The dark day...

A day with dreary clouds.

A day with as little sunlight as possible seeping in from the grey firmament.

Glancing up, Nockt had a rather serene expression on his face.

He was looking right out of the window of his small room at the top of his pagoda. Compared to the others that furnished theirs with lavish decorations and magical ornaments, his was much more boring.

But it was by no means simple...

His room was filled with several shelves containing numerous journals and scrolls.

Some of them were books salvaged from the old world. Although most of what was relevant in the old world had become of little consequence, Nockt felt it was important to keep a piece of history with him. He held a bit reluctant to see all of what had been die away, fading to obscurity just like the Sun had.

A few of the other books and scrolls contained information on magic and spell formation which he studied in his free time, while the rest were logs on all that happened within the sect. Those mad up the bulk of all the material on his shelves.

As the Rat Keeper, Nockt possessed a two special abilities.

One, was the ability to store vast amounts of information in his mind.

Such incredible mental space granted him the makings of a great mage.

However, he did not have an affinity for violence, so he preferred to use his talents in other ways.

Once an accountant on the verge of retirement, he had loved to keep things old fashioned. At that time, the use of artificial intelligence and autonomous machines had cemented itself in society as the backbone of the labor force.

However, as someone of the older generation, he still had a soft spot for doing things the old fashioned way...

His second ability, was a magic skill. One he had acquired right at the start of the apocalypse that had ruined the world.

It was a summoning skill; specifically, one that granted him the ability to summon rat-like creatures from the Aether.

However, unlike typical summons of the Aether Realm, he could retain these rat-like creatures by forming [Body and Soul] contracts with them.

The skill itself was what created the contracts, making the rats, in a sense, an extension of his will and presence.

And while it wasn’t the most practical for battle, it worked incredibly well for gathering information and espionage.

Not only that, but he was also granted the incredible hearing of these rat-like creatures.

No secret was safe from him so long as he put in a bit of effort.

But Nockt wasn’t very particular on listening in on private conversations.

Instead, he made use of his gifts mostly to keep his room organized as the ’rats’ were very handy helpers.

Recently, however, he had to make use of them for other things.

He stared at the piece of parchment in front of him.

’Well, this complicates things a lot...’

He let out a sigh. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

On one hand, the news that the Blood Matriarch was not dead should have been welcomed with fanfare.

In fact, if it had come five months earlier, he most definitely would have shed tears of relief.

But now...

Well, things were complicated now.

To begin with, at least half of the elders were vying for the position of sect leader.

The reappearance of the Matriach was sure to displease more than a few hearts in that case.

’This is a disaster in the making.’

He should his head.

’No. Disaster is already at our doorsteps.’

He folded his arms over the scroll.

With the appearance of such ’welcome’ news, many events had played out.

The rising tension between those that were actively seeking out the highest order within the sect seemed to have reached a crescendo.

Even the mundane in the neutral sector had begun to see the changes. There had also been more than a few casualties amongst them.

’The main offenders this time around are Baldur, Suzume, Senkai and Veyra. I’m a bit suspicious of that snake, Nebula. But for some reason, he seems rather silent.’

The Rat Keeper’s eyes narrowed,

’Baldur and Suzume are understandable. Below the Matriach, they had been amongst the most powerful, serving as the strong pillars of the sect at the time. Not only that, but the numbers beneath them are also quite impressive. What I don’t understand are the other two...’

’Senkai the Thousand-Eyed Demon and Verya the Priestess of Battle.’

Nockt snapped his fingers.

The sound of hundreds of small feet hitting the wooden floorboards traveled across the room.

Small shadows shuffled through the shelves and cabinets as surprising speeds.

In a mere second, two scrolls appeared right beside him.

Nockt picked the first one up,

"Senkai the Thousand-Eyed Demon. Currently has around three thousand and five hundred ’Blood Eye Warriors’ in his legion, making up a decent cut of the total combatants within the sect. He is a strong force, but nowhere near as predominant as the first two. However, his individual battle power is quite surprising, ranking amongst the top five in terms of brute strength."

He put that scroll to the side and picked up the other scroll.

"Verya the Priestess of Battle. Alongside Baldur, she possessed the greatest individual strength within the sect. Some even say she is far more powerful than Baldur, with power that could have rivaled the Matriach, perhaps even surpassing hers. However, as of this moment, she possessed the least numbers in her personal ranks amongst all the Elders, a group of blessed and system holders five hundred strong, each one handpicked by Verya herself. They are all female. Each one is said to be the equivalent of a dozen regular warriors in terms of individual might."

Nockt put that scroll to the side as well.

In a split second, the scrolls had vanished from his table again.

"In other words, each and every contestant has a decent backing behind them. And every single one of them is most likely than not, opposed to the potential return of the Matriach. And that is just those that have voiced their discontent."

He hummed as he fell into deep thought.

Suddenly, he raised his head up.

Someone had come to pay him a visit...