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nAzaroth acknowledged their greetings with a light nod before fixing his gaze on Oliver, who had already become solemn and no hint of his prior arrogance could be seen on his face or in his eyes.

nWhen Azaroth looked at him, despite realizing he was not a match for him, Oliver returned his gaze with no hint of fear in his eyes. However, just a few seconds later, sweat beaded his forehead, and his heartbeat increased by a few notches. Fortunately for him, just before he was about to cave in front of Azaroth invisible pressure, Azaroth spoke, “You are a core disciple of Ice Sovereign Mountain?”

nAs soon as he spoke, the ‘pressure’ on Oliver vanished, causing him to sigh in relief. In just a moment, the sweat of his forehead turned into Ice Vapour and disappeared and his heartrate turned normal.

nAlthough he was boiling in rage, he didn’t dare show it on his face, and calmly nodded, “Yes.”

nAzaroth seemed to sigh as he said, “Sure enough, the sovereign forces are really something else. Even their normal peak five-star disciple can exchange blows with king rank mages, let alone genius disciples like you. If my judgment isn’t wrong, you are strong enough to fight a mid-stage elemental King to a draw.”

nOliver’s eyes flashed and for the first time, a hint of respect appeared on his face as he said, “I have yet to test my current strength, but since your majesty has said so, I should be able to do it.”

nSaying this, he looked into his eyes, and said, “I wonder if you will mind confirming this?”

nAzaroth gently shook his head, “I can’t help you because… I have to hold back a lot. If I did that, the assessment wouldn’t be accurate, and if I accidentally use a little more force in my attacks, you might end up crippled.”

nOliver scoffed in his heart when he heard the first part of his answer, ‘Sure enough, no matter how strong they are, they don’t have courage to offend the sovereign forces. What a waste of my respect!’

nHowever, his expression froze when he heard the last part, before turning dark as he coldly said, “I admit, being a King Mage, you are a lot stronger than me, but saying you can easily cripple me if you happen to use a little more strength… aren’t you underestimating me a little too much?”

n“Oh? You don’t believe me?” Azaroth raised his brows in question.

nOliver felt a shiver run down his spine, but he ignored it, and nodded, “Yeah, I do not.” Although he had yet to measure his current strength, he could roughly tell he could fight most of the mid-stage King mages just like Azaroth had said, and that was the reason why he felt a tinge of respect for him. Also, even though he knew he wasn’t Azaroth’s match even if he went all out and used his Ice God Technique–of course, it was because he had only comprehended first level, and had yet to master it. If he mastered it, he believed even if he might not be his match even then, he could retreat unscathed,–he should still be able to force him to at least 50-60% of his strength.

n“Let me prove it to you then.” Azaroth said in his same calm but dignified voice before he casually waved his hand.

nA small amount of greenish mana was released from his hand, which slowly swept toward Oliver. Swoosh!

nFacing the seemingly harmless attack, Oliver felt a threat. Therefore, not daring to be negligent, he hurriedly released his aura field and reinforced it with his Ice God Halo.

nHowever, when Azaroth’s mana collided with his reinforced aura field–that had previously destroyed Eric and others’ aura field with comparative ease–his expression changed and he hurriedly shouted, “I Admit Def–”

nBang!

nHowever, before the word ‘Defeat’ could leave his mouth, his aura field shattered into pieces. Immediately, his face turned pale and he spat out a mouthful of blood just like Eric and others had done a while ago.

nBut what shocked and horrified him even more was–Azaroth’s mana hadn’t dispersed and was still inching toward him.

nSwoosh!

nOliver knew he wouldn’t be able to dodge it no matter how slowly it seemed to travel, so he looked at Azorath pleadingly, but Azaroth acted as though he didn’t notice it and calmly looked on.

nSeeing this, a cruel glint flashed in the depths of his eyes. He then accessed his spatial ring with a thought, and what seemed like a piece of rotten wood appeared in his hand.

n“Hm?” Azaroth furrowed his brows together when he noticed it. He then gently waved his hand, causing the wave of his mana to disperse when it was only a meter away from Oliver.

