Chapter 8

Dugald city is a city not far from the royal capital of Neigal, Moissan city. The area of ​​Dugald City is only one-third of the size of ​​Moissan City. But the level of development and welfare of the population is not much different.

It was midnight, and clouds covered the moon. Dugald city feels desolate. The residents were fast asleep on their soft mattresses. You can only hear the people's hustle and bustle in the nightlife area.

Above Dugald city, Ziel soars in the sky and looks for where Marquis Jacobe's mansion is. The residence of a city lord will be easy to find because it usually has a magnificent building and a large area of land.

After searching for a while, Ziel finally found a luxurious mansion near the hill that stood out the most. In contrast to the surrounding buildings, the mansion seemed to be built using gold and silver. It looks very conspicuous in the middle of the night. Based on the nature of Marquis Jacobe that Ziel heard from the conversation between Duke Hazell and Beatrix, he is a person who is hungry for money and power. So the luxury displayed by the mansion in front of Ziel reflected the nature of its host.

"What a flashy mansion. In the daytime, this mansion might be even shinier. Hmm..." Ziel suddenly realized something while observing the super luxurious mansion in front of him.

Ziel flew towards Marquis Jacobe's mansion and could see a thin layer of the membrane covering the entire area of his residence. It was barrier magic on a large scale when considering the size of the Marquis Jacobe's residence was larger than Duke Hazell's.

The most important thing was that a mage could only create a barrier of this wide-scale with the power of a Magic King and above. In addition to, continuously activating a barrier like this required an incredible amount of magic stones. Ordinary nobles obviously couldn't possibly afford it.

Magic stones are rocks mined from areas with high mana density. Unlike the beast stone that comes from within the magical beast, magic stones have a much higher purity of mana. There was speculation that the magical beast was previously an ordinary animal and mutated due to living in a place with high mana density. Such a place is usually a magic stone mining area. The bigger the magic stone mine, the more powerful the magical beasts there are.

"This barrier is quite formidable. Even Duke Hazell, who is higher in the hierarchy, doesn't have anything like this in his residence. Beatrix might be able to make it, but she won't be able to supply magic stones to keep activating it like this." Ziel muttered while rubbing his chin.

Ziel looked at the barrier in front of him. He checked the function of the barrier through its forming magic circle. In addition to resisting attacks, he could see that this barrier also had a security function that would immediately notify the people inside the mansion if anyone intruded or forcibly destroyed the barrier.

Without activating the security function, Ziel touched the barrier and tore it slowly like a thin cloth. He didn't want the person he was looking for to be overly vigilant and run away using teleportation magic. He could have prevented him from escaping by sealing the space around the mansion. But Ziel had to open all nine magic seals, and it would change nature. It would attract influential people from the Neigal Kingdom, which would be troublesome. He would open his Magic Seal after he was done with his business in that place if he needed it.

After Ziel crossed the barrier and entered the mansion, the tear in the barrier he created slowly closed automatically, and he entered the mansion through the window. When he set foot inside the mansion, he saw for the first time an all-gold room. The furniture and displays in the room are a mix of gold and silver. This shows the luxury and greed of the owner.

"Looks like he's in his study room. But I can sense someone else is there. Hmm... A Magic King? Maybe he's the one who set up a barrier in this mansion." Ziel mumbled and started walking towards Marquis Jacobe's study room.

[Invisible]

Ziel suddenly disappeared from the place. No, he didn't disappear but blended in with his surroundings. He hid his existence within the layers of space. Except for people whose strength is above Ziel, they will never be able to find out about his presence.

Ziel continued walking down the mansion's corridors and finally arrived at Marquis Jacobe's room. He could hear that Marquis Jacobe and the Magic King were having a meaningful conversation.

Ziel teleported into the room and saw a middle-aged man with reddish-black hair and blue eyes drinking wine at his desk. The other was wearing a cloak and mask to cover himself, so Ziel didn't know what he looked like. He is the Magic King that Ziel feels. He held a staff with a crystal shaped like a spear tip. Strange enough for a magician's wand. Ziel started to listen to what they were talking about.

