100-109

Chapter 100 - Pranking Grandpa Don

"How do I know you can't teach me anything?" Crazy Don repeated the question with a derisive look.

"When I started learning alchemy, you were not even born yet, kiddo. What kind of alchemic knowledge do you know that I haven't learnt before?" Crazy Don scoffed.

Leon was not offended by the scoffing.

"The world is so vast, and the profundity of alchemy is a never-ending path of learning that could never be fully comprehended simply after reading ten thousand books nor treading ten thousand miles. Do you dare claim to know everything there is to know about alchemy?"

Leon spewed some profound words and threw a question back at the elderly while giving him a cursory glance.

"Hah, I naturally wouldn't dare, but what I know is certainly more than what you know, kiddo."

Crazy Don spoke with certainty.

Leon shook his head at the elder's blind confidence. He was a rank 5 Alchemist Sovereign in his past life and was certainly not an average joe. Rank 5 Alchemist Sovereigns were capable of refining tier 5 spirit pills for Void Realm practitioners and were just one rank below the divine rank.

It wasn't farfetched to say that his alchemy skills stood at the peak of the mortal realm. As such, the elder's blind confidence was no difference to arrogance. One should never judge a book by its cover.

"Hoh… then let's put gran- senior's claim to the test. Since you know more than me, you must certainly know about the Purity Renewal Pill, no?"

Leon targeted the elder with a tricky question. If Crazy Don knew what the Purity Renewal Pill was, he would know how much it meant to him.

When ingesting pills, there was always a limit to the effectiveness of a pill before the body develop complete immune to it. The Purity Renewal Pill can reset the body's immunity to pills and remove the residual pill toxins that could not be removed with the Toxin Cleansing Pill.

Leon had only given the elder a cursory glance, but he already knew that the elder had hit a bottleneck in his cultivation for years. He was able to infer the problem after diagnosing the elder through look and smell.

He had been on the mark. Crazy Don had been ingesting the Essence Strengthening Pills for most of his life to improve his cultivation. However, the pill gradually lost its effectiveness as he approached 9-stars in his cultivation, before ultimately becoming completely ineffective after reaching 9-stars.

As such, he had be stumped at the gate of transcendence for years without much hope of taking the last step. How frustrating it must be for a person to reach the fabled doors of transcendence but unable to open it.

"Purity Renewal Pill? What kind of pill is that? Don't think you can pull the wool over this old man's eyes by making up some pill name he never heard before."

"..."

As expected, Crazy Don did not know what the pill was. Otherwise, he would have long achieved transcendence. His body was completely healthy and had no problem reaching transcendence if not for the pill immunity.

Leon mouth curved into a grin at Crazy Don's reply.

"You don't even know what a Purity Renewal Pill is and yet you claim you know more than me? Listen up, the Purity Renewal Pill is-"

Leon suddenly paused his words. Crazy Don wore a lackadaisical expression and started yawning the moment he started explaining the pill's usage. It was uncertain whether the elder was listening to Leon's words. His face couldn't help but twitched.

"Are you listening to me, Old fart?"

"Yeah, yeah… I'm listening."

Crazy Don answered perfunctorily without a care for Leon's rudeness. He had no idea why he didn't mind staying behind to listen to this kid, who was still wet behind the ears, trying to preach about alchemy to him. Maybe he was bored and was looking for some way to kill time.

Leon noticed the perfunctory tone in the Old fart's words and lack of attention. His following words carried a hint of impatience.

"How can the master teach, if the student is unwilling learn? Is that the attitude of a listener?"

"Haih…alright, I'm listening… intently."

Crazy Don placed extra emphasis on the word 'intently'. He wagered the kiddo would give him an earful as his 'Master' if he didn't play his part as the 'student'. He still wanted to listen to what the kid says so he can quickly rebut him. Nonetheless, his attitude was still superficial.

Leon didn't care if the Old fart's attitude was genuine or not as long as he was listening.

"The Purity Renewal Pill has the effect of reset the body's immunity to pill efficacy."

His words were brief, but his goal was achieved as the message was been delivered.

"Reset the body's immunity to the pill's efficacy? Hmph! That's some bold claims, kiddo. All words are empty talk. Present some hard evidence if you want to convince this Old man!"

Crazy Don was disbelieving of the boy's words and appeared somewhat unmoved, but Leon has captured his genuine attention and interest. He held some faint hope that what the kiddo said was true.

With his eyes of discernment, there was no way the Old fart's emotions could be hidden from Leon.

"Evidence? I can refine the pill, but why should I? What would I get out of it?" He suddenly said as he crossed his arms behind his back. His mouth curved upwards into a mischievous smile.

The tables have turned. He didn't need to try and convince the Old fart any longer. Crazy Don would be the one trying to get him to validate his words, otherwise the Old fart would be restless like an itch needed scratching.

"I will accept you as my master." Crazy Don said with gritted teeth. Was this brat playing games with him?

"Well, do you swear on your words?" Leon asked as he tried not to laugh.

"I swear."

Crazy Don answered hurriedly.

The Old fart's word was unreliable, and with his high cultivation, Leon wouldn't be able to do anything since he knew the Old man would go back on his words.

At the end of the day, this person was still his biological grandpa's closest brother, making them family. According to custom, he should also be addressing him as grandpa, but Crazy Don doesn't seem to realize this fact. Or rather, Crazy Don has yet to realize his identity since he was willing to kowtow and hail him as master. As such, he thought it was fun to prank the old man.

"Watch closely."

Leon prepared to refine the Purity Renewal Pill for the Old fart. The herbs had been taking out at some unknown moment. All the spirit herbs were present, and none was missing. If Leon wasn't assured that he had all the spirit herbs, he would not have chosen the Purity Renewal Pill. It wasn't the only pill in his arsenal that produced the same effect, but it was the most readily available one for refinement.

With the pill cauldron still hot, Leon was able to skip one the three steps of pill concoction and quickly got to work.

Some time later, a fresh batch of nine Purity Renewal Pills were produced, albeit a bit lower in quality due to the missing cauldron lid. Leon inadvertently glanced up to see if it was ever coming back, but it didn't seem like it would be the case. With its shape, it was very unlikely to return to its exact spot.

"This is the Purity Renewal Pill."

Leon stowed the pills in a glass bottle and waved it in front of Crazy Don.

Swoosh*

The bottle was snatched out of his hands as he expected. Crazy Don unsealed the bottle and took a whiff. His eyes quickly lit up like the stars in the night skies and quickly popped one into his mouth. It didn't take long for the effects to show itself as Crazy Don started excreting impurities from his body.

"What kind of pill is this, boy? Why does it stink so bad?"

Crazy Don knew the pill was extraordinary the moment he sniffed it. He was told it resets pill efficacy immunity, but nothing about expelling impurities. He was itching to take a bath.

"That's the pill toxins being expelled, Grandpa Don." Leon said respectfully.

He decided playtime was over. He didn't actually dare to accept grandpa Don as his disciple. His father would skin him if he knew after he wakes up from coma.

"Huh... What grandpa Don… wait… who are you exactly, boy…?" Crazy Don was taken aback by the sudden change.

It took a moment before he suddenly recalled Elizabeth calling the boy her son. He missed it earlier due to his craze for explosion. His expression quickly turned in between laughter and tears as the realization dawned on him.

"T-T-This…"

"Paying respects to grandpa Don, I am Leon Crawford."

Leon introduced himself before bolting out from the courtyard.

"This brat, how dare you play this old man!?" Crazy Don roared in embarrassment, but he didn't chase. He shook his head over his own rashness and stupidity.

However, it was pleasant news that the missing brat had returned. He recognized the kid's well intention veiled beneath his playfulness as he gazed at the bottle of pill in his hand. He could feel the gate of transcendence loosening under the pill's efficacy.

Such a great gift upon their first meeting. His impression of Leon was good… or so he thought.

"Grandpa Don kowtowed me~!"

Leon's distant mischievous words made him stagger and almost spit blood in anger. Was the going to continue bringing that up!? Why did he do such a stupid thing? But what has been done cannot be undone.. It was going to keep haunting him.

Chapter 101 - Worshipping The Cauldron Lid

The core members of the Red Salamander Gang were once eradicated by Leon, but stability was never returned to the Lower North District. Whether the tumor was rid from the district or not, the damage was already done. The Lower North District was like a long-term ill patient. Even if the illness was cured, they still required time to be nursed back to health.

While the core members were gone, the outer members still plagued the district like a pack of headless cockroaches without their leaders. Not all the Red Salamander Gang's outer members were wicked beyond redemption. There were also good people among them, but for the sake of their own survival, they were forced to join.

However, throughout the years of servicing the gang, the blood on their hands and crimes piled on their heads were enough to condemn them to death like any other wicked members of the gang. It was not easy to revert to their normal lives.

Within a seemingly large abandoned warehouse, many innocent commoners were held and locked behind ironwood cages. There was no discrimination among the people kept inside the ironwood cages as they came from all ages and genders; young and old, men and women. The smell within the cage was especially nauseating.

They were the merchandise of the Red Salamander Gang. No one knew when or how the organ harvesting business started, but it was a lucrative business and there was always a demand, they find it hard to extricate themselves from the business. Although what they gain was dirty and bloodstained money, it was the least of their worries. They moment they entered the gang, they had already been prepared to leave their morality behind.

In recent days, their manpower had been on the short side and with the Lower West District controlled by the Golden Lion Gang applying pressure on their territory, they did not have much time to manage the 'merchandise' in their warehouse.

