave him the time of invitation before he moved over to the next house. One after another, he kept going to the houses. Just to make sure he didn''t lack people, he invited hundred people here. If one couldn''t come, he was still going to have ninety-nine people. The problem was if more didn''t come. But he couldn''t invite more. He only had food and space for a hundred people. After inviting a hundred people, he walked back to his house and started waiting for their arrival. Now that most of the work was done, he could only leave the rest on luck and hope that nothing went wrong. As the time for feast drew closer, Ryder started pacing back and forth as he watched the door to see if anyone was going to knock or not. "Janus, what are the chances of this plan being successful?" Ryder asked, wondering if Janus could give him some confidence. Unfortunately, Janus didn''t answer him. It was as if that guy was either ignoring him, or he genuinely couldn''t hear that guy. "Fine. Don''t talk. In any case, I want my reward from Luke''s killing. If I don''t get them within twenty-four hours, I''ll seriously start cursing you," Ryder let out in anger as he shook his head. He had thought that Janus was ignoring him because he didn''t want to pay the debt he was owed. He had decided to bug that guy even more after he was back. For the moment, his main focus was going to be on the task at the head. If he was succeeding, it was going to be a significant accomplishment. He couldn''t even imagine the face High Dukes were going to make if they knew that he finished the trial within two days of entering the Royal City of Death Domain. Just as he was wondering what kind of face High Dukes were going to make, he heard a knock on the door. "I guess one of them is here already? Or maybe all," Ryder muttered as he started walking towards the gate with an expectant gaze on his face. He opened the door only to find a person standing outside. It wasn''t any of the people he had invited, though. Instead, it was someone who made Ryder stunned. Ryder remembered seeing that person. That''s why he didn''t like this development. He had seen that man just this morning before sunrise. The man was one of the few guards who was running beside the girl who rode on the horse through the empty City. Just what was this man doing here? Could it be that the woman recognized Ryder as the person who saw her n.a.k.e.d? Many thoughts floated in his head. ''No. Impossible! How could that woman recognize me? I''m in a disguise. It''s impossible for her. My clothes are different too. Wait a minute, my bracelet?'' Ryder suddenly thought of something that might have given him away. If that woman saw him in the morning and noticed his bracelet, then she was going to know. But he just couldn''t remember. Was his bracelet exposed in the morning? He lowered his head to look at his hand, which had the bracelet of Immortality. His bracelet was covered by the long sleeves of his shirt. It wasn''t visible. If everything was normal, it shouldn''t have been visible in the morning either, but he just couldn''t remember exactly. "Yes?" He asked the guard while keeping his calm expressions. "Are you Jiw?" The man asked Ryder. "Yeah?" Ryder asked. At Least he was sure that the man hadn''t known him. So he could talk to the man as a stranger. "You need to come with me," the man told Ryder. "Come with you where?" Ryder asked, confused. "You need to come with us to the Royal Palace. We have orders to kill you if you resist," the man told Ryder. "Can you at least tell me what I did?" Ryder asked calmly. Inside he was bewildered. He was going to be taken to the Royal Palace where the Prince of Death Domain was going to be? The same Prince that Ryder made a fool out of with the help of the High Dukes? The same Prince that probably hated him to death? If that was the case and the Prince recognized him, it was going to be bad. But if things were different and he didn''t go, things could be bad there too. "Can I take some time? Give me an hour? I promised a feast to some neighbors. If I don''t give it, they might be angry. If you want, you can come in and eat too? I got food from chubby. You will love it. I have extra," Ryder suggested. If he could make the man eat, that was for the better. That man would die of poison, and Ryder could continue staying here to find the rest of the neighbors. Unfortunately, that man didn''t agree. Instead of saying yes, he shook his head while seemingly fully serious. "You can''t stay here for a minute longer. I need to take you to the Royal Palace right away. As I said, you''ll be hurt if you resist. So calmly come with me. Ryder used his All-Seer on the man. He was already sure that he wouldn''t see anything because of his high levels but still used it while hoping for the better. The luck wasn''t on his side, though. It was as he had expected. He couldn''t see anything. The man who stood before him was too strong. He could only follow after the man. "Fine. Take me to the Royal Palace," Ryder let out as he smiled wryly. In his disappointment, he didn''t even bother closing the door behind him. The guard took Ryder with him as they both advanced towards the Royal Palace. Chapter 495 - 491: Accidental Success Ryder left the house, keeping up with the guard that was here to escort him. He had no idea why he was being called to the Royal Palace. There were three possible explanations. The Prince found his truth for some reason. The Girl recognized him or, lastly, something else entirely. ... As Ryder left the house, he forgot to close the door entirely, leaving the house unlocked. He didn''t know that a few moments after he left, the hundreds of people he had invited arrived. They people stood before the house and called out to Ryder but got no response. "Is he not home? What kind of person is he? He invited us here and himself left?" One of the guests complained. "That idiot! Is he messing with us? The next time I see him, I''ll beat the crap out of him," another man said, cursing Ryder. "Yeah. That bastard deserves it! He''s making a mockery out of all of us!" the bulky woman also chimed in. She was the first person Ryder had invited. Everyone was angry. Only one person was calm. "Wait a minute. Let''s think about it. Maybe he got something urgent and had to leave? He left the house open. That must be for us so we can go inside and eat? Why else would he leave the door open? He invited us for a feast, and he left the door open so we could have our feast," the man said. "Oh right. Why didn''t I think of that? He left the door open so we could eat. Feast doesn''t need him to be present personally. All it needs is the food that he might have prepared inside. Let''s go inside." One after another, more and more people kept agreeing. They all entered the house and started searching the house for food, not knowing that what they were searching for was the poison. Soon, they found the food as well, properly served as if it was waiting for them. Each of them picked up a plate and started eating at the same time. "Amazing. Chubby''s food is expensive, but it''s worth it. This thing is so tasty!" "It''s my first time eating it. I can''t believe that I hadn''t eaten out before. I deserve to be punished for such a big mistake. I was missing out on something so great. Even if it''s expensive, I''ll buy it again. It''s so amazing." "It''s your first time? It''s my fifth, but I still love it just like I did the first time." Everyone praised the food they were eating. They ate it while enjoying it properly. Even though they tried to savor the taste for as long as they can while eating slowly, the food was still finished within minutes. As everyone finished, they stood up to leave. "Amazing. This was the best fea-" one of the men let out with a satisfied grin, but he couldn''t even finish his sentence when he stopped. His face turned pale as he held his throat with his hand, struggling to breathe, "Urgh! Wh, ah, can''t bre-" Soon, he dropped to the ground, dead. Unfortunately, he wasn''t alone in it. The others also had the same reaction at almost the same time as they also dropped to the ground. People kept dying in hordes, one after another. Not a single person was able to step out of the house before dying. ..... Ryder was still walking with the guard. They were just at the entrance of the Royal Palace. He was still unaware that he had already achieved his target. He had killed more than a hundred people of the Royal City of Death Domain. He finished the trial. If he went back now, he was going to be the king of the Death Domain. Unfortunately this he didn''t know what he did yet. Leaving the door open was only because he didn''t care to close it. Who could have expected that even in his absence, the plan would succeed and that people would enter the house and eat themselves. Ryder remembered coming to the Royal Palace of the Death Domain last time. He was even escorted to the Throne Room by the Prince of Death Domain himself. Now that he was again walking the same path, he realized that he was once again being escorted to the Throne Room. They were walking through the same path, after all. He didn''t even need to ask the guard where he was being taken. One thing that was confirmed was that he was going to be presented before the Death Domain Prince. They soon reached the throne room entrance. The door of the chamber was opened by the other guards, letting them enter. Ryder entered the chamber with the guard. He could see the Death Domain Prince sitting on the central throne at the other end of the chamber. The four High Duke equivalents of the Death Domain, the Death Generals, also sat inside the chamber along with a few more people that Ryder didn''t recognize. ''Oh God, is this because of that?'' Ryder thought as he realized what was happening. It was obvious now. In the middle of the chamber, he saw a woman standing. The woman had her head down, but still, Ryder recognized that woman. It was none other than the woman that had slept with him yesterday. Beside the woman, a man was standing. The man was glaring at the woman in anger. ''Did her affair get exposed? And I''m here to get the punishment? God, this is embarrassing. Why would a Prince take care of the matters of affairs though?'' he wondered as he gazed at the woman. "Stand right here! And get down on your knees," the Guard told Ryder after he reached near the center of the chamber. Not only was he told to stop, but he was also told to get down on his knees? Ryder couldn''t believe it. The last time he came here, he was sitting proudly in front of their Prince as his equal, and this time he had to get down on his knees before this guy? ''Whatever. At the moment, keeping my disguise is more important. If things go downhill, I can take other steps. But as of now, it''s not the time,'' Ryder thought as he convinced himself. He went down to his knees. "Your Highness, this is the Jiw I was told to bring," the guard told the Prince, who nodded his head lazily. The Prince looked towards Ryder. "So Jiw, so you understand why you''re brought here?" the Prince asked Ryder. ''Man, his voice sounds so arrogant. Did he learn some of my tricks last time? He used to talk so calmly, unlike now. Or could it be that was only in front of me? This is his original self?'' Ryder thought as he raised his head. He shook his head lightly. Even though he did have an idea, it was better to act ignorant. "Alright. I''ll tell you. We heard that you have an affair with the wife of General Linni. Is that the truth?" the Prince inquired. ''Ah, so that''s why a Prince is taking care of the matter. It involves his general. I understand now. But still, this Jiw guy was pretty badass. Despite only being level one, he had an affair with the wife of a general? How did he even achieve it?'' Ryder wondered in surprise. "Your Highness, I had no affair. It''s not the truth," Ryder answered, denying the accusations. It was possible that it was a test. If the woman denied it and he confessed, it would be wrong. He would be trapping himself. Thus, he could only have faith that the woman wouldn''t accept her mistake either. If she had accepted, he knew it would be even more wrong since the Prince would know I was lying to him. "Alright. She also says the same thing. But still, there are witnesses that said they saw her meeting you secretly and spending time inside your house? In fact, I even heard that you spent hours inside. What did you do?" the Prince asked. ''So I was right. She didn''t confess. The situation is still salvageable if I''m careful,'' Ryder thought. He tried to come up with an answer to the next question. His answers needed to match her answers. ''What could she say we did inside for hours?'' Ryder wondered, trying to guess her answer. "We talked," Ryder answered. What else could they do for hours except talk? "We are like friends who have been close for years. In some ways, we''re as close as brother and sister. We meet and talk about various things. We get so immersed in talking that hours pass before we even resize," he added to his explanation. He did talk slowly so he could see the woman''s expression before speaking his following words to know he wasn''t saying wrong things and, if he did, to correct himself in time. Chapter 496 - 492: Come in "Shut up! Stop talking nonsense! What brother and sister? Do you take us for idiots? Come out and confess the truth of the wrong you did!" As Ryder kept lying, the man who was standing beside the woman couldn''t control himself. The man glared at Ryder while he screamed. The man was none other than General Linni. The highest authority in the Death Domain belonged to the Prince. After him came the Death Generals. Next were Death Warriors. After them came the normal generals. So even though General Linni didn''t have the highest position, his position was still not something someone could laugh at. Ryder had already guessed that this man was the husband of the woman he slept with. How unfortunate. When he did it, he didn''t even know that the woman was married. He found it a bit awkward. "I''m not lying. She''s really my sister!" Ryder said as he noticed the woman not resisting what he was saying. It must be the right path, he thought. "Someone is trying to accuse us falsely to accuse a woman as innocent as her wrongly? I know she is innocent as her brother. Shouldn''t you also know that she is innocent as her husband? Have faith in your wife!" he insisted, utilizing the opportunity. General Linni was taken aback by Ryder''s passionate voice. He actually didn''t have much proof. All he knew was that his wife went to this guy''s home and spent a few hours there occasionally. That was what he knew. When he asked his wife, she was shocked and started babbling nonsense about that person being her brother. He was sure that she was lying. He wanted to kill that guy who dared to do this to his wife, but he couldn''t. Times were special. Some guests had come, and the Prince had told everyone that no one could take any action against citizens without his permission. That''s why he approached the Royal Court first. But if it was true that Ryder was actually her brother in name and he had misunderstood, then it was going to be embarrassing. "General Linni, I''ll advise you to not interfere with the matter of this court now," the Prince told the General who had started talking without permission. "I apologize, Your Highness," the General replied as he went silent. "Well, your story does match her story. But I''ll still give you a chance. If you want to tell us something, this is the only chance. If you lie to us, you''ll be killed. But if you tell us the truth and even if you did wrong, you won''t get punishment. How is that offer?" the Prince asked Ryder calmly. "Your Highness, I don''t think I can tell you anything else. That I''m telling you is already the truth as it is," Ryder replied calmly. His art of bluffing was also acting, making him good at lying. Not a single person could see that he was lying. Even the woman herself was surprised at how good Ryder was at lying. She was the only one here who knew that he was lying. After hearing the final response of Ryder, the Prince nodded his head calmly. He gazed towards the four Death Generals and asked their opinions about it, "What do you all think?" "I don''t think he is lying. If he is, then he''s really good at it," the first Death General said calmly. "It''s possible what he''s saying is the truth. There''s no evidence, on the contrary, to prove that he is lying. All we know is that the woman was meeting him. If they only talk, then it also makes sense," the second Death General also nodded his head as he shook his head. "I also think he''s telling the truth. There''s no way someone like him can fool us otherwise," the third Death General said confidently. The fourth Death General was the only one who still hasn''t said anything yet. He was observing Ryder, who kept his head down. "What about you?" the Prince asked the Fourth Death General, who didn''t say anything. "I''d like to ask a few questions to him as well," the fourth Death General said. "You may," the Prince nodded while giving permission to the Death General. "So, Jiw. How long has it been since you first met her?" the Fourth Death General inquired. Ryder raised his head slowly as he gazed at the Death General. This was really the question he didn''t know how to answer. It was tough to guess if the woman had been asked this question. He also didn''t know exactly how long these two had known each other. ''I guess this is where I lose this game. I can only answer a random thing and hope they hadn''t asked the woman. If I''m wrong, then back to the past,'' Ryder as he decided on an answer. "It''s been slightly over a year, but to me, it feels like I know her for an eternity," Ryder answered calmly. "Is she good in bed?" the Death General asked Ryder. "I wouldn''t know. But she is really smart. I get to know so many things just by talking to her," Ryder replied calmly. "Alright. I think you''re telling the truth. We did wrong by disturbing you unnecessarily. To make up for it, I''ll offer you something. As a Death General of this place, I give you one wish. Anything you ask will be made true. If you want General Linni to be killed so this woman can be yours, I can make that happen as well," the Death General said. "So think carefully. And don''t think that I''m lying. As a Death General, I won''t lie. It''s beneath my dignity. So choose your wish wisely," he added. "But-" General Linni wanted to protest, but before he could even say a word, the Death General interfered. "Silence!" The Death General let out, stunning the General who closed his eyes. "So, Jiw. Tell me what your wish is?" he asked Ryder. "What do I want? I just want to make sure that no lies are made against us. Such accusations shouldn''t taint our pure relationship. We only talk to each other and nothing more, but still, some people talk back about us. I just want our innocence back," Ryder said, requesting the Death General. Even though he was asking this, inside his heart, he was thinking something else entirely. ''You idiot, I''m the soon-to-be