The bolt struck hard and Jebas was thrown backwards, but he immediately back flipped multiple times in row, lightning bolts hot on his track.

Stopping at the twenty seventh back flip, he ran in the opposite direction, then ran in a wide arc, turning to face Kingsmere.

Tucking his breath, he ran faster than before, circumventing the numerous bolts sent his way.

The Emperor increased his firepower, his bolts tearing out the soil and charring it.

His determination only affirmed Jebas' suspicions.

For an entire minute, they entered a stalemate with the Emperor unable to harm Jebas and Jebas unable to get any closer to Kingsmere.

At this time, the approaching Grandmasters were almost here.

Knowing he might be facing unfavorable odds soon, the Emperor swung shredder, releasing a web of lightning that Jebas hadn't expected.

"Ahh!" the shining man screamed as the bolts tore and burnt him from the inside out.

Of course, such attacks were not nearly enough to incapacitate a Grandmaster, let alone kill them.

But it was enough to slow them down.

Without delay, he turned his head and released his lightning upon an empty piece of land.

As the lightning descended, a blur of yellow ran into the same path, and with no fanfare, got blown afar.

Lying in the soil, the figure stook and shook off the sand, touching a burnt part of his shoulder.

"Ouch"

Another familiar face.

"Raven" the Emperor called.

Without a word, Raven threw his staff at Andrew, spinning like a carriage wheel.

Attempting to hold it, the Emperor found himself repelled.

Simultaneously, Raven locked eyes with Jebas, who just stood up and nodded, muttering..

"Go"

"Already gone"

Jebas blasted forth, gaining the Emperor's attention, his voice booming..

"Who said you could leave?!"

Swinging shredder once more, a web of lightning flew at the boy.

"Not again" muttered Jebas, taking out twin swords from his space ring. When the web reached sufficient distance, Jebas spun like a top, lacing his swords with wind and slicing through the web.

Well, not exactly slicing through as the parts of the lightning burnt him, but he had lightning affinity, though not high. It allowed him sufficient resistance to keep on track even with sparks of white crackling over his body.

"No" Andrew called out, aiming to strike once more when a beam of light came into view.

Upon dodging it, Raven sent two more attacks consecutively.

"You have me here" he said, flashing a smile.

The Emperor's expression was unsightly.

Jebas had succeeded in getting past him.

He was annoyed as Raven kept up his attacks, forcing a confrontation between the two.

Raven's smile grew into a mocking one.

"Seems like you've already forfeited the battle"

The Emperor smirked in response.

"What gave you that impression?"

"Hmm?" such a response ruffled his feathers.historical

'What is he going on-'

At that moment, his eyes widened.

Simultaneously, Jebas sped to the gates of Kingsmere, easily dodging the hundreds of arrows shot by the capital guards.

Reaching the gates, his smiles grew wider, congratulating himself, when his instincts flared up, forcing him to an immediate stop.

*Boom!*

A brown aura passed right in front of him and continued forth, cracking the ground as it did.

A boisterous laugh erupted thereafter, with a few words to follow..

"Andrew, you didn't even call me to have some fun"

Stamping his hammer head on the ground to announce his arrival, Getrahan burst forth like a galdavian arrow.

"Dammit" Jebas sighed at his bad luck while taking a stance to combat the incoming enemy.

Approaching with a smile, Getrahan was forced to swerve his body when an object shot towards him, a gleaming metal object.

*Kang!*

He easily hit it away, adopting a serious expression as he realized the identity of the assailant.

Tens of the same object followed right after, coming down like rain.

"Deneris, I didn't know you liked such occasions"

The man was afloat as two metal wings connected to his metal clothes created gusts with each flap.

"That won't stop me though" said Getrahan, aiming to stop Jebas in his tracks.

But then..

*Kang!*Kang!*Kang!*

Deneris wasn't just going to watch him do that.

Every time Getrahan deflected a piece of metal, a shockwave spread, disorienting the guards and the inhabitants of Kingsmere.

Jebas took the cue and ran for the gates.

The distance now negligible, he reached it in seconds.

Well, almost did, when..

*Boom!*

A rain of lightning smashed into the entrance as he passed through it.

The palisades surrounding Kingsmere shook, and many guards fell to their deaths as a result.

If one thing was known of Grandmasters, it was that they were incredibly tenacious.

That tenacity showed itself as Jebas stood back up seconds later, the burns healing as he did.

The Emperor sought to send another wave of lightning, but a metal shot towards him by Deneris stopped him in his tracks.

