By the time Julius finally finished his story, the rest of the matches had already concluded.

  The Emperor listened to him and only interrupted when he had a question that needed clarification. Julius noticed that the man had a severe frown on his face as he explained what had happened to Lukas, as well as Clan Genshen and House Grayson’s involvement.

  “This is deeply concerning,” the Emperor noted when Julius concluded his story.

  “Is there something that you can do?” Julius asked, biting on his lip anxiously. He knew that the Emperor had total authority over the Empire, but it wasn’t reasonable to expect him to be able to do everything. After all, this was first and foremost a family problem.

  “Is there anything you specifically want me to do?” The Emperor asked Julius curiously.

  Julius paused at that and frowned to himself. He hadn’t thought that far yet. What did he even want the Emperor to do? It wasn’t like he could bring Lukas back to life. And it wasn’t like there was anyone other than Edwin whom he cared about on the estate.

  He didn’t like to admit it, but time had certainly blunted the painful memory more than he expected. At the time, he had been absolutely furious. However, now he really only cared about satisfying his own need for revenge; how he went about it didn’t matter as much to him.

  Regardless, it was a difficult question, and he stared at the ground for a few moments before looking up at the Emperor.

  “Punishment?” He proposed, unsure of his own answer.

  The Emperor nodded. “Believe me, there will be appropriate punishment for those involved. I have heard reports about the death of your uncle, but I had originally believed it was a coup from your House’s own members. I know they weren’t happy with the direction and slow decline House Hyperius had been experiencing. Regardless, Lukas Von Hyperius was a very talented individual and a man of integrity. I had hoped that he would advance to Tier 6 and bring House Hyperius back to its previous glory.”

  “So Clan Genshen and House Greyson won’t get away with it?” Julius asked.

  Before the Emperor could speak, Cain scoffed loudly.

  “If you want punishment, I have already made preparations and done some looking around. I was going to wait until after you advanced to Tier 4, but if you want, we can go and destroy House Greyson and Clan Genshen tonight,” Cain said, clamping his heavy hand onto Julius’s shoulder.

  “I would appreciate it if you left this particular issue with me. House Greyson is still one of the Empire’s Ducal Houses,” the Emperor said respectfully, but there was a slight warning in his voice.

  Cain smiled, but Julius felt a sudden surge of aura come from the man as he stared at the Emperor.

  “And yet, you have done nothing to rectify this so far. It took a child younger than 20 for you to understand what happened. I find it hard to believe that the Empire had no idea that House Greyson was involved in the collapse of House Hyperius. Even in my limited investigation, I found out that House Greyson has already taken control of a large number of House Hyperius’s previous holdings immediately after the incident,” Cain said accusingly.

  The Emperor didn’t flinch. “I am aware that House Greyson has acquired many of its properties over the past year, but so have dozens of other Houses. Many people rushed in to take over holdings in the Valorbury region immediately after the incident.”

  “But how many of them are suspected to be working with the Conclave?” Freya spoke up.

  The Emperor turned to her with a deflated expression. “I loathe to admit it, but House Greyson is not the only House or organization in the Empire that had suspected dealings with the Conclave. But in many of these cases, they are from outliers or lone actors without the support of their House or organization. We are currently dealing with them, but with so much other stuff going on, it is difficult.”

  “The more I listen, the less I believe you are actually going to do anything,” Cain noted with a sharp edge to his voice. “In that case, I will handle it myself, and you can deal with the fallout. If you think I am going to allow a mere Ducal House to murder my disciple’s family and brush it under the rug, then you are sorely mistaken.”

  The atmosphere was getting quite intense, and Julius didn’t like it. He appreciated Cain and Freya sticking up for him, but to be honest, he didn’t even know what he wanted.

  “Everyone, calm down,” he said sternly, interceding before the tension could rise.

  “First off, I don’t care that House Greyson has taken control of House Hyperius’s holdings. I could give two shits that another noble family took over a business or some random auction house,” he said this specifically to Cain and Freya before turning to the Emperor.

  “However, they are right in assuming that I will not accept this getting pushed under the rug, forever forgotten in the annals of history. I don’t want some useless sanction or for it to get solved by House Greyson throwing a bunch of money at it. I don’t even care if House Greyson remains somewhat unscathed. But from what I have learned, Wesley Greyson is definitely involved in some way. He will be punished, one way or the other.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Julius saw that the Emperor was about to interrupt him, but he held his hand up, stopping the man. He didn’t even realize how rude his actions could be interpreted. He just sighed and gazed out the window. He didn’t feel it, but he subconsciously let some of his ruinous aura leak out, and the crown on his head glowed softly in response.

  “If you don’t wish to take action against House Greyson, or Clan Genshen, that is up to you,” He said and turned to look at the Emperor as well as Reinera. “Ultimately, it doesn't matter because I plan to do it myself. I don’t need your help, I always planned to take care of this anyway,” he said calmly.

  To be honest, he didn’t even need or necessarily want Cain to interfere either. This was his own thing, and he didn’t want to rely on Cain or Freya’s strength. It was personal, and it wouldn’t feel right if he let them have all the fun. He wanted the satisfaction of punching Wesley Greyson in the face.

