While Atlas went toward the Cataclysm-rank Ruin for his exploration and becoming stronger, back in the Human Continent, inside the same chamber where the Bloodline Crucible still remained intact, King Azarion could be seen standing quietly before it.
He stood at almost the same height as Atlas, around six feet two inches tall. The long royal attire covering his body naturally reflected his authority and status as a king, but his attention wasn’t on the Bloodline Crucible standing a few meters in front of him. Instead, his eyes remained fixed on something else entirely.
If one looked closely, they would notice that he was staring at a projected screen with the same nonchalant expression as always. A faint grin rested on his face, though it was so slight that another person standing there would have difficulty noticing it unless they observed him carefully.
The Bloodline Crucible still stood before him, but the liquid inside it had already changed compared to before. It was no longer completely white, in its place a faint grey colour had spread throughout it, and the density of the liquid had also reduced by a considerable margin, showing that whatever process was taking place inside the Crucible had continued without interruption as that black Humanoid figure remained curled inside it.
The screen Azarion was watching was nothing more than a projection created by a small relic floating just beneath it. The relic quietly maintained the projection in front of him as he continued observing everything displayed on it. After remaining silent for a long moment, Azarion finally spoke.
"I knew it, those bastards of the Dwarves had something up their sleeves."
"Tch...their technology and understanding of Spirit Energy are impressive. Still, I managed to understand the basic structure of that barrier. When the final operation begins, breaching it won’t be difficult anymore...Heh."
As Azarion finished speaking, the projection before him clearly displayed the massive barrier that surrounded the Central City of the Dwarven Continent, Kharzach.
But...what would surprise anyone wasn’t the barrier itself, it was the fact that Azarion was watching it in the first place. Anyone would naturally wonder how he had managed to watch the barrier? . He hadn’t sent spies or assassins to infiltrate the Dwarven Continent because that would have been meaningless.
The Dwarves possessed technology advanced enough to detect intruders almost immediately, making such methods nearly impossible to succeed.
So how was he watching not only the barrier but the entire sequence of events that had taken place there? The projection showed everything from the moment the monsters first attacked, the deaths of the Dwarves at the beginning, and later the evacuation as the survivors escaped using those strange Spirit-powered flying objects.
The answer was simple ─ Azarion wasn’t observing the battlefield from outside...he was seeing everything directly through the eyes of the same monsters carrying Null, the very monsters whose strength had increased several times over because of those unknown experimental Liquid inserted in them.
Yes, he was viewing everything from the perspective of those exact monsters. Those experiments had never been conducted solely to make them stronger to Kill ...the researchers had implanted recording relics inside every one of those monsters.
This plan was what that...allowed them to gather information from every battlefield even if the killing operation itself failed, ensuring that all the information collected during the attack would still return to them.
That had been the real purpose of the operation from the very beginning. The massacre itself was only a secondary objective that would help eliminate individuals who could become even the slightest threat in the future, while the main objective had always been gathering information from every continent without exposing themselves directly.
As Azarion continued watching through the monster’s point of view, he carefully observed the structure of the barrier. Every time the monster approached it or attempted to breach it, his attention remained fixed on every small detail. At the same time, his black pupils slowly turned slightly golden, as though he was using some kind of Ability to analyze the barrier beyond what the projection normally showed.
And... he actually was using an Ability, as to what that Ability was, remained unknown for now. As he continued watching, he spoke to himself again.
"I still can’t discern the complete structure of that barrier, huh? It might be because I’m only viewing it through a mere projection...well, understanding the basic fundamentals is enough. Breaching it won’t be difficult anymore."
After saying that, Azarion casually raised his right hand and waved it once. The projection immediately shifted to another location, this time displaying a scene from the Elven Continent. The moment it changed, the entire image shook violently as the view swayed from side to side.
Azarion narrowed his eyes the instant he saw that unstable projection. He had already guessed what had happened before even confirming it.
"Tch...that damn continent of roots and that World Tree..."
As he continued watching, he realized the monster providing the view wasn’t the only one being dragged away. Around twenty more monsters could be seen in the same situation in that place, and... every one of them was an S-rank monster.
And even then, compared to those enormous roots that had wrapped around their bodies, legs and every other limb, they looked no different from small insects being caught without any chance of resisting.
