With everyone moving, a month passed by, and in no time, it was time for the Merits Awards.

Hosted in Kingsmere, the city was jam-packed with visitors and, more importantly, warriors.

—--------------------

At the gates of the royal district lay a wooden podium on which the Emperor and his wives aligned themselves.

Thereafter, Bolton handed him a list with the war contributions ranking.

Without any delays, the ceremony began.

"We have many promising talents, stacking up large contributions. But I will have to limit this to the first eighty. All others shall be handed their rewards after"

The crowd grumbled, but none dared to voice dissatisfaction.

"Now, I'll be starting from the lowest"

He looked at the list.

"Calisto Mateo from the Erma guild"

A knight steeped up, his face littered with pride as he arrived in front of his majesty.

The people whispered, making sure to burn his face in their minds.

While it didn't seem like something remarkable, placing eighty within thousands told of his worth.

Bolton stood beside the king and removed a potion from his space ring, handing it to him.

He left as fast as he came and the Emperor called up the next person.

Like so, time passed as the sixtieth, fiftieth, fortieth and then thirtieth were called.

Tension increased as the name called from this point onward would be game changers.

All those coming on the podium now were from largely known families, guilds or exceptional mercenaries.

That is, until an unrecognizable name popped up at number 13.

"Black Jaws regiment"

The Emperor raised a brow, whispering to Bolton..

"Why isn't a name specified here?"

The representative was already on the podium.

A single glance was all it took the Emperor to discern his level.

'Expert-rank?'

Disdain was evident, but the man seemed to pay it no heed as he stretched his palm to take the reward.

The Emperor was tempted to look over the matter, but Bolton spoke out..

"What sort of nonsense is this? Where is your guild master?"

"He humbly apologizes, sending me to inform you of his recuperation from war injuries" the Expert bowed.

Bolton calmed and backed off, while the Emperor simply nodded.

'It's reasonable'

Thinking again, it was to be expected. They came last, but ranked in the top fifteen. It was unprecedented.

'That's why we can't let them grow any more'

To have another singular entity capable of matching the royal family could not be allowed.

Such situations would bring forth far too many troubles.

Such dark thoughts swirled, yet his expression remained placid, simply nodding as Bolton handed him their rewards.

The Expert bowed once more and came off the podium.

Getting down, he called a carriage and left, with the gazes of the masses on his back the whole way.

But only for a minute as they quickly turned their attention to the next person.

After much fanfare, the top three were announced, sparking waves of emotions.

At nightfall, the crowd finally dispersed, many booking taverns for the night and the others beginning their return journey.

The top members were called in by the Emperor, who talked with them while feasting on exquisite foods.

Two hours later, the feast ended and the members left after giving their well wishes.

Throughout all this, neither Ezra nor the siblings came out.

Ezra couldn't care less about such things, his training was far more important.

The Emperor went to bed organizing the many thoughts in his mind.

'Ten, no, in five days we'll strike'

Such operations were to be done sooner rather than later, and the sooner the better.

—------------------------

Elsewhere, sweat rolled down Fredrick's body as he clasped two mana stones in his finger and one in his teeth.

Veins bulged all over his body as his chest glowed in a blue light, his breathing regulated with his eyes closed.

Then, his body exuded mana from all sides, and like so, mana particles began spreading, passing through the walls and reaching the outside.

At this moment, a sensation hit the Emperor.

"Hmm?!" his eyes snapped open and he rose from his bed in a single motion.

"It couldn't be"

He was not alone as few more individuals also sprung up as their senses alerted them of an old sensation.

One they last felt three years ago.

Among these individuals..

"What?!"

A man sat in a room painted red with his fingers clasped to form a triangle while a symbol on his forehead shone red light and his bent neck straightened up.

He froze for a minute, assessing the sensation, and then..he sighed.

"Of all times. Could our fate be as Crea perceived?"

At that moment, the ground lit up with a circle similar to that on his forehead and the man's eyes widened.

Before he could speak, a part of the ground became covered in red, forming a circle shape in which a head was shone.

This head looked nothing like, no, could never be, human.

Crimson skin that looked like burnt crust, with three horns jutting from the left, right and the center of its head, while his eyes, three of them were hosted on the left and right side of its face with the third on its forehead.

