...

    bang! bang! bang!

    shin''s figure could be seen everywhere as he executed a series of movement techniques during the battle.

    his speed lets him leave a series of afterimages while trying to catch up with the elven archer., who was keeping a decent distance away from him while shooting a series of arrows.

    shin was having slight trouble catching up to this person, especially when he noticed that the elven archer was able to maintain his sanity despite the growing demonic corruption that was trying to dominate his mind.

    it was as if he was able to control the powers of the artificial seed of hatred unlike jorn, who had already lost himself ages ago and became a mindless demon. continue reading on empire

    the five-minute duration of jorn''s invulnerability passed not long ago, giving shin the window to end his life, and forcing him to log out of the game.

    but the elven archer, on the other hand, was able to hold his ground for a couple of minutes more before dying under shin''s sword.

    but despite that being the case, shin felt a little unsatisfied, especially after seeing the calm eyes of the latter. he could feel that even archer had successfully become a true unforgiven one in the real world.

    he clearly understood the meaning of this incident and what kind of impact it could have in the future.

    regardless of the result of the battle, the opposing side, particularly the huge force hiding behind it, had already achieved what they wanted.

    he might have won the battle, but it was a bitter one due to what had happened.

    "i guess i have to inform uncle nathan about this," he mumbled before sweeping his senses in the entire surrounding.

    he had spread his spiritual sense in every direction, trying to find that mysterious individual accompanying jorn and the elven archer earlier.

    he could feel that they were watched earlier during the battle and knew that everything was being recorded by that person. but he did not have the time to deal with them earlier since he was currently being occupied by the two.

    he was planning to deal with them after he had executed the two, but it seemed like they were quite decisive at retreating after achieving what they wanted.

    "tsk! they sure ran fast," shin clicked his tongue after realizing that the person had already left.

    after that, he organized his discoveries before sending them to shiella. he then told her to closely monitor the movements of the guild that had been absorbed by the seven seas corporation.

    at the same time, he also told her to be careful of the top experts from those organizations since they were experimenting with such a dangerous thing.

    after some thought, he also sent a message to david, informing him about what happened, before connecting with his real-world account and sending a message to nathan.

    after making sure that no one was around, shin went deeper into the map and looked for a spot for grinding.

    he had somewhat lost his interest in testing his current progress with his mentalism method and swordsmanship, applying all his gains from the real world and converting and integrating them into his fighting style with the game while also consolidating his realm.

    he just sent a message saying that he got it before turning his head up front.

    on the sofa inside his office, joaquin was currently relaxing while eating some fruits prepared on the table.

    "are you sure about what you have said?" asked nathan with a solemn tone.

    joaquin clicked his tongue as he answered. "tsk! do you think i have the time for jokes? i assure you that it is a hundred percent accurate."

    "i have been living the life of a top-notch spy during my younger days, and you know it, so this information is true," he added before plucking a grape from the table and throwing it into his mouth.

    he then continued. "the tail of the rat that we are chasing leads us to both the top military school and the magic ace academy, so there is a high chance that there is more than one mole in our ranks."

    "what''s more, they have penetrated quite deeply as they even reached our core," he paused for a moment before adding seriously. "i am one hundred percent sure that it is one of the members of the elder council."

    "as you know, there is no way for an ordinary member to know the mission that bernard had before his capture. aside from the core members of the council and us, there is no way for others to know about it."

    "you and i are also aware of bernard''s strength. he may not be our match, but he is still a top-notch expert in domain realm, capturing him near our borders without our notice is something only an overwhelming power could do."

    joaquin paused before continuing. "not even the either of us can do that, so only an expert that is of elder''s level can do that."

    nathan wore a serious expression as killing intent leaked out from his body. "we have to find who it is."

    "but we can''t dig any deeper since it is an elder from the council. we can''t just blindly step into it," said joaquin.

    "are we going to inform your father?" he asked.

    nathan went silent for a moment before answering. "let''s avoid it telling my father for now. given his personality, i am sure that he will get to the bottom of this even if he is alone."

    "both professor plum and grandmaster benn are not present as they guard the forbidden lands while the other elders monitor the movements of other top masters."

    "father will be alone, so it is better to hide it from him for the time being."

    joaquin nodded his head before squinting his eyes and staring at nathan. "you are not thinking of doing something stupid like investigating it alone, are you?"

    nathan looked at joaquin with a strange expression. "do you think i am that foolish?"

    hearing that, joaquin could finally relax and nodded. "that''s good. at least you are not blinded by your rage."

    "anyway, i will be going for now. i still have other things to do. i''ll contact you again later once i''ve more information," he added before leaving.

    in the meantime, nathan went silent as he leaned his back on the chair before staring at the ceiling. he silently and repeatedly tapped his finger on the armrest while his thoughts were unknown.

    ...