*CRACKLE!*
The Emperor struck with a vicious attack.
The children were binded by his lightning and moved their eyes to face the opposite direction.
When they heard the loud crackle of lightning, they all shut their mouths.
They wished it wasn't so, but they instinctively knew that they were never going to see their mothers again.
They were a group of three boys and two girls.
Three were children of the first wife, two girls and a boy, while the mother of Johan and Theron was the second wife.
The girls, along with their brother, cried silently and slowly, while the two boys were mute, their eyes hollow and their expressions dead.
By now, the sound of lightning had ceased.
It lasted a couple of seconds.
The Emperor looked at his handiwork, two bodies completely charred black with their hands connected.
He was genuinely amazed.
'They didn't scream till the end'
His attacks burnt them inside out, but none of them made any sound, or maybe his attack was that powerful?
Either way, the Emperor had only respect for such actions. It was a pity that they were on the enemy's side.
With quick work, he broke the floor of the underground passage, used lightning to make a well made pit, and placed the charred bodies in it.
Then, he broke up the entire passage, filling the pit with rocks and sand. To finish it up, he fashioned it to look presentable as a grave.
Such women deserved at least that much.
With that done, he turned to look at the kids.
He tapped his chin, contemplating as he sorted out his thoughts.
His mind went back to the matter of Cavarl.
'Did I make the right choice by letting that guy live?' he wondered.
In other cases, he would have killed him straight away, but with the grandmasters arriving, if Cavarl resist even a little, it would cast suspicion upon him once they saw his dead body.
Such an act would cause a rift between them, which meant this coordinated attack on Avilla would not have been possible.
Worse, if the Grandmasters poked their noses around, they might smell out the mana stones, prompting a very difficult situation.
But looking at it carefully, enough mana stones would ensure a Grandmaster could grow into the Mythical-rank. Even one of those would allow stunning growth for a Master.
So he doubted that Cavarl would be stupid enough to expose or lose such a treasure by breaking their deal.
With such reasoning, he reaffirmed that he made the right decision.
He looked at the children, before looking away.
He figured he'd think of what to do with them once he was done cleaning up.
With that, he flew off once more towards the buildings of the ruling powers of Avilla, leaving the still blinded children behind.
To make sure the conquest went smoothly, as well as stopping any future rebellions, the entire ruling class had to be uprooted.
—----------------—-
Meanwhile, Raven sped through the city on a mission of his own.
His job…was to mark out treasures!
Avilla only had one city, but it was a power nonetheless. They were bound to be rare artifacts laying about, no matter how few.
He would run into shops and look through every merchandise. Whichever caught his eye or seemed unusual, he would place his hands on it and give it a mark.
This was his unique technique that earned him his moniker.
Anything he marked would have its location known to him within a certain range.
The range was larger than the whole of Avilla, so he needn't worry about losing sight of it.
He was assigned to plunder all rare treasures, but he figured he would mark them first.
With each Grandmaster having their hands full, things were starting to shake up back at the Empire.
By now, evening had come, and soon, night would fall.
—----------------------------------
-Kingsmere, 1 and a half hours ago-
Bolton had the castle servants clear up the torn pieces of paper and broken glass.
He walked around the castle to check for any inconsistency, while also lamenting the fact that he hadn't told the Emperor about Ezra's new weapon.
'But well, his majesty shouldn't take that long'
The Emperor had left twenty minutes ago.
At most, Bolton judged he'd be back by the thirtieth minute.
At this moment, the crest at the right side of his chest shone with light, and a message was heard…
"The Avillian King is dead. I have moved to lay claim to his lands. You know what to do. I expect them to arrive as early as possible. Glory to the Empire"
Bolton's eyes widened, and narrowed seconds later.
'For the Emperor to suddenly attack Avilla…did some unexpected problem crop up? Hmm, regardless, this message…I guess a war call is in order'
Quickly, he sorted his thoughts and moved with haste.
He threw the matter of Ezra's weapon to the back of his head.
He sent a message to the sentinel.
"It's an urgent message from the Emperor. Get here as fast as possible"
—-----------------------------------
Minutes later, the sentinel arrived in front of Bolton with fast steps.
"You called"
"Good to see you too, Kogar. Have a sit and let's get to the matter at hand"
Kogar did as told and the conversation began.
"You are to hold a mandatory war call to a quarter of our elite force"
Kogar raised an eye in surprise. A quarter of Niton's full force meant the Empire was going to war.
On queue, Bolton continued.
"It is as you fear, the Empire is at war once more"
"For what reason?!" Kogar demanded, perplexed.
"The conquest of a land that was once ours"
A name crossed Kogar's mind.
"Avilla?!"
Bolton gave a nod, confirming his thoughts.
"Missions for war should be distributed in every Missionary by tonight"
"How much for compensation?"
"Give enough, but not too much"
"Okay, anything else?"
Bolton stopped to think for a few seconds, before responding…
"You know the rules. Make sure to contribute as much as possible. The rewards this time might be more astonishing than expected"
Kogar's eyes glinted.
"Oh? I'll make sure to do so"
"Have all missionaries near the border send reinforcements as fast as possible. Goods might need transporting"
"Have the clans and guilds draw lots. We can't have Niton undefended because everyone was trying to acquire treasure"
Kogar had formed the general idea of what he was supposed to do.
With that done, both men headed to their duties.
—----------------------------
Meanwhile, Ezra was perusing the abilities of his new weapon without knowing the massive waves his plan had kicked up.
He couldn't stop himself from smiling from ear to ear.
With a series of tests, he discovered the weapon was null-elemental geared.
Meaning, unlike other weapons which had their enchantments dedicated to enhancing a particular element, this one wasn't geared to any.
Normally, that would be a serious bummer, if not for the fact that it could conduct effects of any element!
For Ezra, who held five, it meant he could apply freezing, burning, scorching, cursing or poisoning effects as soon as the blade touched another surface.
The reason why this is such a boon is simple. In any other scenario, Ezra would only be able to use the effects of at most three of his elements.
Then, it had a size and weight regulator imbued within it that worked through ways Ezra could not even begin to understand.
With a thought and some mana, it could become as small and light as a pebble or as big and heavy as a horse.
Of course, the mana expended wasn't small either. If Ezra wasn't careful, he could faint because of it.
That aside, Ezra naturally had expectations from the start.
Yet, he still severely underestimated its quality.
Right now, he was awed, because this was just the first day.
There was still a lot to be discovered!
And that possibility excited Ezra to no end.
–—-—-----——-—-—-------------
Hours flew by in a flash and, before long, it was night time.
More importantly…
A man in a cloak paid Kingsmere's entrance fee.
"Here" he said.
Fredrick had arrived.
His eyes shone with resolve from beneath the cloak.
The expedition was officially over.
To Fredrick though, it was just the start.
