"It’s been 157 years."

Ozul looked at her quietly, a pause to gauge if she was serious.

Finding no evidence of mischief, he took a deep breath, evaluating what he needed to do next. He could guess that decades had passed, but one and half a century wasn’t in his estimates.

In his sleep, it only felt like days had passed, maybe even just a few hours.

"If you are here, will you help-"

"When will the three of them be back?" Ozul cut her off.

The reignited hope in Ember’s eyes vanished just as quickly as it had appeared.

Sensing her emotions, he knew something was wrong

"They won’t be back..." she sighed, knowing there was no way out of this.

And so, she calmly briefed him on the events after his disappearance. It wouldn’t do her any good to lie in front of Ozul who had the uncanny ability to read emotions.

The reason she still wanted to persuade him was his strength. If before his disappearance, his movements could still be felt if not his presence, then now he was a true ghost.

Neither could she feel his presence, nor his movements. If she closed her eyes, she wouldn’t be able to tell with certainty that he was still present in the room with her.

This only meant one thing, he had at least reached her level or maybe even surpassed her!

The thought of an invisible ally like him and so strong that he could take down Empyreans was frightening because the same threat loomed over their heads if he wasn’t an ally.

"Listen to me, just a few days ago, it was confirmed that the Heavenly Emperor has finally decided to step in."

Curious, Ozul came out of his silent musings. His answers are with that man everyone calls God. Now more than ever he needed to confront him since he was sealed for more than a century for a crime he hadn’t even an inkling of.

Seeing that he was interested, Ember continued, "With his presence, everything will get ugly. The war will-"

Continuing her sentence, Ozul said, "-end quickly."

Ember wanted to say something else, but in the end, she just gravely nodded her head. He was right.

Although the clash between the Lord of Shadows and God’s Son had proven him to be unmatched among others, everyone was still afraid of the Heavenly Emperor.

"So, will you..."

Before Ember could finish, she saw him slowly shake his head sideways.

"The situation after your disappearance was very complicated. If I could, I would have put more effort into searching for you." She tried to explain herself, thinking maybe he was hurt just like his peers.

However, Ozul didn’t care much about trivial matters like that.

Even now, he thought the trio should have still remained allied with Ember. Under her, they would even have more opportunities to question Old Gu.

However, now that things had come to pass this way, he didn’t complain either way.

The trio’s survival was the most important thing, and from what he had heard, they hadn’t just survived. They thrived in the war following his disappearance.

"Maybe I was holding them back," he muttered to himself as he absentmindedly walked out of the estate.

No one stopped him.

Ember had issued the orders that no one was to touch that man. There would be senseless casualties if they tried to.

From a distance, the old Empyrean sent by the Lord of Shadows stood beside Rai.

"Who is he?" he asked.

Rai smirked, his eyes glinting with anticipation of the future. He replied, "A wild card."

. . .

The past few days were hectic for the City of Refuge.

Two decades back, they were attacked by unknown assailants. Their origin couldn’t be traced back to either the Coalition or Phoenix City.

Many innocent civilians had lost their lives in the attacks since all four Empyreans were in other Realms at the time.

Raven had since then taken extra steps to secure the city borders. She employed guards and raised walls, and she was even able to secure herself a barrier to cover the entire city.

The shield dome appeared similar to the one enjoyed by Phoenix City, but Raven’s resources couldn’t match those of the Lord of Shadows. Still, the barrier was strong enough to hold even peak Transcendents for a short time.

As Ozul appeared at the borders of the city, he noticed the difference in the surroundings.

Unlike Phoenix City, there was still life around the City of Refuge. The ground wasn’t scorched black, there were forests and mountains standing tall behind it, and people were free to leave and enter from the gates despite the shield dome.

He didn’t need to break the dome. As he walked through the gates, the guards made no effort to stop him.

The City of Refuge was a place for the abandoned, so it was commonplace to see people in dark outfits hiding their appearance. Only he was wrapped with the Purity to block off the light.

The gates had two artifacts on both walls, measuring people’s Spiritual Essence. If any Transcendent were to try and enter, they would first have to state their intentions.

Sensing a peak Transcendent lodged in a room not far from the gates, Ozul walked there.

"Do you have any business with the Head Guard?" Two of them stopped him.

"Yes, I need directions." He briefly answered.

He couldn’t sense the trio’s presence anywhere in the city. There were only a few Sages and they too were scattered here and there.