King of the Demon Realm. Do you think you can even offer me something that I can''t take myself? I''ll soon take over your place. Everything will be mine anyway. So I''m not going to fall for your little trick here. Greed is the last thing someone like me can have. So I won''t even test if you''re telling the truth or not,'' he thought. "Interesting. Even after I offer you everything, you still don''t desire anything. You really have a pure heart. I agree that you''re innocent as well. The ones who accused you and this woman should be ashamed of themselves," the Death General said, nodding his head as he smiled in appreciation. Ryder''s reply had really impressed him. He didn''t expect him to say that. If he were wrong, he would have asked for something that would have proven his guilt. Not not only did he give up the opportunity, all he asked for was his innocence. General Linni lowered his head in embarrassment. After everyone had accepted that Ryder was right, he was feeling red-faced. Did he really misunderstand his wife? Was she really Innocent? In any case, it didn''t matter now. Now that Death Generals had accepted that Ryder was innocent, he couldn''t do anything. "Alright. Since Death Generals agree with your innocence as well, I''ve come to a verdict. You''re innocent. The one who accused you clearly misunderstood a pure relationship. You can go back," the Prince told Ryder. He even commanded the same guard to send him back that had brought him here. Even though Ryder wanted to go back alone, he couldn''t oppose the commands. He left with the guard. ... Ryder and the guard finally reached back to his home. The door was in the same condition, so Ryder didn''t know that his guests had already come. He thought that they probably left from the gate. A deep sigh left his lips, "If you had taken me later, I could have finished giving a feast to my guests. Now because of you, they must be angry with me." "What can I do? I had the commands. Anyways, you did offer me to taste your feast before. How about I eat that now as a form of apology?" the guard asked Ryder as he smiled wryly. ''Well, one prey is better than nothing. I''ll only need ninety-eight more after him. As for the others, I can handle later,'' Ryder thought as he nodded his head. "That''s great. Come on in," he said smilingly as he opened the door. Chapter 497 - 493: Shameless Woman "Come on inside," Ryder told the guard who was standing behind him. He was inviting the man, not knowing that a hundred dead bodies were lying inside his house, dead. Since he wasn''t the one who killed them, the bodies hadn''t disappeared. Ryder stepped inside the house, leaving the door open so that the guard could enter after him but as soon as Ryder took a step inside the hall, he saw the dead bodies in the distance. A wry smile formed on his face at the sight of the dead bodies. Those guys, just how shameless were they for the feast? Did they actually step inside when Ryder wasn''t here to eat? ''Oh God, I invited this idiot behind me. Could someone be more unfortunate than me? I invited the cops to see the dead bodies of people I helped die?'' he thought as he hastily turned back. "Wait!" He told the guard as he ran towards him, stopping him right at the entrance. "What happened?" the guard asked Ryder. "I just remembered, the feast was for the morning. The food must have spoiled by now. Since the food went to waste, I have nothing to feed you. Tomorrow, I''ll arrange another feast for you. How about you come then?" he asked the guard. "Hmm? You said that the food was from Chubby''s place, right?" the guard asked Ryder. "That''s right," Ryder replied, remembering telling the man about it when he was here to take Ryder. "Then don''t worry. The food prepared at that place lasts for weeks. It won''t be spoiled so fast. It might be your first time buying from him. That''s why you don''t know about this. But I know. So don''t worry," the guard said as he patted Ryder''s shoulder. He couldn''t see that Ryder was only saying this to get him to leave. Instead, he genuinely thought that he didn''t know. "No, I know about that. The truth is that I brought it weeks ago. This afternoon was when it was said to expire. So it''s better not to risk it," Ryder improvised right away to get the man to leave. "Ah, is that so? That makes sense. You didn''t want it to expire for no reason, so you decided to give a feast?" The guards let out, finishing Ryder''s sentence while giving him even more excuses. "That''s right," Ryder said, immediately jumping on the train. "Oh god, I really should have tried to understand your plight. I''m really sorry. Because of me, your food went to waste, and your neighbors are probably angry at you too," the guard muttered with concern. "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. You have more important things to do. You should go," Ryder replied as he placed his hand on the man''s back while subtly pushing him towards the door. The guard felt the pushing and thought that Ryder was sad and upset. Even he felt somewhat bad. "Don''t worry. I can''t solve the problem of expired food, but I should be able to solve your neighbor''s problem. I''ll go talk to them. If I tell them that you were called by the Prince and you had no reason, they''ll understand," the guard said as he started leaving. For a moment, Ryder was happy the man was leaving, but he soon realized that it wasn''t right. If he went to his neighbors, he''d find no one there. All his neighbors are dead already. If he felt suspicious about their disappearance, it could be problematic. "No wait!" he called out. "Huh? What?" the dark-haired man turned back towards Ryder and asked, but he soon slapped his head as he understood. "I understand everything," he let out in a serious tone as he glanced at Ryder. ''He understands? How?'' Ryder thought as he frowned. "What do you understand?" he asked right away while opening his inventory so that he was ready to take action. "I understand that you worried about your neighbors finding why you were called. If they know that it was because you were accused of sleeping with someone else''s wife, you''ll lose all your reputation here even though you''re exonerated by the Prince," the dark-haired guy muttered as he rubbed his chin. ''This guy, is he a guard or an idiot? He''s giving me the excuses I need without me even asking,'' Ryder thought as he gazed at the man blankly. "I''ll take your silence as a yes," the guard muttered. "That''s right. You leave and don''t worry. I''ll handle everything on my own. It''s not that hard. You focus on your work," Ryder agreed. "Sigh, you don''t have to act so strong. I know you''re worried about your neighbors, and you have no idea how to handle it," the man told Ryder, looking at him in concern. "I''ll talk to them myself. And don''t worry, I won''t tell them the actual reason you were called by the Prince. I''ll make up a story that will make them see you as a hero!" He told Ryder. "I told you not to worry. Why do you keep interfering? Please leave me on my own. I told you that I know how to handle it. If you talk to them, things will be even worse. So leave. I swear things will be better if you do nothing," Ryder said, somewhat angrily. This man was really annoying him. Just why didn''t he leave? Hearing Ryder''s angry tone, the man was stunned and a bit taken aback. He was also somewhat angry. He was trying to help this guy, and he was scolding him? "Fine! I won''t involve myself in your matter even if you ask me to," he snorted angrily as he left the place. Ryder stepped forward and closed the door, finally breathing a sigh of relief. It was over. He didn''t have to worry anymore. Moreover, he had also killed people without even knowing. He walked inside the hall to see how many people he had actually managed to kill using the food. "One, two, three..." ... "Sixty, Sixty-one, Sixty-two..." ... "Ninety-nine, Hundred." Ryder soon finished the counting of bodies that had filled most of the house. "That makes it. I reached the target. Did this thing light up?" he wondered as he brought the item given to him by the High Duke. He was curious if this thing worked. He wasn''t really sure if poison deaths counted. This was the lowest and most despicable form of killing someone, after all. He was doubtful if the color would be the same or changed. Fortunately, his worries proved to be unfounded as he realized that the item has indeed changed color. His mission was over. Now all he had to do was leave the Royal City and rub it. It was going to give a signal to the High Dukes that the mission was over. They were going to come back and take him. He had decided that it was the time to leave. Now that he was done here, he only had one reason left to stay in this Death Domain, and that was to finish Rale''s quest and get another fragment that he knew was somewhere in the Death Domain. He even had the map to find it. He couldn''t leave the dead bodies behind, though. Even though they were already dead, they weren''t going to disappear. So he started carrying them one at a time to waste the store room of the house and threw them all there. "Sigh, this game is pretty brutal sometimes. Teaching me how to kill and take care of bodies," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly while dragging the last body. "It''s not that I didn''t know about these things before, though." After placing all the bodies in the storage room, he locked the door and got ready to leave. Reaching the main door, he had just opened it when he saw a couple of people standing before him. It was General Linni and his wife. "You?" Ryder asked, frowning. Was this guy still not convinced and wanted to kill Ryder? ''Come on! It''s such a clean success of this Kingship Trial. Don''t ruin things by forcing me back in time,'' he thought as he gazed towards the hands of the man to keep an eye on him, wondering if he was going to attack him. The man didn''t attack him, though. Instead, he bowed down to Ryder. "What?" Ryder exclaimed as he saw General bowing before him. "I came here to apologize to you for misunderstanding you. Please forgive me. I already apologized to my wife. I need to apologize to you as well since I inconvenienced you as well," the man said, without even raising his head. The woman stood straight through. Ryder gazed at the woman who was actually in the wrong, but it was her husband apologizing. She was lucky that it was Ryder. If this were previous Jiw, she would have been caught. The woman didn''t look apologetic, though. Instantly, she licked her lips as she gazed at Ryder''s waist with l.u.s.tful eyes. Chapter 498 - 494: Giving up Divinity "It''s fine. Don''t worry about it. You can leave now. I am a bit tired, and I''ll rest. Thanks for coming," Ryder lazily said as he stepped back inside the house and closed the door. He couldn''t be bothered to deal with the two. He waited inside the house for some time to make sure that these people had left. After about ten minutes of silence, he opened the door to check if they had left. Finding the path clear, he realized that they had gone. He closed the door behind him and started walking towards the other end of the Royal City. The place where he needed to do Rale''s mission was opposite to the direction where he came from. If it weren''t that way, he would have gone to that place first instead of coming here. Unfortunately, Royal City fell in the middle of his destination, where he was going to find the next orb and where he came from. ... "Strange. The time... It feels a bit too unrestricted. What happened? Did the Lord of Time stop handling time?" In a dark place, a woman was sitting in the darkness. The place had no light. There was no flow of time in this place either. "It could only be when he died. No, it can''t be. How can the Lord of Time die? Is this my misconception? I should ask Janus. He also has some relation to time. If he feels the same, then something really big has happened." The woman stood up and took a step forward, submerging into the wall as she disappeared. In a different place, she appeared only to find a dark barrier before her. "Huh? Domains?" Frowning, she gazed at two different colors of domes in front of her. "One of these belongs to Janus, as for the other... Goddess of Life and Death?" Her frown deepened only as she thought about it. "Why are these two meeting? Moreover, why are they using their domain? What could be so secretive?" "Could it be that Lord of Time really...? The Goddess of Life and Death is here. That would explain it," she muttered as she took a step forward while raising her hand in the sky. A massive clock appeared in the sky from which another Domain spread out, making it a triple domain zone. Even though this didn''t allow her to step inside Janus''s Domain while staying unnoticed, it was done to give Janus information about her arrival. ... Near the pond, Janus and the Goddess of Life and Death were still talking when the two of them saw the third Domain. "This girl... I should''ve thought about it. She has relation to time as well. Of course, she would feel something odd." Janus frowned at the sight of the new domain as he knew what this implied. "What do you want to do? I can''t lie to hide the information about the Lord of Time. As the Goddess of Life, it''s my responsibility to tell her that the Lord of Time is dead if she asks me," the Goddess of Life and Death said softly. "I know. If you lie and she goes to check up on him, the suspicion will fall on you," Janus let out as he frowned. "Whatever. Just do as I tell you." ... The woman had just cast a third Domain. She expected Janus to remove his domain instantly after realizing that she was here. Surprisingly though, Janus was slower than she expected. Janus and the Goddess of Life only removed the domain after around five minutes. "Goddess of Change, welcome. I must say, I was expecting you," Janus told the woman who reached near him. "So you feel it too? Time is a bit too unrestricted. Did something happen to Lord Cronos?" the newly arrived woman asked Janus. " I felt the same. I was about to go to the Goddess of Life to consult her about the Lord of Time. Surprisingly, she came even before that," Janus said calmly. "I do have some bad news, though. According to the Goddess of Life, she can''t feel the presence of the Lord of Time," Janus added. "So he''s dead? How could he die? He''s eternal! He''s one of the strongest gods. Did the Lord of Space attack them? Or was it someone else just as strong?" the woman asked, stunned. " Something so big happened, and instead of telling everyone, you''re here talking in secret?!" "Calm down, Hiori. Don''t talk bad about Lord Cronos. Do you think he could be killed? No! He''s eternal!" Janus insisted as he squinted his eyes. "But you said his presence was gone!" Hiori thundered at Janus. Was he mocking her? First, he said he''s gone, and when she repeated, he was berating her? "His presence has disappeared. But that doesn''t mean the Lord of Time is dead. There are more reasons for something like this to happen," the Goddess of Life and Death chimed in. "Like what?" Hiori asked. "It could also be possible that he gave up his divinity and went to the mortal plane to live a silent life," the Goddess of Life replied. "What? You''re saying he decided to give up his immortal life so he could be a mortal and die a natural death? What nonsense is this?" Hiori rolled her eyes. "At first, I thought that it was impossible as well. But this makes more sense than him dying, doesn''t it?" Janus told Hiori. "He had never been the same after the Last Great War. He went into seclusion because he started hating this place. Maybe isolation changed, and he felt that living itself was a pain for him? Maybe he wanted to see how mortals lived and died? In any case, we aren''t anyone to call any decision of his stupid," he added. "This..." Hiori found herself at a loss for words. He was right; this did make more sense than him dying. "In any case, you need to tell others. We need to investigate. If he was killed, there must be battle scars all over his seclusion realm. I can''t sit at peace without knowing the truth. "Alright. But do you even know where his seclusion place is? Because no one other than him or the Lord of Space knows where it is," Janus said. "As for the seclusion place of Lord of Space, that''s an even bigger mystery." "And if you want to use your powers to find that place, you need to have strength at least comparable to the Lord of Space and the ability to find that place. There were only three people who had the ability and the strength to find the spaces created by the Lord of Space," the Goddess of Life and Death explained. "We''ll go to them. Tell me who they are," Hiori insisted. The Goddess of Life answered, "Those three were, the Lord of Time, the Lord of Space himself. And..." "And my brother... Who died in the last great war." Janus finished her sentence as he gazed back at the pond. "This... One of these three is already missing. The second one is already in seclusion. As for the third, he''s dead. So we have no way to find that space," Janus answered casually. "Also, why do you even want to find it?" He asked, frowning. "Do you not have trust in Lord Cronos? Let him live his life as he pleases. Stop doubting him. He can''t be killed. And if you make trouble for him and we find out that he''s actually given up his Divinity, he''ll be really upset for us exposing this." "You''re not wrong, but still...this...I..." "Don''t worry. Just have faith in the Lord of Time and stop thinking. Even if he gave up his Divinity, that''s for him to decide. We''re no one to judge. So stop worrying and go back," Janus said as he patted Hiori''s shoulder. "Yeah, I''ll take my leave as well." The goddess of life and death also disappeared. "Janus, he would really be safe, right?" Hiori asked Janus, concerned. "Don''t worry. No one can kill him. Your father will be safe," Janus said calmly. Even though he lied straight to her face, Hiori didn''t notice as she nodded. Turning back, she disappeared as well. After Hiori left, Janus finally breathed a sigh of relief. ''Sigh, this thing could''ve become messy. It''s good that she''s a bit naive,'' Janus thought as he walked back to the pond. "Now that it''s over, and no one else seems to have known anything, I can finally contact him again. I should prepare to have Luke''s powers transferred to him. Controlling everything from here will be a bit tough, though," he mumbled as he sat near the pond again, wondering what Ryder was doing. Looking down, he saw Ryder leaving the Royal City of the Death Domain. He had reached the barrier where he used the torch-like object to make a hole, allowing him to leave the Royal City. Chapter 499 - 495: Coffin Ryder left the Royal City of the death domain after finishing the work here. He had completed his task, and now he was free to go back as the new king of Death Domain. But first, he had to do something else. He wanted to get another fragment of the Bracelet of Immortality that he thought to be within his reach. Unfortunately, he didn''t know that there was someone else who was also