Unsealing Emptiness

‘Is it because of some formations, or because he is a Rank-9?’ Ozul contemplated. He did not have any way to confirm either.

‘If it is the latter, then that means I really can’t take on a Rank-9 Mage... Either way, I will have to be a little careful,’

When he arrived on the floor, the atmosphere was more oppressive than the previous story. There was one couch placed on the side, while a wall separated half of that place.

Cyril and Mark went near the door to know, but before they could do so, they heard a heavy voice,

“Come in.”

The duo visibly flinched as they suddenly heard the voice. However, they obeyed nonetheless and entered with Ozul behind them.

.....

Inside the room, the atmosphere was bleak. The only light source was the transparent wall behind the big chair that was placed behind the table.

On the chair sat an intimidating man who would give out chills to anyone who looked at him right now. He did not release any Mana, but it was obvious that he was the Boss around here.

His eyes followed the three as if a tiger was looking at his prey. However, Ozul was not intimidated by such a show. Rather than sweating nervously as the duo did, he calmly took a seat right in front of the table.

Meanwhile, the duo did not move in fear.

“Explain,” the person spoke in his heavy voice that reverberated throughout the giant room.

Although the person did not move his head away from Ozul, Cyril and Mark were aware that it was directed towards them.

Mark hurriedly made his way over to that man’s side and whispered something in his ears.

Hearing whatever Mark told him, the man sharpened his eyes at Ozul before saying, “Both of you wait outside.”

Mark and Cyril sped out of the room as fast as they could. Just standing in the presence of that man was making them nervous.

*Creak... Tak.*

The door closed, leaving the man staring at Ozul like a vicious predator.

Suddenly, as if to test him, the man released his Mana pressure and weighted it all down on Ozul. The pressure was so intense that the entire building started to shake.

However, the man was surprised to see that Ozul had no obvious changes in his expressions.

‘Hm... From this pressure alone, I think I would be able to keep my ground against him,’ Ozul assessed the strength of this man.

He could only take guesses before but he now had a better general idea about a Rank-9 Mage’s strength.

“So... it really is true, what Mark said.” The man spoke with his usual tone. He had released every bit of his pressure that he could without making a physical movement. It would have been enough to bring anyone below Rank-9 to their knees.

Even realizing that Ozul was also a Rank-9 did not make him drop his arrogant way of speech.

Ozul did not reply and also stared coldly straight in that man’s eyes.

Their staring contest continued for a few minutes before the man decided to take a step back.

“The Feral... I never knew that you would turn out to be a Rank-9 Mage. No wonder none of your targets lived to see another day,” although the words sounded like a compliment, there was no sense of praise in his tone.

From what he had read from the reports, he was aware that the Feral’s targets were at best only Rank-7 Mages. So, him being able to defeat some ants wasn’t something to be praised for. On the contrary, the man thought that it was beneath someone so powerful to interfere in the matters of those weak individuals.

“So, what are you here for?” the man asked while leaning back against his chair.

“To ask why your organization wanted to bring me alive for-more accurately, to ask who ordered it,” Ozul replied.

“Oh?” the man uttered as he scrolled his finger on the table in front of him. There seemed to be a magical screen that contained a list of information.

After scrolling through for a while, the man put his hands on the table in a dramatic manner.

“And why should I tell you the secret information of my guild?” the man spoke in a provoking tone.

Instantly, the atmosphere in the room turned heavy. Even Cyril and Mark standing outside the room felt their backs getting drenched in sweat.

“You should tell me since that would be best for both of us,” Ozul replied calmly.

The man realized what he meant. They were in Neutral Lands. Even when they were far from the Neutral City, the fight between two Rank-9 Mages wouldn’t go unnoticed. So if it was not anything of importance then it was better for him to give out this information.

“Okay. It was actually the orders of my guild personally. No one commissioned to bring you alive.” the man finally gave in.

“Hmm?” Ozul tilted his head in surprise.

The man realized what he wanted to ask and said, “I don’t give such orders personally. But the logistics department had decided to bring you in as one of us after analyzing your feats, unaware of your cultivation base.”

‘Of course... They had decided to approach me in the normal way, but after I rejected, they probably found no other way to bring me to talk other than putting on a commission.’ Ozul understood that it was just a misunderstanding.

‘But that makes my task a little easier,’ Ozul thought. He was not here only to ask who commissioned to bring him alive. But there was something else he wanted to do as well.

“Haha!”

Just as he was about to say something, the man in front of him chuckled.

“Those men were not aware. But I am aware! So how about it? Wanna join?” the man suddenly exclaimed. His words still sounded haughty and arrogant to the extreme. But there was a small smile on his face as he offered Ozul to join his guild.

‘Oh well. I didn’t even need to ask.’ Ozul was here to offer the same thing, ‘However...’

“You are the strongest here, right?” Ozul asked as the man nodded his head.

“Then how do you expect me to work for you?”

The man’s face drew a blank at his words. It was indeed true. He was also a Rank-9 Mage, so there was no way that someone at the same power level as him would be willing to work under him just like that.

But just the next second, the man recovered and said, “Well, I won’t ask you to work for me. How about we work together?”

Ozul did not say anything and looked at him blankly as if contemplating his offer. Although he was here to ask for the same thing, the man had taken the initiative. So he had the edge over that man.

“What will I gain to work with you? And what do you expect to get from me?” Ozul asked, trying to make full use of his advantage.

“Hmm... I can’t think of much. However, I would really like an extra hand as powerful as you. So how about you suggest something?” the man replied after thinking for a while.

“This assassin guild. It works all around the Mainland, yes?” Ozul asked.

“Of course. Order of the Dusk operates everywhere we can reach. As long as there is a sufficient price, my men would willingly attack the whole kingdoms and even empires, heh.” the man stated proudly.

“For all of that business, you surely require extra manpower for gathering information,” Ozul stated as rested his back on the chair.

“Well, yes. Information is most definitely the most crucial part of my guild. That is why sometimes it is delayed for so long,” the man said with a sigh.

At this point, he did not seem like an eccentric Rank-9 Mage, but a normal businessman having a conversation with a colleague.

“I can help you with that. Though it would take sometime before everything is set up.” Ozul stated as the man leaned forward.

“And how will you do that? As far as I am aware, you are alone,” said the man. Information gathering did not depend on how strong an individual was.

It was the work of an entire organization working together. And that too in a well-organized way with their operations all around Egon, the Mainland.

“You should be aware of some workings in the Silverbird Kingdom?” Ozul asked. He continued when the man nodded, “There should be a new organization growing in the capital.”

The man’s curiosity piqued as he started to search through the magical screen on his table again.

“Hmm? I don’t have any news about anything like that.” the man replied.

“That just goes to explain how much you need information and how discrete the organization is,” Ozul replied smugly.

The man did not seem to be too amused by it, but he did not refute him. His organization indeed needed a better system for handling the information.

“Well, you get the point. I have already set up the organization, and it would have its eyes all over the Mainland in a few years... At that point, you can make use of my organization however you like,” Ozul explained.

The man’s eyes lit up in the darkness. The idea was quite attractive to him. As for the amount of time that it would take for initiating, that was not a problem for him. He was a Rank-9 Mage. A few years were nothing in his eyes.