nOliver sneered coldly before stowing the piece of rotten wood away before saying, “I have underestimated you, and your courage.”

nAzaroth didn’t say anything in response. Instead, he turned to Eric, and asked, “Where is this Lily girl he is looking for?”

nEric’s heart skipped a beat, and knew things were troublesome even for his father since he was asking this so suddenly. However, he didn’t show his shock on his face and quickly explained what had happened in the auction house.

nHearing his explanation, Azaroth turned his gaze back to Oliver and asked, “You heard him. She has already left.”

nSeeing Oliver frown, he added after hesitating a bit, “But if you don’t believe him, you are free to look for her in the Royal Palace. Of course, you are not to startle anyone inside.”

nFinished saying this, he flew away, disappearing from their sight in just a moment.

nOliver didn’t waste time and immediately took out a Blood Sense talisman and used a drop of Lily blood, which shot into the Royal Palace. Oliver frowned, and glanced at Eric with narrowed eyes.

nSuddenly, his eyes flashed and he shot after the drop of blood.

n…

nAs soon as Oliver used the Blood Sense talisman, Shasha sent the message to Emily, “Run!”

nBehind the Royal Palace, Emily and Lily immediately activated their Escape Talismans and fled toward the Arasia family’s territory.

n…

nWhoosh!

nNot long after they escaped, Oliver appeared in the place they were standing. He looked around and his eyes lit up. “Heh, trying to trick me? How foolish!” He grinned dangerously before closing his eyes for a moment. After that, he looked in the direction Lily and Emily had escaped.

nWhoosh! Whoosh!

nJust when he was about to chase after them, Eric and others arrived. Seeing them, he paused for a moment, and said, “You better hope I capture her sooner.”

nWhoosh!

nSaying this, he flew away, leaving a conflicted Eric behind.

nIn a certain place in the Royal Palace, Azorath raised his head in the direction Oliver went.

nSwoosh!

nJust then, an old man in dark green robes appeared in front of him, and asked in confusion, “You held back? Why?”

nAzaroth took a deep breath, and said in a grave voice, “He had a witch’s talisman, a monarch rank one.”

nHearing this, the old man also sighed. He then said, “Everything depends on you, son. Break through as soon as possible.”

nAzaroth nodded. After the old man left, his lips curled into a mocking grin, “Sovereign rank powers? Heh, without a sovereign, you are nothing…”

n…

nEmily and Lily arrived in the Arasia family’s territory, and entered an ordinary tavern. The tavern immediately quietened down.

nThe people in the tavern were rough people, who lived on a day to day basis. So, when they saw two stunning beauties enter, they went silent before someone laughed out loud, “Haha, come beauties! Have a drink with this big brother!”

n“Tsk! Old boar, have you seen your face, how are you fit to drink with them? Beauties, come here.”

nEmily frowned in displeasure, and without hesitation, slapped toward the man who first spoke.

nSlap!

nMana condensed into a palm and slapped him across his face, and sent him flying. “…”

nThe tavern immediately quietened down.

n“Cough! Cough! You bitch! How dare you–” Old Boar felt humiliated, and shouted in anger after standing up.

nSlap!

nHowever, before he could finish, another slap landed on his face. This time, Lily had acted.

nThen, under the stunned gazes of the crowd, slap after slap rained down on Old Boar.

n“You!… How dare… you! People… Come beat these two! I can let you have a taste… after I’m done with them.” Old Boar, realizing he alone wasn’t their match, tried to rally people. He knew most people here lived for alcohol and women, and wouldn’t be able to resist his offer. However, no one stepped out to help him. They were not fools. Old boar, an early-stage three-star mage, was a boss-like figure in the tavern since stronger people didn’t deign to come in such a ‘low class’ place. Since even he was slapped silly without a chance to retaliate, they probably would suffer the same fate if they tried to help him.

nTherefore, they watched as Old Boar was beaten black and blue. As for the others, who had spoken after Old Boar, they were nowhere to be seen.

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