"Andrew, for you to go so far, this must be something special"

Those words hit him like lightning, and suddenly, he moved away from Raven and stopped fighting, wondering..

'Why exactly am I fighting?'

Jebas took that chance and raced toward the location of the pillar of mana. It didn't occur to him that the pillar of light stayed for too long.

It suddenly hit him to ask a question.

"Do you know who the newcomer is?"

All three Grandmasters stopped in their tracks, glancing at one another.

"I thought it was one of your heads since you were fighting so hard" Raven replied.

The Emperor paused.

"It's not. I came out to meet Jebas, who seemed fixated on the newcomer. When he didn't answer my questions, I thought he knew"

"So..It was all a misunderstanding? How ridiculous" Raven snickered.

The head of every Grandmaster turned to Kingsmere. Jebas should've reached the newcomer by now.

Right then..

*BOOM*

Something was flung from the outer ring, breaking through buildings, and even the palisade, before stopping outside the walls.

"What?" muttered Deneris, as confused as the others.

The one breaking through buildings was Jebas.

He laid unconscious on the soil.

'Wow, did a newcomer really do this?' thought Getrahan, amused.

Then, they felt something, no, someone, coming their way ever so slowly. They judged he was walking.

After two minutes, a man came into view and, with a tap of the ground, he stood on the palisade.

Shirtless he was, exuding mana while presenting his four pack and chiseled chest for the naked eyes.

The only problem was, he was short.

His gaze was on the unconscious Jebas.

"Did you do that?" asked Deneris.

He simply nodded.

With but a glance, the Emperor was the first to recognize him.

His face made a scowl as he spoke his name..

"Fredrick?!"

With his beard flowing, Fredrick turned to the Emperor and slightly bowed.

"Ah! His majesty remembers me. What an honor!"

His voice was buoyant yet calm.

But that wasn't even on the Emperor's mind.

"How?" he asked, his tone deep.

"You were of Expert-rank for the years I knew you. So how did you become a Grandmaster?"

Naturally, Fredrick didn't have to answer the question as he and the Emperor were now equal.

But a look around warned against such acts.

With so many Grandmasters gathered, their concentrated efforts would end him before he could even cement his new Grandmaster title.

His next words were to be chosen carefully, as he would either make it or break it.

Fredrick continued with his display of elegance, nodding to the Emperor's words.

"You're right. your highness. Seven years ago, I was but an Expert. Yet, now I reached the rank envied by all" he quietened, then pointing behind him.

"In truth, I owe my achievements to the Black Jaws Guild"

His answer only caused more confusion.

"What do you mean?" the Emperor asked.

'In situations like this, you've got to mix lies and truth in the appropriate amount' he smiled inwardly.

He began..

"At the start of the war, I joined Black Jaws because they gave some promising 'promises'. Following that, their connection with Master alchemists brought be a potion that cured me"

"Cured you?"

Fredrick nodded.

"As it would turn out, I had been poisoned from a time I know not. And that poison halted my chances for progression. With the new potion I was cured, and like so, I was able to smoothly advance to Master-rank"

"Then why didn't you inform the royal family?!"

The Emperor was certainly furious.

But Fredrick was ever calm.

"Pardon me, your highness. But as I recall, I was retired from royal duty more than a decade ago"

Meaning, he had no obligation to inform the royal family of anything he did.

The emperor couldn't say anything, letting Fredrick continue his tale of how he worked hard and later followed the black jaws regiment to war, to prove his loyalty to the empire of course.

After that, having judged him to be of much potential, Black Jaws handed him a mana strengthening and a Kraynus pill, both of which were among their war rewards.

All in all, the details made sense and the situation panned out.

The Grandmasters couldn't say anything about it.

But the Emperor couldn't shake a bad feeling he had about the situation.

'There's something else. There's definitely something else'

Then a thought came to him, an itching suspicion.

'The mana stones..could they know something about it?'

It was far-fetched, but his intuition had rarely been wrong.

'If we gave those with mana stones limitless access to resources..!'

He shook his head.

'Let's hope I'm wrong'

Having said his piece, Fredrick unceremoniously left. He couldn't give a penny about what the others thought.

He cited the need to get a shower and put on some clothes.

With the situation reaching an anticlimactic conclusion, the Grandmasters dispersed back to where they came from.

Minutes later, Jebas awoke, bewildered at the sight of an empty land.

'Come on. They should've woken me up'

Without fanfare, he sped off. He would get the needed information from Raven.

All while running, the pain in his stomach was eminent.

So, while he might not know much, he knew one thing.

'Another monster's been born'