Since the fate of these captive commoners were to have their 5 organs harvested and become cold corpses, they were barely fed to begin with. They have gone a few days without food now that no one was assigned to feed them. They were still fortunate to have some drinking water from the rain that seeped through the cracks of the worn-out building, otherwise they would not even have the strength to move.

While these poor souls still had the strength to move, there were no movements within the cage. A gloomy and bleak mood filled the cage. These people knew what fate had in store for them, but they still choose to refrain from wasting any energy as every bit of energy saved was every extra second of life gained. They only move when they need to drink from the rainwater puddles around them.

Their situation was precarious and could even be considered hopeless, but they had not given up on living as they cling to their life tightly. Death was easy, but living was not. Death was also the end, while there was still hope if they were alive, no matter how grim it seems.

On this one fine evening, their efforts and stubbornness were finally rewarded. As if the divinities in heaven had noticed and took pity on them, a divine object was shot down from the high heavens, tearing straight through the building and smashed apart the cage that kept them in captivity.

Surprisingly, no one was injured. The people had the illusion that they had received divine protection. The divine object had dropped down before them with incredible force and heat. The puddles of rainwater were vaporized by the heat and the area was engulfed in thick dust and water vapors.

"W-What happened?"

Everyone's eyes were snapped open in shock and panic following the sound of the explosive crash. With their vision impaired, nothing could be seen afar. Only the closest parts of themselves could be seen.

"Where did all this mist come from? I can't see anything."

"Oh no… w-where did all the water go? How can we go on without the water to drink?" A person noticed the disappearance of the rainwater they relied on.

"Does the heavens also want to doom us all?" An old lady despaired

Amidst the panic and confusion, despair gripped everyone's heart as the last trace of their hope started diminishing.

However, the panic and confusion did not last long as the dust and vapors started to disperse, and the surroundings became clear. The ironwood cage was destroyed.

"Oh, my Freya… the divinities above must have finally answered our pleas. The cage is no more, we are free! We can escape!" Light shined from a frail woman's eyes.

"Yes! We need to quickly escape before those fiends return!" A middle-aged man added.

The crowd exclaimed with excitement. They were suddenly brimming with hope and vigor despite their thin frames from a lack of nutrition. It was surprising how much energy they still had left in them after being kept captive like livestock for so long.

"Wait! There's something over there!" Someone suddenly exclaimed.

Near the area where the locked door on the ironwood cage use to be, there was a round object glowing with five different sparkling colors amidst the dispersing dust and vapor. The round object especially looked holy and divine. Their curiosity to understand what the divine object was, superseded their own desire to escape at first notice.

"What is this object? It kinda looks like a lid for something… but it feels very holy." A young girl was enamored by the beauty of the glowing object.

"This has to be a divine object! It must have been sent down by the divinity above to free us!" A religious person assumed with great faith. His blind confidence was like a virus, infecting everyone else into taking his words as the truth.

There were no churches erected in the present era, but people use to worship many gods and goddess before the cataclysm. Almost every person worshipped at least one god or goddess and their churches spanned the entire continent.

However, the lack of divine intervention during the great cataclysm had caused them to lose their faith in their gods and the Hero King became their new source of belief and worship.

"We have to take it with us. We can't leave behind. It would only be tainted by those fiends if they come back and find it." A person picked up the divine object carelessly.

He was fortunate that the object was no longer scathing hot after being dipped in rainwater. It was gleaming with redness when it shot down from the skies like a meteor, but now its former silvery look returned and was just warm to the touch.

"That goes without saying. We leave now, before it is too late. Those fiends might have realize something from the commotion and could be coming back in time soon." A person suggested with caution.

The crowd quickly agreed to the idea favorably and left the warehouse in tow. They did not want to spend another second in that dastardly and filthy place.

The crowd did not part ways after leaving the warehouse but continued moving together as a group. They have been through much together and have bonded. They felt it was safer to stick together as there was strength in numbers, despite being too weak to put up a real fight in their present state. They also wished to stay close to the divine object as they believe it would be able to protect them from whatever harm comes their way.

The same day, a new church was established within a large abandoned building within the Lower North District. Whether gods truly existed or not, they did not know. But the divine object was very real and became their source of worship. People needed something to believe in, even if it was just an inanimate object.

The divine object was precisely the cauldron lid that went missing after being blasted into the high heavens after Leon failed to refine his 5-Element Enhancing Pill. However, it was no longer the same cauldron lid as before.

It was hard to understand what the cauldron lid had experienced above but it had undergone a complete transformation and already reached the spirit treasure grade. A seed had been inadvertently planted inside after the people started to worship it.

The cauldron lid had freed the people from captivity and a fate with no future, thus they were very grateful to the cauldron lid. They have decided to devote themselves to worshipping the cauldron lid every day.

What they do not know is that their faith was also a type of energy and this type of faith energy was able to nourish the cauldron lid.

One day the seed will eventually sprout and grow sentient, become a treasure spirit for the cauldron lid.

It was unknown what Leon would think, if he knew that his failed pill concoction had resulted in the upgrade of the cauldron lid instead.

Chapter 102 - Sparring

The living environment of the inner palace was very stable and quiet. Leon was freed from many distractions and able to focus on improving himself. His daily routine consists of 4-part digesting the information from the [Myriad Metal Compendium Vol.1/10], 3-part honing and practicing new skills, 2-part parts of his time was allocated to pill concoction and divine cultivation, and the last part of his time was allocated to spend time with his family.

This was not limited to his mother, but also included his other family and in-laws living in the outer palace. He had brought the idea of moving them to the inner palace, but towards this idea, his mother had surprisingly rejected him. But on second thoughts, his mother naturally had her reason. The inner palace held many secrets.

Each time he made a trip to visit the Duke's family, Duke Ignis would always give him a strangely expectant but also unhappy look. He had no idea how he had earned the Duke's displeasure or what this father-in-law wanted from him. Whenever he tried to bring up the topic, the duke would keep mum about it, which put him at a loss of words.

Inside his courtyard, Leon was practicing a new skill while waiting for the arrival of a replacement cauldron lid. Without a cauldron lid, he did not dare to refine pills carelessly. He had attempted another 2 times following the second failure. Although he had tried different variation to create the 5-Elements Enhancing Pill, the cauldron lid was repeatedly blasted into the heavens without fail.

His thought process for refining the pill had been relatively simple. If the energy did not fuse into the herbal essence, then he would try to fuse the herbal essence into the energy. With all honesty, it was the same shit, but different smell.

However, in the process of pill refining, any minute details could lead to great changes and affect the end result of pill refinement. Thus, although he understood it was a small detail, he dared not overlook the possibility.

Matters of pill refining aside, his pill cauldron was something amazing for being able withstand the explosions. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry when he found out that his failed pill concoction led to an upgrade of the pill cauldron to the spirit treasure rank. Maybe he had a knack for artificing.

Spirit treasure, or rather spirit artifacts were all crafted by artificers. Artificers were a higher tiered profession than blacksmiths as they also know runic inscriptions. There wasn't much difference between spirit treasures and spirit artifacts. It was practically the same thing and was totally up to the people on how they want to call it. Whatever floats their boats really.

…

Needle throwing had always been one of Leon's simplest but most efficient method of killing. However, he had noticed that as he fought against stronger opponents, his needle throwing skill was not that very effective and was only suitable for finishing off weaklings. For his needle throwing skill to not be completely useless in future battles, he had to tackle the problem of power and speed it was lacking.

If Old man Kasif was present to understand Leon's thoughts and problem, he would have been ecstatic and shouted with great enthusiasm; "Accept me as your master, boy!! I can teach you!!". But of course, his mother would never agree to it.

As a doctor in his past life, the amount of martial arts and spirit arts in his arsenal were not many. His [Nine Echoes Oscillating Fist] might as well be his best martial art skill in terms of power and speed. If only he could transfer that speed and power to his needle throwing skill.

With that thought in mind, Leon had been practicing how to merge the two skills together to create a new and more powerful skill that took the essence of both skills; precision, power, and speed. However, there hadn't been much success, filling Leon with frustration.

"Forgive this one for being presumptuous, but one cannot improve themselves quickly from just practicing skills alone. This one can be your sparring partner if you wish for it, your highness." Howard suggested, seeing the prince's frustration.

"That is an excellent suggestion, Howard. Come, Let us spar!" Leon agreed happily.

What the palace guard said was one of the truths of cultivation back in the Divine Realm. Whether it was mastering a skill or practicing cultivation, a person improves at a quicker rate when they are under constant pressure. The greater the pressure he can bear, the faster his rate of improvement is, and there was no greater pressure than through life and death battles.

But of course, there was no need to go that far as he was no match for the palace guards, and they were also his own people. Without any enmity or feud between them, it was ridiculous to start a life or death battle. Thus, a spar was the next best option.

"Yes, your highness." Howard quickly took a battle stance opposite of Leon, before asking, "Should I suppress my cultivation down to your level, your highness?"

"No need."

Leon shook his head. It would defeat the purpose for sparring if he let the guard go easy on him. He needed the pressure to improve. He was not afraid of losing. He was only afraid of wasted effort.

"Eat my punch."

Leon quickly lunge at the guard, signaling the start of their spar. The guard did not dodge and received his punch.

In a single bout, the gap between their cultivation was on full display. A contest of raw physical strength between 600-jin force and 900-jin force, the superior side was obvious. Leon was unable to gain advantage over Howard. He quickly retreated when Howard followed up with a horizontal leg sweep.

"Good strength, but far from enough, your highness! Why don't you try your throwing skill?" Howard suggested during their spar.