planning to go to Death Domain. ... In an unknown place, a woman in a beautiful robe was standing. The woman seemed somewhat similar to Alice but with some differences. She had a different eye color and a changed hairstyle. In her hand were two beautiful gloves. She also wore two beautiful bracelets in each of her hands. She seemed to be looking at a semi-transparent screen in front of her that seemed to be showing something. "My stats were still pretty low from what I can understand," she muttered as she looked at the screen. [Name: Alice Title: Successor of Silvi Species: Spirit Race Class: Royal Oracle Level:30 Experience: 10/100 HP: 150 Mana: 60000000 Strength: 21 Defense:22 Speed: 28 Stamina:40 Dexterity:30 Intelligence: 1980 Available stat points: 0] "Too bad I can''t even see the ranking of the ones higher than me. Is he at the top? Where will he be? While he''s having adventures, having fun, I''m stuck here in this quest," she muttered as she closed the screen before she gazed ahead at the giant army that was standing before her. "Your Highness, we are ready. Shall we depart for the Demon Realm?" The soldier asked Alice, who found herself in deep thought. She couldn''t understand how she ended up here. All she knew was that she had helped a lady. That lady called her back for a reward which gave her this special quest as well as this unique class. She also found herself in this place, in front of a massive army that calls her princess. "Your Highness, should we move?" The Spirit General again asked. "Yeah." .... Ryder left the Royal City of death domain and started walking towards his next destination. According to Rale''s quest, the Moon Armor was here in the Death Domain. It was said to be the same grade of an artifact as the moon scythe, so it was indeed special. But the more special thing was what Rale told him after that. Rale had said that the armor was pretty useless at first until one of the Demon Emperors used a special crystal on it. After the special crystal was embedded on it, that was when the miracle truly happened. From what Rale described, Ryder was sure that the crystal was none other than one of the fragments. To get to the crystal, he had to get to the moon Armor. After that, he could worry about retracting that crystal. As he walked through the isolated forest, wondering how long before he could fly again, he opened the scroll. He already knew where the next city of his destination was. As he opened the scroll, he saw two beautiful cities in his path that were going to be between him and his destination. Once again, he decided to avoid the two cities as he formed his travel plan. His path included a lot of going forests and even a river. Fortunately, he knew that he wouldn''t have to travel most of this journey on foot. He was sure that he would be allowed to fly soon enough. As it was already time to log out, he kept the scroll back before he logged out of the game. ... The next day, Ryder once again logged in to continue his journey from where he left off. His travel continued for a long time and only stopped when he reached the destination. It was a small city that was not as lavish as the Royal City. It also didn''t have the security, which could be compared to Death Domain''s Royal City. Let alone compared to the Royal City; its security was even worse than the normal cities. Only one guard could be seen at the entrance of the city who didn''t even stop a single person from entering. Ryder also had an easy time in entering, still disguised as Jiw from the Royal City. Let alone stopping him; the guard didn''t even ask him a single question as to where he came from or what his purpose was. With such an easy entry, Ryder didn''t have to think of any excuse even though he did have a lot of things he could have said to get an entry. This city is pretty backwater. Not many facilities here. Buildings seem to be broken and old here as well. ''Whatever, I don''t need to think of a reason. I can only try to find the Moon Armor. It''s the lost treasure of the Demon Realm, so he was sure that no one was going to see it here. The previous Demon General would have hid it properly. So he wasn''t in any hurry. According to the scroll, the Moon Armor was buried ten feet under the ground in the middle of the city. He was confused about how he could get it out. If it were in the middle of the city, then it would be a crowded place. He couldn''t just start digging and get the Armor. It could even be possible that there was a building or a marketplace there. So he could only go there and see from his own eyes. Not long after he entered the city, he found himself at the center of the city. It wasn''t a big city after all. Looking ahead, a wry smile remained on his face as he saw where the Moon Armor was buried. "A graveyard? That guy hid it inside a graveyard? Wtf?" Ryder exclaimed as he shook his head. Was this really a place to hide the treasure? Just what was that guy thinking. "At Least that makes it easier for me to get my hands on this thing," he thought as he shook his head. Pushing the door of the graveyard open, he stepped inside and started walking. The graveyard was at the center of the city. But finding the center of the graveyard was somewhat complicated since he couldn''t see the top view of the graveyard. Yet, as he walked all around the graveyard, he gained a general idea as to what this place was and how its shape was. Using some assumption, he also guessed where the center might lie and started walking towards it. As he reached the center, he noticed a gravestone. "He couldn''t have buried that thing under someone''s grave. It must be either on the right of the grave or left," Ryder muttered as he started digging on the left first. Even after dragging for about twenty meters, he didn''t find anything. Shifting to the right of the grave, he once again started digging, but the result was the same. One after another, he dug all around, only to fail. After some time, he sat down on top of the grave, tired. He had searched all around, but the Armor was nowhere to be found. Could it be that it was actually under the grave? Frowning, Ryder stood up and started gazing at the grave. "Sorry, bro. It looks like you need to be disturbed a bit. I don''t think you should blame me for this. Blame that old man that placed the Armor under you," Ryder muttered as he started digging before the tombstone. As he kept digging with the help of moon scythe that had once again changed shape to help him dig better, he heard a metallic sound as if he had hit something. He started moving the soil to the side only to reveal a grave. "As expected, I disturbed the grave," Ryder muttered as he picked up the grave and moved it to the side. "Wait here. I''ll get back to you after I finish finding the Armor. I''ll place your back, he said before he turned back towards the pit and started digging. As he dug more and more, his frown deepened at the realization that it was a pretty useless endeavor. In his zeal, he had dug for over twenty meters again, but he didn''t find the Armor. "What the heck? It''s not here either?" he let out as he stopped digging and flew out of the put to land before the coffin. "Was I wrong about the center?" he wondered in confusion as he frowned. "I guess I was wrong." He knew that if that was true, it was actually going to be somewhat tough to find the actual center. It was also going to take a lot of trial and error as well. He could already feel tired. As he was wondering where the center could be, the coffin behind him started opening slowly as a hand came out of it slowly. Chapter 500 - 496: Control of Divinity The coffin slowly opened as a hand started crawling out of it, creepily. Ryder, completely unaware, looked in a different direction, not even knowing what was happening. He was just in thoughts as he tried to think what he could do. There were a lot of places he could search. "I wish it''s at least in the graveyard somewhere. If I had to dig outside, it''d be a mess, especially when the enemies are so strong. I did hunt a bit along the way and managed to get to level 220, but still, it''s nothing before then," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. He knew that he was getting stronger each day, but it still wasn''t enough. It was only strong enough to be compared to the normal levels of the game. In fact, he was already stronger than the Dragon that had killed him the first time in Divinity. Even after playing inside Divinity for two years, Ryder wasn''t even a level 200 player. He was easily killed by a dragon. As for now, he had only played for a few months, and he was already stronger than that dragon. As for other players, most of them hadn''t even reached level fifty. He was already walking in a different realm than the rest of the world. Despite being absurdly stronger than his fellow players, the people of this town were so strong that they could only be killed by him using tricks. He was like a player who had reached the middle stages of the game while others were stuck at the beginning. Moreover, he was placed in the end stages of the game for some reason. As he was immersed in his thoughts, the top of the coffin was completely open. A dried-up corpse could be seen inside the coffin that had sat up suddenly. A beautiful silver armor was on its chest that was slowly shining. The dried-up corpse gazed towards Ryder. .... "Maya, did you finish the task I gave you?" In a certain lab, a young-looking man was standing before what seemed like a hologram of a young girl, asking him questions. "The task is finished. Everything is arranged," the hologram answered. "That''s good. Finally, I have full control of half of that world. It was a good plan to use the people of this world as mana sources to tip the balance of that world," the young man muttered as a grin formed on his face. "The more that people joined from here, the more they grew, the weaker that world got. And the more I get control over it. Now finally, everything is in place. Surprisingly it was a bit faster than expected. Soon, I''ll get full control, too," he let out as he rubbed his chin. "I guess I should thank this Lucifer and, more importantly, this Hades. The two of them proved to be dark horses. As for that, Alice, she is also pretty special. Her mana is off the charts, even breaking the balance of power I set." "Tell me, did you find more about him? You told me you couldn''t control his skills last time. Is the reason found?" the man asked Maya. "Not yet. I am unable to see him as well for a long time. As if something in that world is resisting me," Maya answered without much emotion on her face. "Strange. The people of this world use our machine to connect to the server we made. Using that, we create a corporeal body in Divinity which they think is a game, not knowing it to be real. Even though we can''t control a lot of things in that world, we can at least control a few things there." "Regardless of that, since humans here use our servers to go there, we should have control over their corporeal bodies. Yet this Lucifer and Hades are out of our control. Let alone Lucifer; we can''t even find the whereabouts of Hades? What''s happening here," he rubbed his chin as he frowned. "This lack of uncontrol is concerning," the man muttered as he gazed at the face of Maya. What he didn''t know was that the dark hand of Janus was at play here. Not only was he protecting Ryder secretly, but he was also using his powers to keep Ryder''s hidden identity a secret from Necrosis as well. "Should I ban them from accessing Divinity?" Maya asked carelessly. "Are you an idiot?!" the young man couldn''t help but scold the girl uncontrollably. "Why would I ever do such a thing?" "These two people are helping my control increase in divinity. They''re the biggest factor in decreasing the world''s power and tipping the power dynamics in my favor. I can never block them. If I wanted to, I would have done so the day you told me you couldn''t control his skills," the man explained. "What are my commands?" "None. Go back and do what you were doing," the man casually said as he waved his hand. Turning back, he started walking away. "Even though I can''t block them, I still don''t like things that aren''t in my control. I need to find their identity. I guess I should move that thing forward. The live telecast of Divinity and its players. When they get the exclusive rights to telecast and the money, they''ll come forward themselves." ... Ryder finally turned back to place the Coffin back in the ground. It was enough time waste as he decided that standing here like stupid won''t stop problems for him. He needed to act, even if it meant digging thousands of holes more. As he turned back, his mouth opened wide in surprise. His eyes did the same. "What the heck?" He finally found the Moon Armor, but this wasn''t what he wanted to see it as. It was before his eyes, but that wasn''t all. It was work by a corpse that was blinking its eyes while looking at Ryder. Ryder used All-Seer right away without delaying for even a second to know what he was dealing with. Was it actually someone from the undead region? A corpse? "Name: Unknown] [Species: General Corpse] [Artifacts: Moon Armor] "Strange. There is not much about it. No level, no stats. Is this not a normal undead? And a Corpse General? Just what the heck was it?" Ryder was confused as he used the All-Seer. Instead of solving his questions, it raised even more. He didn''t remember hearing that term before. What was a Corpse General? But at least one thing was confirmed. The Armor on its chest was the Moon Armor. All he needed to do was take it off, and he was done. But the question remained. Did that Corpse have any strength? He couldn''t see any level for it. So he could only hope that it was a useless corpse. But if he was wrong, he was going to be in danger. "Whatever! I can only take a bit of risk. Even if it''s not weak, what''s the worse that can happen. I have healing. I have traveled back in time, and I have moon scythe. Why am I even worried?" Ryder let out as he brought the Moon Scythe out of his inventory. .... Far away from the Death Domain, Rale was standing in a room, tired. He had just finished his training, and now he was taking a bit of rest. He was just about to sit down when his aura became unstable. A bracelet in his hand was shaking uncontrollably. His ring and other artifacts also did the same. "It''s the effect of that thing. It means he must be in danger," Rale let out as he started running out of the hall. He ran as fast as he could as he left the Royal Palace. No one even understood why Rale was in such a hurry. What could have shaken him so much? While others were confused after seeing a glimpse of Rale, he had already left the Royal Palace as he shot straight towards the Palace of High Duke Oris; he reached there within the blink of an eye. The guards of High Duke''s Palace tried to stop Rale to ask why he was here. Even though Rale''s position was high, they still needed to do their job properly. Unfortunately for them, Rale didn''t seem like he was in a mood to stop. With a flick of his hand, he made the guards fly to the side as he pushed the door open and stepped inside. "High Duke Oris! Come out right now!" He kept screaming as he moved through the Palace in haste to find High Duke. "Rale? What happened to you?" High Duke Oris soon appeared near Rale. His daughter followed behind him. "Is there a problem?" High Duke asked. "He is in danger! He is in danger!" Rale repeated his sentence as he showed the treasure that was telling him that Ryder''s life was in danger. "Hmm?" Seeing that, even the High Duke seemed worried. Chapter 501 - 497: Toying "His life is in danger," the High Duke exclaimed as he understood the meaning of this shaking. That''s right. We need to get to him fast and help him. "I''ll go and help him. You stay here," High Duke Oris said as he smiled. "No, I''ll come with you as well," Rale said, refusing to agree. "No. It''s unsafe for you. It''ll be easier for me alone," High Duke Oris shook his head. "It''s my duty to be there to help him. I''ll go with you at any cost," Rale insisted. ... "Sigh, fine," After a bit of back and forth, High Duke Oris agreed, even though a bit unwillingly, all because he didn''t have much time to waste here. Each second wasted here is a second lost that could have been used to save Ryder. High Duke Oris caught the hand of Rale as he disappeared. ... In a different place, Ryder was running towards the Corpse with the Scythe in his hand with the intention of cutting it in half. While Ryder closed in on the distance, the Corpse-like being stepped out of the coffin, revealing its shriveled-up legs that were nothing but bones. The part below its waist seemed to belong to a skeleton, while the top half seemed like a bloodless body. The only object on its body was a silver Armor that was covering its chest. "This is unexpected. I thought it was more like a zombie, but it''s like a hybrid of skeleton and Zombie," Ryder exclaimed as he clenched the Scythe even tighter after reaching the being. He swung his scythe towards the waist of the hybrid, which seemed like the weakest part of its body. Nothing but a few bones were there. The blade of the scythe acutely moved towards the bones, cutting even the winds themselves in its path, moving as fast as it could. As the blade of the Scythe reached closer to the bones, the Armor started shining slowly. A beautiful silver light came out of the Armor, shrouding the whole body of the skeleton, including the part of his waist that was being targeted by Ryder. Tuck! A metallic sound was heard as Ryder, the blade of the scythe, hit the silver barrier. It seemed like the two of them clashed with each other for supremacy. Unfortunately, in the fight of the sickle and the Armor, the Armor won as it managed to defend the wearer against the attack. The scythe couldn''t move even an inch forward. "This freaking barrier!" Angered, Ryder mixed them Scythe back. He had thought that he could easily cut that guy in half. That''s why he hadn''t used any skills. Unfortunately, it wasn''t that easy. Deciding to use his skill since it wasn''t going to be easy, he used his The attack was stronger than last time now. Unfortunately, the outcome was the same. Nothing happened. The defense of the barrier was a bit overpowered. "Flame Blast!" "Enraged Slash!" "Ranging Flames!" "Dark Strike!" "Blazing Thunder!" "Defense Reduction!" "Arcana Blast!" Ryder used skill after skill, but he didn''t achieve any success. All he got was failure after failure. Each of his attacks failed to harm the hybrid even in the least. It was as if he was a kid, hitting at the wall, trying to break it with his meager strength. The hybrid still, simply gazing at Ryder. There was no expression on its face, so Ryder didn''t know what his silence meant. Was it just a puppet that couldn''t do anything? "That''s right. Why didn''t I think of it? Could it be that it''s not an enemy?" Ryder wondered as he finally stopped attacking. He simply gazed back at the hybrid as well, wondering if his line of thought was correct. The being wasn''t attacking