  “No, I have heard enough. If even half of what you said is true, then Wesley Greyson has committed a grave crime against the Empire and your family. I will speak to the Duke about this issue. Trust me, Dolan is not like his son; as disassociated as he’s been in the past decade or two, he is not a bad person. He should be able to help give you a satisfactory resolution,” the Emperor said with an understanding nod.

  “Why don’t we just go and grab him now?” Cain proposed.

  “I’m sorry, but that might be a little more problematic. With the tournament going on, there are too many eyes on the Empire, and arresting someone as prominent as Wesley would only invite even more issues. Plus, it will give me time to dig for some proof as well to make sure he can’t weasel out of it.”

  As much as Julius wanted to run off and beat up Wesley immediately, he understood where the man was coming from.

  On the other hand, Cain clearly didn’t like this answer. Nevertheless, when he didn’t see Julius arguing against it, he didn’t say anything and brooded in silence.

  “What about Clan Genshen?”

  “Do you happen to know who from Clan Genshen was behind the attack? Clan Genshen is a highly individualistic clan with multiple factions. I will not punish them for the actions of a few greedy elders.”

  Julius shook his head. “I don’t know who was communicating with House Greyson about the attack. But I’ve had issues with Elder Delton and am almost a hundred percent certain that he is at least involved with the Conclave.”

  “Understood, that is good information regardless. I will have someone investigate Elder Delton and find out what he has been doing. I will also see if they can find out who orchestrated the attack on House Hyperius’s Estate. Is there anything else you would like me to look at?”

  Julius was about to shake his head. But frowned when he recalled that Edwin hadn’t made contact with him yet. It had been bothering him for his entire stay at the capital, but he also knew that Edwin was quite capable.

  “There is someone whom I would like you to look out for,” he noted.

  “Who? Is he someone who is involved in the attack?” The Emperor asked severely.

  “No, he’s my old teacher and someone who helped raise me. His name is Edwin, and he infiltrated the Conclave. He was supposed to arrive in the capital during the tournament, but he hasn’t contacted me. I suspect you have a more extensive information network and wondered if you could help me find him or let me know if you hear anything about him,” Julius explained, but narrowed his eyes when he saw the Emperor look pensive.

  “Is there something wrong?”

  The Emperor looked at Julius. “Give me one moment,” the man said before heading over to his tablet, picking it up, and scrolling through it.

  “Ah, here it is.”

  “What is it?” Julius asked and approached the Emperor.

  “We intercepted a group of Conclave members several weeks ago who were trying to enter the capital. We aren’t sure what they planned to do, but we were fortunate enough to find them and detain them. Included in this group was a man named Edwin. He is currently being questioned for any information related to the Conclave.”

  Julius’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “It says he is being held in a facility in the capital. Is this the same person you are looking for?”

  Julius furrowed his brow. Had Edwin been captured? It appears that was the reason why he hadn’t been able to contact Julius.

  “Can we go see him?” Julius still didn’t quite believe that this was indeed Edwin, but wanted to go and see him regardless. He had to know for sure.

  The Emperor frowned and looked over at Cain and Freya with the first sign of hesitation Julius had seen from the man so far.

  “It might be better if you didn’t.”

  Julius flinched back. “Why?”

  “It says the man has been quite resilient and required advanced methods to figure out what he knows.”

  Julius’s stomach dropped, and his mana slipped out of his control; this caused his life technique to implode on itself. His arm blew up, sending bones and blood everywhere.

  However, he barely noticed. Instead, almost all his focus was on controlling his emotions. His aura was already flaring outward, and he felt several enchantments activate in the room.

  Before he could react, hundreds of circles of mana manifested around him. Then he felt the entire room collapse around him, targeting him.

  Thick gold chains leapt up from the floor and attempted to imprison Julius. However, Cain was there, flicking his arm to shatter these chains.

  Then the door exploded, and all Julius saw was a flash of purple light.

  He was utterly unable to perceive the sword that almost drove straight into his brain. The only reason he was unharmed was that Cain had reached out and grabbed the wrist of the swordsman before the sword was driven between his eyes.

  He could only stare with bated breath at the pitch-black blade that was inches from his nose. He could literally feel its sharpness, tearing into his very soul, even though it didn't touch him.

  What was even more terrifying was the baleful look on the swordsman’s face. He didn’t give Cain a second glance, even with the other man holding his wrist. Instead, he continued to stare at Julius with a pair of the blackest eyes imaginable. Little sparks of purple flared from the irises with cold apathy.

  “Drop your sword, Zane.”

  The Emperor’s voice rocked the room, and Julius could feel his domain suddenly encapsulate the room.

  It was instantaneous. The moment the Emperor commanded it, the man let his sword drop to the ground. It didn’t clatter, but instead created a small crater in the floor from the sheer weight of the weapon.

  However, while the man was now unharmed, Julius didn’t feel particularly safe since the man was still looking at him like he wanted to cut Julius’s soul into tiny pieces.

  It was only due to Cain’s relatively calm expression that assured him that he wasn’t going to be slaughtered by this unknown man. Still, Julius could have sworn his pants felt a little more damp than they had a few seconds ago.

  Patreon!