However, Athena suddenly stopped walking. She brushed off Merry’s hand that was holding her and said, “Sis Merry, all of this is my fault... Blame me for going to observe the forbidden area back then, which caused today’s situation.”“The thing that was sealed in the forbidden area even made Dad afraid. Now that it’s out, I really can’t imagine the consequences.”“With my condition right now, I don’t know how long it would take for us to reach Country Rio Dio. I’d only be delaying time.” “It’s better if you go first. Go and tell Richard everything that happened in Division Nine. Tell him not to return to the central area!”“After that, quickly go and find Dad. Only by finding him can we turn the situation around!”Athena’s face was full of regret. The woman was blaming herself. However, things had already come to this point. No matter how much she regretted it, nothing could undo what had already happened.Over the past two days, they had been monitoring movements at the central head

Perhaps right now, that child is still waiting. Waiting for Zorric, as his master, to come rescue him and take him out of the sea of suffering.Like before, whenever Zorric faced danger, he always hoped his master would come to save him. He understood that feeling more than anyone. Loneliness, helplessness, fear, trembling—all mixed together into one.“Zorric, try to be a bit rational!” Zilton snapped.“Rational? How can I still be rational! He’s already been taken away for experiments. You know? He’s so smart. He’s afraid I’ll leave him if he says the wrong thing. Even when the injury on his toe got infected, he didn’t dare tell me.”“You don’t understand this feeling at all. You’ve never experienced it, you don’t understand it at all! On what basis?! On what basis should I just let this problem pass!!!”Zilton, indeed, had no feelings for that child whatsoever. As long as it didn’t involve him, the child’s life or death had nothing to do with him.As for Zorric’s reaction, Zilton ju

“Who knows, maybe I can get a chance to help that kid too!”After talking to himself, Zorric decided to descend the stairs quickly, hurrying to catch up with Richard, who wasn’t that far ahead.In his mind, the image of Richard covered in his own blood kept replaying. That made him even more impatient to follow Richard’ steps.Meanwhile, in Ashfen, located on the border of Division Nine…“Mr. Rezky, don’t worry! The headquarters won’t check on you. The person taking care of that child certainly wouldn’t dare come to Division Nine to ask for the kid!”Brom, who was in the middle of a transaction with someone from Smaora Country, smiled widely as he looked at the middle-aged man in front of him. The man was around forty years old.His forehead was deeply furrowed, as if he were thinking about something. He nodded and spoke to Brom, “I’m not worried about the person taking care of that child, because he’s just a member of Smaora Country. I’m sure he wouldn’t dare start trouble with me.”

Richard’s words made the middle-aged man fall silent for a moment before bursting into loud laughter and saying,“Country Rio Dio? Hahaha! You’re from that lower-level Country Rio Dio? Turns out the person Zorric brought is just as useless as he is!”“You two dare to come here and threaten me while invoking the name of the central region? I’ll teach you a little lesson so you’ll understand what the Ninth Division really is!”The man stepped toward Richard with a sharp gaze.Both his palms began to gather all the power within his body.“Low-born trash! I’ll give you a choice—kneel and kill yourselves. At least your corpses will remain intact. Otherwise, I’ll kill you myself until there’s nothing left of you!”Richard’s completely fearless gaze made Rezky look somewhat confused. That look—it was very similar to the high-ranking officials from the central region, perhaps even sharper!Rezky thought his words would shake Richard’s calm expression, but unfortunately, they didn’t in the sli

A second later the smile that had just appeared vanished instantly, replaced by a look of disbelief. A deafening sound filled the air around them.The sound of an explosion, screams, and something crashing violently echoed one after another until the ground beneath their feet shook violently.Zorric, who had fled while driving the car, was also jolted in shock by the sound and the tremor. The man quickly slammed on the brakes and checked what was behind him through the car’s rearview mirror.The same shocked expression was visible on his face. Back there, the people who had attacked Richard earlier lay scattered on the ground, their bodies flooded with blood.One by one they died — not a single one left!Meanwhile Richard remained standing in place, his body stained with blood. He stepped into the pool of blood and swept his gaze over the people lying there.A guard hurried over to the people from Ashfen city to check on them, then immediately slumped down weakly and said, “Mr. Rezky,