"The formula used to open this formation...doesn’t belong to this era."

The Elder muttered under his breath. Hearing this, Cassel sucked in a cold breath.

"But, how can that be? There’s no way Emperal could obtain something like that."

Cassel muttered, a bit too loud.

The moment his voice echoed, the air around them changed. The Elders snapped their heads in a certain direction.

A suffocating pressure fell on Cassel; he trembled. Looking above, he saw a figure descending. Her aura rivaling the Elder standing in front of him.

Seraveth descended right in front of him, ignoring the Elder who was staring at her strangely. She snapped her head towards Cassel.

"What did you just say?"

A chill ran down his spine when he saw a hungry and borderline obsessive look on her face. Seraveth’s grin had stretched unnaturally wide. Without waiting for him to speak, she interjected.

"Did you say Emperal? Where is he!?"

She asked, her breathing had quickened. Her golden blonde hair waved slightly, and to the horrified eyes of the Elders...they began to float!

Seraveth’s hair floated in the sky as if it had a will of its own...making her far, far creepier.

"P-Princess, a few days ago. I met with Emperal here; he seemed to have figured out a way to bypass Elder Voidclaw’s formation. But when I asked, he said he couldn’t get past the door below because of insufficient knowledge."

Cassel spoke with his head down; his entire body trembled. Let alone her cultivation, just her bloodline pressure was enough to make his knees buckle.

"Huh?"

Seraveth’s expression turned into a confused one, "Who asked you about all this nonsense?"

Hearing her words, Cassel was genuinely taken aback for a moment.

"Tell me about Emperal! Every. Single. Detail!"

Seraveth spoke each word as if hammering them in one go; she waved her hand without turning back.

"You guys continue to investigate and figure it out. I am sure this much information would be enough."

"We understand, Princess!"

Regardless of their cultivation, age, or status. They bowed without hesitation, after all. It was a Royal standing in front of them.

And Dragons had one strict rule stuck down their asses, hierarchy and bloodline are absolute. No questions asked.

Half the hate Emperal received was solely because of this reason. They had considered him a dirty, sewage rat. Worse than a dragon with even Diluted blood.

Seraveth grabbed Cassel’s collar and vanished together with him. The Elders finally relaxed when she was gone.

"I think...there’s something wrong with the Princess."

The Ironclaw woman from earlier spoke, which resulted in an instant three people staring. Deathly stares.

"Do you want us to be killed?"

...

In Dawnreach.

Emperal walked through the streets with a meat jerky in his hand, chewing it, and he scrolled through the market.

"Infernal Dragon, what are the chances of me getting a Soul Cultivation Technique in this marketplace?"

"Hmm, let’s see. I’d guess it’s close to negative infinity." The Infernal Dragon’s voice was filled with confidence.

"...Well"

Emperal let out a chuckle; he was, of course, joking. There was no way he could find a Soul Cultivation technique in this marketplace.

"So, what do you think about my bounty being here?"

"Hmm, absolute infinity...?"

Infernal Dragon replied, its tone suggesting that it knew nothing after absolute infinity.

"Heh"

Just as he was about to walk into a grocery store, his eyes flashed for a moment. Without even turning his head, he pinpointed the exact stare he was receiving.

Emperal stood there for a moment, wondering what had happened.

"It was your Soul Sense, well, not entirely. But yes, it does spike sometimes randomly."

"Oh, so the earlier stare I received was a...negative one?"

He asked curiously, to which the Infernal Dragon just shook his head.

"I don’t know, it may or may not be."

Emperal hummed and didn’t speak anything, without a change in his expression, he walked inside the grocery store.

"Well, just one way to figure this out."

Emperal packed some of the meat and vegetables and set out. Looking around, he didn’t see anyone blatantly staring at him.

But he did recognize a few who had glanced towards him...more than once.

Without hesitation, he walked towards his mansion.

The people gradually began to lessen the distance he covered. And in a few minutes, he was all alone down the cliff.

Cracking his neck, he kept his shopping materials down on a tree.

"So? Do I have to do the speaking to call you rats out? Heh, you have already failed your mission halfway."

Emperal smirked as he turned back, the moment his words echoed. There was pin-drop silence, and in the next instant. Light footsteps echoed as three men walked out calmly; they had a cloth draped over their mouths, covering half of their faces.

One of them snorted when he heard Emperal’s words, "Big words for someone who is about to die."

"Die? Die from whose hands? It surely isn’t by the likes of you garbage, right?"

Emperal’s smile widened, and the ring on his index finger glowed for a moment. In an instant, the Stormvein blade appeared in his palms.

Clutching the hilt, Emperal’s eyes shifted.

"Just don’t tell me you are after my bounty"

"Heh, that’s right. Someone from Draven leaked a few black market posters...and what a lucky day, we found the most prized lamb...right in our Dawnreach!"

This time, another man spoke. He was the one who had arrived first.

"That’s right, we are—!!!"

Before the third one could even continue, the one who was standing in the middle twisted his body and kicked his torso. Just in time for a blade to pass through the space where once his head was.

Thud!

The man felt a chill down his spine when he saw the cold look in Emperal’s eyes.

He didn’t wait for anyone’s reaction, twisting his wrist. He swung his blade at the middleman, who was caught off guard!

"Argh!"

The tip of the sword left a deep cut on his wrist as he hissed at Emperal.

"Kill this guy!!"