Several centuries ago, upon the vast lands of the Arkha continent, stood a great kingdom called Arkharia. Its dominion covered five major regions—Karsh, Argoust, Carrion, Weldein, and Cranoa as the capital—leaving only the barren Outlander territory stretching along the southern edge of the Arkha continent.

  Under the leadership of the Calvyer family, the Kingdom of Arkharia reached the height of its glory for several generations. This continued until the reign of Queen Ellayne Calvyer, who appointed Grand Duke Gilber Vissarion of Argoust as her consort.

  Arkharia’s glory collapsed after Queen Ellayne Calvyer was reported to have summoned a forbidden power from beyond the dimension, bringing forth Demanthes, the God of Darkness, whose arrival ushered in nightmares for all human life on the Arkha continent.

  For nearly a hundred years, Demanthes’s regime ruled over Arkha. Then Y’tzyar, the God of Salvation, appeared to stop him and succeeded in restoring peace to human life. Although Demanthes escaped into another dimension, the mages of Cranoa and the vampire clans continued to preserve the legacy of his dark power, with the intention of one day reviving the Dark God’s throne on the Arkha continent.

  It was as if Y’tzyar had foreseen Demanthes’s resurrection. In an effort to prevent that nightmare from becoming reality once more, he bestowed a mysterious power upon a young man—perhaps hoping that this youth would become the next savior.

  .

  The fierce waves of blazing fire spread wide. Several assassin troops are thrown down by the impact. Cedric fights with all his might in the middle of the assassin hideout. Dozens of trained mercenaries armed with sharp weapons attack him at once. But Cedric is incredibly skilled at dodging and unleashing deadly counterattacks.

  Several sharp daggers fly swiftly from every direction. Cedric’s naturally trained instincts make his body move nimbly to dodge them. He then quickly sprints in an unexpected direction and instantly unleashes a wave of scorching fire that leaves his enemies with terrible burns.

  Even though there are so many assassins in the hideout, facing a dangerous fire battlemage makes some of them start to hesitate about attacking up close. Meanwhile, Cedric never thinks twice about charging forward and taking down his enemies one by one.

  Quite the opposite of what Liam is doing at that place.

  In the midst of the fierce battle inside the enemy’s hideout, Liam casually walks out of the kitchen area with a cup of warm tea in his hand — as if he had just brewed it himself.

  As he walks, his eyes observe Cedric struggling against a swarm of enemies.

  Calmly, Liam sits down on a single wooden chair — one that was actually designed for the leader of the assassin group. He blows on the warm tea in his hand, then takes a small sip.

  “Oh, what a peaceful day.”

  Cedric jumps back until he’s near Liam’s chair, as if intentionally keeping his distance from the enemies. Liam glances at him.

  “Tired already?”

  “Not yet! They’re just too damn persistent!”

  Cedric charges forward again, unleashing a burst of high-speed fire attacks — several enemies fall once more. It’s undeniable that Liam is impressed by the young fire user’s skill.

  “You don’t have a master — who taught you to fight like that?”

  Liam begins to probe, still curious about why Grand Master Lutzer Swan had refused to take Cedric as his student.

  Cedric answers while still striking down his enemies.

  “All the bastards who ever tried to mess with my mother!”

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  “But you left your mother?”

  “She’s already resting in peace.”

  Those words startle Liam, instantly stopping him from asking any further. It becomes clear that Cedric is all alone now — and that something inside him burns with a deep grudge against Lutzer Swan.

  While Cedric is still busy fighting, Liam’s calm tea time is suddenly disturbed. Sitting in the assassin leader’s chair, he becomes the target of an assassin aiming from the rooftop.

  Whoosh!

  An arrow shoots swiftly toward Liam’s head.

  Clang!

  A clear white shield instantly forms, deflecting the arrow with ease.

  Liam continues sipping his tea, then looks up at the annoyed assassin on the rooftop. He gives a small smile and slightly raises his teacup — a gesture as if offering the person a drink.

  The assassin’s face twists in sheer frustration. He immediately draws the dagger from his waist and leaps down, sprinting straight toward Liam. Yet the prince doesn’t even rise from his seat, even as the attack closes in. Liam simply raises his left index finger.

