The two men immediately dropped to one knee and respectfully greeted their commanders. Ragnar looked at them and asked in a calm but authoritative voice,

"What information have you brought?"

"Commander Enzo," the Twilight Order member began respectfully, "we searched every corner of the city and used our heightened senses to detect anything unusual or hidden. We found nothing... except for one place."

Enzo, Ragnar, and Theodore all raised their eyebrows.

"And what would that be?" Enzo asked.

The man continued,

"There was this small abandoned building we found which looked abandoned for many years and It carried faint traces of demonic energy.

After entering it, we discovered that the floor was stained with dried blood. We also found ashes that appeared to be human remains.

Judging from the scene, it seemed that two to three people had been killed before their bodies were burned."

His expression turned even more serious.

"The most alarming discovery, however, was a small a hole into the ground. Residual traces of demonic energy were still leaking from it, as though something had been buried there until very recently."

Ragnar shifted his gaze toward the Royal Guard standing beside the Twilight Order member.

"What about you?" The Royal Guard respectfully lowered his head before replying,

"We reached the same conclusion, Vice Commander. The scene matched his report in every detail. There were no signs of survivors, only dried blood, human ashes, and traces of demonic energy leaking from a hole dug into the ground."

Ragnar leaned back in his chair before looking toward Enzo. "What do you think?" Before Enzo could answer, Theodore suddenly spoke, his expression turning serious.

"Which part of the city was that building located in?"

"The central area , my lord."

Hearing that, Theodore’s brows furrowed. After thinking for a few moments, he slowly voiced his conclusion.

"Hmm... it seems the cultists buried something beneath that building. Whatever it was, it became the source that attracted the beast tide toward Frostholme."

Enzo nodded in agreement.

"I’ve arrived at the same conclusion, Duke Theodore. It must have been some kind of high-grade demonic treasure. Only an object of that caliber could lure such an enormous number of demonic beasts from the Verdant Forest, nearly nine miles away."

The room fell silent as everyone connected the pieces together. After a brief pause, Ragnar folded his arms and spoke. "Then the real question isn’t what the cultists buried..."

"It’s who removed that treasure and killed every one of those cultists and don’t even know, how many were they?"

His sharp gaze swept across everyone in the room before he calmly stated, "I believe this was done by the person you mentioned yesterday , the one who helped the city The Slaughter Monarch."

"Yeah... you’re probably right. He must have taken that treasure with him as well," Enzo said after thinking for a moment.

He then turned toward his subordinate.

"Inform the others to gather outside the city. We’re leaving for the capital. This matter needs to be reported to the Branch Head immediately."

Ragnar frowned slightly. He disliked how Enzo had once again spoken first, making it seem as though he was merely following his lead. Still, there was nothing he could do about it.

He looked at his own subordinate and gave his orders.

"Go inform the rest of the Royal Guards. We’re leaving as well. This incident must be reported to the Commander... and to His Majesty, the King."

"Yes, Vice Commander!"

The two subordinates bowed before leaving the hall. Once they were gone, only Theodore, Ragnar, Enzo, and Rodrick remained inside the spacious room. Just then, a knock echoed through the hall.

"Come in," Theodore said. The door slowly opened, and one of the maids stepped inside. She respectfully bowed before speaking.

"My Lord, Captain Edward and his family have arrived. They are requesting an audience with you."

Theodore nodded before turning toward Rodrick. "Rodrick, go and receive them. Take care of them until I arrive at the guest hall."

Rodrick bowed respectfully. "As you command, my Lord." Without another word, he left to carry out Theodore’s instructions. Watching him leave, Ragnar raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"I didn’t know you were expecting someone important today, Duke Theodore. To think you’d send your personal butler to receive them."

Even Enzo looked intrigued.

Although Theodore’s strength wasn’t much , he was respected throughout the kingdom for his character, political talent, and leadership. At such a young age, he had already accomplished what many older nobles could not.

Naturally, they were curious about the people important enough for Theodore to have Rodrick personally attend to them.

Theodore simply smiled and shook his head. "It’s not like that ,They’re just... good people I know."

.....

Outside the gates of the Duke’s estate stood Nova, Edward, Jenna, and Rieka. A few moments later, Rodrick arrived to receive them. The moment his eyes fell upon Edward, a faint smile appeared on his composed face.

"Welcome, Captain Edward... and congratulations on your first evolution."

"Thank you, Sir Rodrick," Edward replied with a respectful smile.

"My Lord is currently attending to some important guests from the capital," Rodrick explained. "He asked me to escort you to the guest hall until he arrives."

Edward and Jenna nodded in understanding and were about to follow Rodrick when they realized Nova hadn’t moved. Rieka, who had been standing quietly beside him, also stopped, confused as to why he wasn’t following.

Jenna looked back at her son. "Nova, why aren’t you coming with us?"

Nova smiled calmly. "Mom, Dad, you two go ahead and meet the Duke. I don’t think I’ll be needed there right now. I’d rather take a look around the estate."

He then turned toward Rodrick. "Is that alright?"

"Of course," Rodrick replied politely. "You’re free to look around the estate. If you’d like, I can also arrange for a maid to accompany you."

Nova shook his head."That won’t be necessary."

With those words, he walked toward the vast garden, while Rieka naturally followed beside him.

Edward and Jenna exchanged puzzled glances. They didn’t understand why their son suddenly wanted to wander around instead of accompanying them, but they decided not to question him here.

Not wanting to appear discourteous before the Duke’s butler, they simply followed Rodrick toward the guest hall.

Nova slowly walked through the estate’s vast garden while quietly extending his senses. As expected, he immediately detected two exceptionally powerful auras coming from deep within the mansion.

Even from this distance, their presence far surpassed anyone he had met before, making it obvious that they belonged to the important guests from the capital.

Just as Nova was wondering who those two individuals were, a familiar voice suddenly called out from behind him.

"What are you doing here?"

Nova turned around. Standing a few meters away was Asia.

She was dressed in her training attire, a simple pair of shorts and a fitted T-shirt. Her beautiful sapphire-blue hair was tied into a high ponytail, slightly damp with sweat from her training.

Tiny beads of perspiration rested on her fair skin, while her crystal-blue eyes stared directly at Nova. An adorable pout had formed on her face as she patiently waited for his answer.

A teasing smile slowly spread across Nova’s face as a mischievous idea crossed his mind.

"Oh, I came here to talk to your father."

"About what?" Asia asked, having completely forgotten that her father had personally invited Nova to the estate in front of her.

Nova pretended to think for a moment before answering in a perfectly calm tone.

"Hmm... I came to ask him if he’d be willing to let his daughter marry me."

"W-What?!"

Asia’s eyes widened, and her jaw nearly dropped. In an instant, her face turned bright red.

"W-What do you mean by that?" she stammered nervously.

Seeing her flustered reaction, Nova couldn’t resist taking the joke a little further.

"It’s exactly what you heard."

Smack!

Before he could say anything else, Rieka lightly smacked the back of his head.

"Quit scaring her," she said, rolling her eyes at his antics.

She then looked at Asia and said reassuringly.

"Relax... he’s just teasing you."

Only then did Asia realize she had fallen for Nova’s prank. Her already flushed face became even redder, while Nova could no longer hold back and burst into laughter.

Thanks for reading...