Chapter 46: Chapter 9
In the Neigal Kingdom castle, a middle-aged man with short black hair sat on his throne. He wore an all-black robe with luxurious gold ornaments. That man was the King of the Neigal Kingdom, Jonathan Neigal. But King Jonathan suddenly stood up, and his body shivered as he looked in the direction Dugald City was located. He disappeared from his throne and appeared on the balcony, then flew towards the direction of Dugald city.
An hour later, King Jonathan arrived at the Dugald city, where he had felt the horrors before. His face was slightly sweaty, and his breathing was rough. He flew at full speed to quickly reach his destination. After he arrived there, he was dumbfounded when he saw the scene before him. The place that was previously a luxurious mansion had turned into a bottomless pit in the shape of a palm. There were already many people from all over the city of Dugald gathered to see it.
"What happened here?" King Jonathan muttered quietly. From his voice, there was a little fear in it.
King Jonathan flew around Dugald city several times to find the person responsible for this incident, but he couldn't find him. The person who did it was long gone from this place.
"Haaa... I'll have to hold a virtual meeting with the other four kings to discuss this matter." King Jonathan sighed heavily and flew back towards the castle.
***
After Ziel made a big fuss in Dugald city, he was currently walking in the middle of the forest. Why is he there? Because Ziel had secretly installed a mana tracker on the Magic King that he had seen in Marquis Jacobe's mansion and kept following him until he arrived at that place.
Ziel was currently in the border forest between the Neigal Kingdom and the Alba Mountain Range. The mana tracer that Ziel had attached to the Magic King stopped not far in front of him. There, Ziel could see the Magic King entering a cave.
At first glance, Ziel knew that the cave was unnatural and undoubtedly an artificial one. The cave entrance looks secure and as if people can enter and exit freely. But in reality, there was a reasonably strong barrier covering the cave entrance. When Ziel arrived in front of the cave, he immediately inspected the barrier just like he did at the Marquis Jacobe's residence.
"This barrier is the same as the Marquis Jacobe's residence. But this one seems to be stronger in resisting attacks." Ziel tore the barrier slowly and entered the cave without any problems. After Ziel crossed the barrier, he felt something.
"Hmm... I feel so many presences in this cave. Not only humans but also several races mixed in there. The most powerful presence was a Sage?" Ziel narrowed his eyes in the direction the Magic King left. Then he started walking in and disappeared into the darkness of the cave.
***
Inside the cave, the Magic King kept walking until he arrived in front of a gate closed by a giant iron door. The door was not made of ordinary iron but a magic metal commonly called mithril. The gate was guarded by two strong-looking people.
"Master Caldeon, I'm Gilbert asking permission to meet." The Magic King is named Gilbert. He spoke to the person behind the door in a polite and slightly frightened tone. It seemed that the people there were higher in the hierarchy than Gilbert.
"Come in." A deep voice echoed in Gilbert's ears. The mithril door was covering the gate suddenly opened by itself.
Behind the gate was a very spacious room like a hall in a royal palace, and a person sat on a black throne chair with the dignity of a king.
That person was an old man with long black hair and a beard. He had green eyes, and most of his body was shrouded in a strange black smoke. That person was Gilbert's superior and the head of the 'Dark Legacy' organization, Caldeon.
Gilbert walked in front of the person, then knelt on one knee and bowed his head in front of Caldeon. Before Gilbert opened his mouth, Caldeon spoke first.
"Marquis Jacobe is dead." Caldeon spoke to Gilbert, but it's like muttering to himself.
"What!?" Gilbert was shocked after hearing what Caldeon said.
"He was killed right after you left the mansion." Caledon said calmly, like it didn't matter to him.
"How is that possible? Then the person who killed him is already watching me? But I don't feel the presence of anyone in his residence. Did Beatrix Artvika do it?" Gilbert gritted his teeth in anger that Marquis Jacobe was killed not long after leaving his mansion. He felt ashamed and humiliated because of the incident. What's more, that person could break through the barrier he created and spy on him without Gilbert knowing his presence.
"I don't know for sure who he is. But that means the person killed is the person who has great self-concealment ability or his strength is far above you." Caldeon himself did not know how it could happen and who did it. A hint of crisis could be seen on his face.
"I apologize for my carelessness, sir. I will immediately look for that person." Gilbert was determined to find the person to cover up his mistakes as soon as possible.
"No need. The most important thing right now was to find someone who could replace Marquis Jacobe's position. Since he's dead, we'll have a hard time finding 500 people for human experiments tomorrow." Caldeon said in a deep voice and looked very serious.
"I will soon find a solution about this, sir." Gilbert was confused about how he could get 500 people in one day. Suppose he kidnapped 500 people blindly, the Neigal Kingdom will be on high alert, and their whereabouts will likely be discovered soon.
"You have to. Otherwise, 'that person' will be angry." Caldeon looked at Gilbert sharply and said in a voice that contained a threat.
"Yes, Master!" Gilbert trembled in fear after hearing Caldeon's words.
"Master Caldeon, I'm Tristan asking permission to meet." A voice from outside the room interrupted their conversation.
"Come in." Caldeon answered curtly.
When the door opened, the person who entered was a tall and burly young man with red hair and black eyes. He carried a large sword behind him and was one of the strongest people in the 'Dark Legacy' organization. His name was Tristan, and he had strength at the level of the Sword King. If Gilbert was Caldeon's left hand, his right hand was Tristan.
"Yo...isn't this Gilbert? It looks like you're in trouble. Haha..." Tristan waved at him and laughed mockingly. It seems their relationship is not very good.
"Tristan... You don't have to interfere in my problems. You'd better take care of yours." Gilbert gritted his teeth and looked at Tristan with a piercing gaze.
"Haha... You're still as emotional as ever." Tristan looks happy to see Gilbert in trouble and keeps taunting him.
"You!" Gilbert was about to reply to Tristan's words but was stopped by Caldeon's angry voice.
"Enough! Tristan stops mocking him. I want to hear your report." Caledon interrupted Gilbert and Tristan before they could argue any further.
"Yes, Master." Tristan started reporting his work.
After listening to what Tristan said, Caldeon fell silent and frowned.
"Looks like it's not going well on your side either." Caldeon mumbled softly, but Tristan and Gilbert could hear his voice.
"Yes. Because the people in the Kingdom are very vigilant. Unlike in the Neigal Kingdom. It is difficult to find collaborators for our plans." Tristan nodded in agreement with Caldeon's words.
"I see. You go back there and make sure to get a collaborator soon. Do not disappoint me." Although Caldon spoke dryly, his voice contained absolute orders and a hint of threat.
"Yes, sir." Tristan answered curtly. He lowered his head, and sweat dripped from his forehead because of fear.
"Then you can go..." As Caldeon was about to end their meeting, a cracking sound suddenly sounded in his ears.
Crack...crack...
Caldeon narrowed his eyes towards the gate, and he could see many cracks slowly forming in the mithril door.
Boooooooommmmmm!
Not long after, the mithril door shattered into pieces, and the shards scattered all over the room. Even a few flakes shot towards the three of them. But before the fragments of the mithril door hit them, a barrier formed in front of Tristan and Gilbert.
"Who are you!?" Caldeon stood up from his throne and asked with thick killing intent. He couldn't see who had smashed the door because smoke and dust still shrouded the place.
"I just stopped by here to get rid of the pests." His voice sounded like a demon from the bottom of hell.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone