Unsealing Emptiness

With his arrival, the two walked out of the manor, already expecting that it was him.

Without doing the pleasantries, Ozul walked inside the manor, making his way directly to a private room.

Alver and Raymond smiled wryly at each other but nodded their heads and followed after him. Their nephew was eccentric; they should start getting used to his behavior by now.

Alver closed the door when they entered the room and both brothers stared at Ozul with confused faces.

“I have some questions,” Ozul said.

Alver just took a seat as well, but Raymond, after hearing his words, started to sweat.

.....

“A-about what?” Raymond asked while stuttering. His guilty conscience made him unable to realize that his nephew could be there to ask questions about something else and not about him and his secretary.

“About Emperor Luthien,” Ozul raised his brow and replied. He had completely forgotten about that incident, so he was just as confused as Alver because of Raymond’s stuttering.

“H-haha. Yes, of course. Ask anything...” Raymond tried to laugh it off, though Alver still gave him a suspicious side glance.

Ozul ignored his behavior and spoke, “About Emperor Luthien. Has he arrived here?”

“No. Like other Rank-9 Mages, he would take his sweet time and only arrive on the day of the battles,” Alver said while shaking his head.

He and Raymond were worried about what had gotten into their nephew’s mind that he had been asking so many questions about Emperor Luthien.

“Also, I wanted to ask about the formations. Are there strong enough formations that can hold Mages at even Rank-9?” Ozul was curious about this one.

Although he had heard from Irvin that all who have tried to infiltrate the Royal Palace of Silverbird Kingdom have failed, it didn’t include any Mage of Rank-9.

Since the Ashin family was centuries older than the Silverbird Kingdom, they would surely have better formations and more knowledge.

“Yes, nephew. In fact, if we do so, not a single Rank-9 Mage can ever enter this estate without our permission,” Alver stated while puffing up his chest in pride.

There weren’t many times he could boast around his nephew about their family’s greatness. Having found his chance, he continued, “Heck, even if all of them attacked together, they wouldn’t get through.”

Alver and Raymond both showed a haughty smirk while Ozul was truly surprised.

He felt dense Mana all around this estate, but he didn’t know that the Ashin family would have formations so powerful.

“Okay... what is the downside?” Ozul couldn’t believe that defenses so strong would come without a price.

Alver and Raymond’s smiles froze at his words. Why did their nephew have to be so technical all the time?

With a strained smile, Alver answered, “Nothing much... just hundreds of artifacts that gather Mana and thousands of those Mana stones...”

Thousands of those stones which contained Mana – that alone was enough for them to only use them in desperate times.

Though Alver said ‘nothing much’, his strained smile was proof that those hundreds of artifacts that he talked about were probably something that even the Ashin family had only a limited amount of.

“What about the Royal Palace of the Silverbird Kingdom? Do you think there are formations that are a threat to even Rank-9 Mages?” Ozul hadn’t told anyone that he was not a Mage, but still used the ranks of Mages as a scale to roughly explain his strength.

When Raymond and Alver heard his question, like Irvin, they could already guess that Ozul might be trying to infiltrate the Royal Palace.

“Don’t underestimate the Silverbird Kingdom, nephew. We can say for a fact that they would also have defenses that can prove to be fatal to Rank-9 Mages,” Raymond answered him this time.

However, before Ozul said something else, he added, “Nephew, I know that you wouldn’t involve us in this, but know that the Ashin family is capable enough to start a war whenever.”

To his side, Alver solemnly nodded his head. In their opinion, it would surely consume tons of resources, but if they wouldn’t use their wealth to protect the family, then what use was it all?

Ozul noticed their determined expressions and for a moment, he even considered getting their help.

In the end, however, he shook his head and said, “I think I can deal with it for now... Maybe if war really broke out, I would need your help.”

Just these words were enough to make Raymond and Alver smile in delight.

“If I am stuck somewhere, and it becomes necessary, take over the Three-Eyed Strangers as a separate branch of the Order of Dusk,” Ozul added that only further improved Raymond and Alver’s mood.

Their nephew allowing Raymond to take over his whole organization in case of emergency meant that he trusted them enough. Previously, they would always think that he didn’t trust them enough, so they were more than thrilled.

How would they know that Ozul only needed a single glance to know who he could trust and who not based on their emotions?

Moreover, the organization had only gotten to this point because of the resources and manpower provided by the Order of Dusk and the Ashin family. So it didn’t hurt even if Raymond took control of it in case of emergency.

Ozul didn’t think that such an emergency would happen anytime soon, but he informed them anyway. Not to mention, it didn’t hurt to show them a gesture of his trust in return for their blind support even if war broke out.

“There are only three days left, I will be leaving today,” Ozul said and stood up.

Before going out of the room, he remembered something and said, “Oh, and two of my people will be participating in the tournament. Raven and Blaze; take care of them.”

Alver nodded his head, assuring him that he would take care of it.

Ozul left the Ashin family’s estate and went back to the headquarters. On his way, he thought about his talk with Alver and Raymond.

His only advantage now remained that he did not have any Mana and relied on his own power, whatever its real origin was.

It might be true that the Royal Palace would have formations that could harm him, but the people who would operate them wouldn’t even imagine that there existed a person so powerful that didn’t use Mana.

‘The main concern would remain if I will be able to find my arm or not...’

That was the worst part of his plan. The Royal Palace was big and it might take him a while before he could even find his arm there. And there was also the chance that Emperor Luthien took the arm with him.

In that case, he would have to fight him head-on and if need be, kill Luthien to get his arm back.

Ozul remembered that when he had gotten his leg back previously, his strength had skyrocketed. Once he got his arm back, he would most probably have another boost of power.

In that case, it would become much easier to deal with whoever or whatever faction that comes after him.

“Sigh... So many ifs...” Ozul muttered with a sigh as he arrived back in the headquarters. From the moment he was born, he didn’t like uncertainties, and now he was surrounded by them.

He directly went to the 7th floor where the office of Irvin, Haley, and Oliver was located. If they were not having a meeting in the hall, then they would be in their offices.

When he reached Irvin’s office, it seemed that others were also there. He was discussing things about the tournament finals with Oliver and Haley. Only Raven and Blaze were missing who he guessed were both in the training grounds.

With his entrance, the three left whatever topic they were discussing and respectfully bowed their heads.

“I am about to leave. You three know what you have to do in my absence,” Ozul didn’t wait for pleasantries and went straight to the topic.

“Already?” Irvin asked. When the tournament starts, giant factions from all over the continent would be there in the Neutral City, so the atmosphere would be heavy for everyone.

If something troublesome happened, the only thing saving them was the support of their Rank-9 leader. But if Ozul left, then all of that pressure would fall on Irvin, so his worries were not unfounded.

“Don’t worry. If anything happens in my absence, try to deal with it in the best way possible. If you cannot, just inform Raymond and listen to his orders from then on. Alright?” Ozul didn’t answer his question, but his words made Irvin sigh in relief.

On the other hand, Haley and Oliver looked confused about who this Raymond was. They decided to ask Irvin later since he seemed to know him.

Ozul was about to leave when he remembered about Raven and Blaze.

“Remind the two not to show off in the tournament,” he ordered and Haley nodded her head.

Seeing that he had said everything he needed to, Ozul made his way to the 8th floor where he felt that Jinx was sleeping in his room.

He entered the room and as expected, Jinx was having her usual nap.

Ozul went near her and muttered, “Let’s go. It’s time to get my arm back...”

Jinx immediately opened her eyes and the deep red and blue eyes stared at Ozul for a few seconds before gracefully following him out of the room.