“This way.”

Otor respectfully led the way as they flew. Kenova, Von, and the old man looked at the silent city and were amazed at the blatant show of power.

Those mages were exuding their High Mage aura without any care. Even if there were High Mages in the city, they wouldn’t fart before them.

The group arrived at the Merchant Guild. A thousand mages from the army were stationed in a formation on a nearby street.

The mages looked up and bowed when they saw Lawrend. He smiled and nodded at them.

They entered the Merchant Guild and headed to the Guild Master’s office.

Once there, Lawrend saw Riston sitting on the chair with Julianne and Gregory glaring at him while standing on the side.

“Y-you’re alive!?!” Riston screamed.

He was bragging at these two envoys from the Trunden Empire earlier. He revealed to them how Lawrend was definitely dead. He couldn’t believe it when he saw Lawrend standing there perfectly fine.

“Your Majesty.”

“Your Majesty.”

Julianne and Gregory respectfully bowed to him. Since his lecture, they respected him from the depths of their hearts.

“Of course. How could I die? I haven’t taken down your empire yet,” Lawrend retorted.

“How!??”

“If this book doesn’t die, I won’t die. I mean, you are unqualified to kill me with your petty trick,” Lawrend replied calmly.

“The empire is done for!”

*Slam*

Riston slammed the table. His current appearance was unlike his noble demeanor when he first met Lawrend.

“Oh, what do you mean?” Lawrend asked playfully.

It was his first time doing this kind of thing, and he already felt reinvigorated. It gave him a rush of euphoria seeing the despair on Riston’s face.

“The Blumin Empire made a mistake! You’re a devil! Not only could you control Lightning and Fire, but you could also use Earth magic!” Riston lashed out.

“Earth magic?”

The three envoys looked at each other. They suddenly realized that Lawrend was still hiding some things from them. He was actually a four-element mage! Such talent had never appeared in history.

“Hmph. Took you long enough. I will kill your emperor soon,” Lawrend declared with a snort.

He hated the Blumin Emperor for forcefully pressuring him to join his side. It even resulted in him running to the Altro Continent, and remembering those sequences of events wasn’t pleasant.

“Ahh! Let me go! I need to warn His Imperial Majesty!!” Riston shouted out of his mind.

He wasn’t naive to think their empire could survive the wrath of a four-element mage. Their destruction was guaranteed unless a miracle happened.

Although contrary to his words, he didn’t try to fly away or escape to the ground. He knew it was possible, so he could only shout.

“Valentina, you can do whatever you want with him. I’m tired,” Lawrend said and turned to leave.

Valentina walked inside and smirked at Riston. She wanted to kill him earlier, but she couldn’t because of his advantage. Now, she was the hunter. Up here, his earth magic was useless before her.

“Who are you!?” Riston asked in trepidation.

He scanned her with his mana, but he couldn’t sense anything. It was like she wasn’t there. A ghost, in other words.

“I’m Master’s Eight Maid, Valentina,” she said and smiled.

Thick, large vines grew from the floor and held onto Riston’s legs. He stood up and tried to run away. Even if he knew escaping was impossible, fear overtook him.

Valentina was like a blank slate. He couldn’t sense her, and the smile on her face was sinister.

Riston’s scalp tingled in horror. Alas, Valentina was still a previous Heaven Mage. She used a tiny bit of her leftover Heaven Mage energy, but that was enough to restrain him.

“Scheming against my master deserves death!”

In all of Lawrend’s maids, his life was their soft spot. If someone tried to take it, they would reap their lives instead.

The vines holding Riston’s legs drilled into his flesh.

“AHHHHH!! NO!! AHHHHH!!”

Riston could clearly feel the vines tearing his flesh apart and pushing their way inside his body.

The three envoys left the room and closed the door. They didn’t want to hear Riston’s painful screams. It reminded them of their arrogance when they first met Lawrend.

“We shouldn’t provoke him no matter what!” Julianne warned the two of them.

His talents were crazy enough. His maids were also mind-numbing. Of course, they knew not to provoke Lawrend after seeing what happened today.

They learned that one of them was the princess of the Ignis Clan. Now, they learned that another one of them was a brutal torturer.

Valentina was gentle back when she was still alive. She learned that gentleness wasn’t the answer when West betrayed her. She changed and could now become cold-blooded when needed.

Lawrend returned to the inn and rested on Ember’s thighs. He pondered about the information Riston revealed to him.

He said they gained the support of the Crescent Empire. It was bad news for both the Trunden Empire and the Undrasil Kingdom.

“Time, we lack time. Otherwise, I would be confident in defeating them with only my army,” Lawrend muttered in thought.

“Master…”

Ember held Lawrend’s hand. She showed her continuous support for him.

“Ember, I was touched by your concern for my life earlier,” Lawrend said and looked up and her.

He smiled and held her cheek.

“I-I’m your maid, right?” Ember asked and faintly smiled.

“Right. You are my maid, and you did a good job. How about you fulfill one of your duties today?” Lawrend asked.

“W-what duties?” Ember asked nervously.

Lawrend winked at her. She immediately understood what he meant, and she blushed.

“Can you lead it, Master? I-I can’t do it…”

Her innocence and embarrassment made her lose courage. She wasn’t confident in pleasing him.

“You should learn to please yourself too. I will teach you.”

Lawrend sat up and patted the spot in front of him on the bed. Ember sat there and leaned on his chest.

“You do it like this…”