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Chapter 104

“I brought the original. I left a copy in its place,” said Robert.

Though both he and Pablo held the same position as councilors, there was a clear hierarchy between them. But Robert didn’t seem to feel embarrassed as he pulled out the documents from his pocket and handed them over. Though information about expedition teams was sensitive even within Bermuda, the councilors had no problem obtaining it because they’d already bought off about half of the top officials.

It only took Pablo a few seconds to memorize the whole report, and he passed it around. Once all the attendees finished reading it, he said, “They’re clearly hiding their true power. Don’t you think?”

The mission outline and route of their voyage were recorded in detail, but the descriptions of the inside of the Rifts and the battles that took place were extremely sparse. Pablo was certain that they had written the absolute bare minimum required by Bermuda’s rules to hide their true capabilities. The number of monsters and their level of strength were reported in a vague manner, and they even acted modest by saying that they were able to defeat the Rift Guardian due to luck.

With decades of experience as an explorer, Pablo was able to infer the things that weren’t included in the report. “Jack Russell did not participate in their mission at the first Rift, the Sea Orc Den. Neither did the spiritualist. That means only four of them entered the Rift.”

The one-eyed elf, the Whale Hunter, and the Chief Elder’s apprentice. And lastly, the “genius” boy swordsman who had killed Conrad, Leonard.

Pablo let out a low growl when he saw that name.

“... He’s far stronger than we expected, but he keeps getting on my nerves even though he’s not anyone important,” he muttered to himself.

“Are you talking about the boy who killed Conrad? His skill with the sword is impressive.”

The other councilors nodded in agreement. The leader of the Santa Maria Expedition Team, which no longer existed, had been a scoundrel, but he had been even more of a genius. He boasted the status of being a Tenth Degree External Force Tier swordsman and a Class 5 mage. Who could have expected that such a man would be defeated by a foreign boy?

Since everyone in the room had watched the match that day, no one questioned Leonard’s talent with the sword.

“Even if the boy is a genius, I thought it would take at least ten years for him to become a threat... but five years may be enough.”

“It would be nice if we could bring him over to our side or keep him in check somehow. But it’s too dangerous to take him out.”

“He stayed in Aquamarine even when their future seemed hopeless. People like him cannot be won over no matter how we try to coax him.”

As Pablo listened to the others talk, he muttered to himself. “The report for the second Rift, the Abyss of the Demon Octopus, only mentions Jack Russell’s activities. He entered the Rift with the rest of the team, but he kept the attention of all the monsters and even infiltrated and destroyed the Rift core all by himself. Allegedly.”

Robert didn’t miss his comment. He asked, “What about the Rift Guardian?”

“The Rift core was inside the Guardian, so it apparently just so happened to be destroyed during the battle. Ha! They can’t seriously believe that anyone would believe this,” Pablo scoffed. While the explanation wasn’t entirely impossible, it was a hundred times more likely that it was a bluff.

However, the reports weren’t completely useless because they could surmise a secret hidden in the report about the second Rift. It appeared that Aquamarine had a secret weapon who made a contribution in sealing the Abyss of the Demon Octopus, rather than Jack Russell.

There’s no chance it’s the one-eyed elf or her younger sister. Nor is it Russell’s apprentice. Through the process of elimination, there are two people it could be: Dentuso’s younger brother Gallano, or Hyne’s successor, Lorelei. But that dunce Gallano doesn’t seem like someone who can masquerade as a deadbeat for eight years... I can’t completely eliminate the possibility that it’s him, but Lorelei is several times stronger than him.

Countless possibilities churned in Pablo’s head. Most people only saw his enormous frame, his threatening appearance, and the vigor radiating from him, so they naturally assumed that he’d reached the Transcendence Tier through violence and brutality.

However, anyone who witnessed his true self even once was more scared of the snake hidden under the guise of an ogre’s body. His cunning was disguised as viciousness. He was the same powerful man who’d erased any suspicion about the tragedy that took place eight years ago, which he’d led. He was the dirtiest, most secretive member of the Council.

