Flash!

A set of three booklets appeared in Damien’s hand, which he held out to Commander Huo.

The Commander’s eyes immediately widened into saucers. No, they practically fell out of their sockets.

“You…! This…!” He stammered, reaching a trembling hand out to touch the booklets.

“Take them. They are of no use to me, but it’s different for you, right?” Damien said with a fox-like smile.

Commander Huo gently ran his fingers along the worn seams of the booklets for a few more seconds before calming his astonishment and sighing.

“Boy, I thought I understood your genius from the beginning, but who would have thought I was still underestimating you!”

Damien’s smile widened.

As expected, these books were treasures the Commander couldn’t refuse.

The three books were titled as such:

Wrath of Odin – Skill Manual

Ultimate Force – Trait Manual

Worldbearing Tyrant Technique

They were three techniques owned by the Cloud Giants, who happily handed them over to Damien.

As anyone could guess, the three were special techniques of the Giant Race, completely useless to all others.

And while Commander Huo disguised himself well, he couldn’t hide from Damien.

“H-how did you obtain these?” Commander Huo asked, ignoring the fact that his facade had been exposed.

The group was surrounded by multiple isolation barriers set by Damien, Alucard, and Commander Huo himself, so this key detail about his true strength was guaranteed to stay within their circle.

Damien took a second to think before answering Commander Huo’s question.

“Hmm, I guess you could say it was given to me by a good friend.”

Unlike their current state, the original Cloud Giants were also part of the main Giant Race. When they landed themselves in the Wild Continent, they took many core racial techniques with them.

Now that countless millennia had passed, those core techniques were legendary lost ancient scripts that could immensely benefit the entire Giant Race.

“To say you were gifted such valuable objects, I can only say I wish I had a friend like that.”

Commander Huo’s eyes showed a hint of hesitation and worry. He clearly wanted to put up some resistance in courtesy, but he couldn’t stop his hands from grabbing the ancient booklets out of Damien’s grasp.

“Hahahahaha!”

The Director’s laugh filled the space.

“Brother Xuan, what did I tell you? This kid knows nothing but creating miracles.”

ραΠdαsΝοvεl ƈοm

He didn’t say anything because he simply couldn’t. Damien might’ve taken them out casually, but these booklets would help the Giant Race rise to a completely new level. Not only would they regain their connection to their ancestral heritage, but they’d also finally be able to understand the methods of the ancestors, which would allow them to chase after the domineering physiques of their even further removed Titan ancestors.

A grand service to the universe, that was what Damien did with a single flick of his hand.

Commander Huo was sure Damien understood what he was doing, and since he didn’t say anything, the Commander would do the same.

No words needed to be said for both of them to understand that they would be brothers and allies of life and death for the rest of time.

The barriers around their group dispersed not long after the booklets were put away, and the serious atmosphere around them also melted like snow. They returned to jovial conversation, Damien and Elena getting acquainted with their other halves’ mentors and Alucard and Huo Xuan doing the same with their proteges, and soon enough, many hours passed.

“Ah, right, are the two of you planning on participating in the hunt?” the Director suddenly said.

“”Hunt?”” Damien and Elena echoed together.

“I see. Even Angels will show partiality, eh? The hunt is tomorrow’s event, the first event of this Assembly. It will last for a month, and participants will be allowed to join at any time within that period, so those who arrive later still have the chance to participate.”

“I see,” Damien muttered. “So what is this so-called hunt about?”

“I’ll explain this part,” Commander Huo butted in.

“The hunt is honestly a competition organized with as little structure as possible. The Angels have decided to open their Holy Light Realm to the young geniuses of the universe for a single month. During this time, you can fight other geniuses, enter trial sites to compete for rewards, or even just simply explore if you so desire.”

“Hm? Is there any point in that?” Elena asked. “If it’s a secret realm the Angels are willing to share, the common rewards can’t be anything good.”

“That may be true in normal times, but the current situation has forced many to make concessions. While it’s true that the Holy Light Realm’s true benefits have already been claimed, the current realm is filled with treasures offered by the universe’s finest. I can guarantee there will be at least one good treasure in there.” Commander Huo responded with a smirk.

“Haa, really, those stingy Angels didn’t go easy on us at all. No treasures under Chaos rank were considered acceptable, and I’m sure at least a few of us Demigods forked up a God-ranked treasure of two. It’ll definitely satisfy you young brats.” The Director chimed in despondently.

“Interesting…”

Damien was genuinely intrigued by the nature of the event. By the looks of it, the sole purpose of opening the Holy Light Realm with such conditions was to comprehensively raise the strength of the younger geniuses.

‘Conversely, depending on the behavior of the geniuses themselves, it might turn into a situation where a small number of elites benefit and the rest face humiliation. The question is…which is better?’

Damien and Elena wrapped up their conversation with the two old experts by affirming their participation in the hunt before returning to their room.

“What’s the plan?” Elena asked once they had some privacy.

“Plan?” Damien repeated.

“Mhm. You probably have some things you want to accomplish in that secret realm, right? Let me in on it.”

“You say that like I wouldn’t have done that to begin with. Anyway, as of now, I don’t have a plan. I want to observe the situation before I decide what to do.”

“I see…” Elena muttered.

“You have some ideas?” Damien asked.

From childhood, Elena was the smarter of the two. No matter how much he thought he knew, he could guarantee she’d show him a different perspective.

And of course, she wasn’t about to let him down.

“If we put everything on the table,” she started, ” this hunt is going to continue for a month without stopping, so the number of participants will rise to at least twenty to twenty-five thousand. We aren’t allowed to kill, but if a genius sustains a fatal wound, they’ll be ejected from the secret realm and disqualified.”

She tapped her chin as she thought of the best way to phrase her thoughts.

“I’m sure you’re thinking about whether to support a small number of elites or allow all of the geniuses a chance to rise, but that’s just extraneous. There’s no need to think so much.”

She turned her eyes to Damien, a slight smile curving on her lips.

With the moonlight illuminating her from behind, she looked especially enchanting as she continued:

“Alright, I got it. Here’s the plan…”