The enormous size of those roots wasn’t what surprised Azarion. He already knew they were directly connected to the Elven World Tree, so their existence wasn’t unexpected. What truly caught his attention was the amount of Spirit contained within them.
The Spirit density inside each individual root exceeded the combined Spirit pressure of those S-rank monsters, something even Azarion hadn’t expected to witness.
He narrowed his eyes further before speaking again.
"Tsk...and these are only the outer cities. All five hundred of them across the continent were crushed the moment those linked roots appeared...Hah, damn it. Still, gathering the locations of every one of those roots throughout the Elven Continent ─ Marqualis, was worth it."
Once again, the projection shifted to another location within the Elven Continent. This time, if one looked carefully, they would recognize the place as the battlefield where Alberion was fighting. As Azarion silently watched the battle unfold, his eyes narrowed slightly while a thought crossed his mind.
’Interesting...he managed to crush that monster even with that unknown energy acting as its shield...Heh.’
Then the projection shifted once again and showed something that made Azarion widen his eyes for the first time since he had started watching all of this. It showed an unknown Elf resting alone in an open field.
The next moment the Elf casually snapped his fingers...and the S-rank monster dropped on the ground without so much as even a bit of resistance and...it died instantly. After that, the Elf simply laid back down and continued resting as if nothing had happened.
’What?...How did that happen?’ Azarion thought as he immediately waved his hand. The projection rewound and replayed the scene in slow motion. His golden pupils carefully observed every movement as he tried to find what Ability or technique had been used to kill the monster, but even after watching it several times...he found nothing.
His jaw slowly tightened.
’There are individuals like that?...He is only an S-rank...is it his Unique Ability? Hmm...I have to add him to the list of people that need considerable attention.’
Without wasting any more time, he waved his hand again and the projection shifted once more. This time it showed the Angelic Continent, Celestara. The monsters were moving through the outer and middle cities, slaughtering countless A-rank and B-rank Explorers without much resistance until...they encountered certain individuals.
Those individuals were not as terrifying as the Elf he had just witnessed, but they still defeated the monsters without suffering much damage. Azarion quietly watched each battle until another scene appeared before him.
It was none other than Atlas.
The moment Azarion saw the masked Human fighting, his eyes widened again. He watched Atlas use a strange movement technique that completely ignored the distance between himself and the monster, appearing in the centre of the distance between both of them. Before Azarion could fully process that, another unbelievable sight appeared.
Black phantom wings spread from Atlas’s back.
He was clearly a Human...not an Angel. Even Angels did not possess black wings like those and most of all...he was an A-rank, how was he fighting an S-rank Monster in the first place? That thought crossed through Azarion’s mind but before he could dwell on it ─
...The final scene played before him.
Atlas released that unknown pressure and formed the strange symbol.
The instant Azarion saw it, his expression completely changed.
"What?! How does he have that unknown energy?!"
He didn’t hesitate before calling out with a shout "Veyron! Come here and explain what is going on here right now!"
His voice echoed throughout the dark chamber.
Only a few moments later, Veyron hurried inside. Azarion turned toward him, but before he could speak, he noticed Veyron was not alone. He was dragging another person beside him whose condition was miserable. Large portions of his stomach had melted away, some internal organs were exposed, and several of his limbs looked almost destroyed.
The moment Azarion recognized him, the air inside the chamber turned cold, a sudden suffocation started to appear in the air.
"What happened to Karval?...And what is the meaning of all this, Veyron?" Even without releasing a single trace of Spirit Energy, an invisible pressure filled the chamber.
As he spoke, Azarion slightly moved his eyes toward the projection floating beside him.
Following that signal, Veyron looked at the screen.
The instant he saw the masked Human, his face turned pale.
His body began trembling.
"Y-Your Majesty...that’s him. The description isn’t exactly the same as the one Mark gave, but...I’m sure that’s him! That’s Atlas Crosswood! the suspect I believed to be Atlas Mariorett...the same person we sent into the Eternal Ruin!"
The moment those words left Veyron’s mouth, Azarion’s eyes widened.
He slowly turned back toward the projection.
His gaze remained fixed on the masked Human for several long seconds before he finally spoke.
"What did you just say?"
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter