The next day after the Golden Port battle, a group of men was riding their horses through the frozen paddy fields. There were twenty to thirty wooden houses covered in snow. The women and men in the village stepped out of their warm homes to start their day. From the outside, the village looked no different than any other farming village. But this village was something more. It was a place where the Northguard rebels were hiding.

"General Zakari, the winter seemed to have hit this village pretty hard. Don't you think so?" The man who led the group asked General Zakari. Except for the leader, the others were adorned with leather armor with metal plating to protect their chests and shoulders. Six of the seven of them were Soul refining stage warriors. The leader was at the Fusion Stage level 10. He was none other than General Booth. Now, after being offered the duchy of Valeria, he was called Duke Booth by the thusians.

Duke Booth halted riding his white-maned horse and stared at the village in the distance.

"I think we should warm them up," Booth turned his gaze toward Zakari. His eyes glistened with killing intent. General Zakari nodded. Wasting no time, General Zakari ascended to the air. He flew toward the village.

"Bring me the village leader and five others," Booth said to another Soul Refining stage general.

"Burn the rest," Booth said. He was nonchalant. To him, burning this village was no different than having breakfast. He lost count of how many villages he burnt down and how many people he had killed.

The villagers didn't notice Zakari hovering in the sky above them. The snowfall made their vision blurry. Their peaceful day took a turn for the worst when a fiery boulder hit the center of the village. The boulder hit the village with enough force to decimate the surrounding homes. Pieces of the fiery boulder scattered out, lighting the village like a Christmas tree.

Some people screamed in shock, and some screamed in pain. General Austin was ordered to capture the village elder and five others.

"I hope the old man is still in one piece," General Austin said, looking at the fire engulfing the entire village. He headed for the only two-story building in the village. If the village elder was somewhere, it would be this lavish home. Meanwhile, General Zakari rained down fire from above. General Austin flew through the falling fiery boulders to the village elder's home.

General Booth watched the village burn with a calm face.

"Zakari is definitely having fun with his new spell," Booth chuckled. He gifted the spell to Zakari for capturing Prince Davarius. People would literally kill to have such a powerful Epic Class spell. The destruction this spell brought could be compared to a Legendary class spell. The boulders crushed the villagers and burnt their skin off.

To this moment, the villagers had no idea why they were being slaughtered. Suddenly, five men shot toward the sky from the village. They wore silver robes and hoods to cover their heads. Booth and his general were familiar with the robes. Their robes once represented the Northguard royal family, and now, they belonged to the rebels led by Prince Davarius.

Booth's mission was simple. He wanted to burn down some villages and take a few hostage. Unfortunately, he decided to burn down this village because the rebels chose this place to hide. General Zakari didn't even flinch when he saw the rebels.

"It's because of you those villagers are dying right now," Zakari said with a devilish grin on his face. Fury and rage glistened under the rebels' hoods. The thusians had invaded their homeland, pillaged their farms, feasted on their women, and burnt down villages. Simply put, the thusians turned a once peaceful kingdom into a war zone.

"They did nothing to you bastard!" One of the rebels couldn't keep his rage contained. He dashed at Zakari with his sword raised. The sword radiated a violet light.

"Hand of justice," Zakari cast a spell as a fist made of sparkling silver energy materialized above the rebel. The rebel swung his sword left and right, trying to cut the fist. However, the power gap between a Core Formation warrior and a Soul Refining stage warrior with Cosmic energy coursing through his body was gigantic. The fist opened up, grabbed the rebel, and squeezed him until he turned into a bloody paste.

Before the other rebels could retaliate, Zakari raised his hand as several boulders soared down the sky and landed right on top of the rebels. The fire enveloping the boulders burnt down the rebels. They couldn't even defend themselves against Zakari. Booth watched the rebels' burnt bodies falling down from the sky with an amused smile.

Booth didn't give a damn about the rebels. Otherwise, he would have ordered his men to capture them. No, Booth had bigger plans for the villagers.

After killing the rebels, Zakari cast the meteor spell once again, not because he was required to but because he liked casting his new spell. In a few minutes, the village was completely destroyed. Furthermore, the spells turned the flat village into a massive crater.