him. It seemed like this guy wasn''t the enemy here. Also, even when Ryder stopped attacking, that thing still didn''t do anything. What was it doing? "It might be that it''s simply a puppet that does nothing? That''s right. Why would this Armor be placed on it is? The only one who had the map was Rale. No one but the Demon King heir would come here. The one that hid it here wouldn''t do anything to harm me. It might be that the puppet is also a gift?" "I should ask Rale what it is. But first, I need to take that Armor and the fragment. Since he does nothing, I should be able to take the Armor even without needing to kill it." And with that line of thoughts, Ryder decided to step forward. The scythe once again changed back to the bracelet that wrapped around Ryder''s hand as he stepped closer to the being. Raised his right hand, he touched the Armor to take it off, not expecting the drastic change that was going to follow his action. As soon as his hand touched the Armor, the wind seemed to have stopped moving. The gentle silver light that was surrounding the hybrid changed color to the red. Its eyes also changed color to dark red. The being that had stood calmly like it was a thing that knew nothing moved its hand, striking Ryder''s chest. The force behind that punch was so powerful that it made Ryder fly back like a tossed stone. He uncontrollably fell inside one of the holes that he had dug himself. "That hurt," Ryder muttered as he held his chest while looking at his health bar, which was showing red color. A single punch from a thing that had no level was enough to bring his health down so much that it was already in the danger zone. Fortunately, he also saw his HP instantly replenishing to the fullest, all thanks to Nature of Healing. "This guy, I thought it was a gift for me. I guess I was wrong. It doesn''t seem like it''ll let me take the Armor easily. But I can''t injure him either? Is there something I can even do?" Sitting inside the pit, Ryder wondered what he could even do. "Sigh, I came so far. I can''t leave without taking what I want. Going empty-handed is impossible. The only thing I can do is take what I want even if it''s impossible," Ryder muttered as he flew out of the pit, only to get shocked once again. As soon as he came out of the pit, he found the corpse in front of him. Another punch landed on his chest, once again sending him flying. "This annoying Bastard!" Ryder once again found his HP dropping by more than ninety percent. It again replenished as well. "He is toying with me! This Bastard! He''s lucky he has that Armor to protect him, or I would have smashed him to pieces!" Once again, standing up, he flew out of the second put he had fallen in, only to have the same thing happen again. "Argh! This thing!" Before he could even know anything, he found himself in a third pit that he had dug. It was making him furious, especially when he couldn''t do anything about it. This time, he didn''t act hastily like before. After suffering the same thing thrice, he had realized how wrong he was. He didn''t jump out of the pit this time. He knew that whenever he jumped out, another first was going to land on him. That being was just probably again waiting outside for him this time as well. Instead of going it, Ryder decided to wait inside as he again called forth Moon Scythe, but this time in the shape of a bow, ready to shoot that thing as soon as it came over the pit. He was sure that it was going to come after it when tired of waiting. This thing was especially targeting him again and again. There was no way it wasn''t going to come down if Ryder didn''t go up. That was his assumption. He was completely prepared to take that thing by surprise. Unlike last time, he was going to get back at it. He was going to teach it how it felt to be tossed back. Just as he had expected, the hybrid flew above the put since Ryder didn''t come out, probably to check if he was dead. As soon as Ryder got the view of the hybrid, he fired the arrow, which actually managed to hit the forehead of the hybrid. Surprisingly, the barrier didn''t act this time. It didn''t protect the being as its head was penetrated. Seeing the arrows to be effective against the barrier, Ryder once again attacked, but he didn''t target the forehead this time. Since this thing was already dead, targeting its head was useless. It wasn''t going to die. As for his HP, Ryder couldn''t even see it. The only option he saw was attacking his waist that was going to break it in half. It didn''t have any flesh, and the area seemed like a weakness. A single attack was probably going to be enough to finish it. Chapter 502 - 498: End of Rope Seeing the barrier not act against the arrow, which managed to penetrate the forehead of the hybrid, Ryder felt like he saw a sliver of hope. There was an opportunity to kill that thing. As long as his assumption was correct and the barrier was useless against that arrow, he felt like he could destroy that thing by attacking its weakness. Getting another arrow ready, Ryder shot it right away. The arrow moved through the wind, cutting it as it passed. The Hybrid kept flying towards Ryder without caring for the attack. He didn''t even care to dodge. It was as if he didn''t know the seriousness of the attack and didn''t realize that if the attack managed to hit the weakest part of his body, he might be destroyed. Seeing the ignorant being ignore the attack, Ryder felt even more confident. The arrow finally reached the waist of the hybrid and was about to strike when Ryder again saw that silverish light appear. "The heck, not again," Ryder cursed as he saw that silverish light. He understood what it implied. It meant the Armor was again acting. As he expected, the Armor activated. The barrier once again surrounded the thing entirely. The arrow struck the translucent barrier, only to get destroyed itself. "This annoying barrier!" Ryder couldn''t understand why it activated this time and not last time. "Wait, could it be that it protects its weak points and from threatening attacks? The arrow at the forehead was useless against it. But the attack on its waist might have destroyed it. That''s when it activated last time as well." With a bit of thinking, he realized that something made sense. The barrier didn''t give it Protection against useless attacks but gave protection against the attack that might harm it. Ryder watched the Hybrid flying towards him. The old arrow was still inside his forehead, handing. It seemed to be a bit late, but he once again flew upwards. It was better to be tossed back than be buried in the ground. Once again, changing the Moon Scythe, he flew towards the incoming enemy. The scythe had been changed to a sword this time. He had already known that another punch would come towards him, but he wanted to use it this time to cut the hand itself. It was to test to see the range of the Armor. So far, he knew that the barrier protected the weakness. But if he was going to cut then hand, was it going to stop? Cutting the hand wasn''t dangerous for this thing that didn''t feel pain. And it wouldn''t destroy it. But it would definitely make the thing weaker in his attack. Without its hand, it couldn''t attack. It was a risk that he was willing to take. If he failed, he was once again going to suffer, but he wouldn''t die from what he had seen. The attacks weren''t strong enough to kill Ryder in one strike. So the risk seemed worth it. Failure means one more use of Nature of Healing while success means a big breakthrough. The fist once again advanced towards Ryder''s chest, but this time he also swung his sword towards the elbow of the Hybrid to cut his hand. Smack! The fist once again landed on Ryder''s chest, making him fly back uncontrollably and crash on the ground. Holding his chest, he once again stood up as his Nature of Healing recovered his health once again. "Well, that was a failure," Ryder muttered as he saw the hand of the Hybrid still intact. "Is there nothing I can do against it?" He stood up, feeling depressed. The thing he wanted was right before his eyes, but he couldn''t take it. This Armor that he wanted for himself was proving to be his biggest enemy. It was not only protecting that thing but also giving it free rein to attack Ryder without any risk of being injured. Ryder kept thinking of a new plan about what he could do. But nothing came to his tinkering. His head was in a mess. All he could think of was to leave somehow, but he didn''t want to do that. Leaving was only going to mean that he would never get his hands on the Armor and on the fragment. He could accept losing an Armor. It wasn''t a big deal but what he didn''t want to lose was a potential fragment that might be embedded in the Armor. It was after a long time that he had a potential clue of a fragment. After coming so far, leaving seemed impossible. "But what can I even do? I don''t even know much about this Armor or its weakness. I was too naive. I should have received more details from Rale about this Armor. If I had known about this, I would have asked everything I could." "I was an idiot." Ryder let out in annoyance, but it was too late now. The Hybrid once again reached Ryder and punched out. Instead of attacking and leaving his defense bare, Ryder focused on protecting himself while he thought of a plan. The Moon Scythe changed its shape once again, this time changing itself to a Shield that Ryder placed before his chest to intercept the attack. The fist again landed, but this time, the impact was taken by the shield. Ryder was once again forced back because of the impact, but this time, his HP was safe. No damage was taken by him. Without giving Ryder even a chance, the Hybrid once again appeared before him. His fist again moved towards Ryder as if he was a puppet. He didn''t even attack anywhere else but Ryder''s chest despite him protecting it with a shield. It was as if the puppet couldn''t think for himself and was programmed to attack the chest only. Ryder once again prepared for the impact. Since he had no plan, he could only prolong the fight. As he braced for the impact while holding his shield firmly, the impact didn''t come. A frown was on Ryder''s face as he saw the hand of the puppet stop only a few inches away from the shield. A hand could be seen holding onto the wrist of the puppet. Frowning, Ryder looked to his right at the origin of the hand, but as soon as he saw the person who this hand belonged to, he couldn''t help but wonder about something as his frown changed to his smile. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he gazed at the man who stood near him. The man was dressed in a Royal Red Robe. His long hair and beautiful eyes gave him a charming look which was contrary to the angered look on his face. Two beautiful wings could also be seen behind that man. "Ah, Rale, you already unsealed yourself?" Ryder asked, smiling wryly. He asked Rale, who had apparently unsealed his full strength. He was the one who was holding into the corpse''s hand. "I apologize, your Highness, but I was... Concerned about you," Rale answered. "It''s fine, I guess," Ryder answered. "Can you take care of him?" Rale gazed at the corpse and the Armor it was wearing. "That''s the Moon Scythe. I think it''s the one that brought the corpse back to life. It''s going to be tough," Rale muttered. "But every hand that moved towards you shall be cut by me." Knowing that, Rale used his other hand to catch the Corpse by its neck before smashing it on the ground. Clinching his other fist, he punched towards the skull of the corpse, intending to blow up. Ryder remained curious if Rale was going to break the barrier this time? Was the barrier even going to get active since the target was the skull? Rale''s fist landed on the skull of the Corpse. The barrier once again activated since Rale''s punch wasn''t like Ryder''s arrow. It was capable enough to destroy that thing in one blow. The barrier stopped Rale''s attack. But Rale didn''t stop attacking. "Stop one attack; I''ll give ten. Let''s see how long you can stop. Even in the old days, this barrier had this weakness. It can''t stop continuous attacks in one place. Let''s see how long it can handle me," Rale said. "Ah? So that was its weakness. Attacking the same place again and again with overwhelming strength. If that''s the case, Rale should be able to take care of it. But I do wonder how he got here?" "I brought him here. We knew you were in danger, and now we know why." Ryder heard a voice from behind him. Without even having to look back, he recognized the voice. "High Duke Oris, you''re here." "Yeah. Anyway, you shouldn''t worry. I know you failed the trial, but that''s fine. You can try once again after three years," High Duke Oris said. "After three years? I failed? What do you mean?" Ryder asked in confusion, not understanding how he failed. Chapter 503 - 499: Under attack "What do you mean I should try again after three years? How did I fail?" Ryder asked, frowning. He genuinely couldn''t understand it. He had killed hundred people from the Royal City of death domain. The color of the item that decided his success had already changed. He had seen that with his own eyes. He couldn''t understand. How did he fail? "You didn''t reach the Royal City, let alone kill their people. And you already needed our help," the High Duke said. "I had told you before. If you take help from Demon Realm before finishing the trial, you fail." "Why are you confused now? Did you forget that?" he asked. "Huh?" Ryder looked at High Duke Oris with a wry smile on his face. This guy, he genuinely believed Ryder didn''t reach the Death Domain Royal City? "I already went to the Royal City and finished the Trial. Even if I take help now, that doesn''t change the fact that I finished the trial," Ryder said as he waved his hand and showed the evidence to High Duke Oris. It was the artifact that saw if Ryder achieved his target. Looking at the changed color, High Duke Oris was shocked. His mouth opened wide in surprise as he found it hard to believe it. It hadn''t even been two weeks, and Ryder not only went to the Death Domain Royal City, but he also liked the people there? How? He successfully killed hundred people from the Royal City, and there happened to be no commotion? He wasn''t caught? Not only that, he even managed to successfully escape the city? "Do I qualify now? Am I the King?" Ryder asked, enjoying the stunned look of the High Duke. He found it fascinating. Even though the High Duke was shocked, he couldn''t deny the truth. "I''m amazed. You really succeeded. That too in such a short time. Amazing. As expected of the disciple chosen by His Majesty Salem himself," the High Duke said, praising Ryder. "You didn''t answer. Am I the King now?" Ryder asked again. To his response, High Duke Oris shook his head. "You''re not the King yet, but you fulfill all the criteria to be one." "Then what else do I need to do to become the King?" Ryder asked. "You need to do nothing. You already did what you needed to. All that''s left now is the Coronation which we''ll have soon enough after we go back. We need all High Dukes to be present for it, after all. It''ll be done in the Royal Palace. So within a few days at best, I suppose," High Duke answered. "Alright," Ryder replied. Waiting for a few days to have everything under his control was worth it. Once he was the King, he could do anything, and no one was going to stop him. After that point, he didn''t need to sneak out of the Demon Realm. Instead, he could openly leave with his Royal Guards. He could even declare war on the ones that so much as annoyed him. Both Ryder and High Duke Oris watched Rale beating the barrier again and again at the same place, trying to break it. He had attacked almost a hundred times already, and finally, Ryder could see the shine of the barrier weakening. The shine kept getting weaker and weaker the more Rale attacked until it couldn''t even be seen. "This should be enough. One more attack, and it''s over," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the new change. Rale punched one last time towards the skull of the Hybrid. This time, the barrier didn''t appear. The fist landed on the skull of the Hybrid. Blood spilled everywhere as the skull was crushed like a watermelon smashed by a baseball bat. "Strange. With how pale it was, I thought there would be no blood in it. Unfortunately, I was wrong. Now my shoes are bloodied," Ryder muttered as he smiled wryly while gazing at his feet. "I should''ve stepped back while I had the chance." As blood spilled everywhere, some of it happened to land in his shoes as well. Rale stood up after dealing with the thing that didn''t move anyone. Grabbing the Armor, he pulled it out. No one was able to stop him this time. The corpse didn''t move. Rale took the Armor with him and handed it over to Ryder. "Well, thank you," Ryder replied as he took the Armor. He started looking around the Armor to find the fragment that was supposedly embedded in it. Unfortunately, he couldn''t find it. "Rale, where is the fragment? I mean, where is the crystal that you said was embedded in the Moon Armor?" Ryder asked Rale, unable to find it. Was it just a rumor? Was there actually no fragment here? "That crystal? It should still be inside the Armor. There''s a formation on it that makes it invisible. It was done to make sure the Armor looked a bit decent and not stand. If you move your hand inside the Armor, you should be able to feel it," Rale replied. "Ah, so that''s what it is. That''s why I can''t see," Ryder muttered as he inserted his hand inside the Armor and started moving it. His fingers grazed over the smooth surface of the Armor, amazed at how smooth it was. As his fingers moved slowly so he could feel when there was a chance in the texture, he did find it. There was one spot where he could feel a change in texture. But he didn''t need to guess if it was the fragment or not. Because as soon as his finger touched it, he heard a notification resound in his head. [Fragment of Bracelet of Immortality found] [Fragment: Life Fragment] Within waiting for Janus to ask him twice, Ryder clicked on yes. The bracelet which was in his hand started shining, whereas the bright silver color of the Armor became dull. Ryder gazed at the screen before him, trying to understand. It seemed a bit similar to last time. ''Dead Revival? It sounds a bit similar to what I already have. Another passive skill? Is this trying to make me a meat shield? I want to be on the offensive, not defensive,'' Ryder thought as he frowned. ''I''m actually going to be pissed if this skill is what I think it is," he muttered as he opened the description of the skill. ''Oh, so it''s different. It''s not very passive. It''s not much active either. I need dead bodies to use it. And strong bodies are impossible to.. wait a minute¡ªthat Luke guy. I should be able to use him,'' Ryder thought as he rubbed his chin. He remembered Janus telling him that Luke was strong. If that was the case, he could be really useful in dangerous situations. ''Not bad,'' he nodded his head with satisfaction. This skill wasn''t bad. At Least not as bad as it