While the arguments in the center of the square were getting heated, Vanda and others used a reusable magic scroll for concealment to sneak away toward the main door of the citadel.

It was not the first time Vanda used this scroll, as she sometimes used it to observe Illyan or other people she found interesting.

Of course, the most common reason was the assassination of her enemies or information gathering. While she wasn't as agile as her brother, she also preferred sneak attacking from the shadows.

But now, she used it to get out of this situation.

They were needed to prepare the array, so they couldn't leave, but now they were done, they could disappear.

In fact, Vanda planned for all of them to feign death, as it would be the easiest way for their plan to succeed.

Once the real culprits disappeared, the new scapegoats appeared.

Vanda smirked as most of the academics started to be apprehended by the gang members, while other survivors didn't show even a bit of sympathy.

Rather, they yelled in anger, be it soldier, merchant, or even mere prostitutes who didn't have almost any status or respect compared to academics.

However, that was all just background for the group, as they looked in anticipation toward the door.

Everyone except for one—namely Arun, who looked as if he had lost his soul with puffy eyes and snot on his face. Mufa and Neddard needed to drag him along.

At first, he struggled, but at some point, he just gave up.

Hearing his soft sobbing, Vanda sighed in annoyance. Her irritation was getting worse after their recent fight with those two audacious bastards…

"Enough!" Thus, she turned around with a cold glare.

Arun stiffened in fear upon hearing her shout as he stared at her without moving a bit.

Then, she tried to gently smile as she comforted him. However, she didn't know that her smile looked twisted in Arun's eyes, as her eyes shone with madness.

"What happened here doesn't matter. Did you forget what the inheritance of this empire is about? Your brother may have died, but as long as we get our hands on it, wouldn't we be able to get him back? That's one of the reasons you wanted this inheritance, right? Your mother is waiting for you on the other side. Now, it is just one person extra. So focus."

Vanda tilted her head as her empty eyes stared into Arun's eyes.

Arun shook in terror, but in the end, he swallowed his saliva as he nodded.

Vanda nodded in satisfaction as she turned her attention toward the door.

"Don't do anything rash, Arun. We will be able to get everything we lost along the way back if we wait a little bit. So just wait a bit. It will pay off. Definitely." Tami, who watched all of this in sorrow, whispered to Arun in consolation. However, even she didn't know if she was speaking to him or to herself…

On the other hand, Vanda didn't care about all of that at all, as she stared at the door with fascination.

There were certain crystals adorning it that Illyan originally thought were just ornaments but were now fully glowing with a reddish hue.

"Finally… The last of the pieces… Once we get it, we will be able to finish the key, and the inheritance will be ours… At that point, the world will be ours to take!" Vanda's eyes sparkled in excitement as she put one of her hands on the handle of the door.

It was just a small protrusion with striations covering it. But once she held it and turned it by ninety degrees to the left, a loud bang resounded.

The striations covering the knob turned black as the protrusion was pushed back inside of the door.

This caused the entire central section of the gate to divide into several layers of circles covered with all kinds of symbols, only for each layer to circulate in different directions.

However, as time passed, the outermost layers started to click into their rightful positions as they stopped. The symbols on them glowed, which caused the gears connected to them to spin, activating the entire diagram that covered the surface of the door.

The red crystals started to pulse with unknown energy as the hidden transparent tubes pumped the crimson liquid across the ancient mechanisms, bringing them back to life.

The entire process was smooth and went without a hitch.

This was only possible thanks to the energy given by the red crystals and the alignment that Illyan had prepared beforehand.

If he didn't do it right, then the crimson liquid wouldn't have been able to pass certain parts of the diagram, and the door opening wouldn't be complete.

Vanda clenched her fist so tightly that blood was coming out of them.

This was her destiny. Her rightful fate.

The suffering and humiliation she went through just to survive were too unfair. She wanted power. She wanted her enemies to suffer.

"Hahah…" Soon, she started to laugh hysterically as she watched.

The citadel, which had been silent for thousands of years, finally released its lock with the last click.

Everything turned silent once more as the door's light slowly faded away.

Vanda didn't despair, though. The lock was finally opened. However, to open the door, there was still one last thing.

