Unsealing Emptiness

Holding the papers, she began to speak, “Almost everything is read, young master. These are the reports. We can begin relocating whenever you order us.”

Ozul waved his hand off, not bothering to take and read all those documents in Haley’s hands.

“You can begin anytime. No need to rush,” he told Haley before walking out of the hall.

There would hardly be anyone brave enough to mess with the Three-Eyed strangers these days. Everyone understood it wasn’t worth making enemies with these people, so they didn’t need to worry about anyone causing trouble.

For now, Ozul needed to check out something that had been on his mind for a few days now.

He walked out of the tower and just as he was about to fly towards a certain direction, he paused and turned to face the different direction instead.

.....

Ozul thought about giving the Ashin family a visit as he could feel that they also hadn’t relocated as of yet.

After all their help, it didn’t hurt to inform them that Darcia was now dead. Instead of making assumptions like others, they would be able to amass a lot of assets that previously belonged to the Church of Light.

The Three-Eyed Strangers couldn’t take over other organization’s assets since they had declared themselves as a neutral organization. It would make others wary of them in the future.

He didn’t want that to happen. At least until Raven and Blaze hadn’t completely infiltrated most of the minor and major organizations and he had obtained a specific piece of information.

A few minutes later, he was above the Ashin family’s estate. From just a glance, he could see that everyone seemed to be busy and both the brothers and their father were present.

It appeared to him that the garden was their favorite place in the whole mansion for the brothers to be always seen there.

His arrival would have been unnoticed if not for the dome of Mana that had reacted to the ring on his hand.

Raymond showed a toothy grin while Alver also beamed a pleasant smile as they saw him gradually descend to the ground.

Their smiles only turned wider upon noticing the missing metallic arm which had been replaced with one that had skin over it.

It meant that Ozul had succeeded in getting his arm back!

“Nephew!” Raymond almost shouted with joy.

It couldn’t be helped that they were so overjoyed. Ozul was their only nephew and the only thing remaining of their little sister in this world now. Them not being able to protect him back then and him becoming a cripple because of their negligence always weighed heavily on their mind.

Now seeing him have all of his limbs back together relieved a huge burden off of them.

Even if they were useless uncles, at least their nephew wouldn’t have to suffer his whole life.

“Nephew! You are finally back!” Raymond excitedly stood up from his chair.

“Thankfully you are alright. We had already convinced father to go after you to protect you from that woman,” Alver sighed in relief.

“Hm? Oh yes! Wait! You are fine... so what happened to that old witch?” Raymond questioned as he was reminded of the Rank-10 Mage from Alver’s words.

Just a couple of days ago they had received inside information that the ancestor of the Church of Light wasn’t present there anymore and from their sources, they were sure that she had gone after the leader of the Three-Eyed Strangers who was, in fact, Ozul.

She was a Rank-10 Mage and even their father never took lightly of her no matter how much he mocked that old woman.

His arrival now eased their worries.

“She is dead.” Ozul answer caught the two brothers off guard.

“...”

“...”

For a second, they even wondered if maybe their nephew was just joking. However, the latter’s ever indifferent facial expressions said otherwise.

“Hm?”

Raymond and Alver looked towards the entrance just to see their father entering with large strides.

“What did you say, boy? Darcia, that old witch is dead?” Kure didn’t seem to believe that one of her most hated enemies could die just like that.

Sensing their disbelief, Ozul decided to explain them a little.

“She died because of that uneducated fox,” he said, confusing them further.

What fox? Which beast had the power to take down a Rank-10 Mage, a peak existence on the Mainland!?

Kure felt as if he knew something but he couldn’t put a finger on it.

Ozul turned towards him and said, “You should know something about the fox’s cage or something?”

The word cage made Kure widen his eyes as the knowledge of the past began to resurface in his mind.

“Wolf’s Cage...” he muttered mechanically.

“It’s that damn Wolf! Not a fox, boy!” Kure’s eyes involuntarily twitched at the thought of calling that monster a fox.

