Tap! Tap! Tap!

Julius Xander tapped his table and read the news again.

{Bali has cleared the tenth stage in the golden room. The gate has shone violet.}

"How true is this? Are they lying?" He asked the robed man in front of him.

The robed man was a level 8, but when Julius' gaze fell on him, he felt completely powerless. As if he was a mere fly that could be swatted to death.

Gulping nervously, he answered.

"No, sir. There are thirty princes and princesses there. Everyone said the same." He answered in a respectful tone.

"Oh." Julius propped his chin on his hand and thought deeply. "Aren't there any of our own princes or princesses?"

As the strongest prime family, Xanders also had quite a few princes and princesses.

So, Julius thought since a princeling gang of thirty participated in the golden room at once, there would also be a Xander or two.

"…" The robed man didn't answer. He lowered his head and held his breath.

"What is it?" Julius narrowed his eyes, his voice growing cold.

"S-Sir, the Xander princes are being avoided by every other prince after the shadow guardian incident." He said in a voice that bordered on crying.

He might as well cried as Julius slapped his desk.

Bam!

The premium, custom-made desk imported from Uranus turned into dust and vanished into the air.

"Gulp." The robed man feared for his life and didn't even dare to move.

That desk… was something only peak level 9s could break. And only break into a piece or two. But Julius, he turned it into dust.

'If that attack falls on me, even my bones won't be left behind.'

Tap! Tap! Tap!

Julius continued to tap his fingers, but since there was no desk, he just tapped into the air.

But the sheer force at his fingertips caused the air to explode and sent shockwaves across the room.

It was done unintentionally, but those mere shockwaves from his unintended actions were capable of killing even the fiercest of level 6s.

'Bali isn't in ruins. He is training.' Julius rubbed his chin. At least, that's what Evander said when Bali disappeared.

'But even if Bali is the ruins, he is incapable of reaching the tenth floor, much less clearing it.' Julius was damn sure about this.

The princes were perhaps too excited, but it was common sense that the peak level 9 wasn't the end of level 9.

It extended to the Sovereign state.

While most people considered the ten stages could be cleared easily in lower levels, Julius was the opposite.

'As a peak level 9, clear the first six stages. Then, the stronger you are as a Sovereign, the more stages you can clear.' He took a deep breath. 'When you are only a step away from celestial rank, you can clear the tenth stage.'

As more and more people failed to clear the ninth stage, much less reach the tenth, Julius' opinion turned into an unshakable belief.

But now, someone broke his belief.

They defied what seemed like common sense to him.

'Defy, common sense…' When Julius thought of these words, a pair of eyes appeared in his mind.

Yes!

He reached level 5 in two months completely defying common sense.

"You little cockroach!" Julius stood up and stomped in anger.

Boom! Kacha!

The guardian palace they were currently in was a huge palace floating above the guardian islands.

With his stomp, the guardian palace began to shake violently and his aura fluctuations spread throughout the guardian islands.

They covered hundreds of miles and reached every single corner.

The children that were about to play started crying in fear. The adults froze in shock and went inside their homes.

The beasts in one of the hunting islands knelt on the spot and let out cries of submission.

Even the level 9 guards on the island looked at the floating palace with a mix of fear and awe.

The man responsible for everything sat on his chair in the palace and crossed his legs.

"Dreamer, how dare you enter the ruins!" Julius gnashed his teeth.

After he thought Varian died, Julius was happy. Heck, he even held a small celebration. But the storm on social media a few days later proved that he was somehow still alive.

Julius had no idea how it was possible. But other than Dreamer, no one was that capable to control the entire metanet and expose the truth.

Even though Julius tried his best, things were out of control. In the end, he had to kill his uncle and niece with his own hands.

It was more humiliating than painful.

Even though he didn't see Varian, Julius could hear his hearing mocking laughter in his ear.

His first reaction to that laughter wasn't anger, but fear.

Fear.

An emotion Julius rarely felt. But to this mysterious young man who kept breaking his common sense, fear was only natural. It's natural to fear the unknown or at least that's what he thought.

"I need to kill him at any cost." Julius clenched his fists and a fierce killing intent burst out of him.

Whoosh! Shuaa!

The wind turned sharp and each breeze became like a flood of prickling needles.

"S-Sir!" The robed man finally called out.

Julius looked at him and said. "Without making it explicit, lock down the ruins. Tail every single person who is exiting the ruins."

"B-But the manpower…" The robed man stuttered. Even for Xanders, this wasn't an easy task.

"Do whatever it takes." Julius waved his hand.

"Are you going in, sir?" The robed man asked, after realizing that Julius was resolved to kill.

"Me?" Julius would've answered yes, if not for Varian still surviving after him nearly destroying the ghost ship.

"The ghost ship would make it hard for me to catch him." Julius shook his head. "I need the right candidate."

He suddenly thought of high general Evander.

'You say your daughter is on a secret mission, but Evander, I know what she's really been up to.' Julius' lips curled into a cold smile.

"May I a bring a list of candidat—" The robed man stopped when Julius held out of his hand.

"I have a perfect candidate." Julius' smile was like that of a devil. "Perfect indeed."

"I have to attend a meeting. evert the room." Julius stood up and walked out of the room, and turned towards the conference room.

As he was about to step away, he paused and swiped his comm. A few holograms flew out and entered the robed man's comm.

"It won't help much, but send these to Charles."

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