  Fwoosh!

  A burst of high-speed light shoots out, aiming straight for the assassin’s head.

  But the assassin, shocked yet quick-reflexed, instantly drops his body to the side to dodge it — though he ends up crashing onto the floor from losing his balance.

  Liam is genuinely impressed.

  “He dodged my shot?”

  “Impressive.”

  The word slips from Liam’s mouth just as Cedric happens to be fighting near him.

  “No need to praise me!” Cedric snaps back while struggling to block multiple assassins’ attacks.

  Liam looks confused.

  “I wasn’t praising you.”

  Cedric, still annoyed while fending off enemies, growls, “Then just sit there and be quiet!”

  “Ohh, how admirable of you — giving me orders.”

  The assassin who had fallen earlier gets back up and charges forward again. Liam is already bored of him.

  Cedric, fully focused on fighting the last two assassins, doesn’t realize that behind him, Liam is swinging a blade of light — and a head drops cleanly to the floor.

  Cedric jumps back, then immediately sits down on the ground, leaning tiredly against the wall.

  “I’m done. He’s yours!”

  Liam looks ahead and sees a massive assassin — a man over two meters tall, gripping two sharp cleavers. His appearance makes it clear he is the leader of the group. His face is ferocious as he witnesses all his subordinates wiped out by Cedric.

  Liam’s expression is once again impressed by Cedric’s handiwork. The corpses of all the assassins are now scattered across the courtyard, splattered blood decorating every corner.

  “Alright, I appreciate your effort.”

  Liam stands up from his seat after setting down his teacup.

  “YOU BASTAAARDS!” the assassin leader’s furious roar thunders. “How dare you destroy my hideout! I’ll hack you to pieces and feed you to the dogs!!”

  Liam immediately winces in discomfort.

  “Oh, my stomach feels sick just hearing that.”

  “AAAAAAARRGH!!”

  The assassin leader charges forward in a frenzy, swinging both sharp cleavers at high speed — a deadly, brutal attack.

  “DIEEEE!!!”

  “Not today.”

  Liam’s right hand moves swiftly, two fingers tracing a glowing symbol in the air before slamming it forward. The symbol shoots ahead at high speed, piercing straight through the assassin leader’s body.

  The ferocious man freezes instantly, his body tense, eyes bulging wide as blood spills from his mouth. A moment later, his body collapses to the ground in scattered pieces — sliced apart following the pattern of the light symbol Liam created.

  Cedric, stiff and speechless, leans against the wall, staring at the horrifying scene right in front of him.

  “Seriously… what kind of power does he even have?!”

  The area finally grows quiet. The courtyard in the middle of the assassin hideout is now filled with blood and corpses. Liam looks completely unfazed by such a sight.

  On the severed hand of the assassin leader lying on the ground, a magical symbol is exposed. Liam’s gaze lingers on that severed hand for a long moment.

  Since everything has gone quiet, the whimpering of a terrified assassin curled up under a table becomes clearly audible. Both Liam and Cedric turn their eyes toward him.

  Liam walks over to the frightened man.

  “My business with your comrades is finished.”

  The assassin lifts his pale face — he is the same one Liam threatened back in the forest.

  “Now choose. Do you want to stay alive, or follow the others?”

  The assassin trembles as he looks at the bodies scattered across the courtyard.

  “I–I want to live… please let me live… I’m begging you.”

  He prostrates himself before Liam, desperately pleading for his life.

  Suddenly, a small pouch of coins drops onto the ground in front of him. The man flinches in surprise.

  “Live properly from now on.”

  Liam walks away just like that, leaving the man behind. The assassin freezes, hardly able to believe what just happened.

  “Cedric, bring the severed hand of the man I just took down.”

  Cedric looks confused, then turns to the remains of the assassin leader who fell victim to Liam’s power.

  “The one with the strange symbol?”

  He places the severed hand into a cloth pouch, then quickly follows after Liam.

  Not long after they leave, the voice of the spared assassin echoes behind them, shouting his thanks.