"Where do you need to go?"

"Wherever Zier, Blaze, and Raven stay." He assumed they would come back sooner or later, so he just needed to wait for them at their house.

Before the guards could lash out at him, the supposed Head Guard came out of the room. She was a tall muscular woman with a scar across her face. She looked like a veteran mercenary.

"That is Lord Raven for you!" She grunted at him, pointing her saber at his throat.

For the first time, Ozul felt like smiling. He hadn’t heard anyone call her Lord before. And now, it seemed like all of them were in such a position.

Nodding, he spoke again, "Where can I find Lord Raven’s lodging?"

A vein appeared to twist on her forehead as she spoke with a grave voice, "And why do you ask that?"

"I need to wait for her," he replied honestly.

"Listen here, you little shit," She started, applying some pressure on him, "Do you think any beggar like you can meet her?!"

He wasn’t even a cultivator and yet he dared to make such claims. She assumed he must not be right in the head.

Thinking he was terror-stricken by her peak Transcendent pressure, she was about to turn around and head inside when he spoke again.

"Just tell me the direction?"

Squinting her eyes, the Head Guard realized he must not be an ordinary man. He was at the very least a cultivator, and if so, he was either using an artifact to hide his Spiritual Essence or he was a Sage.

Yet, it didn’t make sense since the artifacts around the gates could only be fooled by an Empyrean!

As the possibility set in, the Head Guard took a step back.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Ozul."

A jolt of electricity shot through her spine. The other guards were unfamiliar with the name, but as a member of the Hidden Eyes, how could she not know it?

Despite all of their operations, everyone knew the sole purpose of their organization was to find a single man; a man named Ozul.

"Come with me," she went ahead, leaving the two guards wondering.

...

"That house belongs to Lord Raven." she pointed toward one of the simplest-looking houses with little to no windows.

Under her anxious eyes, he began to walk toward it.

"Wait here, I will call my superior." She tried to stop him, but he wasn’t listening anymore.

The fact that he effortlessly resisted her pressure and still evaded the artifacts at the gates had all but confirmed he wasn’t ordinary. Combined with his claim of being ’Ozul’, she didn’t want to take chances and offend him.

She had already sent a secret signal to the highest authority under Lord Raven in matters of the Hidden Eyes.

Under her watchful gaze, Ozul yawned, entered the house, and closed the door behind him.

He would be resting until one of them returned.

Meanwhile, the City of Refuge was in an uproar. All the Sages were informed of his arrival and they dropped all business to head to Lord Raven’s humble house.

Alden, being in charge of the Hidden Eyes, was the first one to appear on the scene.

She was just being informed of the sudden disappearance of the shield dome over Phoenix City when someone notified her that Ozul had appeared.

Unable to believe the news, she appeared outside the house, scrutinizing the Head Guard.

"Who told you he was Ozul?"

"He did," the Head Guard replied, shrinking her head.

Sighing, Alden didn’t believe it. After a hundred years, she had already assumed him dead.

The house was important to Raven. She had it built, but never used it herself. Although it was not lavish, the house was built with specific needs such as soundproof walls, shades all around it, and a few rooms with little to no light.

Alden could not let anyone blemish the house dear to Raven. She was about to head inside and kick that man out when a voice stopped him,

"What if he really is him?"

Rameel was one of the Vice Leaders of the Wandering Sellswords. He too was in the city and appeared just as quickly as he was informed.

But Alden snorted, crossing her hands on her chest, she retorted, "Why didn’t he come to us then?"

According to what she had heard, his senses could locate even a single needle in stretching grasslands as long as it had Spiritual Essence. Finding them shouldn’t have been a problem in the city.

Her conclusion would have been right if not for one small assumption that she had made; that he remembered them.

Even memorizing their name was a bothersome act, much less their aura.

The other Vice Leader of the Wandering Sellswords, a Beastkin, agreed with her.

"It is stupid to argue here like this when you can just go in there and confirm yourself."

However, just then, a black cat appeared out of nowhere, taking one step at a time to reach the house’s door, stopping under the shade.

She rolled up into a ball of black fur right there.

"... Never mind," Alden muttered.

Beside her, Rameel smirked before he started shouting orders,

"Secure the surroundings. No one should come near the house. Not even rumors of this should leave the city!"

And under the confused eyes of the other upper echelons of the city, Alden declared,

"Inform the Lords. Ozul Ashfall has returned..."