could have been. "Should we leave?" While Ryder was lost in thought while looking at the screen, he felt a hand tap on his shoulder. He gazed back only to notice High Duke Oris. "That''s right. I''m ready. Let''s go back home," Ryder nodded his head as he held the hand of High Duke Oris. The other hand was caught by Rale. As soon as the two of them caught his hand, he disappeared with them. The both of them reached the Royal Palace again. They were standing inside the throne room. High Duke Oris was about to say something when he heard a commotion outside. He walked out of the throne room. Ryder and the others also followed him to see what this whole commission was about. "Why are you all making so much noise?" High Duke Oris asked, opening the door. "Ah, High Duke. We apologize for disturbing you. We didn''t know you were inside. It''s just that we heard the news about the Demon Realm being under attack. So we... I apologize again," the guard replied, apologizing repeatedly. "Huh? We''re under attack? So dares?" The High Duke furiously roared in rage. "Is it the Death Domain?" Ryder asked, wondering if they realized that their citizens went missing because Ryder killed them. Chapter 504 - 500: Spirit Queen "Is the Death Domain attacking us?" Ryder asked, wondering if the Death Domain was here? Did they finally decide to attack? And if they did, was his trial what led to it, or was it something already planned? "No, that shouldn''t be it. Their Prince was in their Palace last I saw him. There seemed no indication that he was about to attack anyone. The army was also not preparing for war?" he muttered, confused. "Who is it that attacked us?" "We don''t know. We have stayed inside the Palace to protect it. We only heard that the Southern Border of the Demon Realm is under attack," the Guard answered. "Southern Border? That''s a place Devilia handles with a few other southern Dukes," Ryder muttered. "The other High Dukes have more information. I wasn''t here, so I don''t know about this. Come with me," High Duke Oris said as he started walking away. Ryder followed behind him with Rale. As the three of them left the Royal Palace, they stopped as they looked in the distance. "Looks like we don''t need to go anywhere for answers. They''re here already," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the new arrivals. He could see the other three High Dukes flying towards him. High Duke Eston was on the left, and High Duke Mila was on the right. High Duke Magna was flying in the middle. All three of them landed in front of the Palace. "You''re here already. We came to your Palace to get you only to find out that you had gone to help the Prince?" High Duke Mila said to High Duke. "I see you brought this guy with you. So he failed," High Duke Magna said as he gazed at Ryder standing beside High Duke Oris. "Can''t say I didn''t expect that." "He didn''t fail. He finished the trial. It was after he finished it successfully, and he was coming back that he faced the danger," High Duke Oris said. Without waiting for High Dukes to be shocked, he continued, "Even I couldn''t believe that he finished so fast. But apparently, he can." He showed the proof to the High Dukes as well. "Amazing. He finished the trial at such a young age. He might be the youngest Prince to finish the trial in history. Not bad," High Duke Eston praised Ryder. "That''s right. Now that he is finished, he can become the King," High Duke Mila said. Ryder wondered if they would do Coronation now. It was good if they did. At most, it would take a few minutes Unfortunately, all his dreams were ruined by High Duke Magna. "He will become the King after the coronation. But it''s not the time for that. First, we need to solve the problem at hand. Did you forget that we are under attack? Every second is important." "Who is attacking us?" High Duke Oris asked. "It''s the Spirit Realm," High Duke Magna said. "The Spirit Realm? They still exist?" High Duke Oris exclaimed in surprise. "Apparently, they do. I thought the First Demon King had wiped their entire race. But it seems like some survived and went under hiding. They grew in number with time, and now they''re back to attack us," High Duke Mila said. "Spirit Realm?'' Ryder asked in confusion. He didn''t know about them at all. "They''re a different species that live in the Spirit Realm. Apparently, one of the seven doors at the bas.e.m.e.nt leads to Spirit Realm. But it was destroyed a long, long time ago. That gate doesn''t work now," Rale whispered in Ryder''s ears to give him a short explanation. "In short, they''re a long-forgotten enemy. It seems like we''re at war now. A war which we must finish before the Death Domain decides to use this opportunity to join the Spirit Realm in attacking us," High Duke Oris also gave an overview of the situation. It was at that point, a quest notification popped up before Ryder. However, it wasn''t from Janus this time. It was from Divinity. Strangely, not even the notification, but he also saw something else. A semi-illusory figure was standing before Ryder. "Maya?" Seeing that figure, Ryder blurted out. It was the human form of the Divinity System. The one that had screwed him over last time. If it weren''t for Janus, Ryder would be stuck as an NPC by now because of this cra*py Maya. [A World Class Quest has been received by you. Would you like to accept?] Maya asked Ryder a question that happened to be the same that was on the screen. All the High Dukes stood still, not moving. It was as if Ryder and Maya were in a different realm where they weren''t affected by time. "World Class Quest? What is that?" Ryder didn''t accept the quest. He had not even heard about such quests. All he knew about quests from the lowest rank to the S-Rank. World Class Quest was a new term that he was only hearing now. What was it? [World Class Quest is a quest the success or failure of which affect the future of the world of Divinity] [Would you accept the quest?] As Maya explained, the screen again popped up before Ryder. "Why is there only one option here on the bottom of this popup? Why is there not a ''no''? What would I do if I had to select no? Not that I want to reject the quest, but this is a bad system," Ryder complained, noticing the problem in this quest. It seemed like a bug that didn''t show the other system. "There is no other option. You can only select yes," Maya replied. "Are you stupid then? Why are you even asking me to select when I can only select yes?" Ryder asked, smiling wryly. This was a mandatory quest. Was there even a reason for her to waste so much time? "What if I don''t select the option?" he asked. "Then yes will be selected automatically within two minutes," Maya said. Ryder felt like facepalming himself. This girl was so annoying. She was basically wasting his time here. "Fine, I select yes," he said as he tapped on Yes. [Quest Accepted] [Quest Goal: Defeat the Spirit Realm and kill the player leading them] [Quest Grade: World Class Quest] [Quest Reward: The World Fragment] [Quest Reward: Level +69] [Quest Reward: Mysterious Mirror of Galia] [Quest Reward; Hidden] [Quest Failure: You will be banned from Divinity for eternity] "The rewards are pretty nice. But that increase in level by sixty-nine? Is Maya joking with me? Or is she a woman of culture?" he muttered as he saw the information about the quest on screen. It highlighted all rewards, but the failure was also intriguing to him. If he failed, he could never enter divinity? That sounded like a harsh punishment after he did so much to get the Kingship. If he failed, he couldn''t even attend his own Kingship. "Well, I don''t think there would be any Kingship if I must anyways since this place will be destroyed or taken over by the enemy. But it''s funny. There''s another player that got the command of a special realm like me?" "I wonder who it might be. The second highest was Lucifer last time I checked. Is it him? It''ll be fun to see who it is. Since I have already accepted the quest, I can''t do anything else anyway." "The player on the other side has been commanded to kill you as well. But as the important bit of the quest, your face will be changed. It''s being done to hide your player look since this event will be broadcasted in the Real World." Maya told Ryder. "I understand. Are our names going to be hidden as well?" Ryder asked. "Your names will also be hidden. Random names will be assigned to you. You will be named Demon King. The enemy player will also have her looks altered. She would be known as Spirit Queen. For the duration of this event, your player names are changed." "Spirit Queen? The enemy player is not Lucifer but a girl?" Ryder asked in surprise. Maya didn''t answer him, though. She had said everything she wanted to. Now it was time to go. She disappeared. "Wait a minute... Is Lucifer a girl? I never saw him actually as a guy. I only assumed he was a guy. But it''s also possible that he''s a girl," he wondered while everything returned to normal. "Who is leading the Spirit Realm?" High Duke Oris asked High Duke Magna as he started moving. "We don''t know. At the moment, only their army is here. As for their leader, that''s probably in the back somewhere. For now, they haven''t managed to barge inside according to what information I got from Devilia," High Duke Magna said. "Alright. I''ll arrange my army. You arrange yours too. After they''re all ready, we''ll leave for the Southern Border. If it''s a war they want, it''s a war they''ll get." Chapter 505 - 501: Massive Level Up Ryder was sitting on his throne in his Throne Room alone. Rale had gone to prepare the Royal Guards for departure. The High Dukes had gone to arrange the army they were given command of. Ryder was left behind with nothing to do. He decided to log out. According to Rale, the entire evening and night was going to go for Preparation. Since he could do nothing but wait in this trying time, he decided to leave. Even though it was still night in the real world, at least he could try getting some sleep even though he didn''t need sleep at the moment. He stood up and opened the log-out screen, and left the world of Divinity which happened to be a few moments before Miyali stepped inside the chamber. "Hmm? He isn''t here? Did he go to rest?" she wondered. According to Rale, Ryder was here. Guards also agreed that Ryder was inside. If he wasn''t here and didn''t go out, that could only mean he was resting in his special treasure, according to her. ... Ryder logged out of Divinity when it was still night in the real world. He kept the glasses to the side and didn''t even bother getting up as he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Even though he wasn''t tired, he didn''t have any difficulty sleeping. But only did he sleep, but within a short four hours of sleep, he even had a lovely dream about enjoying his life with everyone close to him. In the dream, he was in the real world with Rale, Alice, Esmi, Shu, High Dukes, and almost everyone he considered his friend or had good feelings towards. They were all on a beach, playing volleyball. His dream was only broken when it was morning. A volleyball landed on his face, which he had missed to hit back. That proved to be the end of the dream. "That was a good dream. I really should get more natural sleep. No matter how much rest I get in Divinity, it''s never this peaceful. I somehow feel stronger and more refreshed," Ryder muttered as he sat up while stretching his arm in laziness. "Janus, is it time now? Can I finally get Luke''s powers? You''ve been delaying it for a long time. You said you''ll give my reward to me today. Don''t negate on your promise again," he said as he slid to the side of the bed. Placing his feet on the cold floor, he walked towards the bathroom, not thinking that he''ll get a response. He was sure that Janus was going to ignore him again and delay the promise after a few hours like he had been doing since the last few days. "Get the body out. I''ll give you the body," Janus said, contrary to Ryder''s expectations. Ryder was about to push the door open to step inside the bathroom door, but he stopped as he heard Janus''s words. "Really?" "Really," Janus answered. "Bring the body of Luke out." Ryder stopped his plan to get a shower at the moment. This was more important. He wasn''t sure if Janus''s mood was going to change later. Now that he was ready, it was to be done. "Alright." Turning back, Ryder walked towards the main door of his room to lock it so that no one could enter when he had a body lying in the open. After locking the door, he opened his Inventory and brought the body out. A man''s dead body laid on the ground with a bullet hole on his head. "What next?" Ryder asked. "Place your hand on the body''s chest," Janus told Ryder. "And apply some pressure." "Alright." Ryder sat on his knees in front of Janus as he placed his right hand on Luke''s chest and applied a light pressure. "Is this right?" he asked. " Stay like that," Janus answered. Something started happening in the room, which felt a bit strange. Small specks of light started coming out of Luke''s body and flew towards Ryder''s forehead, and started entering his body. Ryder could see the speck of light entering his body with his own eyes, but even as they entered his body, he didn''t feel anything different. He couldn''t feel him getting stronger at all. ''Maybe I''ll get it when it''s completed,'' he thought as he decided to let the process continue. It was after ten minutes when the light transfer stopped entirely. It was also when Ryder heard Janus say, "It''s completed." "What? But I feel no difference. Did that guy even have any strength at all? Or was his ability that made him scary different and not his strength?" Ryder asked, but he didn''t even wait for a response as his mouth opened slightly as he saw Luke''s body disappearing slowly. He couldn''t even ask why it was happening before the body was completely gone. Nothing was left of the body. "The heck? Not only did I not get any strength, but I also lost the body that I could''ve used Dead Revival on?" he complained as he stood up. "Absorbing his Essence and strength had that effect. It''s normal. A body can''t exist without strength," Janus answered. "What strength? I get nothing," Ryder muttered as he gazed at his hand. "Stats!" He commanded to see if his real-world stats had increased or not. [Ryder Flynn] [Race: Human?] Ryder had long seen up to here when he smiled wryly. "What do you mean, Human? Is there really a need to put question there?" Shaking his head, he continued reading more. [Level: 1000] [Strength: 99999] [Defence: 99999] [Speed: 99999] [Dexterity: 5000] [Intelligence: (Better to not say so you''re not embarrassed)] Ryder stood blankly as he read the stats. What did this mean? He couldn''t believe it. He was Level thousand in the real world? How? The last time he checked, he was much much lower that even calling him closer to level 500 was an insult to level 500. How was it that he was so high now? "So this guy was stronger than that Immortal-looking old dude I killed in FBI headquarters?" Ryder was confused. This Luke guy was really tens of times more threatening than that? His level up from that was much less. What he forgot to consider was that he had received real-world experience after killing the old man, which made him level up. He hadn''t absorbed his strength. That''s why the level increase was so less compared to now. At the moment, he had absorbed Luke in his entirety in essence. The only reason he didn''t understand the difference was because he hadn''t received Experience after killing Luke. After all, Luke hadn''t attacked him first. If Luke had attacked him and then he killed him, he would have received Exp as well. And now, getting this level up would have made him realize the difference. "Man, losing this one body seems to be worth it. But you''re right. This guy was dangerous. So dangerous that I had no idea. Thank you for warning me about him in the form of this mission," Ryder thanked Janus as he closed the screen. Janus didn''t reply and went into oblivion. "Cheh, you wouldn''t answer. That''s fine. I''ll still thank you. You helped me a lot," Ryder said as he smiled. "I''ll forgive you for basically calling me stupid by not showing intelligence for that. Don''t think I didn''t notice that." He again walked inside the bathroom to freshen up. Holding the doorknob, he tried turning it only to end up breaking it with the lightest of touch. A weird look remained on his face as he watched the broken doorknob. "Sigh, this strength... I just touched it because I knew something like this might happen, but even then, it did," he muttered, wondering how he wasn''t able to control his strength despite being careful. "Sigh, I should try to make it less. Or increase my contract. It''s the sudden jump." ... Ryder had freshened up and even finished showering. Unfortunately, it all came at the cost of breaking a few things. He stood before the main door that he had locked, staring at it as if he was staring at his long-lost enemy. He needed to open the door, but he knew it was tough. With a gentle touch, he tried to hold the doorknob, but even that made an indent on it. He didn''t lose his composure as he knew that it might be risky, and it''ll only make him lose even more control. He gently twisted the doorknob, opening the door successfully. An accomplished look appeared on his face as he succeeded in opening the door, which seemed a bit funny. Even he found it pitiful that he was celebrating being able to open a door. Unfortunately, this was where he was at. Not only did he have to touch things carefully not to break them, but he also had to walk slowly because his speed was a bit fast now. It was going to take some time. He had already decided to practice at the roof after finishing dinner so he could at least have a layer of control. [ Chapter 506 - 502: Billion Dollar Prize Ryder walked down the stairs and went to have breakfast. There was no fixed time for breakfast since almost every main member in the house, including Ryder, Alice, and Shu, woke up at a different time mostly. So it was decided that they didn''t need to have a universal breakfast time. They could wake up at any time and ask for breakfast. Ryder went to the dinner table after telling the chef to prepare breakfast for him. The chef prepared breakfast for Ryder within minutes which was served on the table. Coincidentally that happened to be when Shu also came down. "Oh, you''re here as well. I thought I''d miss you today too." "Yeah, I happened to wake up at time, I guess even though a bit late," Ryder replied as he slid his breakfast plate towards Shu. "Here, start first. They''ll get more for me." "It''s fine. They''re bringing mine too," Shu answered as he sat beside Ryder. "Did you hear the news, though?" he asked Ryder. "What news?" Ryder inquired, confused. "They''ve made a change in Divinity. Now players can sign exclusive contracts with streaming channels to steam their live divinity gameplay. Some live tv channels might also give exclusive contracts to big players since the world of Divinity, and the realistic fantasy element with adventures might be really popular for them." "Also, you''re the biggest name in Divinity. Everyone is curious about you. Since you''re so popular, you have a great chance to get exclusive contracts," Shu told Ryder. "It''s fine. I don''t need exclusive contracts with any live streaming platform to get money. As for fame, I don''t need the Divinity fame in the real world anymore. It would only bring more trouble than good. I''m fine keeping my identity a secret," Ryder replied as he shook his head. "Even if there are a billion dollars involved?" Shu asked with an amused smile on his face. "Billion Dollars?" Ryder frowned. Where did the question of billion dollars come from? No company was going to give that much money. Even in the original timeline, this thing had happened. But the highest amount that was ever offered was in millions. Never a billion. "That''s right. The Necrosis Corporation had come up with an announcement. They said that they''re organizing a special event after ten days. The winner of that event will get a billion dollars. But to take part in the event, the player must get registered with them. It''s only available for top ten people in the Level Rankings, though," Shu told Ryder. "And it''ll be broadcasted live on their channel." "A tournament a few days after starting the live telecasts? It didn''t happen before, let alone happen so fast," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. "What didn''t happen before?" Shu asked, confused. "Nothing." "Are you going to take part?" "I don''t think I will. I don''t want to expose my identity. Even if it''s a billion dollars, I believe I can earn that later as well. But registration with them or any channel runs the risk of my real identity being exposed in public. It''s better if that doesn''t happen." Ryder refused even the notion that he could take part in the event. "That''s right. You do go a bit extra step to hide your identity. A few players report seeing you and have your description. But no two descriptions match. It''s strange," Shu muttered, confused. "Is someone else going with your name?" "Not really. I do have a mask. It''s a unique treasure that helps me change my looks. As I said, I don''t want anyone even close to guessing my real looks." Ryder answered. "Even though the game world version of me looks slightly different than my real self, it''s still better to keep that hidden. Who knows what kind of reverse engineering is possible nowadays," he continued. "My game self does have some similarities as well to me." "Interesting. Since you''re not going to take part, I think the opportunity will go to the eleventh ranked player," Shu muttered. "The twelfth rank might also participate. I don''t think Lucifer will take part either. As for why I think that, you can call it a hunch," Ryder said as he started eating. "Oh? Have you met him before?" Shu asked, frowning. "I did," Ryder answered, not telling that it was not in this timeline but in the original timeline. In this timeline, he hadn''t come face to face with Lucifer even once. He did want to meet him, though. According to his information, it was quite possible that Lucifer had the next fragment that he had taken from a village before it was destroyed by the Death Domain. He had been trying to find Lucifer too, so that he could take back the fragment. That was the only possible clue he had about a fragment. As for the close to twenty other fragments, he didn''t know anything about where they might be. He kept eating the breakfast in peace. Silence ensued on the table as Shu was also served the food. As Ryder ate in peace, he remembered something. He raised his head and gazed at Shu. "Wait, weren''t you going to become the owner of Necrosis? If you''re the owner, you should be able to get me entry without exposing my identity?" "Not actually. The talks fell through. Those guys are willing to let their shares plunge to rock bottom, but they don''t want to sell. It''s a mess of a situation. I don''t think it will work as well as I thought it would." The disappointment was evident on Shu''s face as he answered Ryder''s questions. "It''s fine. You can just expose them and watch the fallout. When their shares fall, you can have a forceful takeover, can''t you?" Ryder asked Shu. "Not really. They have some rigid backing from the government. It''s at a crazy level, I think. I don''t know why but I''m sure the government will go to extended lengths to save them. That''s why they''re not selling. Because they know about their backing," Shu answered, shaking his head. "And if I still try that, it''ll bring me and the US government face to face. I might be one of the richest men in the world, but even I would suffer from that. My company will be affected, which I don''t want. Because it''s not my company, it''s the heritage of my family. I don''t want it to suffer even the tiniest bit," he said as he looked down. Ryder gazed at Shu''s face. He could see the seriousness in Shu''s face. It was evident that Shu really cared for the Dream Corporation. "You don''t need Necrosis anyway. Since you''re so concerned, it''s better you don''t take risks. Focus on the business expansion instead," Ryder said. "I''ll do the same." "Oh, another thing. Did you have a hand in the manufacturing contract that my Aviation Branch received?" he asked. "It was given by the branch of Dream Corporation." "Not really. I don''t handle those pesky things. The administration of the Dream Corporation handles all contracts. I don''t interfere unless the matter is really high level," Shu answered, smiling. "Oh? Really? So you never involved yourself in such things?" Ryder asked, suspicious. The timing and everything did seem suspicious. Without Shu''s involvement, it was highly unlikely that he was going to get the Contract. "Well, I did get involved once or twice a long time ago," Shu said as he chuckled. "You remember that guy who happened to be your classmate, but he mocked you and mocked me?" he asked. "I remember him. Wait a minute... He worked in Dream Corporation Marketing Division! I remember now!" Ryder let out, remembering the guy. "Did you fire him?" "Not really. I am not that petty. But he did brag about his high position in the company and mocked me for my weight. So I just got him demoted and had a fat person under him promoted. Since he doesn''t like us fat people, it''ll give that something to enjoy," Shu answered as he grinned. "Meh, I think you gave him a light Punishment. But this is good too," Ryder answered lazily, not mentioning that he had also punished the guy by almost making him pee himself in fear later on. The two of them had a bit more light talk as they continued their breakfast before Alice joined them as well. "Huh? You''re still here? I thought you''d be in college by now?" Ryder asked. "Why would I be in college?" Alice asked before she explained. "It''s a holiday." "Holiday?" Ryder wondered. What holiday was it today? "It''s not the weekend. And I don''t remember any other holiday being today. What''s it?" he asked. "Today completed the twenty-fifth year of existence of Dream University. It''s a holiday to give students time to enjoy at home," Shu answered instead. "Oh, that''s what it was. Congrats for that," Ryder congratulated Shu. "I wanted to tell you something. Is this the right time? I should''ve told you before, but if you''re busy, I''ll tell you later," Alice asked Ryder. Chapter 507 - 503: Cheating " Yeah? What is it?" Ryder asked, gazing at Alice while standing up. He had finished eating and didn''t need to keep sitting anymore. "What I wanted to say is that I-" Alice started screaming, but she stopped as she heard a phone ringing. "Excuse me for a minute," Ryder apologized as he looked down at his pocket where his phone was ringing. He brought the phone out and looked at who was calling him. "Aleson?" He noticed the name of Aleson, who was the young man he has hired to lead the Medical Research department of his Divine Corporation. "Hello?" Ryder placed the phone near his ear. "What?" Ryder suddenly exclaimed in shock after he heard the words of the other side. "Are you telling the truth?" "Alright. I''ll be right there," Ryder replied before he disconnected the call. "I''m really sorry, but something urgent has come up. I''ll have to leave," Ryder told Alice as he started walking towards the stairs. "I''ll come back in the evening, and we will talk." He hastily went into his room and picked up the car keys, not remembering to control his strength. In his haste, he had broken the doorknob as well as the door. "God, I can''t even hurry now. Can I really drive in this condition? I''ll crush the steering wheel," he muttered as he stared at the broken door. He didn''t even know how he was going to explain it. "No time to think," he let out as he stepped inside and picked up the keys carefully before walking down. "Shu, can I borrow your driver?" he asked Shu, who was still sitting at the Dining table. "Sure. He should be outside." Nodding his head, Ryder left the Estate and went to the driver, who was already outside. He gave the keys to the driver and told him to drive. The driver opened the door of Ryder''s car. He didn''t forget to open the passenger side door for Ryder since he was kind of like the unofficial boss. Ryder was glad to see the driver opening the door himself. If he hadn''t, Ryder would have to ask him to open, which would have made Ryder look egomaniac. He couldn''t open himself either since the door was going to be broken very easily. He sat inside the car and told the driver where to take him. ... A beautiful yellow sports car stopped before a tall building. The driver stepped out of the car and gazed towards Ryder, who didn''t step out. Ryder, on the other hand, looked towards the driver, creating an awkward moment. He couldn''t open the door. He wanted the driver to open it, but he didn''t know how to ask. The Driver understood the meaning of Ryder''s gaze. Without many complaints, he stepped out of the car and closed the door before he walked over to Ryder''s side. "Cheh, such a lazy man. Even master Shu isn''t that lazy," he muttered as he clicked his tongue. Even though he didn''t react before Ryder, he was pretty annoyed at this king-like behavior of Ryder. That guy couldn''t even open the door for himself. "Sorry for making you do it. Actually, my hands are hurting a lot today. I can''t do anything that needs strength without pain," Ryder apologized, realizing that the man wasn''t happy. If he could do damage control by giving an excuse, then it was alright anyway. "It''s fine, sir. It''s my duty," the driver answered. "I''ll wait in the car for your return." ... Ryder walked towards the glass door of the building, which was opened by the guards who stood at the entrance, so he didn''t need to touch the glass door. "Good morning, boss." "Good Morning, Sir." "Good Morning." As Ryder walked inside the building, he was greeted by the workers, who all recognized him and gave him great respect. Some of the staff that were new were still finding it hard to believe. A boy as young was the owner of such a big building and owned a company of his own when he wasn''t even twenty-five years old right now That wasn''t shocking either since, according to what they heard, one of the biggest companies¡ª the Dream Corporation was also owned by a young man. That company was like a god in front of this new company. But what really made Ryder special for them was that Ryder was a self-made man. He wasn''t like Shu Maxwell, who inherited the company from his parents. Instead, Ryder was an orphan who lived a middle-class life. How did he achieve so much? It was amazing. Many people looked at him like inspiration. What''s more special was that Ryder always came here without any security. He was so free despite being rich. Most rich people of this level walked with guards for their security, but he was different. While the workers were praising him in their heads, Ryder walked towards the lift. Stopping before the lift, he slowly raised his hand and pressed the button as lightly as he could. Fortunately, the button wasn''t broken. The door of the lift opened, and he walked inside. ... The lift reached the higher floor, where Ryder stepped out and walked towards the office of Aleson. He opened the door without knocking and stepped out since he was in a hurry and didn''t care about manners. "Aleson, are you telling the truth?" he asked as soon as he stepped inside. "Sir, you''re here. It''s true. I used the data you gave me and added the things that were missing with great research. The first test was successful. I think it can work," Aleson told Ryder with excitement. "I think we should apply for the right to conduct human trials. We''re very close." "Human trials, huh," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. Inside his head, he was wondering what he needed to do to get human trial permissions. He was new in this field. He didn''t know the administrative side. The only reason he was even able to help Aleson was because he knew the past. ''I should ask Shu about it. He would know the right people to get me whatever permission I need the fastest,'' he thought as he came up with a plan. "I''ll arrange that. You prepare the rest," he told Aleson. "Anyway, can I see that test too? I also want to see it working." "Of course. It could only be possible because of your ideas. The highest credit belongs to you. Please come with me," Aleson replied as he started walking in a different direction. "Credit to me? Not really. It all belongs to you. Nothing would be possible without you," Ryder answered as he smiled wryly. It was the truth. He didn''t deserve any credit. "You''re really humble, sir. Even when you deserve the credit, you want to give it to me. I''m so lucky to work for you. Without you, I don''t know where I would be. It was you who helped my grandfather and paid for his treatment. I wouldn''t even know he was sick without you." "I can''t even begin to thank you after all you did." Aleson thanked Ryder repeatedly as he left the room, advancing towards the lab. Ryder didn''t react. He could only be glad that Aleson was leading him so that he wouldn''t need to open the doors and risk looking like an alien. "This is the lab where we worked on it. These are the doc.u.ments with the working principle behind it. It basically works the same as the idea you gave me. I only had to expand on the idea and fine-tune it a bit," Aleson told Ryder as he showed him the lab. ... In a different officer on the same floor, another man of Aleson''s team was sitting on his chair. He didn''t like the fact that Aleson was the leader and head of this branch despite being the youngest. He felt like that was an insult to him. Moreover, his advice was often ignored, and everyone only listened to Aleson as if he was an Idiot. The man known as John was sitting on the chair, talking to someone over the phone. "Hello, sir. That''s right. You know the doc.u.ments I sent you after stealing from here?" "That''s right. It''s proven that it works. The test results are here. I''m sure Aleson would apply for human testing. You should take the credit for this for your company before that happens and ask permission for yourself." "That''s right. Your company is the biggest name in the Pharmaceutical Industry and research. This little new Divine Corporation is nothing before you. After you take credit, you can easily call out Divine Corporation for stealing your research." "That''s right. So is my position as the head of your research department confirmed?" "Thank you! Thank you so much! I promise I will work hard for you after joining your company. You won''t be disappointed." He disconnected the call as he started laughing like mad. Chapter 508 - 504: Luring "This is pretty amazing, actually. You did some great work at it. Keep working hard. I''ll give you all the support you need. Once again, congratulations on the achievement," Ryder told Aleson. "I''m not the one who deserves all the credit. Your ideas played a crucial role. Moreover, my team helped a lot," Aleson answered. "That''s right. Where''s your team? I need to congratulate them too. You all did great work here," Ryder inquired. "I''ll introduce you to them. I don''t think you''ve met them since you have the responsibility to hire most of them," Aleson let out as he left the room. "That''s right. I only hired a few big names in the industry. Other than that, I left it all to you. So I actually haven''t met most of them. The last time I did come to meet you, but you were busy with some tests. This must be that test," Ryder answered as he followed Aleson. ... "This is our team," Aleson introduced Ryder to his entire team, which also included John who had betrayed them. No one knew about that yet. "John, right? You were the one hired by me. I''m glad you''re fitting with the team perfectly and achieving such a great breakthrough." Ryder met John, who was standing first in the line, ahead of everyone else. "Thank you," John said with a smile on his face, but on the inside, he was scoffing at Ryder. ''Don''t blame me for what''s about to happen next! I''m older than everyone here, and I had the highest experience and the greatest reputation amongst everyone present here! But you still chose an inexperienced kid to lead the branch! You can only blame yourself for what will happen!'' Ryder couldn''t hear his thoughts and moved over to the next person in the line. "I heard many great things about you. Great work," he praised the woman that was also one of the main members of the team. He didn''t shake anyone''s hand through since he had a feeling that he''ll most certainly break a few bones if he did. Instead, he joined both his hands together to give a different kind of greeting. He soon talked to every member of the team and gave a few motivational words before he left. He wanted to talk to Herriet as well since he was already here, but it wasn''t the right time since he didn''t have his strength in control. He wanted to train first. He left the building and noticed the driver come out of the car to open the passenger side door. "You don''t need to. Keep sitting in the car. I''ll just take a walk to the nearby building and come back after an hour or more. "You can go eat or relax until then. Or rest inside the car." ... Ryder walked over to the building that was next to his Divine Corporation building. Even though it was a building right next to his building, there was still sufficient distance between the two. It was a building where a lot of things had happened. It was where Ryder had killed many men, including some from the Uprising, which was ruled by one of the sons of gods. Ryder entered the abandoned building, which had all blood cleaned inside. There was no person inside the abandoned building, so it seemed like the perfect place to train. Still, Ryder didn''t train here. He went to the roof instead, where he was going to train in a much bigger area. "I have control over my speed mostly. I only need to train that a bit more, but that can be done later. The problem is the strength. That''s my enemy. I need to understand my strength first to know