"I would naturally get to that. However, you should try blocking this next fist of mine. It won't be as easy!"

Leon lunged forward once more, however he started circulating his energy and ran them through a meridian route towards his arm to use his martial art skill [Oscillating Fist: Two Echoes].

Leon fist shot forward in the same fashion. Howard shook his head. How great the difference of a punch could be? Their difference in strength was great. He raises his hand to block again, but at the last moment before contact, Leon's fist suddenly exploded with 1200-jin force.

The force of the fist was 300-jin above his own!

Howard facial expression wrapped into shock immediately as he tried to parry the blow instead of receiving it directly, before retreating. The prince was not to be underestimated! He was in a league of his own.

"I'll be going on the offensive now. Please prepare yourself, your highness."

Towards Howard's words, Leon's eyes turned serious as Howard shot towards him and rain punches upon him. Leon used his unique foot movement to dodge each blow. Despite doing his best to dodge, Howard's blows still manage to graze him.

'This was it! This was the kind of pressure I needed.' Leon thought. His martial skills weren't the only thing needed improving, but also his combat experience and battle awareness.

He clenched his fist and sent out another [Oscillating Fist: Two Echoes].

Howard was prepared this time and used his own martial arts. His choice was… [Military Arts: Flowing Stream]!

Leon widened his eyes in horror at the familiar form as his fist connected, but the force behind it didn't. His wrist was grabbed, and his body was twirled in circles before he was tossed away face-first to eat the ground in the distance.

'That darn skill!' Leon gritted his teeth in anger.

"Again!"

Leon tried to attack from difficult angles, but Howard was still able to shift his position into his favor and grab hold of Leon wrist as Leon failed to deliver another [Oscillating Fist; Two Echoes]. However, Leon did not give up and shot out another one with his free hand before Howard could toss him.

The second Oscillating Fist landed squarely on Howard's armored chest and sent him flying backwards. Leon thought he had freed himself with that one fist, but he was dead wrong!

Howard retained his vice-like grip on his wrist and dragged him along!

Leon wore an expression of wanting to cry. He should have told the guard to take off his armor before the sparring at least. However, there was no use worrying over spilt milk and just fight on.

He threw a consecutive Oscillating Fist while they were still in midair, but his free hand was also caught! With both his wrist caught, Howard raised him up high and was about to slam him into the ground to break his own fall.

Leon's mind spun for a counterattack. With his arms restrained, energy transferred to his leg subconsciously as he sent out an Oscillating… Kick!

The kick landed on the back of Howard's helmet. The concussive blow to the head made him release his grip on Leon involuntarily as he was the one to slam into the ground instead, while Leon gained some extra airtime from the counterforce of his kick and landed some distance away after a few flips.

Howard suffered double concussion after slamming into the ground, but apart from feeling a bit dizzy, he was okay otherwise due to his strong armor.

Their spar was cut short after another guard made a sudden announcement.

"The Queen has arrived!"

Chapter 103 - Success & Breakthrough

The queen entered the courtyard with two palace maids in tow.

"Mother, why have you come?" Leon greeted his mother upon her arrival.

"You'll know in a bit." Elizabeth answered vaguely as she signaled for her palace maids to step forward.

With outstretched hands, they presented two items to Leon. Both were wooden cases but of differing sizes; one small and one long. Leon did not stand on ceremony and opened the first case. Inside the small case was a set of 36 acupuncture needles. It carried a similar silver sheen to his current needles, but he could tell that they were far from the same.

The past days of comprehending the [Myriad Metal Compendium] book, he already had some general understanding of the world's metals. Leon traced his fingers along the silver needs and understood where they differ.

Compare to ordinary steel, the ones in front of him was an alloy mixture of black iron and magisteel. The same ones he requested. Despite using black iron, the needles had retained a stainless silver surface. The forger was sensible enough to know only stainless needles could be used for acupuncture.

Due to the past days of busy training, he had totally forgotten about this weapon order. Leon removed his eyes from the needles and glanced at the long wooden case.

This one should be…

Sure enough, inside the case was a jet-black spear; shaft and spear head included. It reached a staggering 3 meters in length. It was a plain and simple design without any markings, but it instantly clicked well with Leon the moment he saw it.

"How is it? Do you like it?" Elizabeth asked.

"I do! Thank you very much, mother."

Leon picked up the black spear and tested its weight. Neither too light nor too heavy. It was just right. The balance and toughness of the shaft was great, and the sharpness of the spearhead was enough to slice ordinary steel with ease. It was a top-tier weapon among ordinary weapon. Leon nodded in satisfaction.

Elizabeth was happy that her son liked the weapon, but she shook her head at his words.

"If you want to thank someone, you should go thank the blacksmith that forged that weapon for you." She said. She wasn't going to steal credit from weapon's creator.

"Oh? Who is one to forge this black spear for me, mother?" Leon asked with curiosity.

He would also like to meet this blacksmith in person. The person was clearly a master blacksmith. It was just a pity that the person did not know any runic inscriptions, otherwise the black spear would have become a great spirit artifact.

"The Lancaster family is renown in the kingdom for their peerless blacksmithing skills. Although they have started dabbling in machineries, their skills have not faded. If my son wanted a weapon, it has be the best of the best. Who else could mother ask other than the Lancaster family themselves to forge the weapon?"

Elizabeth said with a regal air. She would do anything to keep her son happy. If her son wanted the stars, she would pluck it out of skies for him.

"That means the one who forged this weapon was…" Leon seem to have understood who forged the weapon.

"It was the Duke." Elizabeth finished off his sentence.

Hearing his mother's confirmation, he suddenly realized why his father-in-law was always in a bad mood and seemed expectant of something from him. He had previously gifted his mother-in-law a batch of Achromous Valerian Roots for herbal tea, but he had yet to gift his father-in-law anything.

After realized the weapon came from the Duke, Leon felt guilty but also confused at the same time. The Duke had made some subtle hints of wanting to drink some herbal tea, but Leon didn't pay much heed to it. He had gifted the spirits herbs to make the tea to the Duke's wife. If the Duke wanted some, couldn't he just ask his wife? Alas, Leon did not know that this mother-in-law of his was stingy and didn't want to share any with her husband.

…

Having delivered the items, Elizabeth stayed for a few idle chats with her son. She didn't want to take up too much of her son's time as he wanted to continue training. Before leaving, she gave Howard a sideward glance and made a mental note to reward him well next time.

She wasn't stupid and could easy tell that they had been sparring before she came. Although she knew her son would one day be a dragon among men, she didn't believe he would could best the palace guards in a spar at his current cultivation. It must be the palace guard going easy on her son.

It's rare for awakeners to be able to battle opponents above their levels; one level was possible, two levels were rare, but crossing three levels was simply unheard of.

…

"The new cauldron lid, your highness."

A palace guard arrived with the replacement lid sometime after his mother left.

"Mm." Leon nodded before turning to Howard. "We will continue sparring later."

"Yes, your highness."

Howard answered with newfound respect for the prince. Only he had experienced first-hand, how shocking the prince's strength was.

Leon briefly ruminated over their spar and considered it an unexpected success. He didn't succeed in using oscillating fist technique through throwing, but he had succeeded using his legs. If he could use Oscillating Fist at two echoes freely like he was breathing air and any of his limbs, it was equal to elevating his battle power to 1200-jin permanently. In other words, he would be stronger than 9th step Awakeners as a 6th layer Tempered Body practitioner.

After he finished ruminating, he fired up the pill cauldron straight away. He was confident he would succeed this time.

His energy wasn't the correct catalyst for merging the herbal essences. His body was what formed the balance of five energy and refined the pseudo-Grandmist energy. Thus, his body was the answer to the problem.

This didn't mean he had to throw himself into the pill cauldron… Forget about fitting in the small cauldron, even if he did, it would be the same as trying to cook himself.

Furthermore, ingesting the herbal essence mixture now would defeat the purpose of refining the pill in the first place.

The solution was using the blood essence of his Five-Element Body Physique.

With that said, Leon repeated the steps of pill concoction for fifth time and dripped his blood essence into the herbal essence mixture. The herbal essence did not turn chaotic and began to light up brightly.

Under its brilliance, the herbal essence finally started merging harmoniously.

"Condense!"

The shape of the Five-Element Enhancing Pill began to form under Leon's control before hardening.

Some time after the cauldron cooled, Leon lifted the lid and inside was a single Five-Element Enhancing Pill. This was due to him splitting the spirit herbs into ten portions, but one portion was all he needed.

…

Under Leon's request, a sumptuous meal of beast meat was prepared for him on the tea table.

"Don't let anyone disturb me."

Leon ordered the guards.

"Yes, your highness!"

With all preparations for his breakthrough ready, Leon took in a puff of cold air as he looked at all the beast meat laid on the table. A determined glint shimmered in his eyes. Do what he got to do!

Leon devoured the beast meat in a quick but barbaric manner like the beast meat was still alive. After cleaning all the plates an hour later, he immediately sat in meditation and run his energy circulation using the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos] to refine all the energy inside the beast meat.

The five-elemental energy within heaven and earth also began to gather towards him at the same time. He mustered the energy to impact the walls of the 7th layer, but it was as stable as a mountain and refused to budge.

Sure enough, the walls of the 7th layer was not easy without his 5-Element Enhancing Pill. He did not wait any further and ingested the pill. A torrential wave of energy gushed out of the pill and began flooding his body.