Enormous energy and recognition.

That was what they had worked so hard for weeks.

Everything that was happening here caused a shift up in the sky as four pillars of light, which silently burst out from four different directions, started to converge above Faruin City.

The lights were coming out of four nodes. They were the upper part of the array that sealed off all the souls inside the main square.

And now, the pillars of light started to bend and shoot towards each other, dragging the souls along.

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It took a few minutes for them to get close enough—the same amount of time for the door's mechanism to be almost finished.

Spark.

A spark of raw energy was triggered between the pillars of light as they got closer.

The moment the pillars finally collided, a loud boom resounded with a large amount of energy shooting right atop the citadel's tower where the lightning conductor was built.

The sounds of sparkling and rumbling shook the hearts of Vanda's group.

However, most people didn't know what was happening.

Normal people had no way to see this kind of magical pillar.

Many magical phenomena were not visible without special means.

They only saw the sky covered in dark clouds.

But in Vanda's eyes, the entire citadel lit up with magical symbols as the energy passed through the tower Illyan had climbed before, right into the door that waited for the last piece of the puzzle.

The ground started to pulse, and the door started to tremble. Dust flew everywhere as the bottom of the door released air pressure, revealing open space beneath it. Soon, the door was slowly but surely sliding inside the ground.

Finally, the insides of the citadel were revealed to the people outside after many years.

Neddard's eyes flashed with greed, while the old couple's eyes shone with hope.

However, what they saw was just perpetual darkness. It was as if the door led to nothing else but darkness.

This made the people afraid.

"There should be nothing dangerous inside. So don't hesitate and let us find our destiny," Vanda said with a grin as she comforted them.

While all of this was happening, no one else except their group noticed what was happening.

The stealth magic scroll that was hiding their presence not only did that, but it also completely hid the surroundings' discrepancies.

This particular stealth magic scroll's power was to copy the area's original appearance and plaster it over the current one. Basically, the doors were still closed in everyone else's eyes.

Vanda came closer to the door and put the scroll on the side of it.

Channeling a bit of her mana allowed it to stick to the surface of the wall as she herself entered the citadel.

"Gordon."

"Yes, ma'am?" The silent man, watching from over the shadows, suddenly spoke up, which scared the others considerably.

They didn't expect that anyone else was here with them.

"Watch guard over the entrance. Don't let these bastards enter."

Vanda gritted her teeth. These two bastards definitely wanted to steal the fruit of their labor.

She didn't know in which state they were after the cave collapsed, but she didn't plan to let things happen by chance.

She was infinitely frustrated by them already and didn't want to risk it even more.

Unfortunately, she couldn't do much to stop them.

All of their forces had been spread out across the four nodes until moments ago to activate them.

Now, they were speeding back towards the city.

But she knew that the energy holding the door down wouldn't last forever.

She needed to act fast.

Because of that, she called Gordon to stay here.

"I understand," Gordon nodded as he bowed.

He was the carriage driver who had driven Illyan and the others across the mountains. Illyan had found him strange back then but didn't give it too much thought. But now, it was revealed that he was no ordinary man…

"Take all our capable men who have achieved the Flow Master rank and hide them close by. Also, conscript as many Heart Bearer bastards as possible. Tell them it is an emergency and that if something goes wrong, they will pay for it. Lastly… lace this entire place with poison. We didn't use it before, but now it is time. Once the academics are executed, take the rest of the people away."

Once Vanda said all of this, she put a finger into her mouth and bit it hard. Blood started to flow from the wound on her finger, but her expression didn't change much.

She came closer to her colleagues as they put out their palms toward her as if offering them. She nodded in satisfaction as she started to paint a blood rune on their palms which emitted an eerie glow.

"You don't have the authority of the nodes, thus can't enter the citadel. However, this can act as a temporary entry. Now, let's continue."

Without any hesitation, Vanda entered the entrance, stepping into the darkness with her lackeys slowly following in her footsteps…

'You were lucky before, but now that we know you are going to strike, it will not be so easy. Gordon is finally free from watching over the people inside the city and finally acting. It is a shame that he can't focus on searching for my little boy, though. But that will wait. If he truly died, then I just need to revive him through inheritance…'

……..

