Stopping his thoughts from going down this road, Daneel proceeded to wash himself before donning silk pajamas that he had found very comfortable to wear, especially when all he was doing all day was lying on the bed and listening to reports.

Yet, just as he was about to plop onto the bed after checking that there was no news, an urgent knock sounded on his door.

At the same time, Luther's frantic voice appeared through the oathstone, making Daneel run back to the wardrobe in order to change his clothes.

"My Lord, an army 50,000 strong is marching on us from our east."

.....

East of Lanthanor, in an army camp freshly set up on a gra.s.sy plain.

"No changes yet?"

A tall, bald man with dark skin and twin combat axes on his back sat on a chair in the center of the tent. He was wearing light plate armor that looked like it had been molded as one piece, making it so that there were no places that could restrict his movement.

"None, sir. All those we contacted to cause chaos have been captured."

Hearing the answer to his question from the messenger standing at the entrance of the tent, the man grimaced coldly before gesturing at him to leave.

In front of him sat a man with a calm and collected expression on his face, while his long, black ponytail hung from his head to the small of his back.

"It must be that Grand Court Mage and those three commanders. They must be taking care of everything while hoping that the King would recover."

It was the Sect Master of the Withering Leaf Sect, who did not look at all like the man who had previously collapsed due to seeing his elders killed right in front of his eyes.

The only remnant of that pain hid deep in his eyes, as if it was waiting to jump out and devour everything it wanted when it got the chance.

At the words of the Sect Master, the bald man shook his head before asking the question whose answer had led to this expedition setting out in the first place.

"Are you sure that it was a potent enough attack that will certainly cause the King of Lanthanor to either die or be bedridden for years?"

"Yes. I have personally seen its power. Unless one manages to reach the Exalted Human level as a fighter, it is impossible to even think of surviving the blow. If that is true, I'm willing to jump into the Endless Sea to drown forever."

This last phrase was something often used in Angaria. It came from a myth that long ago, a peak Warrior Level Fighter had wanted to find out exactly how deep the Endless Ocean surrounding the Angarian Continent was.

He had set out with a communication trinket that transmitted his thoughts to those on a boat on the surface, diving deep inside without being afraid of running out of breath anytime soon due to his formidable body that was just one step away from breaking through to the Champion Level.

After reaching around 5 km in depth, the signal from the trinket had started to cut off.

He never surfaced, and the last thing heard from him was one line:

"Drowning… forever"

Hearing the Sect Master's words, the man nodded before saying, "As discussed, Axelor shall take 70% of the spoils, and we expect your Sect to use its full force."

With a small smile, the Sect Master replied, "No problem. Axelor mustn't hold back either."

At this, the bald man's eyes burned with a fury that seemed to have been suppressed for a long time.

Taking a few moments to control himself, he said, "You can rest a.s.sured that we won't."

As the memories of having to turn back and run to his home with his tails tucked between his legs resurfaced in the man's mind, he resisted the urge to smash everything in his grasp to relieve his rage.

For months since the incident, he had been mocked and humiliated ruthlessly by his fellow commanders for running away due to just a few words from a kid a quarter of his age.

Now, it was finally time to wipe away that humiliation.

....

In the same area, in a tent nearby.

The Eldest Prince sat with his legs folded on the ground while caressing a Ker Gem in his hands. As the powerful Energy entered his body, his left chest, where his heart was supposed to be, seemed to be trying to tear out of his clothes in order to devour the Ker Gem whole.

"ARGH!"

With a wretched expression, he stopped his meditation and threw the Ker Gem aside, causing it to roll on the ground before coming to a stop due to someone placing a foot on it.

Feeling a threat behind him, the Eldest Prince hastily got up before rus.h.i.+ng to the edge of the tent after conjuring a barrier around him.

Along with the barrier, 10 talons came into existence all around his body.

These red talons faintly s.h.i.+mmered in the air, as if they weren't actually solid, while the air around them seemed distorted due to the high heat they were emitting.

If Daneel were here, he would definitely be shocked to see that this was actually a famous Eminent Warrior Level spell known as "Fire Talons".

The compressed fire was in fact so disastrous to a human body that a single blow was enough to cause death to even a typical Exalted Human Fighter.

After seeing this, Daneel would have turned around and been even more shocked to see the man who had once almost killed him.

It was the Vice Sect Master of the Withering Leaf Sect, who also had a bulge on his chest, as if something were trying to break out from his clothes to reach the Ker Gem at his feet.