"What I believe in, what I know, and what I can guess are not the things that you will ever be privy to know,

" Markus said in an annoyed voice. He crossed his arms on top of his chest before squinting his eyes and looking deeply into the high interrogator's eyes.

"I guess I don't have any other choice then,

" Jacob said, backing out a few steps and reaching to one of the pockets hidden underneath his robes.

Once he was done searching through his stuff, he pulled out a small, wide, and thin crystal emanating with a faint, red glow.

"This is the incompetency token. Each of the interrogators only has three of those given to them for their entire career,

" Jacob introduced the item that most of the people around would have trouble recognizing.

'Away for him to push back any and all responsibility?' Markus thought, trying to read the situation before the other party would actually make their move.

"I already used one of them back in the days. But let me first explain what will happen if I do snap it in half,

" Jacob added with a sour smile. Unless the face he was making was nothing but an act, it seemed that his soul was boiling in a mix of powerlessness and wish for vengeance for the humiliation he received today.

"Once I snap it, a signal will be sent to my superior, informing him that there is something going on that I cannot handle on my own,

" Jacob explained as his sour smile only deepened.

"And who that direct superior might be?

" Markus asked ironically, pushing his head to the side as he did.

"Your mother? Your lover?

" He added a few guesses to infuriate the man even further.

"No,

" Jacob replied calmly, shaking his head in denial.

"It's the Star Emperor himself,

" he added a moment later.

'Huh?' Markus froze. His eyes were glued to Jacob's face. He looked towards his hand holding the potentially dangerous item.

And it was trembling.

'Is he bluffing?' Markus asked himself, trying to see through the man's ruse. If this was all but an act filled with lies, then he would lose face and a lot of time by agreeing to negotiate. But if the man was actually honest, then Markus would likely end up against a local powerhouse.

A powerhouse that Markus was completely ignorant about.

'If we look at it like that, there is a fifty-fifty chance that he is telling the truth and fifty-fifty chance that this star emperor or something is stronger than me,' Markus thought. Even though he was a scholar, he didn't mind making a bitch out of the probabilistic math in a situation like this.

"In other words, there are three to one chances that you are **ed against me being **ed,

" Markus said out loud, not giving even a shred of ** over the fact that the man would have no idea how Markus arrived at such a conclusion.

"Try me, bitch,

" Jacob replied as some tones of madness exploded in his eyes. His fingers visibly tensed as if he was already attempting to break the stone.

For a moment, Markus remained silent. For a moment, he watched the man in front of him as intensely as if he suddenly turned into a woman perfectly in the middle of Markus' striking zone.

In other words, for the briefest of moments, Markus saw Yelna instead of this man.

"Okay, let's top this dick-measuring contest,

" Markus suddenly said as he raised his hands to the sky.

"My wife would kill me if I dared to fight with that pussy emperor or something on my own. And between that ruler of yours and my wife….

" Markus bit his lips after he said, clearly having some problems with voicing his ideas out.

"Well, let's say that I have yet to grow the balls big enough to ever oppose any of her wishes,

" he added, confusing Jacob to no end.

'Why the ** is he talking about his wife now?' he thought, looking with an intense stare at the man ahead of him. Then, a slight glint appeared in his vision for a moment. A reflection of the sun blocked his view for just a fraction of a second.

"Hello, dear,

" Markus said, turning his head to the side.

And for some reason, there was another person there.

"What?!

" Jacob muttered as the needles of panic once again started to sink into his soul. 'Where did she came from?' he thought, startled by the sudden appearance of a girl.

She was pretty short, roughly one and a half heads shorter than her alleged husband. Her posture didn't give out any feeling of danger or might. There was no aura around her whatsoever, proving that she had no cultivation at all.

'With all of that, she shouldn't be a threat… But why does her mere presence makes me shudder?' Jacob thought, startled by the weird situation.

Clink!

The strange sound of something breaking suddenly caught Jacob's attention. His eyes were drawn to the source of the sound.

And then he saw it.

The crystal that he bid his hopes on suddenly proved to be sliced in half. And as if some strange force that held it together ran out, the upper part of the crystal slid down the same angle at which it was cut.

"What did you….

" Jacob said as he rushed to grab the other part of the stones, still hoping to be able to attach it back. But the shine in it already disappeared. The crystal has died.

And that meant the Star Emperor now knew that something really bad was going on in the War Camp.

"What did you do?

" Jacob muttered, unable to gather the strenght necessary to shout. He fell down to his knees, staring at the two halves of the incompetence stone. Without their inner light, there was nothing that he could do anymore.

"So you were that eager to fight that bastard,

" Markus smiled as he turned around and spoke to the newly appearing figure.

"How could I pass such a rare challenge?

" Yelna smiled viciously as she spoke way more words than she would usually use while conversing. It was the only proof of how excited she was for the fight that Markus required.

"Now then,

" Yelna muttered as she turned around and looked at the high interrogator, revealing the excited look on her face.

"When that bastard is going to show up?

" she asked while putting both of her hands behind her head.

"You…

" Jacob muttered as he stared deeply into the female's eyes but ended up not saying anything more. How can you treat the emperor with such disrespect? How can you be so arrogant? Do you seek death? Those questions somehow became meaningless when put against the excited and fearless look in the girl's eyes.

"Yes, me,

" Yelna said.

"What about me?

" she asked, trying to pry deeper into the mind of the poor investigator.

'This guy stands near the top of this world. It must be hard for him to be faced with a reality like that,' Markus thought, taking pity over the man. Then, after he made his decision, he stepped forward and placed his hand on Yelna's shoulder.

"Let him off, dear. He is not worthy of your attention,

" he said, trying to let the man go out of mercy alone.

"But I will need you to tell us when that emperor or stairs will arrive,

" Markus intentionally twisted the title of the man that the interrogator held in such high regard.

"You guys are doomed….

" Jacob muttered, falling to his knees. His entire body was trembling.

"There is no stopping it. He is coming,

" he continued to mutter as if he lost all his sanity.

"He lost it,

" Markus muttered to Yelna, looking at the man with pity.

"But well, that makes it pretty hopeful,

" he added after a moment.

Then, something strange started to happen to the space around the man. As if the space itself was stretching and tensing down consecutively…

And then, one simple thing changed. The kneeling interrogator disappeared, replaced by a young man standing in the exact same place where the interrogator was a moment earlier.

"What's going on here?

" The man asked, looking around without even a shred of anxiety. Rather than that, his eyes were filled with curiosity and amusement. Then, his eyes locked on Markus and Yelna.

"I guess it's you two that made my loyal man so desperate,

" he said as he cast his eyes on the cut crystal lying on the ground.

And then, his face tensed up a bit.

"Yelna,

" Markus said, putting a wide smile on his face.

"You are up,

" he said as he rustled the girl's hair.

In a flash, the girl disappeared from her spot. As if she turned into a thunderbolt, she instantly changed her position to one just one step behind an alleged Star Emperor.

"Futile,

" the man's face tensed up as he kicked his leg backward.

'He didn't even look behind,' Markus noticed, observing every tiniest movement of the man.

But Yelna was far from fazed by this unexpected counter. Rather than avoiding the man's kick, she lightly jumped and stepped on the top of his feet, using the force of the man's kick to jump even faster and higher.

Her rise to the sky was normal.. Her speed was exactly that of a normal man jumping while being kicked. But as her momentum broke and she reached the highest point she could from her jump, her entire body flashed before the girl thundered down with a force of real lightning!