The Thunder Emperor was sitting in his tent, studying a map of the Eastern Region of the Milton Kingdom.

In his maps, several marks indicated the strongholds of the Dark Arts Faction and other organizations unaffiliated to the faction but were hiding Arcanists who practice the Dark Arts.

He had been hired by the three cardinals of the Church of the Three Paragons to find and retrieve the Divine Sword, a legendary artifact stolen from the Church by a mysterious thief, the Masked Devil.

This Arcanist was a huge mystery for him. He knew that a powerful Arcanist like the Masked Devil had left some traces somewhere. There was no way that an Arcanist of his caliber would just suddenly appear out of nowhere.

He must be an old and rich Dark Spellcaster within the country.

“I’m not getting any progress. What’s going on? Am I missing something?” He muttered while looking at the map carefully.

The Thunder Emperor was a notorious mountain bandit who had earned his name and fame by using his powerful lightning magic to raid and plunder villages and caravans. Of course, this was true a few years ago when he was still starting to spread his name, but he was no longer doing the same job as before.

He was now accepting missions that those so-called righteous organizations wouldn’t dare to take. His earnings with these types of jobs were several more times than when he was still plundering caravans.

“Sir, I think finding this person would be difficult. He was using a mask when he destroyed the castle. No one knows his face, age, or even his gender. Perhaps he was only copying a male voice to throw us off. By now, he could’ve changed his face… No, just removing his Mask would make us helpless. If he was desperate to hide, he might even destroy the Mask to ensure it won’t be traced back to him again.”

The Thunder Emperor’s assistant said while checking various wanted posters on his table. They have collected these posters over the past ten years, and there were thousands of them already. 𝒊𝒆𝓪.𝙘𝙢

They were hoping that the Masked Devil would match in one of them.

The Thunder Emperor frowned after hearing his subordinate.

He had been tracking the thief for weeks, following his trail of clues and rumors. He only learned that the heavenly lightning also appeared in the slums of Melthorn City aside from the Murton Castle.

This clue was a dead end. The assistant might be correct…

As he was thinking of slapping the mouth of his assistant for being so annoying, his mystic staff started vibrating.

Weng… Weng…

The Thunder Emperor’s eyes lit up as soon as he saw this. He immediately held the staff tightly and closed his eyes…

Boom!

Suddenly he witnessed a scene that the staff was trying to show him.

A loud thunderclap echoed across the sky, followed by a bright flash of lightning.

The Thunder Emperor looked at the phenomenon with shock and excitement…

‘Where is this place?’ He silently thought as he quickly observed the surroundings where the lightning strike occurred. It lasted for a brief second as his vision disappeared and the staff returned to normal.

As soon as he opened his eyes, he immediately took his pen and a blank paper before drawing what he had just seen.

He felt a sudden surge of intuition. He realized that it had something to do with the Divine Sword. He realized that someone might’ve triggered the real power of the Divine Sword!

He felt a sudden surge of anger.

‘That Divine Sword is mine!’

Soon, he finished drawing and showed it to his subordinate…

“Hey! Can you recognize this place?” He asked.

The assistant jolted by the sudden question, but he quickly looked at the drawing.

After a few moments, he made a guess.”

“A fortress? No, it looks more like a noble’s castle. The size is too big… Perhaps it’s owned by a duke? I’m not sure… However, that castle’s design seemed new compared to the old ones we’ve seen in the south.”

“Call the others! I want to know where this place is as quickly as possible.”

“Y-yes…”

The assistant wanted to say more. He felt this would be too difficult since the kingdom had many huge castles. Most of them are owned by large Arcanist Organizations, followed by the Nobles. It would be too difficult.

However, to his surprise, one of their members had actually realized where this place was!

“It’s Vermont Academy! I’ve seen it before when I was still a porter. I’ve seen it from afar, but I can’t be wrong. I’ve seen someone commanding a group of zombies in that place! There was no way I’d forget it.”

The Thunder Emperor smiled brightly. He didn’t doubt his subordinate’s words since everything would actually make sense!

The Masked Devil uses Dark Arts, and Vermont is the Academy of Dark Arts! Even an idiot could guess that the Masked Devil had taken refuge in the Academy after escaping from the Sherman, the Elite Bounty Hunter!

‘Perhaps he’s a Professor there? He’s a public figure that can’t be recognized as a criminal… Using a Mask would make sense.’ The Thunder Emperor silently thought.

Without any more hesitation, he gave a series of orders to his subordinate as they couldn’t let the thief escape again.

He grabbed his staff and stood up. He wore a mask that resembled a hawk’s beak, hiding his face and his identity. His eyes glowed with blue light, matching his hair.

Bzzt… Bzzt…

His staff emitted sparks, showing his power and his excitement.

He decided to act quickly and decisively…

‘Hmph… I wonder how the Academy will protect you from me…’ The Thunder Emperor smirked as he thought of his plan.

This time, he imagined himself storming into the Academy to find the Masked Devil!

However, before he could leave, he recalled that there might be someone who could help him familiarize himself with the Academy.

“That old fool should still be alive… I’m sure he wanted to take revenge. This is perfect.”

𝑖𝘦.𝑐𝘰𝘮