Pablo came to a conclusion. “We cannot leave Aquamarine alone. Nothing much will come of sealing two Rifts for now, but if we let them be, the captain may end up disturbing big businesses as her father did.”

“So what should we do?”

“Now that they’ve risen to Rank A, we cannot dismantle them directly. We’ll take an indirect approach. We’ll use the personal details of each member to create a scenario in which they cannot voyage. Naturally, their hands will be tied. The downside of having few members is that they all have to act as a group,” Pablo said.

Unlike expedition teams that could fill any open spots with reserve troops, in its current state, Aquamarine would fall apart if they lost even a member or two. There was an obvious difference between losing five people in a group of a hundred and losing five people in a group of ten.

“We’ll take care of the Chief Elder and his apprentice later. It’s hard enough to meddle with the affairs of the Magic Tower, and the current Towermaster is an old man who only cares about returning to the mainland, so he won’t listen to what we have to say.”

“In Gallano’s case, it seems that there were some gangsters who followed him around during the past eight years, but he doesn’t seem that close to any of them. There will be no use in taking any of them hostage.”

“And I don’t even need to say anything about Hyne’s apprentice. We have no idea where she’s been this whole time, and we could not find a single acquaintance, let alone blood relatives. We could fabricate some item or will that Hyne left behind and bait her... but it’s likely that we’ll get caught, and she won’t be easy to deceive if she really is Hyne’s successor.”

“It’s the same for the elf sisters. They’re from the continent, so there’s nothing in the Alliance we can leverage against them. But if it weren’t for that fool Conrad, we may have been able to use the younger sister.”

Pablo quietly listened to the councilors’ discussion. “What about Leonard, the novice?” he pointed out.

“I looked into the personal information that Bermuda has on him, but...there was nothing that stood out. Apparently, he was left floating adrift in the sea after a magic explosion, and he started following the princess after she saved him.”

“His country of origin is the Kurdish Kingdom. I’ve heard of that place before. It was known as the finest kingdom of knights in the entire continent even before the Arcadian Empire came to flourish as much as it did.”

Leonard’s genius swordplay and his talent were likely the result of his bloodline and ancestry. Though he was registered under Bermuda as being in the Second Degree External Force Tier, based on what they had witnessed that day, Leonard was at least in the Fourth Degree. And it was possible that he had reached the next Degree by now.

Though the artifact he used to summon the lightning dragon was destroyed, if he had even a single artifact of that caliber left... his combat capabilities would match Conrad’s.

“I think we’ll have to start with this child,” Pablo decided. Every time he read something about the boy, his instincts would give him a strange sense of alarm.

In fact, it was similar to the feeling Njord had given him eight years ago.

“This child essentially brought Aquamarine to its current state after saving the one-eyed elf’s younger sister and bringing the Chief Elder to their side. All Frances could do in the past eight years was not be demoted past Rank B. She could not have done this without him. The princess must think of the boy as her savior who saved Aquamarine.”

“Ah, I see. Even though he has not yet reached his full potential, you’re saying that he plays a very important role in the team.”

“Besides, he would not turn a blind eye to Njord’s daughter when she’s the one who saved his life. Even if the expedition team is on the line.”

Perhaps it was loyalty that motivated him, or faith. Though Pablo saw no value in such attitudes, those who did understand Leonard’s position. In fact, they could only take advantage of someone’s trust because they understood that perspective.

“This plan may seem a little crude, but if we succeed, we can remove Frances completely. Before then, our top priority will be taking care of any potential meddlers.”

“Zaratan departed not too long ago, and they won’t return for another half year or so. And of course, we don’t know much about the whereabouts of Wild Hunt.”

The councilors’ eyebrows furrowed when they heard that name. Wild Hunt was a factor that was impossible to contain. The group of eccentrics disappeared for years at a time, and they could not be contained by the Council or Bermuda.

“Those bastards are like a natural disaster,” Pablo spat. “All we can do is hope that we don’t have to face them.”