"We lost contact with the people sent to Duke Castilene's residence." The Magic King spoke to Marquis Jacobe in a low voice.

"Are they all dead!?" Marquis Jacobe was astonished to hear the information from him.

"I don't know. Suddenly, all contact with them was cut off. But it looks like they're dead." The Magic King spoke a voice that contained killing intent.

"What!? Did Beatrix Artvika kill them? I... I can't think of anyone but her in that mansion who could kill them all. Moreover, three of them are grandmasters." Marquis Jacobe stammered as he was overwhelmed by the Magic King's killing intent. Drops of sweat dripped from his forehead.

"That's possible. The last communication was true that they were fighting against her. But, there may be another party we don't know about." The Magic King withdrew his killing intent, and Marquis Jacobe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"So, what's our next plan? I'm afraid that Duke Castilene will report this matter to King Jonathan." Marquis Jacob was worried that Duke Hazell already had concrete evidence of his crimes.

"You don't have to worry. He still doesn't have it. If he does, are you sure you can still sit here drinking wine? Let's put that aside for the time being. Next time I'm the one who's going to kill him. Beatrix Artvika is nothing for me." The Magic King sneered at Marquis Jacobe.

"Okay... So, the reason you came to me to tell that?" Marquis Jacobe still felt there was something else he wanted.

"No, apart from telling you that, my main purpose was to convey a message from the head of the organization. He asked you to provide more people for the human experiment." The Magic King said seriously. Even though the message said that the leader of his organization requested, the Magic King said commandingly and didn't accept any refusal.

"But... Wasn't it before that 250 people were dispatched last week?" Marquis Jacobe was shocked when he heard the Magic King's true purpose.

"The amount is still not enough, and this is a request from the head of the organization. Do you want to refuse?" The Magic King narrowed his eyes and said threateningly while releasing his killing intent at Marquis Jacobe.

"No... I don't dare! I'll do it right away." Marquis Jacobe had difficulty breathing due to the pressure from the Magic King.

"That's better. Tomorrow night 500 people should have been sent to the usual place." After saying that, Magic King turned into smoke and disappeared.

"Damn it! How can I get 500 people in 1 day!" Marquis Jacobe gets angry and hits the table in front of him. He was afraid of the 'Dark Legacy' organization. He feared the organization would turn their fangs back on him if he didn't comply with the request.

"You're right. You won't get it." The corner of the room distorted, and Ziel revealed himself.

"You! Who are you!? Guards..." Before Marquis Jacobe could shout for the guards, he felt something trickle down from his forehead. When he touched it, he felt a hole that shouldn't be there. Not long after that, Marquis Jacobe was no longer moving and breathing.

"Maybe that's called dying of greed." Before Marquis Jacobe could scream, Ziel shot the coin he took from his pocket at Marquis Jacobe's forehead. The silver coin shot high speed like a laser and pierced between his eyebrows.

"As a reward, I will bury this place with you." Ziel disappeared from the room, leaving Marquis Jacobe's body getting cold. It wasn't long before he appeared right above the Marquis Jacobe's mansion.

The weather suddenly changed. A thundercloud appeared above the residence of Marquis Jacobe. Surprisingly the cloud was only right up there and didn't spread anywhere. Within the rumble of thunder came a sound that could chill anyone who heard it.

[Palms of the God]

[Manifest!]

A gigantic gray palm appeared above the residence of Marquis Jacobe. It was moving downwards at an astonishing speed and smashed into the mansion with terrifying force.

Booooooooooooommmmmmmm!

Tremendous tremors like earthquakes and deafening sounds spread throughout Dugald city or perhaps the entire territory of the Neigal Kingdom. After the smoke and dust dissipated, what was seen would make others astonished and open their mouths as wide as possible. The place that was previously a luxurious and majestic mansion suddenly turned into a bottomless pit in the shape of a palm, and the person who did it was no longer there.