The village elder's house finally crumbled down to pieces. Luckily, Austin managed to grab the elder and five others in a bubble before Zakari destroyed the house. Despite the winter, the air became hotter. It took a few moments for the silence to take over the village. Except for the sound of crackling wood, one could hear nothing.

When Zakari and Austin returned to Booth, he saw the unconscious bodies of the village elder and five others.

"Send them to my castle," Booth waved his hand casually. Zakari nodded as he took out a golden scroll. When he tore the scroll, a bright light enveloped the villagers. The light disappeared as soon as it appeared with the villagers.

"Where to your grace?" asked Zakari.

"Isn't there another village nearby?" asked Booth.

His men bobbed their heads up and down.

"Then let's go there,"

*********************************************

The next day after Booth's visit to Northguard, Booth was ordered to meet someone from the Guardian Guild. Booth stood before the mirror, neatly combing his hair and mustache. Usually, Booth preferred to be in armor and avoid fancy robes, but today was an exception. Apparently, the man he was about to meet was a major financial backer of the Guardian Guild.

So Princess Victoria ordered him to be on his best behavior.

"Why can't Edith meet with this old pig?" Booth snickered.

"Your grace. Lord Oswald is waiting for you in the guest room," Booth heard his maid sound gentle and sweet as always.

"I'll be there in a minute," said Booth. He adjusted his robes one last time and walked out of the room. By the time he reached the guest room, he saw a short man with no hair whatsoever on his head munching on the apples waiting for him. The man's belly was big enough to make Booth doubt whether he had swallowed a pig whole.

"Duke Booth," the man grinned from ear to ear. Bits of pieces of apple flew out of his mouth. He was simply disgusting in Booth's eyes. Nonetheless, he had to show this man some respect in order to get his help.

"Lord Oswald. I hope you had a pleasant trip," Booth let out a phony smile.

"It was wonderful," Lord Oswalk clapped.

"I honestly didn't think Princess Victoria would personally reach out to me and ask me to meet you. This must be pretty important given the unfortunate circumstances," said Oswald.

"It's not unfortunate, just a few bumps on the road. With your help, we can sort it out in no time," said Booth.

"My help. I am not sure what I can do to help you in this war, Duke Booth," Oswald scratched his bald head. Booth was not stupid to believe Oswald. He knew very well the man was trying to play hardball.

"I heard Lord Oswald has taken a liking to a piece of land in Valeria. Is there any truth to what I heard?" asked Booth.

People like Oswald had no chance of reaching higher cultivation stages. Hence, they loved wealth, land, and women more than they loved cultivation resources. Although Oswald had enough wealth to feed at least five generations, he lusted for more wealth and land. Victoria knew this. Her spies had been following Oswald for at least six months now.

"I did like the land of Duke Booth. But I heard it belonged to Queen Valeria's family," Oswald sighed.

"I can literally imagine a five-acre vineyard, the smell of ripe grapes and the sweet taste of high-quality wine, "

Booth leaned forward,

"What if I tell you I can get you the land and help you build the vineyard of your dream?"

Oswald pretended to be surprised. But inside, he knew he could get his hands on the land. Thanks to Ghost, the thusians had no choice but to come to him.

"In exchange for?" Oswald dragged his words,

"In exchange for the Guardian Guild to send their rogue Immortals to deal with Ghost," said Booth.

"That's a pretty big ask for a piece of land, Duke Booth. It's not my decision but the board's decision,"

General Booth smiled.

"We both know your capabilities to sway them to your side, Lord Oswald. Also, it's not only about the land, its power, and respect,"

"Let's just assume I can help you, there are seven others on the board. Convincing them to vote to send an Immortal to Thusia to help you win a war that you started first is nothing but impossible," Oswald shook his head.

"You've made the impossible possible by rewriting the rules, Lord Oswald. Don't you think the land would go nice with the princess?"

Oswald was pleasantly surprised.

"What do you mean by that, Duke Booth?" Oswald asked. His jaw almost dropped down.

"I mean, once you sway the board to send an Immortal to put an end to Ghost, his majesty would be happy to offer Princess Victoria's hands to your son in marriage. I am pretty sure that's worth more than the votes of your fellow board members,"

"Are you joking with me right now, Duke Booth?" asked Oswald.

Booth's smile disappeared from his face.

"Do I look like I am joking, Lord Oswald?"