He increased his energy circulation and build up the momentum. When it hit the peak, he bombarded the walls of the 7th layer furiously. The previous mountain-like wall suddenly became as soft as tofu as it was blasted into nonentity by the ocean-like energy and cleared the path to 7th layer. The excess energy continued onwards and charged towards the 8th layer. It did not stop until Leon's cultivation sat stably at the 8th layer.

Leon exhaled a puff of impure air with a sigh as he stabilized his cultivation. Breaking through the 7th layer felt like breaking through a major bottleneck rather than a minor one. He did not remember it being this hard to break through the early stages of divine cultivation.

"Is it because my body had been reformed into the Five-Element Body?"

Leon did not know whether to laugh or cry. He might have screwed himself over by choosing to practice the [Hegemony of Primal Chaos]. However, since he already chosen it, he will see it through to the end. There was no quitting halfway nor crying over spilt milk.

If he gives up so easily when things get tough, he would not be able to form an indomitable will!?

Leon tested his newfound strength on a steel pillar and made a large dent with his fist. His physical strength reached 800-jin force without surprise. He spent the next few hours sparring with the palace guards.

"Congratulation of your breakthrough, your highness!"

Howard was shocked at the prince's big leap in strength and was the first to congratulate him.

Rumble…

"Mmm." He nodded with strained smile. His stomach felt unsettled...

Later that day, one of the palace guards on toilet break discovered one of the lavatory toilets was clogged beyond belief, but that is a story for another time.

Chapter 104 - Old Man's Advent (2)

The Upper Districts of the Capital each had their own unique scenic spot for people to visit, whether they were locals or visitors from outside the Capital. At the heart of the Upper South District was one such spot, Angus's Food Market; a large market square filled with food stalls that sells exotic and unique food from across the entire Human Domain at affordable prices.

At its center was a grand fountain called the Red Lotus Fountain. As its name implies, it was filled with Red Lotuses. Apart from being a popular spot for young couples to confess their love for one another, it was also a place where people make their wishes.

No one knew when the rumor came about, but it was said that if people throw coins into the fountain and make a wish, it would eventually come true. Despite being unable to prove the veracity of rumor, it didn't stop people from testing their luck.

Gold, silver and copper coins were no longer used as currency since the old era and most have been exchange for the craw currency which appear in sophisticated paper notes. However, a lot of wealthy families kept these old relics for collection, and it didn't stop their younglings from digging them up and extravagantly toss them into the fountain for wishes. Over time, a sizable sum of coins had piled up at the bottom of the fountain.

…

Old man Kasif had found himself stumbling into this large food market as he was drawn by the rich aroma of food. He wore a weary expression from toiling in the Upper Districts. Wherever he went, trouble seem to have followed.

"Haih… It should be about 536 different interactions now…." Kasif thought.

The past days had been a nightmare for him, especially the event at the Aurelia Mountain Road. The restaurant staffs chased him like he had murdered their ancestors. It was totally unreasonable!

"Haih… How can food be so expensive!? Pah! Dastardly thing. Food is meant to be eaten. Who can afford such expensive food?"

Kasif realized that after working in the shadows for so many years, he could not even afford a single meal. Either the royal family had severely underpaid him of there was something wrong with that place. He chose to suspect the later. How could he dare to question the royal family?

"This elder, would you like to buy some meat skewers?"

A random stall owner reached out after he notice the old man ogling at his meat skewers coated in special sauce that made it look especially succulent and enticing.

"No."

Kasif rejected and started walking off. He had learnt keeping interactions to a minimal was the best way to avoid trouble. In fact, he had mastered the art of minimal words. When trying to interact with other people, it mainly consists of two words; "Hi" and "Bye".

…And he had to say, it was extremely effective. People would just call him crazy and avoid him like he was a plague. They would not hassle him at all. Towards this kind of treatment, he was not offended and was even happy about it. He just wants to quickly finish the task, regardless of whether he did it right or not and just return to being the leader of the Shadow Guards.

If the Queen knew what was happening, she would have wanted to facepalmed herself, thinking the Old man was beyond cure.

"Wait, these skewers are only 20 craws each."

The stall owner tried to entice the old man.

'A price that is actually damn reasonable! Pah! The previous place was black-hearted restaurant!'

Kasif heard the stall owner but continued leaving with quickened pace. It wasn't because he didn't want to eat… in fact, he very much wants to, but he had no money!

He had to find a way to make some money!

The heavens seemed to have guided Kasif to the Red Lotus Fountain where young people were seen tossing old money into the fountain! Upon further look, thousands of coins glittered at the bottom of the fountain under the moonlight!

Kasif wanted to laugh out loud. The heavens must be favoring him! He needed money and money he shall get! He didn't understand why these younglings were throwing away money, but who was he to complain? One man's trash was another man's treasure!

SPLASH!

The old man dived into the pond-like fountain, spraying another jet of water into the air.

"Ahh! an old man jumped into the fountain!"

"Quick, get help!"

The young bystanders saw the old man jumping into the fountain and thought he was tired of living and wanted to drown himself. It never crossed their minds that this old man was trying to steal the coins in the fountain.

However, that was precisely the case! The old man climbed out with a small mountain of coins in his arms and shocked everyone. This old man was really stealing the fountain coins!

"What are you doing!?"

A young noble, whom just tossed a coin into the fountain, roared with anger.

What the old man did was practically stealing away their hopes and dreams! Would their wishes still come true!?

Old man Kasif was quite jovially at the unexpected gains, but the angry roar was like a splash of cold water, startling him and made him dropped all the coins onto the floor.

"I-Is there a problem…? I'm just taking what people don't want…"

"Is there a problem!? Are you pretending to be senile, Old man!? Don't you know what this place is!?"

Listening to the Old man's words, even the crowds were incensed. All of them had once tossed a coin into the fountain to make a wish before. Who doesn't know about the wish fountain? The Old man was either shameless or a complete idiot.

The crowd glared at Old man Kasif angrily. Their glares felt especially piercing. They were ready to give him a piece of their mind, but he wasn't ready for any more mental torment.

When things go south, run! Kasif quickly disappeared from the spot and escaped.

"Huh? Where did the Old man go?"

The crowds rubbed their eyes but couldn't find any trace of the Old man. The Old man had seemingly vanished from right before their eyes. How can someone just vanish like that!?

"G-Ghost!"

Someone blurted. These young masters and misses were spooked and soon became a disorderly mob. The bedtime ghost stories were true! Ghosts are real!

"Wahhh!"

…

At the top of a building, Kasif looked up at the night sky. His figure looked lonely, haggard and unaware of the small chaos he created in the food market due to his disappearance.

"Haih… there is no free lunch in the world. How can I forget such a simple truth?" He sighed.

He wasn't sure what the Queen wanted him to achieve on this task, but he realized being the leader of the Shadow Guards weren't all that great and glorious as he thought it should be. When he is gone, a new leader will step up to replace him. Who will remember him then? He had no kin.

"Leader."

A shadow guard suddenly flickered before him.

"Hmm… what is it?" Kasif was unaffected by the person's presence and continued to gaze at the night skies with a lost expression.

"The Shadow Guards needs you. Strange things have been happening in the Capital and we have already lost all contact with three of our squads."

"You are the current leader in charge, Mark. How could you let such a thing happen?" Kasif turned around and questioned his vice-leader with a sharp expression.

"Your subordinate is incapable. Please punish me."

The vice leader dropped to his knees. He didn't make excuses for his incompetence.

"…"

"Never mind. The four great families had been quiet for too long. What have they been up to?"

Mark blushed with shame when he was asked that. The corrupted noble families seemed to have hidden themselves and their homes seemingly empty. But he sent his men to investigate, they never came back. The situation was bizarre. Shadow guards were trained to be adept at stealth and assassination. They should be nimble and fast. Even if they were discovered, they should have been able to escape. But since they didn't return to report to him, he couldn't gain any information.

Kasif looked his vice leader with speechlessness. He closed his eyes to settle his emotions before reopening them.

"Go back and handle the other matters. I will be going for a stroll." Kasif said. He was suspended from duty so he couldn't be involved with the shadow guard's work. However, it should be fine if he was just casually looking, right?

Mark took a moment to understand the underlining message; Leave the corrupted nobles to the leader.

"Yes, leader!" Mark answered with relief. A burden was lifted off his shoulders.

After the vice leader left, Kasif headed straight for the manor of the Esmond family, located within the Upper South District and the closest to his current location.

He frowned upon arrival. There were no people, but there was a strong lingering scent of blood and gunpowder in the area! He didn't have much hopes that the shadow guards sent here was still alive. He focused on the lingering gunpowder.

There was no gunpowder in the area, but such a strong lingering smell of gunpowder implied that a large amount of gunpowder was here, but it was moved.

"How can the Esmond family get they hands on such a large volume of gunpowder?"

There was strict regulation on gunpowder in the Capital!

Kasif frowned in thought. But more importantly, where did the gunpowder go? This wasn't good news. He scanned the entire area with Earth Pulse and found a large underground passageway that could possibly lead all the way outside the capital.

"This must be how the Esmond family smuggled items into the capital and also quietly disappeared." He concluded with a serious expression. "The four great families were planning something big! I have to report to the queen immediately!"

The matter could no longer be treated lightly! Kasif was willing to disobey the Queen's previous order to bring the news to her. He understood the Queen's attitude towards the nobles.

The Queen treated had the noble's uprising with contempt! She wasn't as strong as she was now when the first rebellion occurred and a 9th step awakener was quite powerful for her. But now they were just nonentities she could wipe out at any time.

If they want to seek death, then they can come. She wouldn't leave her defenseless husband behind to go out of her way to kill them all.

