CHAPTER 72: CHAPTER72-ABOVE THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL, THE AURA OF DESTRUCTION!

Within the vast sprawl of Eryndor City, the atmosphere was tense and restless.

Nearly every great faction had dispatched spies to investigate what was happening at the Hyrule War Academy.

The academy was no ordinary school—it was an institution that had endured for centuries, producing countless heroes, generals, and scholars.

To see it now on the brink of destruction had stirred the curiosity, fear, and greed of all major powers.

The professors of the academy were not merely educators who lectured in classrooms.

Each of them was a formidable expert, an individual who had reached heights of strength unimaginable to ordinary people.

Together, they did not simply represent knowledge; they embodied the prestige, power, and influence of the academy itself.

This was the reason why Hyrule War Academy could stand tall in the empire for so long, untouched by kings or emperors.

But now, faced with the professors’ resistance, ordinary imperial soldiers were clearly inadequate.

Against such formidable individuals, no battalion of common troops could prevail.

Thus, the eyes of the great powers turned once more to Emperor Aurek.

What trump card did this so-called "foolish emperor" possess?

Did he have a secret plan prepared, or would he be exposed as an impulsive, reckless monarch with no grasp of the consequences of his actions?

Every faction judged the situation differently.

Each speculated with its own motives in mind.

Commander Gaia, standing at the forefront of the confrontation, frowned deeply.

He could feel the suffocating pressure radiating from the professors of the academy.

Their power was no bluff; it pressed down on him like a mountain.

But just as the situation seemed to turn against him, ten mysterious soldiers stepped forward from behind Gaia.

They were clad in identical suits of black armor, armor that shimmered faintly under the sunlight as though it absorbed both darkness and light.

The moment they appeared, the atmosphere shifted.

Each soldier radiated a chilling aura of danger, an oppressive presence that made the very air grow heavy.

Even without raising a weapon, simply standing there was enough to make hearts tremble.

Professor Ethan, who led the professors in defiance, narrowed his eyes in alarm. His expression darkened, and those beside him felt their hearts sink.

None of them had expected Gaia to bring out such a force.

Even with their experience and knowledge, they could not discern the precise strength of these black-armored warriors.

The energy rolling off their bodies was chaotic yet powerful, a storm contained within flesh.

All the professors could do was acknowledge one terrifying fact: these were not men to be underestimated.

"Could this be Emperor Aurek’s true hidden weapon?" Ethan thought grimly.

The same thought ran through the minds of countless spectators outside.

The powerful cultivators and mercenaries watching from afar wore expressions of grave caution.

Even from their distant vantage points, they could feel the menace radiating from the ten soldiers.

"Are these... Aurek’s secret troops?" someone whispered.

"But that doesn’t match the intelligence we had! The reports said his assassins could slip between light and shadow, invisible to the eye. These warriors, however, stand plainly before us."

"No matter what they are, I can feel it in my bones—these ten are extremely dangerous. It looks like the professors of the Hyrule War Academy have finally met their match."

The arrival of the mysterious soldiers sparked dread and speculation in every faction.

Some whispered that these must be the same assassins who had, in the past, killed Expert-Rank masters without leaving the faintest trace.

Others wondered if Aurek had more than one type of hidden force at his disposal.

Even House Tascher, which had recently pledged loyalty to the royal family, was shaken.

None of them had known that Aurek still possessed such a force in secret.

Their patriarch’s face was pale, his expression frozen between confusion and awe.

From across the city, even the priests of the Ordon Theocracy turned their gaze toward the unfolding scene.

And in a humble smithy on the outskirts, an old blacksmith set down his hammer, his brows furrowed in thought.

"That boy revealed his trump card so easily?" the old man muttered under his breath. "Reckless... far too young. He doesn’t understand that the unknown inspires the greatest fear. Once the mystery is stripped away, the danger loses half its power."

Elsewhere, in a secluded courtyard within Eryndor City, two cloaked figures sat facing one another.

Each held a porcelain cup, sipping coffee with deliberate calm as though the city were not on the brink of chaos.

"With Aurek’s hidden forces revealed," one man said softly, "their threat is greatly diminished. The aura of mystery is gone. All that remains is raw strength."

"As long as we can drag the Hyrule War Academy down into this mire, Aurek is doomed. His death is inevitable."

His companion nodded.

The same analysis had already spread among the intelligence networks of every great faction.

The truth was simple: what truly inspired fear was not strength that could be measured, but the power that could not be seen or understood.

Before today, Aurek’s assassins had been the stuff of nightmares—phantoms that struck without warning, leaving corpses behind with no clue as to how they had done it.

Even Expert-Rank masters had fallen to them, and the rumors claimed there were many such killers, perhaps dozens, perhaps more.

That uncertainty had kept every faction on edge.

It was impossible to prepare defenses against an enemy you could not see.

But now Aurek had summoned ten of them into the open.

Their appearance dispelled much of the dread.

After all, once you could see the danger clearly, it was already half defeated.

The truly terrifying foe was always the one you could not perceive.

"Shall we lend the academy professors a hand?" one of the men asked.

Both turned their heads toward the direction of the academy, their eyes glinting with calculation.

The opportunity was tempting: by aiding the professors, they could weaken Aurek and perhaps even claim glory for themselves.

Yet caution restrained them.

"Not yet," the other replied. "We must wait. Let us see if Aurek has still another hand hidden up his sleeve. Only then can we prepare accordingly. To act rashly now could be suicide."

The first man agreed with a grave nod.

These assassins, capable of vanishing into light and darkness alike, were too abhorrent to face unprepared.

Without understanding their methods, even a Hero-Rank master would find it difficult to resist.

What neither of the men realized, however, was that the very assassins they spoke of had already arrived.

Silent, invisible, unseen, they lingered close by, listening to every word.

To them, loyalty was absolute.

They would obey only their commander’s orders, whether it meant killing or gathering intelligence.

The two cloaked figures did not live long enough to realize their mistake.

Their whispered plotting had already marked them as prey.

The assassins struck without warning, and the courtyard fell silent.

Back at the academy grounds, the tension had reached a climax.

The air itself grew thick with oppressive force.

Waves of destructive energy surged, mingling with the crackling fury of thunder and lightning. Even those far from the battlefield could feel it—a suffocating presence that pressed against the lungs and set hearts racing.

Commander Gaia, though himself a strong man with years of battle experience, felt a cold terror creep into his chest as he looked upon the ten armored warriors.

His instincts screamed that these were beings of calamity.

Then came the voice, cold and resonant:

"Receive the judgment of thunder!"

In an instant, the black-armored soldiers moved as one.

The heavens split open with a roar.

Bolts of searing lightning cascaded downward, striking with cataclysmic force.

The ground quaked under the bombardment, the scent of ozone flooding the air.

Spectators gasped in unison, many involuntarily stepping back.

"So powerful!" one cried out.

"This force... it must already surpass the peak of Hero-Rank!"

The awe spread quickly among the crowd.

Even those who had doubted Aurek before now felt their hearts tremble.

Inside the smithy, the old blacksmith who had once scoffed now set aside his hammer entirely. His face was drawn tight, grave and unreadable.

"That boy," he whispered, "just what is he doing?"

The entire imperial capital trembled beneath the aura of destruction.

Above the city, thunder roared, heralding a storm unlike any it had ever known.