how I can deal with it and what amount of strength has what effect," Ryder muttered as he clenched his fist. He had decided to punch with ten percent of his strength. He gazed towards an empty wall, breaking, which wasn''t going to affect anything. After preparing, he punched out. Boom! "What the heck?" Ryder exclaimed in shock as he saw the outcome of his attack. "But that was only ten percent!" He was surprised. Even though it was only a fraction of his power, it was enough to break the wall. ... "When is he coming back? He said he''s going to take a walk, but it''s been an entire day. It''s already evening, and he still isn''t back," the Driver muttered as he looked around while sitting in the car. "I''m getting so bored here! Why was my luck so bad that I got stuck with him." His eyes were disappointed and somewhat annoyed as he gazed in the direction of the nearby building. "Should I go and check him?" he wondered as he frowned. He was thinking if he should go check up on Ryder. He could use the excuse that he was checking if the guy was fine or not. "There he is! Finally!" His eyes suddenly lit up as he saw Ryder coming out of the building. He got out of the car and opened the door so that they could leave as soon as Ryder came here. "You don''t need to open it now. My hands are better now. No pain," Ryder told the man as he walked over to the driver''s side. "Sir, why are you sitting there? I''m the driver?" the driver asked Ryder. "I feel like driving now. You sit on that side," Ryder replied as he entered the car and closed the door. After the driver sat inside, Ryder started the car, which zoomed off into the distance. After an entire day of hard work, Ryder had finally learned to control his strength. ... The car stopped inside the Maxwell Estate. "That''s right, Alice had something to talk about. I should hear her out," Ryder muttered as he stepped out of the car and entered the mansion before he walked over to Alice''s room. "Alice, are you inside?" Ryder asked as he knocked on the door. But there happened to be no response. Curious, he opened the door and peeked inside. "Sigh, that girl is already inside," he muttered as he noticed Alice lying on the bed. "So she couldn''t hear me because she was inside Divinity." He closed the door again and walked back to his room only to realize that his room didn''t even have a door. A broken door was just standing there, but it provided no protection. A single push was going to make the door fall since it wasn''t attached to the wall anymore. "Cheh, I need to get that fixed too. I forgot to tell them," Ryder muttered as he turned back to find the butler who could arrange things. "Here, in this direction." As Ryder turned back, he saw the butler coming in his direction with someone who seemed to carry a toolbox. "You''re back. I noticed the door was broken. I don''t know how you made it happen, but I called someone to repair it. It should be done shortly. "I was just about to call you. Thank you. I was in such a hurry in the morning that I forgot to tell you about this," Ryder told the man with an embarrassed look on his face. He was technically a guest here, and he was breaking things and not even telling them. "So should I ask how you did it?" The butler asked Ryder with an amus.e.m.e.nt-filled smile. "Not unless you want to hear a lie," Ryder truthfully said. Even if this guy asked, he was going to have to lie. So he vaguely hinted that he would lie to make the butler not ask. "Alright. I won''t ask then." ... As the butler had said, the for was fixed in less than an hour. Ryder closed the door and went to take a long shower now that everything was over. He got out and prepared to dive into Divinity. Walking back to the bed, he laid down and picked up the glasses. Gazing at the Divinity Glasses, he couldn''t help but wonder about something. "A billion dollar prize... Why? What changed your time for you, Necrosis? Your earning isn''t much higher than last time, but your spending is way more. By giving a billion dollar Prize and only making it an exclusive contest between current top ten players, just what are you trying to achieve?" "You''re trying to lure us out. That much is obvious. But the question is, why? The only change in this timeline I can think of is my rise. Nothing else should be different." "Are you guys after me? Is that what you''re trying? Or am I attracting too much suspicion from you by getting to such a high level? Or is it something else? Just what exactly changed..." "If this contest was open for every player, it might have seemed more genuine and make it seem like you were attracting more people to play Divinity in the lure of rewards, but it''s only for the top ten. Shu was right. You guys are suspicious." Chapter 509 - 505: Departure "You guys are pretty suspicious. I hope you don''t plan to do anything against me. Because if you do, I''ll have to get involved. And you wouldn''t like it when I get involved, especially now that I have so much strength," Ryder muttered as he wore Divinity Glasses. He closed his eyes and commanded, "Take me to Divinity." A link was established, and he found himself in the world of Divinity. Ryder appeared in the throne room of the Royal Palace when it was early morning here. Rale and the others were still waiting for Ryder. "Your Highness, you''re back." Rale let out as his eyes lit up at the sight of Ryder. "Are you prepared?" Ryder asked Rale. "Yes. The High Dukes are also prepared. They''re waiting outside for you for departure," Rale answered. "Alright. Let''s leave then. I''m already late, I guess," Ryder let out as he stood up and started walking outside the Palace with Rale following behind. "Are our Royal Guards outside?" Ryder asked Rale. "That''s right. They''re outside with Miku and Miyali," Rale answered. "Miku and Miyali? That reminds me. Did the new maids get hired? And what''s happening with Miyali''s training?" Ryder asked, frowning. "Miyali''s training seemed to have gone pretty well. She can already transform for a little while staying in control. I''ll give credit to Miku. Her knowledge and her training worked wonders," Rale answered. "As for maids, all new maids have been hired. Also, as per your orders, we have started giving money to the family of maids that were killed. We still didn''t tell them about their deaths, though," he added. "That''s good. As for telling them, I''ll find a way to do that too. But that''s for later," Ryder nodded in appreciation. "Are Miku and Miyali coming with us? They said they want to come with us. I told them that only you could decide that. So, do you want to bring them with us?" Rale asked Ryder. "They want to come? Well, they are strong. At Least Miku is. And from what you said, Miyali has improved a lot too. So this can be good. What do you think?" Ryder inquired in return. "I''ll listen to your wise decision," Rale threw the responsibility back at Ryder. "Fine. We will take them," Ryder answered. ''It''s an important quest anyway. I can''t afford to fail it,'' he thought as he remembered the consequences of losing. If he lost, he wasn''t going to be allowed to log in ever again. He was going to lose everything he created in the world of Divinity. That wasn''t something he wanted to go through after working so hard to increase his level. Moreover, he had Rale and others here. They had all become a part of his family now, whom he didn''t want to lose. Ryder and Rale left the Royal Palace, followed behind by a few Royal Guards. The rest of the Royal Guards were already waiting outside for Ryder. "Ah, Your Highness, I just remembered something. You''re going for war. Most of the soldiers would be seeing you for the first time. Shouldn''t you change clothes?" Rale suggested when they were a few meters away from the exit. "Uh?" Confused, Ryder looked down, only to have his mouth open wide. He was still wearing the attire that he had worn in the Death Domain. It was the dress of Death Domain. He hadn''t realized that he was still wearing that. His mind was completely diverted because of the war and the quest. "Wait a minute. I''ll change clothes. You guys go ahead and wait for me outside. Tell the High Dukes that I''ll be out in a minute," Ryder told Rale and the others who listened to the commands. After Rale and the Royal guards left, Ryder remained behind and started changing his clothes. He wore a beautiful white dress and donned a luxurious red robe on top of it. He also wore the shoes of wind that were gifted to him by a High Duke. Not only that, but he also brought the Royal Crown out of his inventory and wore it, increasing his charm and authority even more. He even brought a red glove which he wore in his left hand. In his right hand, he wore a gauntlet. "Now, this is better. The perfect look to lead the army to war," Ryder muttered as he grinned. As he looked at himself in a wall mirror. "Oh wait, I still lack something to complete my look." He raised his hand, which had the Moon Scythe wrapped as a bracelet. The bracelet unraveled and started getting bigger and bigger before it returned to its original shape. Ryder held the Moon Scythe in his hand as he stood proudly. "This is better. As their leader, I should support their Royal weapon. Too bad, I can''t use the Moon Shield as it lost all its power without the fragment," Ryder muttered as he sighed in disappointment. He once again started approaching the door and stepped out of the Royal Palace, only to see a massive army standing at the door. "The heck? We have that big of an army? And this is all situated in the Royal City? If we count the entire army of the Demon Realm, just how big would it be?" He exclaimed in amazement. As far as his eyes could see, he saw the army. It was like the entire place was filled with a sea of soldiers. "You''re out. You are late," High Duke Magna told Ryder. "Anyway, let''s get going." "Shouldn''t I give a speech to the soldiers first?" Ryder asked, frowning. "Huh? Do you want to do that this time? We''re already late! This is an emergency!" High Duke Magna said. "We shouldn''t delay any longer." "I''ll only take a few minutes," Ryder answered. "Let him speak. The soldiers are confused. They need some words from their soon-to-be king," High Duke Oris said. "We should let him speak. He''s not a prince anymore. He''s technically our King since he finished the Kingship Trial. We just can''t complete coronation now. As a soon-to-be king, we can''t command him. Instead, we should listen to him," High Duke Mila also chimed in. "He''s our leader in the war, and we''re his advisors. We can only advise him but not form decisions for him," High Duke Eston said. "Cheh, fine. Speak," High Duke Magna agreed. Ryder took a step forward as he looked at the sea of soldiers. The soldiers at the front were silent, but the soldiers at the back who couldn''t see Ryder were chattering amongst themselves. Using his flying, Ryder started rising in the air until he was ten meters high to make sure everyone could see him. As soon as the soldiers in the back saw Ryder, they also stopped talking. "Soldiers of the Brave Demon Realm! Listen to me! I am Prince Hades, your soon-to-be King! As you may know, today, our Empire faces a peril! We are being attacked by our old enemies that we had defeated brutally last time!" "But as the saying goes, some people never learn! They once again decided to attack our Empire because they have a death wish! It''s time we fulfill their wish and show them the true power of the Demon Realm! Not only to the Spirit Realm, but it''s time we have a show of strength, so our enemies think at least ten times before attacking us next time!" "Do we have the strength to do it? Yes! Can we do it? Yes! Will we do it? Yes! That''s all you need to remember! We''re the warriors of the Demon Realm! We never learned yeh meaning of Defeat! We have fought countless wars, and we have won them all! This will only act to increase that number of victories." "So you all have no need to be worried! As long as you give it your all, we will win! And we will win big time! Let''s win and make the Demon Realm gre- ahem, I mean, Glory to the Demon Realm!" Ryder declared proudly, making a mistake and correcting it right away before he came down. He landed in front of the High Dukes amidst the deafening chants of the soldiers that were filled with the fighting spirit after hearing Ryder''s words. "That was a good speech," High Dukes complimented Ryder. "Enough wasting time! Let''s leave! Our border is under attack! You all seem to be forgetting that!" High Duke Magna complained. ... Thousands and thousands of flying beasts filled the sky of Demon Realm, carrying the Royal Army Soldiers on them. The ones leading were the Prince and the High Dukes. The citizens of the Demon Realm watched them leave in the sky. They cheered for them loudly, wishing the army good luck for war. Even though they were hopeful, they were still concerned since it was their first fight without a king. Even though they had High Dukes, without their King, it still felt different. Chapter 510 - 506: On Time A big army advanced towards the border of the Demon Realm, prepared to participate in their first-ever fight without their King. The Demon Realm had gone to many battles, the last being against the Death Domain many many years ago. That battle proved to be the greatest battle that changed a lot of things for the Death Domain and for the Demon Realm. Even though it ended with the victory of the Demon Realm, the Demon King and the Death King both disappeared after that war. While the people in Demon Realm believed that their King killed the Death King and, seeing no enemy strong enough to threaten the Demon Realm left, he left the Demon Realm to travel the world to find worthy opponents. Whereas the people of Death Domain assumed that the Death King and the Demon King were both dead. Both sides were assuming things since no one knew what exactly happened that day. All they knew was that the Death King was most certainly dead; otherwise, he would have joined the war, preventing their defeat. ... At the border of the Demon Realm, an assault had already started. A portion of the Demon Realm army was already there, led by the Marquis and the Dukes. Until now, the enemies hadn''t managed to break inside the Demon Realm because of the barrier surrounding the Demon Realm in its entirety. The enemies were from the Spirit Realm; thus, they couldn''t pass through the barrier. The only way to enter the Demon Realm was by breaking the barrier that was protecting this place. But breaking the barrier wasn''t easy. At Least it couldn''t be achieved without putting in much time and effort. It wasn''t called the strongest Empire here for no reason after all. Unfortunately, the strengths of the Spirit Realm weren''t weak either. Moreover, they had been continuing their assault for over a day now. It didn''t seem like the barrier could last for much longer. And once the barrier was broken, the Spirit Realm armies would rush through, starting the war. On one side of the barrier stood the Armies of Spirit Realm, attacking ruthlessly. On the other side of the barrier stood their opponents, the Demon Realm warriors. "The barrier won''t last long, I think," Duke Mikala commented as he watched the barrier''s light dimming. "You''re right. It wouldn''t last much longer," Duke Devilia said, frowning. She was dressed in her warrior outfit, covered in Armor that provided her some level of protection. "Do you think the reinforcements from the Royal City would be here on time?" One of the Dukes asked. There were five Dukes and sixteen marquis present at the site, waiting for the barrier to break, preparing for what was to come. " They should''ve been here by now, honestly. We informed them long ago. I don''t know what''s taking them so long," another Duke replied. "Do you think our new Prince is getting cold feet and taking longer to order a departure?" "Who knows. All I know is that they should come with the reinforcements from the Royal City fast. If they don''t come, the trouble that will follow us will be much bigger. "Yeah, The enemy army outnumbered us. Moreover, they are from the Spirit Realm. In their peak days, they used to be comparable to our Demon Realm in strength." "You''re right. It wasn''t until the war when they were destroyed. It had been a long time since they went into hiding, which is enough time to recover. So it''s highly possible that they might have warriors comparable to our high Dukes. If that''s the case, we would not survive without the High Dukes coming here personally." The Dukes seemed pretty pessimistic and weren''t sure if they were going to get help. It has honestly taken longer than it should have. Theoretically, the reinforcements should have been here before yesterday, but they were not here even now. "Don''t worry. I know the new Prince. He is the kind of person that dared to barge inside the Death Domain and face their Death Envoys and their Prince, stealing our war criminal from right under their eyes within their Royal Palace. Do you really think that kind of person can get cold feet? Don''t worry and have faith," Devilia chimed in. She knew Ryder the best and understood all the things he had achieved. Moreover, she understood his temperament. "I hope so..." the Dukes said. ... "I see our army. It looks like the enemy still hadn''t managed to barge inside. We aren''t too late," Rale told Ryder as he noticed the barrier still intact. "That''s good," Ryder agreed. ... "Did you hear about the new event of Necrosis?" "The billion-dollar event that''s for the top ten? Yeah, I heard about that. It''s everywhere. Amazingly, a company is willing to spend that much." "Not that! About a different event!" Two youngsters were sitting inside a cafe, talking to each other over coffee. "What event? I am not much info this VR and Divinity sh*t. I''m happy playing my Nario and other old games the normal way. The only reason I heard about the billion-dollar event was because someone told me before. What new event are you talking about?" "Apparently, two lucky players in Divinity had received a special quest. Each of them became a leader of a special Empire, and both the Empires are at war. Each of those players needs to make sure that their Empire wins, and this whole thing will be broadcasted on the official site of Divinity from today." "Hmm? What''s special about two players fighting? Isn''t that the same as the billion-dollar event, just that the number of players is small and the mode of battle is a large-scale war here? Anyway, what''s the prize? For this to make news, the prize should be half a billion dollars at least? "Not at all! Apart from that, the prizes are kept a secret. Moreover, the loser of this war will be banned from Divinity forever! But that''s not why this news is so special. It''s because people can finally start watching and streaming their events after this event! I''m so excited to see the battle between two players, leading the armies of NPCs." "Who are the players?" "I have no idea yet. Basically, no one knows. But we should know when the stream starts. Want to watch it with me?" "Sure. I''ll see what Divinity is