Chapter 597: Shattered Will

Julius watched as Freya restrained the gray-robed man. He was still alive, but was in quite bad condition, and Freya was forced to heal him slightly so that he didn’t die during the transport back to House Zenith. Julius hadn’t been very gracious to the man, not that he deserved it in the first place.

Julius didn’t think he deserved to live, and his being kept alive was all the mercy that Julius could spare at the moment. Freya bundled up all of the surviving members so that Lily and House Zenith might find something to use against the Conclave. The odds were low that these men knew anything of real importance, but it didn’t hurt to check.

He was also a little surprised that there were no Tier 5s stationed at this hideout, especially since it was such a large building. If there had been, he suspected they would have known a lot more than these men they captured.

He had hoped that he would have the chance to test himself against a Tier 5 again. But alas, his good fortune extended only so far.

On the bright side, he was finally able to review his notifications. He didn’t get many skill levels, which wasn’t too surprising since it hadn’t been that hard a task. They weren’t prepared for him, and their panic was their downfall in the end. Once they lost their formation, he picked them apart quite easily.

[Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin lvl 25 -> lvl 26]

[Absolute Spatial Perception lvl 16 -> lvl 17]

The skill levels in these skills were very welcome. However, he was much more interested in the other notification about his kinetic skills, so he opened it, his excitement barely contained.

Synergy detected. Would you like to evolve [Kinetic Energy Refinement], [Kinetic Shell], and [Graveforce Impact] into a single skill? Notice: This will remove existing skills.

He accepted it and belatedly realized that he probably should have waited for Cain’s input beforehand. Although he doubted Cain would tell him to wait and didn’t feel that bad. Plus, he was excited.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill [Field of the Shattered Will] (Epic+)

Julius didn’t quite know how to feel about his new skill. On one hand, he wasn’t all that surprised that it had something to do with fields and shattered. But the part that referenced a shattered will was quite alarming. Was it talking about his own shattered will? Or rather, the shattered soul that he experienced half a day ago? Or maybe it was talking about shattering his opponent’s will?

It was hard to say. But he knew the second the skill’s information flooded into his brain that it was a very good skill. There was a potency that stood apart even when compared to his other epic skills.

He was distracted from his thoughts when he spotted the team from House Zenith pull off in several large carriages. There was also a team already inside the building to retrieve any relevant information or documents that might help.

Luckily, Aliyah had come with them, and it was quite simple to call in people from House Zenith to transport their prisoners and help the victims from their cages. It was all turning out to be a mess, and once a large number from House Zenith arrived, they were ready to leave.

He looked at a team of healers helping the injured victims and threw a disgusted look at the surviving members of this hideout. Hopefully, they had more information that would lead to finding more of these secret bases.

“Are you okay?” Lily asked him suddenly from his side.

He turned to look at her and the rest of his friends. He felt kind of bad for bringing them all the way out here. They had done nothing except watch him fight and then had to help with the cleanup afterwards.

“Yeah, I’m good. Why?”

“I don’t know. I noticed that you were a little…”

She didn’t finish her sentence and let the words float in the air.

“A little angry, is what she means,” Aubrey commented with a wide smile for some reason.

Julius didn’t even deny it and shrugged. “To be fair, I have a lot of reasons to be angry. They almost killed me today, and I needed to release some stress.”

“Yeah, you still didn’t fully explain to us what happened,” Derek said with a worried frown.

“Or why do you have to leave. I don’t think that’s a good idea. Doesn’t matter how powerful you are now,” Aubrey added.

“I have to leave, and my mind is already made up. I just have to collect some things before I head out. I also need to talk with some people.”

He unclenched his fists and sighed. “By the way, what happened to the tournament?”

“There hasn’t been any official news about it. But it is widely known that it is being canceled since you know, the entire capital is on fire and all,” Aubrey said sarcastically.

“What else happened?” He asked, mostly towards Lily and Derek. He felt like the two of them, mainly Lily, would have the most information on hand.

Lily looked as if she had aged five years and gave him a sorrowful expression.

“A lot of people died. A good number of prominent people as well. Kidnappings, theft, and assassinations. You name it. The Conclave and whoever they were working with hit the capital hard. It will take time to recover and repair the damage. It will take even more time to repair the loss of the Empire’s reputation. An attack of this magnitude happening in the capital during a high-security event isn’t something that people will brush off. Foreign dignitaries and guests died. People will ultimately lay the blame on the Empire for their lack of preparedness.”

Julius scoffed. “Yeah, I am one of those people.”

Lily sighed sadly. “You won’t be the only one either. While it is clear that there was a lot of help from both inside and outside, the Empire should have responded better. There is no way the enemy should have had access to so many ward schemes and enchantments. That was what really impeded the Empire’s ability to respond.”

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“Yeah, how in the hell does that happen?” This time, it was Aubrey who asked, her disgust evident in her tone.

“Bribes, threats, unsatisfied workers, or all of the above. It will take some time to unravel the mess the Empire has found itself in. It’s actually the perfect opportunity for you to get out of here. I can even have my family start spreading rumors and false information about your death to make sure that the Conclave or related parties are searching for you,” Lily offered.

“Lily! You aren’t supposed to be supporting his stupid idea of leaving. You are supposed to help us convince him to stay,” Aubrey shouted.

Lily turned to her best friend. “Why? I think it’s a good idea too. The Empire is no longer a safe place for him. He will always be in danger if he stays. It has already been shown that even a place as well fortified as the capital isn’t safe from the Conclave’s reach. If they know Julius is alive, believe me, they will try to kill him again. He has proven himself to be too strong to be left alive.”

“We can protect him, though,” Derek argued.

“Yes, but at what cost?” Lily shot back, tension rising.

“Let’s not fight. We still have a lot of stuff to do, and we might as well try to enjoy our time together while we can,” Julius said placatingly.

This seemed to work, and the tension slowly ebbed away. He could see that the others weren’t convinced that his leaving was a good idea, but they also seemed to know that it was futile to change his mind.

“What else do we need to do?” Edgar asked with confusion.

“Well, I have a certain royal uncle that I need to go and talk to before I leave. He is supposed to give me something, and I am going to have to cancel our agreement,” Julius explained vaguely.

***