The lady vampire who had terrorized Ethan and the others only a few hours earlier, the same creature who had forced the entire group into helpless surrender, collapsed in front of them like a lifeless husk. Her body crumbled apart in silence, peeling away like a dry leaf caught in the wind before dissolving completely into drifting ashes.

William stood there without the slightest change in his expression. His calmness frightened them even more than the act itself.

For the past week, Ethan and the others had been traveling through the forest and the ruins without any connection to the outside world. They had no understanding of what had happened during that time, nor did they know what William had become. Yet now, after witnessing him erase a monster of that level as though it required no effort at all, none of them could gather the courage to question him.

An oppressive feeling filled the whole lobby.

Before anyone could muster the courage to speak, William lightly clapped his hands, as if he were summoning attendants to begin a formal gathering.

A moment later, a presence emerged from deeper within the corridor.

It was Maris.

She wore a perfectly fitted butler uniform; her posture was disciplined and composed and her expression remained neutral as she approached William’s side with small steps. Without speaking, she raised a hand and activated her space ring.

Immediately, a neat row of chairs materialized in front of William’s main seat.

Soon after, several servants and maids entered from behind her. They moved efficiently through the lobby, arranging tables before Ethan and the others. They left after placing refreshments, drinks, and food across them. The entire scene unfolded with such precision that the group could only stare blankly. They felt they were inside a royal palace - actually, they were; they just did not know that.

Only moments ago, they had been treated like captives who could lose their lives at any second. Now they were suddenly being welcomed like honored guests.

William smiled faintly and gestured toward the seats.

"take a seat."

The young men exchanged uncertain glances before slowly taking their places. None of them dared to refuse. A few servants picked up the massive body of Galion and rested him on a chair.

Once everything had been arranged and the servants quietly departed from the lobby, silence settled over the room once more. William’s gaze moved across the gathered people one by one.

Almost all of them had advanced in rank.

Under normal circumstances, such growth would have been considered extraordinary for students their age. However, William could barely feel any significance from it anymore. His own mana cultivation had become overwhelmingly vast after recent events, to the point where ordinary progression no longer held much meaning in his eyes.

He had fought against a god-like being now, and he knew how insignificant the cultivation system of Aris became when it came to fighting them.

Still, despite the tremendous increase in strength he had obtained, William understood one thing clearly.

He had not surpassed the realm of absolute godhood the way he once assumed he might.

After absorbing Elavnil’s cultivation, he had merely stepped into the beginning stages of that realm. Even now, he could still sense a massive gap between himself and someone like the late Primarch Victor, who had likely reached the very peak of absolute godhood long ago.

The realization made William increasingly aware that the higher realms of cultivation were not simple linear stages. Much like the Flux cultivation system, each major realm appeared to contain lower, middle, and upper divisions that widened endlessly the higher one ascended.

Before coming here, William had gone to Samantha’s chambers to talk to Xythia, but his attempt had clearly failed, as Xythia did not reply at all, and William already suspected the reason behind it.

The mark left upon his forehead by Nir was impossible to conceal from beings like Xythia. Nir was not an ordinary god but one of the strongest divine entities in existence, someone whose authority rivaled the beings that resided within the highest Seventh Realm of existence.

If William’s assumption was correct, then Xythia was likely a god from a lower realm than Nir.

That reason would explain the sudden lack of reply from her. A weaker divine being would naturally avoid involving herself with someone carrying the mark of a superior god.

Originally, William had come here hoping to gather information regarding the cultivation stages that existed beyond the Godhood stage.

However, given the current situation, he doubted he would find those answers on this continent anymore. If he truly wished to uncover the truth behind the higher realms, he would eventually need to leave Aris altogether and venture into the outer world.

The silence around the table finally broke when Ethan gathered enough courage to speak.

"Umm... can I ask what we’re doing here?"

William looked toward him and answered calmly.

"Ah, right...I had ordered her to bring all of you back from the ruins for your own safety."

Ethan frowned slightly.

"Our safety...?"

William released a quiet breath before continuing.

"Yes. Those ruins were connected to another realm entirely, and the dangers inside were far beyond anything you were prepared to handle. More importantly, if one of the seals within that labyrinth had been broken, it could have become a threat to the entirety of Aris."

"Oh..."

Ethan nodded slowly, though uncertainty still lingered in his eyes. He wanted to ask William how he even knew about this, but then he reasoned that Sera or other girls must have informed him.

Deep down, a part of him wondered whether William’s true intention behind stopping them was to monopolize the opportunities hidden within the labyrinth entirely on his own. The thought crossed the minds of nearly everyone present here after William did not elaborate on his intentions much.

However, that suspicion did not carry much confidence behind it.

After all, they all had just witnessed William casually kill the vampire woman who had completely overwhelmed them earlier. If he truly wanted the treasures or secrets inside the ruins for himself, there had been no reason to spare them at all. He could have eliminated them effortlessly within the ruins, and no one would have known anything.

Instead, they were sitting here as guests.

Even so, when treasures and unknown opportunities were involved, certainty about someone’s intentions was impossible.

William silently observed the shifting emotions across their faces with his omniscient vision. Doubt, caution, fear, confusion, relief—he could see every fleeting thought reflected within their expressions.

None of these reactions surprised him.

The overwhelming aura he had displayed while killing the vampire had established an unspoken truth within their minds.

William was the one in control here.

Even without directly threatening them, the difference in power alone had subconsciously forced them to become wary of him. The six months they had spent together at the academy no longer mattered as much as before.

Power changed perception, and that was what William had wanted.

His eyes eventually shifted toward the sea-green-haired boy sitting quietly near the corner—Alfred Draconia.

Unlike the others, Alfred appeared calm. Although he mirrored the expressions of his aides really well, it was all laid bare in front of William, who had special eyes.

The moment William had noticed him with his omniscient sight, he had observed a striking change in him from earlier when he had observed him in the academy with his omniscient eyes.

He noticed that Alfred’s destiny halo had completely transformed; it was now blindingly radiant, similar to Ethan’s.

While the others experienced waves of unstable emotions and restless thoughts appropriate for teenagers placed in such an overwhelming situation, Alfred’s inner self remained strangely composed. There was no confusion, no panic, no genuine mental turbulence.

Such emotional stability was abnormal for someone only sixteen years old.

Even William himself, despite his experiences and talents during his youth, had struggled with emotional instability. Only after obtaining the Divine Lunar Physique did his mind become truly calm and disciplined.

Yet Alfred displayed that unnatural composure already.

William narrowed his eyes slightly.

What exactly had changed within Alfred for his destiny halo to change that drastically?

William considered using his silver illusionary manipulation and dream manipulation abilities of his lunar physique to probe deeper into Alfred’s mind. However, the thought disappeared almost immediately after another possibility surfaced within him.

The idea sounded absurd, yet William could not dismiss it.

Was there another soul residing within Alfred’s body?

If that were true, then the situation was quite serious. It could mean that Alfred had become something similar to Samantha—a pseudo-vessel occupied by another being, and if that was true, then this being was definitely on the level of Xythia.

After all, only strong beings could make lower beings their vessels or pseudo-vessels.

If a god truly existed within Alfred, then recklessly using abilities against him would be extremely unwise.

William had no intention of testing unknown waters unnecessarily.