all about since you insist so much." The same discussion was taking place all over the country. Many Divinity enthusiasts had already opened the Divinity website as they waited for the stream to start finally. Not only them, even Shu hadn''t gone inside Divinity tonight as he stayed out to watch the stream. He even wished to watch with Ryder and Alice, but apparently, none of them were available. He could only do so alone now. ... In the office of Necrosis, people seemed very busy. "How long before we can start the broadcast?" the Director of Necrosis asked a woman. "An hour at most," the woman answered. "Good." ... In a different part of Divinity, a man was walking in what seemed like a desert. The man had a mask covering his face. If Ryder had seen the man, he would have recognized him as Lucifer. Moreover, that man wasn''t too far away from where Ryder was at the moment. He was actually inside the Demon Realm. Ryder was trying to find the whereabouts of the man, not knowing that he was right below his nose. In fact, the army of Demon Realm even flew above the head of Lucifer at a point in time, but they were in haste to reach the border and hadn''t focused their heads down. If Ryder had looked down, he would have found the person he was looking for while simultaneously getting a potential fragment of Divinity which he believed to be in the hand of Lucifer. ... "Here they come," Devilia exclaimed as she smiled at the sight of reinforcements. They were at the right time, actually, which was amazing. The other Dukes also became happy as they saw Ryder and the massive army. Their worries proved to be unfounded as he was here on time. "Your Highness," Everyone greeted Ryder as the large army landed on the ground. Ryder was in the lead, followed by others. "What''s the situation?" Ryder asked. ... "Oracle... Their army is here! Apparently, we are late. If only we could break the barrier in time, we might have managed to cause more destruction before their arrival." One of the Spirit Warriors was informing Alice, who was sitting in a tent at the end of the Spirit Realm army. "Is the army big? Can you take care of it?" Alice asked, wondering if she could even hope to finish this quest. She was actually depending on the army to do anything to finish the quest since she actually didn''t know what to do. She didn''t even realize how she ended up here at all. All she knew was that this was a quest she needed to finish if she didn''t want to be banned and play with Ryder in Divinity later. Chapter 511 - 507: New plan "The army is pretty big, but with the support of the Oracle and the will of our people, we can take care of them. The barrier would be broken soon enough. We will attack then," the Spirit Warrior told Alice. "Alright. If you say so, I''ll use my blessing to increase all your strength in this war," Alice nodded. She had received a lot of special skills because of receiving the unique class of Divine Oracle of Spirit Realm. One of those skills was Stat Enhancement. Despite being a low-level player personally, she had many general-level skills that had a large area of effect. It was as if her class was specifically made to help the army she led. The Stat Enhancement was something that allowed her to increase the stats of every warrior that was under her by a certain amount. The Increased amount and percentage depended on the people she was using the skill on. If she used it on one, the effects were best, whereas if she used it on a large number of warriors, the effects were somewhat less. "That would be perfect. Stay behind and rest after casting your skill. We should handle the rest. If we can''t, then we would call for more help," the Spirit Warrior said before he respectfully bowed his head and left. ... "The barrier is going to be broken soon. How long do you expect it to last?" Ryder asked the High Dukes, wondering the exact time. He hadn''t known about the barrier much, so he couldn''t say how long they had. The armies were already in the position to start the battle as soon as the enemy barged inside after breaking the barrier. "Half an hour at best," High Duke Oris said, giving his estimate. "I think the same," High Duke Mila agreed as she gazed at the barrier. "It''s my first time leading a war, so I don''t know much. I''ll depend on you all to give me the right advice at the right time. Let''s make sure that we will win the war with the least casualty," Ryder said respectfully. He knew that he was pretty weak in Divinity, at least when compared to the High Dukes. In any case, he could only depend on them to win the war. Moreover, it wasn''t anything shameful to depend on his High Dukes as a Prince. They were there to help the Royals, after all. "Of course we would. We would help to the best of our abilities," High Duke Oris said. The other High Dukes also agreed. Only High Duke Magna didn''t say anything. Ryder gazed at him, smiling wryly, wondering why that guy was always so stern-looking. Did he not like him? "What about you?" Ryder asked High Duke Magna. "It''s my duty to help the Empire. But it''s not my duty to answer every sentiment-filled question. We are the High Dukes of the Empire. It''s our purpose to protect the Empire. And if you still have to ask us if we will or won''t, then doesn''t that mean you''re doubting our will and resolve?" High Duke Magna asked, squinting his eyes. The Dukes stood in the back, hearing the conversation of the higher-ups. Hearing High Duke Magna''s reply, they could feel the tense atmosphere. Was everything not right between the High Duke and the Prince? "Not at all. I''m not doubting your resolve at all," Ryder replied, smiling wryly. He couldn''t believe the simple question of his was seen as him doubting the abilities of High Dukes, but he could see how that misunderstanding was created. He didn''t even know what to say in reply, so he changed the topic, "I have a question. Instead of sending our soldiers first, how about we go in ourselves and take their commanding authority out, ending the war right away? We won''t have to sacrifice our warriors?" "That''s a noble thought, but that''s not possible. They might already expect us to attack. It''s easy for them to take steps to put us at a disadvantage on their land. It''s not as easy to attack an enemy base; otherwise, wars wouldn''t use any soldiers at all," High Duke Magna was the first one to answer, refusing the suggestion. "Moreover, fighting alone against millions of soldiers while also taking care of the attacks of the strongest enemy that can bring a lot of people down. That''s why wars use soldiers here to dwindle down the number of soldiers of the enemy that can interfere in the battle against the peak powers," High Duke Eston chimed in, agreeing. "Oh, so it''s like a game of chess. Where you try to decrease the pieces surrounding the enemy King to leave no way for it to escape," Ryder muttered as he rubbed his chin. "Chess?" High Duke Mila inquired, confused. "Nothing. But if it''s about decreasing the number of enemies, we can send our top powers to kill their soldiers and help our soldiers right away," Ryder replied. "That''s what we do. We try to attack them, giving them as much damage as they can while trying to get the most advantageous position. And if there''s a hint of a crack in the defence of the enemies, we barge inside to finish the job once and for all. Unfortunately, with time, the enemies had gotten stronger and smarter," High Duke Mila explained. "How was the last war with the Death Domain? Did you wait till all the soldiers were dead?" Ryder inquired, wondering how the previous King got the victory. "Last war lasted for a long time. Many soldiers from both sides died, including a few of High Dukes. In the end, the battle between the two kings happened, not on the battlefield, though." "It happened far away from our eyes. Both Kings disappeared at once. Only our Demon King returned after an hour. Signs of battle were clearly visible. It seemed like he had gone through an intense weapon. Anyway, he declared victory before he again disappeared, never to return again," High Duke Oris said. ... The conversation between the High Dukes and Ryder continued as he tried to come up with a plan to deal with the upcoming battle. But in the end, he knew that he could only treat it as a war game. He had played many strategy war games previously. Even though none of them were VR and this realistic, he felt he could do what he wanted. He had a good idea of his abilities. He didn''t know about the abilities of the High Dukes, but he had faith that they could take care of the enemies too. Time kept passing slowly, and soon, half an hour was over. The barrier had become so dim that it wasn''t even visible anymore. To make sure that the barrier was broken, Spirit Warriors attacked the barrier with their sword. The attack passed through without any obstruction. "The barrier is broken!" The Spirit General declared in a tone filled with fighting spirit. He raised his silver heavy sword high in the sky before he commanded, "Warriors of the Spirit Realm! It''s time to take or revenge for everything these Demons did to us! Go ahead and destroy them all! When this war ends, there should be no demon realm anymore! Attack!" With his command, he used a skill called War Cry that filled his soldiers with a strong fighting spirit and a will to win at any cost, even if it meant sacrificing their lives. ... "It''s time. Give the command for our soldiers to advance." High Duke Oris told Ryder as he watched the enemy soldiers step inside the Demon Realm. It was Ryder''s responsibility as the Prince of the Demon Realm. "Yes." Ryder once again started rising in the sky to make himself visible. "Sigh, there he goes again with his minute-long speech! Couldn''t he simply tell them to attack like a normal person?" High Duke Magna complained, rolling his eyes. Ignoring his words, Ryder focused on his soldiers. "Warriors of the Demon Realm, it''s time to show your strength! Go show your prowess and wipe the enemy that dared to step inside out pure land!" He kept it short this time while also infusing his words with a commander class skill to fill his warriors with strength and motivation to fight. "Yaaa!" "Attack!" "We will kill you all!" The soldiers of the Demon Realm also started running towards them Spirit Realm warriors, flourishing their weapons, prepared to cut the enemy in half. Ryder landed on the ground after commanding. "So the first stage of battle will be led by the Marquis and the soldiers while we protect them from a stronger level of attacks, right?" Ryder asked, frowning. "That''s right," High Duke Oris nodded. "I have a plan that I want to put forth," Ryder suggested as he rubbed his chin. "You might think it''s a waste, but I know it is useful," he added. "What plan?" High Dukes asked, wondering if the plan was good and useful. If it was, why did Ryder seem so uncertain as if they were going to say no? Chapter 512 - 508: Old Janus back "What plan do you have?" High Dukes asked Ryder, wondering about his plan. "I want to hide myself and go fight with our normal soldiers as a fellow soldier," Ryder said. "So your plan is to leave your commander duties and fight like a brute?" High Duke Magna said, unable to believe what he was hearing. Was this really the person who was supposed to lead them? Ryder, on the other hand, had a different idea. In reality, he could see an opportunity here. There were so many enemies; it was like a fest to gain exp. If he stayed back, all the easy targets would be killed, and he won''t get any experience. As for the stronger enemies later, they would be killed by High Dukes. He didn''t want to stand here like a decoration and lose the opportunity to get stronger. But he couldn''t tell them that he wanted to take part because of his own greed. So he decided to give an excuse. "You don''t understand my entire plan. What I plan to do is go in as a soldier but find an opportunity to infiltrate the enemy if I can and kill their commander," Ryder said, wondering if his words would work. "Let me get this straight. So your plan is to go fight thousands of soldiers where you can be killed to find an opportunity to sneak to enemy camps where their strongest warriors protect their General along with a few other traps, thinking that you can kill them," High Duke Magna spoke, making Ryder uncertain if he was mocking his plan or seriously asking. But the way he said it made Ryder realize how stupid his plan was. ''I should''ve used different words. Now I realize how hasty I was in speaking it,'' he thought, wondering how to correct his statement. "Is that what you''re saying? Because if it is, then I don''t know what to say. Because I don''t want to insult you," High Duke Magna said. Ryder was cursing inside his heart, thinking, ''You old man! You say you don''t want to insult me. What you are doing is exactly the same, dumbass.'' "You don''t understand my plan. I have a few abilities that make me best for stealth. Moreover, I can impersonate their soldiers as well as hide myself to extreme levels. I have faith in myself," Ryder said, telling a bit of truth to cover his lies. High Duke Magna looked at High Duke Oris, sighing as if he didn''t want to deal with this level of stupidity or explain more. "You speak to him. Maybe he will understand." "My Prince, this idea is genuinely bad. You''re the leader of our side, and you need to be present here to see the changing situations of war, not in the middle of the field, fighting like brutes. The soldiers see you here and get moral support. So does all the Dukes and Marquis. It''s more advantageous for you to be here," High Duke Oris said to Ryder calmly. "Moreover, you are underestimating the Spirit Warriors. No matter how good at stealth you are, they are expected to find you and kill you. Losing a Prince is no less than losing a war here. So we can''t allow you to leave," High Duke Mila chimed in. High Duke Eston also agreed to this notion. In general, no one was going to let Ryder leave. Ryder sighed in disappointment. Was there nothing he could do to not lose this opportunity? [Attention Players!] Ryder was thinking about what to do while Alice was thinking about the outcome of the war when the two of them heard the notification in their ears. Ryder looked towards the sky, where the sound was supposedly coming from, only to find Maya there. "What now?" he asked. [The live broadcast of your War is about to start in another five minutes. By accepting the Quest, you gave us the right to broadcast this war. For that, we are grateful.] [As a reward for giving us that privilege, we provide you with an opportunity.] Up to this point, Ryder and Alice heard the same thing, but this was where the words changed for both of them. [As you are already in the top ten ranks, You are allowed to take part in our billion-dollar prize event. But as a special reward, you are allowed to give one more player the right to join the billion-dollar event along with you.] [If you accept, send the details of yours and the other player to Necrosis Headquarters in a sealed envelope with title Special0011] As Ryder heard it, he couldn''t help but smile wryly. These guys, they were really going all out. Giving him the permission to bring another player? That wasn''t a bad proposition. But disclosing his information was still a problem. "Wait a minute, what if I lose the war? Won''t I be banned? How can I join the event then?" he asked, frowning. [In case of a loss in the quest, your participation chance will still be valid, and you''ll be rewarded an unban as long as you''re not found to go against the rules in this war] "Interesting. So if I lost, I still have a chance to continue inside Divinity, given that I sent my details and take this opportunity. These complicated things. I better try my best not to lose then," Ryder muttered, rubbing his chin. ... Ryder heard about an additional chance to give the participation rights to another player, whereas Alice heard something different. [As you may know, Necrosis Corporation has organized an event for the top ten players of Divinity where they have an opportunity to win a billion-dollar. Despite not being in the top ten, you are provided an opportunity to take part in the event.] [If you accept, send the details of yours and the other player to Necrosis Headquarters in a sealed envelope with title Special0012] Alice also asked the same question as Ryder about being banned, and she was given the same answer, which made her eyes lit up. That means she didn''t have to worry about losing the war. She found it extremely helpful. "Thank you so much," she told Maya, who disappeared. ... "Alright. This is a war we must win. No excuses," Ryder muttered, clenching his fist. "High Dukes and everyone else present here! I have a command for you!" he declared as he looked around, using his unique grade artifact, which was his crown, to use his authority. "Yes, Your Highness." "I want all of you to tell me about all your skills. Nothing should be skipped. We will work smart and make sure we make the best of your skills. There needs to be synchronization between our skills to maximize the effort," Ryder said. His strategic mind was finally working as he was reminded that losing meant giving away his privacy or his right to play divinity. Since he couldn''t take this as a VR that he was supposed to take part in, he was going to take it as a strategic war game. They began with the Marquis, who started describing their skills in detail. The line kept moving as one after another they kept coming forward. After all the marquis were done, it was the turn of Dukes. Some of the Dukes were uncertain about exposing all their skills since there were conflicts between Dukes as well. Telling their skills meant telling their future potential enemies about their strength which they believed could be bad. But it was a command. If they lied or disobeyed, they were going to be killed at discovery. With the invisible sword of death hanging above their head, none of them lied or hid anything from others. They all told the truth. The last in the line was Devilia, who told her skills. "And my last skill is Vision of Glaiafh. It allows me to see through walls of any obstruction," Devilia said. "See through walls, huh. Interesting skill. If I had that, wouldn''t I be able to see through walls too?" Ryder muttered, amused at the prospects of having a skill like that. ''What perverted thoughts, you idiot! I was thinking about seeing through walls when enemies were on the other side. Not watching ladies bathe!'' Ryder thought, feeling like crying. It was the truth, though. When thinking about the prospects of this power, he thought about enemies first, but a small part of him also realized that it could be used for perverted things. But that didn''t mean he wanted to do it. He had a feeling that this mission was going to be the death of his, depending on what it was. He could only hope that old Janus wasn''t back who used to bully him with missions just to have fun. It had been a long time since Janus stopped that but hearing his tone, he had a feeling that it''s what Janus was going to do here.