Illyan, who had already traveled to the edge of the square, was watching all of this with absolute calmness.

He saw the arguments that were happening between the normal academics and the enemies, he saw the pillars of light, and he even saw Vanda and the door opening themselves.

It was thanks to his unique eyes that he could see through her magic scroll.

And because of that, he could see what they were planning.

'Heh, so they want to stop us from entering. Unfortunately for them, I won't watch as they make their preparations.' Illyan snorted as he once again put Aziro's cloak on himself.

At first, he had planned his true identity's return, but considering there was no time or opportunity, he had to forget about it.

Especially since it would be too suspicious. After disappearing, some dangerous enemy appeared to destroy their plans, and once he disappeared, Illyan would just emerge?

Absolutely no chance.

Thus, this had to wait until after he ransacked the citadel.

He also quickly changed his appearance into that of a Smiling Devil before he jumped from the building, moving like a specter toward the square.

Thanks to his breakthrough in [Nature Breath Method], it was now easier to hide his presence while also keeping watch on anyone looking in his direction thanks to his perception.

With such power, he could move fast without fearing anyone seeing him.

At some point, he needed to climb down and enter the square. Once he did so, he felt the dark atmosphere as irrational fear enveloped his heart.

If the array activated once again, he would, with high probability, die.

However, the array was already finished, so there should be no other effect.

As he slowly sneaked across the statues and caravans, he finally heard the arguments of the crowd. However, he didn't care much. He wasn't someone who would save innocents for the sake of justice.

"Y-you..! You can't do this! Killing non-combatants during a peaceful era is forbidden by the law—Agh!"

One of the academics, who had already been apprehended, started to name laws that forbade such behavior. This achieved only one big punch to his guts as he retched on the ground.

"Silence, traitor! This law only applies to people who are not a threat to the kingdom. However, you sacrificed several thousand people. How can you even be considered non-combatants?" the man holding onto the academic asked with a derisive tone.

"But that's li—" Another man tried to speak, but he was punched in the jaw, causing a cracking noise.

"Make them kneel in a row facing our kingdom! Make them feel the shame of killing their countrymen before capital punishment takes place!"

"Wait a minute! I don't know what is happening, but these two are lifelong friends! They definitely have no involvement in whatever happened here!"

Suddenly, a figure of a soldier emerged from the shadows, stopping the other soldiers from apprehending Nord and Cara.

Illyan listened to this and turned to look toward Terren.

There was a certain nervousness, but his eyes were firm as he stood in front of his friends.

Garren, who was also scared, moved closer to his friends, picking up a stone from the rubble and standing there with a frightened face.

He wasn't brave. But he had principles.

Illyan felt that the young men were growing up in front of his eyes.

'If you survive, I will buy us a drink,' Illyan thought as he used his spiritual perception to locate Aurelia.

Aurelia, who watched all of this from a distance, felt a prickling sensation on her temple and subtly looked in his direction.

There, Illyan was crouched behind the statue of the last Emperor.

Seeing he was alright, she sighed in relief and sent him a telepathic message.

'It is good to see you are alright. What will we do now? They have already entered inside. There is not enough time. But I am under scrutiny, so I can't move without an opportunity.'

Aurelia told him this, expecting some response.

Unfortunately, Illyan remained silent as he couldn't use his Mind Power after losing it to Aziro.

Thus, he improvised, pointing at Terren and the others while exaggerating the movement of his mouth.

'Physician. Friend. Delay. Me. Alone.'

These five words were enough for Aurelia to understand what he wanted her to do. She had to keep everyone's attention by trying to save these kids.

By using Illyan's and Vael's prestige, they could be saved. Even if not, it would allow Illyan to sneak inside the citadel.

She raised her brows at this careless plan but soon sighed and shook her head in disbelief.

'This guy doesn't know how to treasure his life after surviving something like that.'

Illyan smirked at her expression as he slowly crawled toward the open citadel, where he saw several men with Gordon in the first row trying to form some kind of trap.

However, as Aurelia started to make her appearance, their attention shifted for a split second.

Which was enough for Illyan, as he darted forward, hoping for the best and preparing for the worst…

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