The Queen would not act personally if it didn't affect the foundation of the capital.

Kasif believes, with the large amount of gunpowder hidden somewhere in the capital, it was like a ticking time bomb, threatening to destroy the foundations of the Capital at any moment!

He quickened his steps towards the royal palace. Unfortunately, his expression took a drastic turn in the next moment.

He was too late!

Chapter 105 - Ring Of Fire

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The chain of explosions could be heard in the distance and the entire Capital was alarmed. The source of the explosion came from… the city walls!

Why the city walls?

Kasif changed directions and headed towards the Lower District. It was too late to inform the Queen. Rocking up at the royal palace now would just be asking for a tongue-lashing from the Queen. He should investigate the area affected by the explosions and save the people instead.

The scale of the resulting explosion of gunpowder was far greater than what he had anticipated. It didn't seem like the four great family could have achieved this feat by themselves. Someone must be backing the four great families to generating such shocking and horrid results.

"Are we being invaded by another kingdom?" Kasif couldn't help but thought out loud. Why else would they take down the walls? Unfortunately, he could see anything beyond the original spot of the city walls before large volumes of smoke blocked his field of vision.

The commoners were a bunch of clueless individuals. They did not know who or for what purpose they targeted the city walls with explosives, but where the city walls once stood became a large empty rift that seem to stretch deep into the earth. No one could get close to peer down the rift.

Everyone was too busy trying to get as far as they could from the outer edges of the Lower District. The situation of the Lower District was total mayhem as people pushed and shoved each other to save themselves. The ugliness of human was on full display for all to see.

"Move it!" A man shoved a slow mother carrying her child out of the way.

"Ahhh!" The mother tripped and fell to the floor.

Such fall was normally not life-threatening, but behind her was a large crowd of frightened people running for their lives like a frenzy stampede. The mother had no time to consider her choices and protected her child with her own body as she was stepped on by countless feet.

"Wahhhh, mummy!" The child weep with sadness as she saw her mother spurted blood and was dying.

The man obviously hadn't expect such a result but the did not turn back as his own life was more important.

"Sorry."

The explosion had sent burning debris and embers flying into the skies and rain back down upon the Lower District, targeting everything indiscriminately. Buildings were razed to the ground, and people were shot and crushed to death. The damages and destruction to the Lower District was incalculable and continued to escalate as fire spread with fumes of black smoke rising everywhere. The entire outer edges of the Capital were engulfed by the flames and formed a great ring of fire.

"Arghhh! My leg!!"

The man travelled a few yards before a wild flying debris shot threw his leg and caused himself to fall to the ground.

"Noooo!" The man cried as he was similarly stomped to death by the rampaging crowd behind. Regrets filled his mind as he eventually took his last breath.

Suddenly the people felt the world became very small as the Capital was shut off from the outside world and trapped in a cage of nightmare. No one was able to see through the veil of black smoke and fire rising, unless they stood atop high vantage points like the Royal Palace, Lancaster Empire Estate building or were able to take flight to the sky.

Similar scenes were happening throughout the Lower Districts along with the reverberating cries and screams of the commoners. A gloomy and somber mood filled the Capital

....

The Royal Palace was in the heart of the Capital and was far from the city walls and outer edges of the Lower Districts, but the earthshaking explosions of the city walls were like the angry roars of the thunder god and reached all the way to the royal palace. Unless one was deaf, people would definitely be able to hear the explosions.

Leon was cultivating in meditative posture when the tranquility of the royal palace was broken by the outside disturbance. As the Royal Palace occupied the most central and highest area in the capital, Leon would be able to see the scene of the Lower East District if he left his personal courtyard.

However, he did not do this and directly took to the skies with his flame wings, where he was offered view of the Capital in all directions and the situation of the Lower District was laid bare to him.

The scene of the city night was usually lit with a certain brightness that brought a festive mood and life to the city night. However, what Leon saw was a different type of brightness that didn't bring life but death upon them.

His heart was gripped with concern when looked at the similar situation over at the Lower West District. Aria was still there and so was his Golden Lion Gang. Although he didn't really care about these people, they have entrusted their lives to him, so he had to be responsible for them.

"Are you heading out, son?" Elizabeth arrived with her maids in tow and asked him.

"Yes, mother. I must go. " Leon said firmly. He was going no matter what.

"Mm, Mother understands. Go on." Elizabeth said supportively.

Huh?

Leon was taken aback by his mother's answer. He thought she would try to keep him due to her overprotectiveness.

"Then… I'll be go going."

Leon said carefully as he grabbed his black spear and took to the sky.

"Make sure to bring that daughter-in-law of mine back for Mother to see." Elizabeth suddenly mentioned.

"It's not Lynne." He immediately blurted out before he shot towards the Lower West District at incredible speed.

"Oh? It's another girl?" Elizabeth murmured to herself.

The palace maids behind her flashed a disgusted look at the disappearing prince in the distance. Their piercing gaze forced the Leon to look back with confusion but didn't manage to discover anything out of place as the maid's expression had already returned to normal.

"Must be my imagination?"

…

"Why are you still here?" After Leon was gone, Elizabeth shifted her gaze onto the palace guards and asked with a solemn expression.

"Uh… We are unable to fly, your majesty."

They answered.

"Don't you still have your legs? Or do you not want them anymore?" Elizabeth asked as she direct her gaze onto their legs with squinted looks.

They were immediate scared and swiftly answered, "Y-Yes, you're right. We will be going now, your majesty!"

Howard and the three other palace guards chased after Leon immediately. Elizabeth wasn't satisfied until their figures could no longer be seen.

With how firmly her son had answered her question, she knew that nothing she said could persuade him and forcibly keeping him would only hurt their relationship. Thus, the guards were still required to follow her son and protect him. Only when her son was well protected was, she able to be calm and have a peace of mind. She only had one son. She wouldn't be able to bear the loss if there was a mishap.

After her son's matter was settled, she headed to Great Hall with a solemn expression and summoned the Shadow Guards.

"What is your command, your majesty?" The temporary-in-command of the shadow guards and the vice leader, Mark asked after being summon.

"I want information! How did these vermins snuck so much explosives into my husband's Capital!? What have they been up to? And where are they now?"

The Queen threw out one question after another furiously. These damn nobles have gone too far!

Sweat trickled down the vice leader's forehead as he did not have any answers to these questions.

"Erm… I-I'm afraid there's no information, your majesty."

The vice leader was shaking when he said this. He was absolutely terrified of what the Queen might do in her rage.

"None!? What shit are you!? Do you even know how to do your job!?" Elizabeth roared.

The metallic plating of the hall trembled as they threaten to peel themselves from the hall and be at her beck and call.

"Mercy, your majesty! This subject is incompetent and not fit to command the Shadow Guards. Only the leader is the most suitable." The vice leader dropped to his knees and pleaded for his life.

"Where is Kasif? What has he been doing?" Elizabeth asked as she suppressed her fury. They had one job!

When the vice leader heard this, he felt a ray of hope. This was something he could answer! They have been keeping tabs on the leader's daily action. It was hard not to with the trouble the leader was causing. If he couldn't even answer this question, then he fears it might really be off with his head.

"The leader has been…"

Mark started reporting everything the leader had gotten himself into. When Elizabeth heard the report, she rolled her eyes and rubbed her temples. The Old Goat was beyond cure.

"Go fetch the Old Goat for me… no. Tell him; suspension is over, and he is reinstated. He is to get to work immediately. I want to know what the four families are up to!" Elizabeth said with dignified bearing. She had cut off the word 'great' from the Four Great Family. Such a name was a joke to her. Just a bunch of ants.

"Yes, your majesty!"

Chapter 106 - Saintess Of The Lower District

Leon's flight speed was very fast, he arrived at his home district in a very short time. He descended to the ground after depleting most of his fire essence. He surveyed the streets that was littered with bodies; both dead and alive. Some were trampled to the point of having their five organs crushed, but they still managed to cling to life dearly by sheer willpower.

"Young hero… there's no hope for me, but my son… please take my son…" A young mother begged after seeing Leon descending from the skies. Her concern for her child was the only thing keeping her alive.

"Wuuu…. mummy…" The child cried.

"Please save me…" A middle-aged man with broken legs also pleaded.

Many others on the streets witnessed and also pleaded for Leon to rescue them as well. Leon sighed at the turn of events. There were a lot of people that needed saving, but there was only one of him. There was only so much one person could do. If he tried saving them all, he would have no time to look for Aria.

Leon popped a pill in the mother's mouth and a few others who were in life-threatening conditions. He wasn't sure if the All-Purpose Healing Pill was enough to keep their life, but he had done what he could. Their life now depended on fate and their own willpower.

The pill efficacy worked quickly, and some with less life-threatening conditions discovered the miraculous effect of the pill quickly after they felt their life was no longer in danger.

"T-This is a miracle pill! Thank you, young hero! N-No… divine doctor!"

They words triggered the surprise envy of those who didn't receive any. They were immobile, but not in life-threatening conditions.

"What about us!? Please give us a pill too!"

"Yeah! This is unfair! We need should be treated too!"

"Your lives are not in danger. I will send someone else to come to rescue you all later." Leon said coolly, while giving them a sweeping glance. He wasn't obligated to help these strangers to begin with. If he handed out all his recovery pills, his hands would be tied when he encountered more people who truly needed them.

"Wait! Please come back! I can't walk!"

"You can't leave us here!"

They started roaring at Leon, when they saw him that he had no intention to give them any healing pills. Leon looked back at them coldly.

People expect too much when they don't need. He already said he would send help, but some people just weren't satisfied.

Leon ignored them and soon left the scene. He headed in the direction of the Golden Lion Gang headquarters. He didn't know where Aria lived, but he believed that she would be heading there for refuge. Suddenly, remembering that she was already awakened, he didn't worry too much.

Along the way he found that not every building hit by flying debris were razed to the ground. They came in various sizes and many were able to survive the collapse.

There were people that chose to hide inside their homes during the explosion and while some were unlucky to be killed under the crushing weight of their own homes, many others survived.

The chaos of the Lower District did not seem to have settled even after the flying debris and embers ceased raining hell upon them, and only seemed to have escalated the matter.

Some people took advantage of the chaos to raid other people's homes and plunder their goods and valuables. The illusory law and order in place was completely shattered by the explosions. People became depraved and did whatever they want like it was the end of the world.

Right in front of Leon, a woman was forced to escape from her own home before being pinned down by a man, who was not her husband.

"Please let me go! Why are your doing this!?"

"Kekeke." The man laughed lasciviously.

Leon frowned at the ugliness of men. It was unseemly and disgusted him to share the share gender. Without much thought, the man became a headless corpse under his black spear before he continued his way.

"Thank you, young hero."

The woman was grateful, but she could not hide the sadness in her heart. The man had invaded her home and killed her husband.

Leon did not look back. After dealing with a few similar cases, he finally arrived at the nightclub that was surprisingly still in one piece.

"Boss." Manager Doug instantly recognize Leon as he did not conceal his face.

Manager Doug was pleasantly surprised to see their boss again after many days of absence. He always seems to arrive in a timely manner, when they needed him most.

"What's the situation?" Leon asked.

"Terrible, boss. The city walls exploded, and the ground collapsed along with the thin veil of law and order that held the Lower West District in place."

The Lower West District was the most stable of the of the four lower districts. The fact that it still descended into hell could only mean that it was worse for the other three districts.

Leon creased his crows. "I already know this. What is the situation of our members? How many are present?"

"All of them are present." Manager Doug answered. "…Along with their families crowding every floor, Boss."

"Gather all the core members for me. I have something to say." Leon nodded.

"Yes, boss."

The core members were assembled before him shortly. There were old faces along with new ones for a total of forty core members. Leon distributed all of them awakening pills indiscriminately, regardless of whether they were already awakened or not.

"All of you were once maggots, miscreants and ruffians, whom bully the weak in one way or another to benefit yourselves. You have neither earned the right to these awakening pills nor deserving of them, but today I am bestowing them upon you!"

"There are hundreds to thousands of people in the lower districts that now need your help. Save them and prove to me that my choice today was not the wrong one. Go!"

The boss's words and actions struck a chord with them. The benefits the boss provided was much better than what the great families had given them before. Even if they had no sense of justice in their heart, they were still eager to prove themselves to the boss. The group swallowed their pills with concealed excitement and determination before dispersing outside.

"Doug, you stay. Someone needs to take charge of the headquarters and these people." Leon ordered.

It wasn't wise to send all his men out. He, himself wasn't staying for long. It would be a big joke if they return later, only to find out their headquarters have been looted.

"Yes, boss." Manager Doug answered with utmost respect and awe. There was a majesty to the boss that weren't present before.

"Where is Aria?"

"Miss Aria… is not here."

Leon was momentarily silent.

"I'll go look for her."

…

"Mum, dad, come with me. I know a place that can keep us safe!" Aria said with her ethereal voice as she tugged on her parents. They had just managed to escape from their collapsing home.

"No! We need to hide!" The father rebutted strongly.

The streets were littered with dead bodies. It wasn't safe to stay outside.

"Trust me!" Aria was strong-willed and pulled her parents.

To the man's shock, he was no match for his daughter's strength. Since when did his delicate little baby grew so powerful?

"Alright." The father soon became compliant.

His daughter's thin and delicate arms couldn't possibly contain such strength unless she was… awakened.

Along the road, the family of three found other survivors on the streets but was horrified by what was happening. They couldn't comprehend why people were committing violence, robberies and rape.

"Noo! Stop!" A young lady fought back her man forcing himself on her desperately.

When Aria saw this scene, her expression frosted over. It had triggered her bad memory when she was still weak. She ran up and kicked the man right in his family jewels with great force and sent him flying. The lecherous animal died with his family jewels exploded.

Her father felt a cold breeze over his own. His daughter seems to have bad blood with this type of people and transformed into a ferocious ice queen. Thankfully he wasn't like this, the father gulped.

"Thank you very much, sister. I am very grateful for your help. You are very powerful." The lady put on a smile, despite being in pain from her broken leg.

"Next time, you must fight back and kick them where it hurts." Aria said coolly.

Women were taken advantage of because they were timid and weaker. They had to show these men how ferocious they can be so they would not be bullied so easily.

However, Aria wondered why she was so unfeeling towards killing and suddenly felt afraid, afraid that she was turning into someone she wasn't.

There weren't too many evildoers in the area, but there were a lot of victims that had been trampled on. Aria made quick work of these evildoers nonetheless, and began helping her parents carry the victims to a safe spot away from the burning and collapsing buildings.

"Thank you… Thank you…. Thank you…" The victims were very grateful for the trio's act of kindness.

Their work took many trips as there were dozens of injured people, while only the three of them were able to move freely. As an awakener, she was able to carry two people at a time and made more trips than her parents at a time.

Soon, words of her great act of kindness was spread among the common people. While she was powerful, she had unmatched beauty and kindness. The people of the lower district needed hope and she had unwittingly became that symbol of hope in this time of chaos.

By word of mouth, tales of her feats were soon blown out of proportion and soon began calling her the Saintess.

…

News made their way to Leon's ears, whom was searching and helping in another area of the Lower West District. His recovery pills were almost depleted in the process. He decided to head over to the source of the news.. He thought it was worth investigating.

Chapter 107 - Crisis

A few dozen kilometers away from the Capital, a group of people could be seen standing on the top of a hill and gazing over at the burning Capital. They were the four great families; Grey, Esmond, Weld and Acker. Before them stood another figure cloaked in black, making the figure's countenance unrecognizable.

The group looked at the burning capital with mixed feelings; some looked on with keen interest and anticipation, while some seemed guilty.

"Haih… we are all sinners. To burn the guardian kingdom defending humanity and straining it's already dwindling population. I don't know how I feel about this." Lord Esmond sighed with mixed feelings, but his plain expression contradicted his sentiments.

When Lord Weld heard this; he smirked, "Don't start pretending be some good person now, Lord Esmond. You know full well as I do; how many lives we have reaped to live as long as we did. The moment we decided to practice that technique, we already stopped being humans."

His dark and fiendish aura fluctuated when he said this. His aura was also the densest and heaviest of the four family lords. One would find it hard to associate him with being human. He was more becoming of a blood demon that wantonly feasted on human blood.

Since the death of his son, he had been sinking deeper into depravity. The only thing keeping him from fully submerging was his grandson, Cayden.

"When you replace the Crawford royalties and become the new guardian families and protectors of mankind; you will become heroes, not sinners. The victor is king, and the laws are theirs to make. A hundred years later, who would remember the truth when history had been rewritten? The Crawford family weren't the first to rewrite history and they certainly won't be the last."

The black cloaked figure spoke to the four lords, but his eyes never left the scene of the burning capital. The black cloaked figure was the one Lord Weld had went to request help from, Sir Zagan.

Edric Grey was standing behind his father at the back when he heard the black cloaked figure spoke. He widened his eyes and blurted, "History was rewritten?"

The sudden interruption made his father, Albert Grey turn pale with anger. He was slapped without mercy and harshly reprimanded, "Where are your manners!? Don't interrupt the lords when they are speaking!"

"This one apologizes for not disciplining his son properly and hope the lords forgive his rudeness." Albert apologized humbly, while forcing his son to bow. The people in front of him was akin to monsters that drink human blood. He never spoke about it, but he was quite fearful in his mind of these lords; his own father, Lord Grey included.

"Forget it. I might as well enlighten the ignorant." Sir Zagan waved. If anything, the father was more uncouth than the son with his loudness, but he didn't mind.

His words caused the displeasure of lords. No one liked to be called ignorant, but it was also true that they didn't know history was rewritten by the Crawford royal family either. While they were displeased, they dared not show it on their faces and just let it die in their stomach. Sir Zagan's strength was unfathomable and couldn't be disrespected nor offended.

Sir Zagan wasn't wrong in calling people ignorant. Anyone with half a brain would at least know that the history everyone was taught, which sang praises of the Hero King's feats and the glory of humanity was in fact; full of dubious points.

"The human domain is very small in comparison to the continent at large. How many people had once spanned the entire continent before the cataclysm? How many kings? How many kingdoms once existed? ...No one knows, but the numbers should have been far greater than what we have now."

"The history of the Hero King was too clean. With the existence of so many royal families in the past, the rise of a commoner would not be smooth and without oppositions. The current kingdoms in the human domain all belonged to the royal families that supported the Hero King back then. You can guess what happened to the rest that didn't."

Sir Zagan ended his speech there and allowed the group to draw their own conclusions for the fate of the opposing royalties. His eyes suddenly grew sharp.

"The main event is starting soon."

…

Outer Palace, atop the palace walls,

"Why is no one from the Upper District stepping forward to help the commoners? They even shut the gates!" Rachel frowned at the actions of the upper class.

Is this how nobles and aristocrats are supposed to behave? They don't seem to care for the commoners at all! She would have rushed to help if her parents weren't stopping her.