But Ozul only shrugged his shoulders in response. Fox or a wolf, it didn’t matter now that she was dead.

“What fox, father?” Alver asked curiously.

Even Raymond was in the dark. He looked between Ozul and Kure with questioning eyes. Did this mean that one of the Rank-10 Mages was really dead now?

Sigh...

Kure didn’t have the energy to explain everything that had happened centuries ago,

“Just know that when a Beast reaches Rank-10, a Rank 10 Mage doesn’t even come near it in terms of strength. No matter how many artifacts they used, defeating a Rank-10 Beast required the combined effort of many Rank-10 Mages.”

This piece of information caused the brothers to widen their eyes in surprise.

Although they understood that each consequent Rank put a Beast far above a Mage on the same Rank in terms of pure physical power and Mana purity, they didn’t think that a Rank-10 Beast would become so strong that even artifacts wouldn’t help a Rank-10 Mage to overcome the difference in their power.

“That Fire Wolf had somehow gotten so powerful that she was fit to be called the Sovereign of all Beasts. Maybe the Sovereign of the Mainland as well, considering she was undoubtedly the strongest being alive,” Kure admitted and continued,

“The main reason why one-fourth of the continent has remained a barren land for centuries is precisely that Beast.”

It would have been a lie if this revelation hadn’t shocked the two brothers. Even they weren’t aware of the minor details like this.

Ignoring their questions, Kure turned towards Ozul and inquired while squinting his eyes,

“So what is this about, boy? Are you saying that damned Beast we put to sleep after sacrificing hundreds of thousands of lives has awakened again?”

Not only him, even Raymond and Alver’s faces held traces of worry as they imagined such a powerful Beast rampaging on the whole continent.

“She is dead as well,” Ozul replied.

“...”

“...”

“...”

It was hard to believe that a Beast with the combined effort of many Rank-10 Mages was only put to sleep before had just died like that as well.

“How could that be?! Who has the power to kill such a being?!” Kure had personally witnessed the Sovereign’s strength back then, so he had a hard time digesting this piece of news.

Suddenly he paused and his eyes widened as if he had come to an understanding, “That old man! Yes! It must be him! Did he somehow intervene and kill that Beast after she had killed that old witch?”

After saying that, Kure nodded to himself with furrowed brows, already considering that his assumptions were on point.

“No.”

Ozul simply shook his head, “The old woman took the Beast down with it.”

“What?! That’s impossible! How could that old witch have such strength to bring that monster down with her?!” Kure refused to believe that her lifelong enemy could have ever been so strong.

“She had an artifact with her. It was enough to drill the whole mountain with the Beast. You can go check if you don’t believe me,” Ozul shrugged his shoulders again.

He didn’t bother to explain that it was actually his arm that had made the artifact so powerful.

Although he hadn’t yet sensed any malicious intentions from the members of this family, he understood that the human heart was fragile and greed made even the finest and the richest of the warriors waver.

With his strength, he didn’t need to worry about their greed but he still chose not to say anything to save his time.

Hearing what he said made Kure fall into deep thoughts.

If a powerful artifact was really involved, then something like this was indeed possible.

However, a question remained on how the Church of Light got its hands on such a powerful artifact.

“Where is that artifact, boy?” he asked, staring intensely into Ozul’s eyes.

“The artifact blew up. That’s the reason both of them died,” Ozul replied, also staring into Kure’s eyes.

He understood that Kure probably didn’t want such a strong artifact into anyone else’s hands and was probing if he might have secured it.

Kure continued to stare at Ozul before promptly sighing and shaking his head.

‘It might have been strong enough to even deal with that old man...’ Kure thought about the old man who was even stronger than the Sovereign.

.....

“No... this won’t do. I have to check it out for myself,” muttering to himself, Kure glanced at Ozul and his two sons as he said, “You kids do your thing. I am going to personally visit the site.”

He didn’t even wait for Alver and Raymond to reply before disappearing from sight.