Small cut-like marks laid beside its mouth with no nose evident.

Opening its mouth, black teeth akin to canines were revealed, of which it then frowned.

"Lord!" the man hurriedly bowed.

"Get up" the voice snarled.

The man straightened himself.

"Lord, you seem displeased. What might be the problem?"

"Shut it" the creature snarled, picking its teeth.

"Had you done your bidding, things like this wouldn't happen"

"Then again..it was beyond your control" it added.

With a huff, the creature began..

"The eye had brought displeasing news of an uprising force from your side. One that if allowed to bloom, would render all plans fruitless"

It clenched its fist, hosting four fingers.

"That cannot be allowed to happen. We have waited too long to have our plans go to waste once more. Be ready, once the time is right, I will call upon you. We must make sure of the extinction of this threat"

"This event is connected to whatever that threat is. Pay it your utmost attention"

"By your order" the man replied, his gaze blazing with conviction.

The creature nodded.

"Good. Your faith will be tested, and just as you have not failed us before, you must not fail us now"

"Of course, Lord! I will not fail. I will never fail with your kind by my side"

The creature nodded, and the coalesced blood dissolved.

The tension evaporated like a lie and the room descended into decorum.

'A threat that can shake them up so much..I wonder just what it could be..or who?'

Regardless, the man stood up.

'Things are worse than I initially thought. There is a need to change plans once more'

He looked at his hands.

'And this sensation..shall I be glad for the upcoming chaos or worried by the connection it has to what could be our doom?'

He exhaled, renewing his resolve.

'No matter, my lord will see me through it all!'

He left the room thereafter, with a lot of work to be done.

—----------------

Like the Emperor, similar individuals got out from wherever they were and began probing for the location of the originator of this sensation.

The Emperor was garbed in armor, ready to bolt at the slightest signal.

—----------------

At this moment, the mana coming from Fredrick's body began coalescing, and then..

*Biuumm!*

It shot up, piercing the ceiling, and the ceilings after that, until it shot through the building and into the sky.

—-------------------

Simultaneously..the fuzzy sensation gained clarity and became a signal!

Bolting out of the palace through the roof, the Emperor was shocked rather than happy.

In the sky above the castle, the pillar of blue light was clear for all to see.

'Who dares to? Are they looking down on me?!'

Yes! Who dared advance to Grandmaster level in the capital! Were they suicidal or just plain ignorant?

The sensation was alerting them of the presence of a Grandmaster!

His gaze turned cold as he sought to understand the reasons behind such actions.

'Are they a friend or a foe?'

As he sought to move, the same sensation came upon him, alerting him of the approaching of multiple Grandmasters!

'Those b#stard's presence answered his question.

'Not on my watch!'

He tore through the sky, leaving a trail of lightning in his wake.

Minutes later, the Emperor came upon the first approaching Grandmaster.

Spinning shredder, he laced the path of the approaching person in lightning, forcing the person to stop.

Dust was blown away revealing the figure.

"Jebas" he said coldly, but Jebas's gaze wasn't even on him, but on the pillar of light that was now growing thinner.

"What is your purpose?"

Jebas raised a brow with his wavy hair and diamond earrings reflected ever so brightly.

"I'm sorry, I came for the afternoon tea party"

"Are you-"

Jebas cut him off.

"You know how this goes" he said and burst into record pace once more.

The Emperor was not the target, so to get tied down by him knowing that..was ultimate stupidity.

The Emperor's expression was unsightly.

"Don't you dare ignore me"

He wasn't having it.

*Bomm*

Multiple strands of lightning fell, lighting up the dark sky as it scorched the ground.

Jebas circled around them, his eyes focused on the pillar.

While running over, he already formed a hypothesis.

'It happening in Kingsmere, so..it's most likely a force from the royal family, else the Emperor would end them himself'

He slid past a lightning bolt.

'Seeing how seriously he's attacking, my guess must be spot on'

Niton was in a state of fragile balance, and with war having just ended..what would happen if the royal faction suddenly got a boost in strength?

He didn't want to imagine it, so he forced himself forward.

'Whoever it is, I'm sorry, but I have to take your life'

At that moment..historical

*Bomm!*

He sidestepped, but another bolt appeared in his new trajectory.

And unfortunately..

"Ugh!" it struck square on.