"They don't want the commoners flooding the Upper District with their filth." Duke Ignis mused before realizing his own insensitiveness. "Cough* I didn't mean you guys…"

Mia had looked at him coldly in Helen's arms when he said this.

"Hahaha..." Duke Ignis chuckled awkwardly and pinched her cheeks but she wasn't impressed.

"..."

"Anyway… the nobles and aristocrats are afraid to help."

"What are they afraid of?" Rachel asked.

"They are afraid of the unknown. the city wall was blown up, but that can't be the only aim of the enemy. There must be a second part to their plan... and without figuring out their plan or aim, the nobles and aristocrats don't dare to step forward to help."

…

Lower South District, outer perimeters,

The area was filled with black smoke and heavily impeded one's vision. Kasif arrived at the edges of the dense black smoke and advanced no further. Even if he was a five-star awakener, breathing in toxic black smoke was harmful for his body and extended periods could even lead to death.

"There is too much black smoke… this is too unnatural to be the result of gunpowder alone. A lot of firewood is needed to create this much black smoke." Kasif frowned.

His Earth Pulse was picking a lot of vibrations, too many to count and too hard to get an accurate read. The black smoke was also billowing out endlessly. He didn't dare go underground because the black smoke would suffocate him.

He had a sense of foreboding coming from the below. If it was what he thinks it is then the Capital was in deep shit.

"Better close up this rift quickly."

…

Lower West District, market square,

"Thank you, Saintess." An elderly woman expressed her gratitude.

Aria retained a cool expression, but inside she was dying from embarrassment. Such a title… How did the situation led to this? Few hours earlier, her plan was to take her parents to the Golden Lion Gang headquarters where she believes was the safest place in the lower district.

Her parents were originally concerned about their safety, but the moment they saw other people suffering, they were the first to express their wish to help! She was just carrying out their wishes. They were the true saints!

"Wow, look! someone is coming from the skies!" A little boy suddenly uttered and pointed to the skies.

Everyone turned to look where the boy pointed and saw a young man in royal garment descending. Aria was no exception, but the moment she did, happiness was written over her concealed face.

Aria dived into Leon's chest as he descended. He smiled when he found her, "Are you the Saintess?"

He already knew the answer, but he still asked. They had been working on two fronts to quell the chaos and save the people. Aria received a lot of help from the gang members to set up the medical tents, while likeminded and able individuals joined in later.

The gang members fed the information back to him and after he learnt how powerful Aria became, he placed down his worries and focused on saving the people that needed saving.

One used miraculous healing pills to treat the dying, while the other soothed injured's pain with her angelic voice.. One was a divine doctor and the other was a Saintess. They truly sounded like a match made in heaven.

"You are teasing me." Aria pouted with shyness and buried her face in his chest.

Crowd was surprised by their Saintess's reaction. It's seems their Saintess already has a sweetheart!

Some boys and young men were broken hearted at this revelation. Though they haven't caught a glimpse of her face, they imagined her beauty was heavenly like her voice.

The females on the other hand, thought differently.

"Ahh… He is like a prince descending from the heavens… So handsome!"

"They look like a match made in heaven."

Some young ladies were dreamy, seeing the way Leon descended.

Before Leon began divine cultivation, he was not handsome by any means. But after he started, his skin has become a little fairer and his body more toned. He was not ugly at the very least... coupled with his royal garment and aura, people's impression of him change greatly. Beauty was in the eye of the beholder.

But it could also be said another way; even if it is a pig, if it was dressed in gold, the people will sing praises.

Whatever their thoughts were, Leon didn't care.

"Ahhh!! Run!!!!"

Suddenly, there were screams and shouts coming from the direction of the outer edges.

"What's going on?" The person grabbed and questioned.

"M-Monsters… Bugs… I don't know! Run if you don't want to die!" The person broke free and ran in the direction of the Upper District.

Rumble….

Everyone was soon able to see what was coming in the distance. Leon recognized them at first glance and his expression turned grave.

"Deadeye Spiders!"

Chapter 108 - Great Retreat

How did the Deadeye Spiders find their way to the surface? He did not have a good experience with Deadeye Spiders. The situation back then could have been avoided, but he didn't. Now that they arrived at the surface, he wanted to avoid them, but he can't.

The appearance of Deadeye Spiders was startling, and their numbers were terrifying, but he did not fret.

The Deadeye Spiders were busy jumping into the flames of the burning buildings and didn't bother them. They had some time to evacuate the area.

However, once flames are all gone, they would turn their hungry blind eyes on the tens of thousands of commoners in the lower district.

"Oh my god! What are those things! They look so grotesque!"

"T-They have so many legs! Ahhh! And eyes too! That's so disgusting."

The crowd felt a shiver run up their spines when they looked at the giant creepy crawlers in the distance devouring flames. They had never seen anything like these creatures nor learnt anything about them.

Five hundred years was a long time and the common masses have already forgotten what insects were, especially when these giant insects weren't the same as their old kind from before the cataclysm.

Panic began to erupt among the masses after seeing the giant arachnids' appearance.

Leon frowned at the growing disorder. It would be difficult to command their retreat in a steady manner if they could not be calmed.

"BE QUIET!" Leon amplified his voice and roared like thunder.

The crowd were stunned by the magnitude of his volume. All eyes focus on Leon and he used that short period of attention to issue his orders at once.

"Golden Lion Gang, heed my command!" Leon called out. The gang members all stood erected and perked their ears.

"You are to lead the others to the Upper District in a neat and orderly manner. There will be no pushing and shoving! If anyone tries to selfishly get ahead of the others, throw them to the back of line!" Leon issued his command coldly.

"Yes, boss!"

"Beckett, you are take charge of this operation. The others are to follow your orders. Don't disappoint me." Leon spotted Beckett among the members present and placed him in command of the group.

"Yes, boss!" Beckett answered with pride. He felt honored that the boss remembered his name and placed him in charge of such an important role.

Little did he know, it was because Leon ONLY knew his name from among the gang members present that he was assigned a higher role.

When some people among the crowd heard Leon's cold command, they were stunned then furious.

Throw them to the back of the line!? Seeing such terrifying creatures within plain sight, which one of them didn't want to be the first run!? They ones at the back would be the first to die!

These were the people who had stepped on others and ran when the explosion of the city walls happened. Because of the chaos at the time, the injured ones did not recognized them when they were trampled on by others.

"Who are you to tell us what to do!?"

"Yeah, what right do have to order us around?"

Their complaints however were met with harsh scolding from the others.

"Idiot, didn't you hear what the Golden Lion Gang members just call him? They called him boss!"

"Hmph! The divine doctor is doing it for our own good! Did you want people to be trampled on by others again?" Some people who recognized Leon as the divine doctor also chimed in.

"Yeah! Maybe you people were the ones that trampled on us before!" The other injured people also joined into the fray.

"I… I… We didn't."

These people didn't expect to be scolded by others. They had expected the others to join their protests instead, but it was clear that they were dead wrong. They tried to deny, but their hesitation was taken as admitting by the others.

"Enough! Start moving now! The able ones should help carry the injured ones. Do not rush and only take what you can hold." Beckett interjected. Boss assigned this role to him. He had to do it right.

The crowd soon started shuffling out of the square and moved towards the Upper District western entrance. Some people still took their chances to rush ahead, but they were immediately caught by gang members and thrown to the back like they were warned. They instantly regretted their actions.

The square was a gathering point to tend to the injured and held a lot of people, but they numbered less than three thousand. This was only a fraction of the total population residing in the Lower West District.

There were about fourteen thousands of other commoners scattered about. Some still hid in their homes, while others went to smaller gathering points.

Regardless of their location, the lower district soon descended into greater chaos at the emergence of the arachnids. Tens of thousands of commoners from across the four lower districts began retreating madly towards the Upper Districts.

Hundreds of people are bound to die in another frenzy stampede. Leon could only save so much.

…

Upper District walls, western entrance,

"Open up!"

"Please let us in!"

"Why did you all shut the gates?!"

"Please let my child enter at least, he is just a boy!"

The commoners shouted and pleaded at the gates, but despite their cries, the city guards, nobles and aristocrat families watching the scene of the Lower District atop the upper wall looked on coldly and didn't have any intentions of opening the gate.

A softhearted lady looked at the pitiful commoners below and asked, "They are so pitiful… How about we let them in?"

But the suggestion was immediately rejected strongly.

"Absolutely not! We can't let in so many people!"

The unending stream of arachnids appearing out of the black smoky region was terrifying. It was like there was no end to their numbers.

If they let in so many people, when would they be able to shut the gates again!? Not to mention, they don't know how long they must fend off the arachnids once these creatures arrive at the upper wall.

They were basically trapped and that would mean their supplies of goods from the outside world is cut off. In other words, there was limited food. How can they afford to feed all these commoners?

The number people living in the Upper District only amounted to roughly ten thousand, yet there were close to fifty thousand commoners from the lower districts combine. They couldn't handle such influx.

As such, they didn't dare open the gates… unless they received a royal order to do so.

…

Back at the lower district square, Leon looked at Aria who remained at his side.

"You should go with them."

"What are you planning to do?" Aria didn't answer his question. Instead, she stared him straight in the eye and asked.

"I'm going to try and buy some time by reducing their numbers." Leon said.

"No, how can I let do that alone?" Aria protested.

"I won't be alone."

As Leon said that, his palace guards arrived.

"Your highness."

Howard and the others greeted with a helpless expression. This prince of theirs sure likes leaving without a word.

Your highness?

Aria gave Leon a questioning look.

"That's just how it is." Leon smiled wryly.

