Chapter 1

In a city made of white buildings with brown roofs, two people were moving quickly down a corridor, while conversing with each other.

The corridor was supported by red pillars, and had shiny, brown marble flooring. Illuminated by hanging chandeliers, though not properly decorated, it emitted a majesty of its own.

One of the two people was a red haired lady of average height, clad in silver metallic armor, and the other was a man, no feature of whom could be seen through the completely closed armor that enclosed his body.

"What is the status? Have you received any new updates?" the woman asked the man in a voice that contained slight traces of seriousness.

The man on her side answered while nodding his head, "Yes, General. After you had subjugated the dragon, we had conducted a complete search of the area where it was rampaging. Turns out, that place had been sending slight traces of draconic mana outside the kingdom in all directions. As for updates on Mr. Aizen, I haven't received any news of him aside from what I've already told you about."

After hearing the man's words, the woman nodded her head and kept moving ahead. Nobody uttered another word for the whole way after that.

Soon, they reached the end of the corridor, and in front of them stood a large double door, made of black wood and decorated with gold threads. In front stood two guards, clad in the same armor as the man.

"Have the other generals arrived yet?" the woman asked after nearing the door.

The guard on the right of the gate answered, "Yes, General. The other Generals have arrived, and are waiting for your and His Majesty's arrival."

The woman nodded her head and stepped forward, on seeing which, both guards pushed open the doors.

The inside of the hall was dimly lit, but was created in the same vein as the corridor. Red pillars decorated the boundaries of the circular hall, while a single, but grand chandelier hung in the center of the room, to shine light only on the rectangular table present there, and its immediate surroundings.

At the head of the table was a throne decorated in gold, and both its sides contained two chairs each, with each chair having a different color.

The woman, Elsa Scott walked and sat down at the second chair on her left side, one with silver color, while the guard stayed standing near the doors.

Looking around, she once again came face to face with others of the same rank as her.

A man sitting on a red chair beside her, Clive Gordon, the strongest one among them. He was a tall man, with semi long brown hair and eyes, a moderately muscular body. Wearing black boots, pants, and a clock, with his bare chest, he gave other an impression of being wild.

In front of him, on the other side of the table, sitting on a yellow chair, Levy Dunn, was ranked second in terms of strength. Similar to Clive, he was tall and much more muscular. Having spiky blonde hair, and dressed in casual white shirt with his sleeves rolled up, black pants and shoes, he could be mistaken as a normal pedestrian if one did not pay much attention.

However, even his appearance was not as deceiving as the woman in front of herself, Mira Jane. Tied with her at third place in terms of strength, seated on a black chair, the appearance of the woman in front of her could be describe in one word – harmless.

With white hair tied in high ponytail, pink eyes and a pink dress extending to the ankles, she gave others an impression of approachable and friendly neighbor. However, one triggered, even all three of them together might not be able to contain her wrath.

As she was indulged in her own thoughts, no one spoke, and time continued to pass. Soon, they heard the sound of doors opening once again, and a middle aged man dressed in red robes entered along with two guards wearing similar knight armor as the others at the door.

He was wearing ornaments on himself from top to bottom, and his walk was slow, but nobody here showed him any disrespect. Immediately, all four general stood up, and put their hands on their chests.

"Greetings, your majesty," they said simultaneously, to which the old man just nodded.

Soon, he was at the seat at the head of his table. After sitting down, he gestured for others to follow, and once all had seated, he began in a heavy voice.

"Except for the generals, all others are to step outside."

The guards, the ones who came with him, and the one who was standing by the door, nodded and moved out of the room. Once the room was empty, he began once again,

"I believe you all should know what the meeting today has been called. One of the royal guards, Aizen, has disappeared during his battle with the dragon. Moreover, he had attacked the soldiers who were guarding the wall, as well as the wall itself, allowing the dragon free entry into our land. We have not been able to find him, but due to the actions he had taken during the fight, as well as his strength, we have reasons to believe that he is alive. Look through the information that is recorded in slips before you, and state your thoughts."

All four generals picked up their slips, and began looking through them. Once they had finished, Mira was the first one to speak,

"I too believe he is alive. There are two reasons I believe this to be the case. First is the fact that he took actions against the kingdom, which normally would be extremely difficult due to the presence of soul shackle. Even if we were to believe that the dragon flame burned his soul shackle as he was burned by it, given that he took other actions through that pain, it is highly unlikely that he is dead.

The second reason for my belief lies with the first one, given that he was capable of pulling through that pain, it is likely that his soul is very strong, giving rise to a strong possibility of soul ability. This is also the most likely reason for how he could go against the effect of soul shackle, taking actions against his oath."

The other three generals nodded their heads at it, as they too had come to the same conclusion. Dragon flames were no trivial matter, especially when you soul was vulnerable due to being in a descent avatar.

"Anything else?" the man at the head asked around, at which the others went into thoughts once more. This time, it was Clive who spoke up,

"I believe his soul ability is related to strengthening of his soul, as not only was he able to survive against dragon flames, but his mind was strong enough to not break under the torture of his soul getting burned. This will also support the theory of how he was able to resist the effects of soul shackle."

The other generals also voiced their agreement to his hypothesis.

It was Levy who spoke this time around,

"I had told you guys before, that Aizen shouldn't be recruited in the ranks of Royal guards, but you didn't listen. Look at what happened now."

Elsa spoke her thoughts for the first time on hearing him,

"You should stop Levy. We all know that the guy was talented. Don't you see how he was able to get to the rank of Royal guard before hundred years of age, despite not having received a proper training? Also, he always completed his missions, and his results were one of the best. Even among Royal guards, he had the most potential."

"Yeah, he did. But tell you what, that guy always gave me the creeps. His eyes were as if he was scheming something. Always. Moreover, you should've seen his actions outside work. You could almost always find him in one of the three places – his room, training grounds, library. If it was anyone else, I would just say that they have an interest in improving themselves. But that guy? He was trouble, and I could smell it the first time I saw him."

The man at the head of the table chose this moment to interrupt them, seeing that the argument was moving towards baseless accusations.

"*Sigh, Levy, I know you're jealous of him. His track record indicates that we should be too. However, if he had stayed in Royal guards for a few more years, it would have been for the greater good. Alas, he neither deserved nor wanted the great fruit we had for him, so there's no point in continuing this.

He could continue his growth despite nearing a century, so it means that he should have something. Thus, it will be better for us to look for him. Moreover, he disappeared from the scene, which along with his strong soul, makes for two soul abilities, hence we can assume that he at least has his soul ability at Tier 2. Start looking for him. I want him, dead or alive, otherwise it may result in a greater loss for us."