“We should track down any expedition teams and powerful explorers that might take Aquamarine’s side. We will have to make sure they will turn a blind eye while we carry out our plan.”

“Mm.” Pablo gave a heavy nod, his eyes now glowing a dark red. And then, after being as stoic as a boulder, he curled his lips up into a sneer as if a thought had occurred to him.

“... I can finally make use of that worthless bastard of mine.”

* * *

Rrrrrrr!

The special mana chamber on the top floor of the Magic Tower shook intensely. Even though it was built to fully withstand even Class 6 spells, it could not entirely contain the shock.

One would be shocked to find that the person inside was not the Towermaster or the Chief Elder, but a boy who was only sixteen years old.

Leonard sat at the center of the mana chamber in the lotus position, absorbing the mana that filled the room to the brim. As he did, a five-colored aura emanated out to his surroundings.

Thump!

There was an impact that came from somewhere near his heart and made the room shake again. His tightly shut eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, his eyes flashed sharply.

He had reached the Tenth Degree External Force Tier. He was now only one level below the Transcendence Tier. It was hard to believe that his overflowing mana and refined body belonged to a human.

I’ve finally overcome Controlling Otherness.

However, rather than increasing his power by one Degree, his goal had been to shatter the absolute counter technique. In fact, he had expected it to take longer to reach the Tenth Degree External Force Tier, and he’d only managed it because of the knowledge he earned from destroying Controlling Otherness. If it weren’t for that, it would have taken at least a few months for him to advance to the Tenth Degree.

Six-Direction Total Rampage. Emperor Destroyer Immortal Killer. Controlling Otherness.

He had conquered all three of the Heavenly Demon Cultivation Method’s secret techniques that the heart devil could reproduce in full. With the new ways he could now use the five-colored augmented sword energy, he could rip through the rebounded augmented sword energy, rendering the absolute counter technique no longer absolute.

There was only one thing left for him to do.

“...Heaven’s Annihilation.”

He had to face the final secret technique of the Heavenly Demon Cult’s unique cultivation skill, Asura’s Royal Dance, which had ended his life.

If he didn’t, the heart devil would kill him and seize his body.

According to the ancient legends, Asura’s sworn enemy is Indra, the god of thunder and the king of the gods. So Asura’s Royal Dance is the technique I must use to stand against the Heavens.

In order to kill the god of thunder, he had to be faster.

In order to kill the god who reigned over the heavens, he had to be stronger.

He just needed to be fast and strong. Asura’s Royal Dance was a technique that embodied this simplistic need, but an attack that contained the power of a Profound Realm martial artist would bring about pure annihilation. Leonard had to go beyond Visualizing the attack and pour his everything into achieving this and bending the laws of the universe.

The five-colored augmented sword energy was supposed to be just as powerful, but he couldn’t use it in its incomplete state.

Unlike Controlling Otherness, Heaven’s Annihilation is a technique I’ve only seen once. And since it happened in my past life, I don’t entirely remember it. I can’t overcome Heaven’s Annihilation with the same methods I’ve been using.

His only option was to engage in combat with the heart devil and learn from direct experience. That meant he would have to face the attack that killed him several—no, tens of times.

“Hoo.”

Only then would he reach the Transcendence Tier.

His martial artist instincts were sure of this.

Leonard felt a new feeling of fear mixed with determination as he left the mana chamber. This was not a fight he could escape, but he had used a lot of his mental energy today. It was reckless to rush into a battle that was already hard to win even with one’s full capacity.

Russell and Esther were running experiments on the items they had extracted from the Rifts, and the rest of the crew was taking some personal free time.

“I should take a walk. It’s been a while,” Leonard remarked to himself. It was rare for him not to have anything to do.

He stepped out of the Magic Tower and walked toward Atlantis City’s main street.

* * *

—Target spotted.

—Confirm the anticipated route and reset the time and location. We will act as ordered. This is all for the sake of the Chosen One.

—For the Chosen One.

—For the Chosen One.