Finding Someone-and Killing Someone

Under the desperate cover of ordinary soldiers, the black-robed men rapidly approached the city walls.

A hundred meters from the walls, the black-robed man at their head gave an order, his face alight with fervor.

"Our Lord watches over us. The time has come for our souls to return to Him!"

As he spoke, two white wings of light suddenly sprouted from his back, and terrifying energy spilled from his body.

"Impossible—it's an angel!"

A soldier on the wall noticed what was happening, his face turning deathly pale with fright.

"Divine punishment! This is divine punishment!" Some soldiers lost the will to fight and dropped their weapons on the ground.

"Run! Hurry!" Kasa's pupils contracted, and he leaped straight down from the wall.

Kasa knew full well that, with the empire's higher-ups having already abandoned Qingli City, the city could not be held by their ancestor alone.

In fact... Kasa suspected that, like the empire, the Rivas Family's ancestor might already have abandoned Qingli City as well.

"Rumble~~"

Almost the instant Kasa leaped from the wall, a deafening explosion rang out.

As the walls crumbled violently, the incredibly sturdy defenses of Qingli City were blasted open by a single attack from the Two-Winged Angel.

The Church of Light's besieging army surged through the breach in dense swarms like locusts, flooding into the city and clashing with Qingli City's defenders.

Ten thousand meters above the ground, a middle-aged man in a blue robe watched Qingli City descend into chaos. He sighed and shook his head before turning to fly toward the distant horizon.

"Shouldn't we take the opportunity to keep him here?" A Saint Domain expert from the Church of Light noticed the middle-aged man flying away.

Pope of Light Abraham shook his head.

"We can't push the Zhongyuan Empire too hard. Taking Rivas Province this time has already brought us considerable gains."

The next day, news that the Church of Light had breached Qingli City and occupied Rivas Province spread across the continent.

In the Starfire Kingdom, Yao Lao had recovered. Reading the report sent from the imperial capital, he thought of Xiao Yan, who was in seclusion, and chose not to tell him about the matter.

"Rivas Province is just one province. At the end of the day, this is merely a redistribution of interests between the empire and the Church of Light. There's no need to interrupt that boy Yan's cultivation over it."

Yao Lao put the matter out of his mind and immersed himself in cultivating Dou Qi, striving to break through to the Saint Domain as soon as possible.

At the Imperial Capital Magic Academy in the Roland Empire, inside an ordinary courtyard.

"Chirp, chirp~~"

A beautiful black messenger bird flew into the courtyard and landed on an aged hand.

Old John took the message from the bird's leg and read it. His expression shifted several times.

Beside him, Taylor, dressed in a brown robe, watched Old John curiously.

"What's wrong, Teacher?"

As he grew older and more mature, Taylor had come to accept Old John as his master.

Of course, although they were master and apprentice, Old John had no children of his own. He treated Taylor more like a grandson and raised him accordingly.

"This..." Old John looked at Taylor with a complicated expression.

Old John knew of Taylor's relationship with Kasa and Lynn.

Kasa and Lynn were sworn brothers, and Taylor called Lynn his big brother. The three of them had been close ever since their days at the academy.

Now that Qingli City had fallen, Kasa, one of the three, was missing and his fate was unknown.

Old John worried that Taylor might do something rash, and for a moment, he didn't know how to put it into words.

"Does this have something to do with me?" Noticing Old John's complicated expression, Taylor's face tensed. He had a bad feeling.

"Never mind. Read it yourself." Old John shook his head and handed Taylor the letter.

Taylor took the letter and read it. His face turned deathly pale.

"...Kasa... How could this be?"

Taylor muttered in disbelief. After a long while, he abruptly raised his head.

"I don't believe anything happened to that guy Kasa."

"I'm going to Qingli City to find him."

As he spoke, Taylor rushed toward the door.

"That's enough! Get back here!" Old John roared.

Taylor stopped and turned around. His eyes were already red, tears streaming from their corners.

"Teacher, let me go!"

..."Forget it. If I ever really have to come looking for you, I figure I'll be close to crippled..." Taylor vividly remembered how the three of them had been joking together not long ago.

He thought of all the years they had spent together, the playful teasing they shared, and the future they had imagined before parting ways.

Taylor's eyes grew blurry.

"It'll be all right. Kasa won't die. The letter only said Qingli City had fallen..."

"Sigh..." Seeing Taylor lost in a daze, Old John looked worried and tried to reassure him gently:

"There's no need to worry too much. Though Qingli City fell, quite a few soldiers survived."

"If Kasa really is alive, given the bond between you three, he'll come to the Roland Empire to find you and Lynn. What you need to do now is wait, not rush out looking for him!"

Old John tried earnestly to talk Taylor out of leaving during such a turbulent time.

When Old John mentioned Lynn, something occurred to Taylor, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

"Right, there's still Big Brother Lynn."

"Big Brother Lynn once said that I could go to him whenever something happened."

"I'll go find Big Brother Lynn. He'll definitely be able to find Kasa!"

...On a small mountain beside Blackstone Town.

Lynn, who had been comprehending the Fate Law, opened his eyes uneasily.

"What's going on today? I can't shake the feeling that something's about to happen."

As he thought, Lynn sent out his vast spiritual power to survey the surroundings.

"Oh... Why is Ale here?"

Through his senses, Lynn saw Taylor riding a white warhorse. His face was pale, his eyes bloodshot—clear signs that he had been traveling for a long time.

"Something's wrong!"

Noticing that something was off with Taylor, Lynn's heart sank. He took a step forward and instantly appeared in front of him.

"Ale, what happened?"

When Taylor saw Lynn, he grabbed him by the shoulder. "Third Brother, Qingli City has fallen. Kasa is missing!"

Those words left Lynn's mind completely blank.

Qingli City had fallen?

Kasa was missing?

"Tell me exactly what happened." Lynn gripped Taylor's arm, his voice turning cold.

After listening to the whole story, Lynn stood silently where he was.

Looking in the direction Taylor had come from, Lynn quietly closed his eyes.

..."Be careful on the way. If you run into trouble you can't handle, come to Big Brother!"

"Okay!"

Lynn still clearly remembered their parting words.

But sadly, the people from those days were gone.

"Ale, go back to the imperial capital first. I'm going out for a while." Lynn opened his eyes.

"To find Kasa? I can come with you!"

"Stay in Blackstone Town." Lynn shook his head, rejecting Taylor's offer.

He shot into the sky and flew straight toward the Zhongyuan Empire.

Amid the clouds, Lynn's expression grew colder and colder.

Like a volcano about to erupt.

"This time, I'm going to find someone..."

"...and kill someone!"