There were no changes to Aria's expression when he admitted. It didn't matter who Leon was. Her feelings weren't going to change because of it.

…

It took a lot of effort for Leon to persuade Aria to leave with the rest.

In the end, it was her parents that managed to convince and took her away. Before they left, her father gave him a hard look and there were signs of relief.

Aria's father had been skeptical with the boy she was seeing. Her parents had broke into tears of happiness when she went missing for one night and came home with being able to speak.

When she told them, it was Leon who cured her and he was the boss of a gang, her father did not believe her. He thought she was lying to make them feel more accepting of this benefactor she was pursuing romantically.

How could a medically skilled person and a gang boss be that young? The boss of the Black Snake Gang had been a middle-aged figure.

But seeing was believing and he was finally able to put down his worries. How could he let his daughter date a middle-age man?

After the family of three left, Leon looked at his guards and asked, "You guys aren't going to stop me, right?"

The guards smiled wryly at Leon's question.

We can't beat you nor can we persuade you, so we can only follow you! Otherwise the queen will have our heads!

That was what they wanted to say, but they just answered, "No!"

"Good." Leon smiled and focused his sight on the arachnids. They were closing in and were about to enter the square.

He could see the buildings being swallowed one after another by their overflowing numbers.

Anyone unlucky to be eaten by these creatures would probably not be left with anything behind.

Their terrifying numbers meant these arachnids breed like crazy. They had to be killed before they start laying eggs.

"Take charge of your own lives. We kill as many as we can then retreated!"

"Yes, your highness!"

It seems that he was destined to be an exterminator of bugs. He gripped his black spear tightly and charged into the army of spiders.

No strategies were needed against such weak preys. He only needed to;

Kill, kill, kill!

Chapter 109 - Exterminating Bugs

Leon had suffered under the Deadeye Spiders unrelenting assault because he did not understand their characteristics before. But now that he knew, he would not repeat the same mistake. He did not choose to enhance his black spear with flame essence. It was sharp enough to slay these arachnids. He utilized his ice energy and lowered his own body temperature.

The Deadeye spiders did not react to his approach at all as he closed the distance with nimble movements. They could neither see nor sense him and soon fell victim to his sweeping spear as easy as plucking fruits from a tree.

Under a quick barrage of attacks, hundreds of spiders were quickly killed. However, these Deadeye Spiders didn't seem to mind the death of their kin and continued moving towards the next fire source.

From the day these arachnids were born, they were destined to live in a world of eternal darkness and have no sense of affections for its own brothers and sisters. When the early crawlers jump into the burning buildings and light themselves on fire, they also become targets for other crawlers and are attacked and eaten by their own kind.

The crawlers were harmless insects in front of Leon. He did not have to worry about his defense and went completely on the offensive.

Leon made a full horizontal sweep with explosive strength like a one-handed sword and dozens of crawlers were hit by his black spear. Even if they weren't directly cut the spear head, the spear shaft smashed them in mush and blasted them in the others.

Like a passing overlord; wherever the black spear travelled, all must give way and clear the area.

His inexperienced spear movements quickly became fluid and refined with each sweeping motion.

The crawlers were used as training dummies to practice his spear techniques!

Seeing the prince fighting so valiantly, the guards were surprised. The spiders did not attack their prince at all!

The Deadeye Spiders weren't news to the palace guards. They had killed their fair share of Deadeye Spiders back in the royal palace. All palace guards had been sent to the underground to train and practice their techniques on the night crawlers at least more than once.

However, it was a first time for them to see these night crawlers ignore the prey right in front of them and only rush towards fire source. It was as if the prince was invisible to them.

In fact, that was exactly the case. From the night crawler's perception, Leon was like a specter, flickering on and off their grid when he moves and when he doesn't.

The prince was like a sovereign of death. If he wanted their lives, they would have no choice but to offer it willingly.

There was nothing great about being able to crush ants, but Leon was filled with self-satisfaction when sweeping these bugs away like ones. This was the kind of absolute strength he seeks.

If there was a day when he could sweep all the Divine Kings beneath his feet like ants, then that would be his lifetime's greatest achievement

While being awed by the prince's way of killing, a night crawler snuck up on one of the guards and bit on his helmet with a clank. Unfortunately for the crawler, the helmet was made of a very tough metal and all its teeth were broken from the bite.

Sssss… it issued a painful cry.

The palace guard was startled at sneak attacked. He was distracted and allowed a puny crawler to snuck up on him. He angered and slammed the crawler on the ground with great force, turning it into mush.

"Don't just watch, Cain. Assist his highness." Howard stated.

They drew their swords and charged in different directions with their chunky armor. Due to equipment, they weren't as agile as Leon and were quickly swarmed by the crawlers when their entered the fray. However, the armor allowed them to be impervious to most attacks.

"Hmph."

Being buried under a mountain of crawlers, Howard stomped the ground and dozens to hundreds of earthen spikes shot up from the ground and impaled all the crawlers within five yards of him. Even after killing these crawlers for so many years, they still disgust him to no end.

"How about the old rule? Whoever kills the least has to cover drinks for the others for a whole week." Cain suddenly suggested, but his sword never stopped hacking and slashing. "You game, Howard?"

Hearing this, Howard laughed. He had never lost a killing competition. "Hahaha, thanks for the drinks in advance."

This competition was as good as one. Cain's suggestion was as good as offering him free drinks.

Why would he refuse?

"How about you, Jeffrey?"

"Sounds good." Jeffrey was game. He didn't excel at killing Deadeye Spiders among the four of them, but he wasn't the worse either.

Of the four palace guards that accompanied Leon, one of them had kept silent and no one bothered to asked if he intended to join their game.

However, feeling isolated… he couldn't kept silent for long and caved in.

"Aren't you guys going to ask if I want in as well?"

"Of course, we want to… but considering you always lose, we kinda feel bad, you know?" Cain said, but he couldn't help grinning. He wasn't sympathetic at all.

"Bullshit! Why bring it up if you feel bad? Come on! Who's afraid of who?" Jack wasn't fooled by his words. His fighting spirit was ignited.

He wasn't afraid of the challenges. He can't win, if he was afraid of losing.

The four palace guards finished setting up their little competition and began their bug slaying with great intensity. They all began using their signature move with their earth abilities.

"Great Revolving Domain!"

Cain took the initiative and shout out his signature technique. The earth cracked apart incalculable amount of rock pellets and floated in the air, before revolving around Cain at high speed and created a spherical domain.

Dozens of crawlers that dived into his domain were struck and grinded to death like they were shot by hundreds of bullets.

He wasn't satisfied and dived into a sea of crawlers with his moving domain and it shred apart a few hundred more.

"Buddy, your move is very fancy, but aren't very effective in killing them en masse!" Jeffrey commented.

"Clap of Mother Earth!" Jeffry shouted.

A gigantic palm rose from behind him. He clapped his hands like a crocodile snapping its jaws and the gigantic palm descended and flattened tens of thousands of crawlers into bug patties.

His face paled from exhausted all his earth essence in a single move.

In a further location, Howard leaped into the air above a sea of crawlers and dropped down like a meteor before slamming the ground with his palm.

"Grand Stalagmite!" He roared.

Within fifty yards of him, several thousands of crawlers were impaled to death by earthen spikes striking of various sizes rising from the ground. The spikes destroyed the foundation of a buildings within it's radius and collapsed, crushing thousands of additional crawlers.

A light glinted in Jack's eye and he did not use his usual technique but called out a new name on the spot.

"Almighty Collapse!"

He roared and forced the various abandoned buildings around him to collapse and crushed all the crawlers in its vicinity. His move was nothing short of mass demolition.

"Muahahaha! I am a genius!" He laughed hysterically.

Countless night crawlers were killed under his move and the numbers were inestimable. It may have possibly exceeded the hundred thousand mark, but many people's homes were destroyed in the process.

Leon was amused by their little game until it escalated and blown out of proportion.

The palace guards were in a league of their own, with their exquisite control of their earth elements.

He had no choice but to admit that their techniques were quite high level despite having exaggerated names as well as… peculiar ones...

But… did they have to go overboard and demolish so many people's homes? Whether it was burning, damaged or intact ones, they were all indiscriminately demolished. Leon felt his face twitched at the mess they caused.

He racked up thousands of kills himself, but it was nothing compared to his guards.

They had stolen his thunder and disrupted his plans.

"That's enough. We are retreating."

Leon called out to his guards. They had quickly exhausted most of their strengths in such a frenzied killing manner and wouldn't be able to continue for much longer.

Although he could keep going for several more hours due to his conservative kill method, he had to care for his own guards… because they would not retreat without him.

In any case, they had accomplish their objective in killing heaps of crawlers and reducing a portion of their numbers.

"Yes, your highness!"

They hear and obey. The palace guards quickly regathered by Leon side and they retreated together.

Jack was smiling because he believed he had not killed the least for once. In fact, he killed the most!

All was fair in love and war.

The others groaned at this fact. They were indignant. This bastard was so unscrupulous in his methods to win.

People could be hoping of returning to their homes once the disaster was settled, but he had directly destroyed their hopes and turned hundreds of people homeless.

"So, who lost?"

His question was like setting off a powder keg.

They unanimously answered with,

"Fuck off!"

…

As the group headed to the Upper West District western entrance, Leon wondered how his mother will resolve the crisis. He wouldn't believe it if his mother said the royal family didn't prepared a countermeasure for a day like today.

Everyone in the capital have now witnessed what horrors lied beneath them and it can no longer be kept quiet.

The half millennia old secret was a secret no longer.