"Hmph! You people barely exist just to survive, and even then you can't capture a group of ignorant thieves… you truly are a bunch of useless fools!"
Inside the Akademiya of Sumeru, in the office of the Grand Sage.
The Grand Sage's face twisted with deep irritation as he reprimanded the men standing before his desk.
He had just received an urgent report.
A group of rebels—composed mainly of members of the so-called Golden Brigade—had caused a massive disturbance within the city and had nearly invaded the very heart of the Akademiya.
The problem was that the force responsible for maintaining security throughout the entire city had not only failed to stop those intruders…
They had also allowed multiple explosions to occur.
Some of them had destroyed the homes of several important sages.
They had even damaged property belonging to the Grand Sage himself.
To him, this was a colossal humiliation.
"I'm deeply sorry, Grand Sage."
The mercenary commander wore an extremely unpleasant expression.
In truth, he wanted to say that under normal circumstances he would have been able to capture any group like that.
But for some inexplicable reason, things kept going wrong at the most critical moments.
It was as if someone were secretly helping those rebels from the shadows.
As if some invisible force were covering their movements.
The Grand Sage narrowed his eyes.
"Why are you still standing there?"
His voice became even colder.
"That group is now wanted throughout all of Sumeru… especially that blonde girl."
He tapped his fingers against the desk.
"Anyone who captures her will receive a reward of one hundred million gold coins!"
He then added irritably:
"Not just you. Mobilize everyone!"
"Begin the capture operation immediately!"
"Understood, Grand Sage!"
The commander responded quickly.
The Grand Sage waved his hand impatiently.
"Then why are you still here?"
He frowned with a dark expression.
"For such chaos to occur at such a critical moment… I have a bad feeling about this."
He made a sharp gesture with his hand.
"Leave."
The subordinates immediately exited the office.
As soon as the door closed, his expression grew even darker.
He slowly walked toward a corner of the room.
There was a hidden compartment there.
After carefully opening it, he removed a beautifully crafted green chess piece.
The piece emitted an intense Dendro elemental energy.
It was the Dendro Gnosis.
The Heart of God belonging to the Dendro Archon.
The symbol of Sumeru's supreme authority.
And also…
The unique key capable of accessing Irminsul, the so-called World Tree.
The Grand Sage's eyes shone with fascination.
"I don't know exactly how the news leaked…"
he murmured to himself.
"But it doesn't matter."
He tightened his grip on the object.
"Those rebels have already been repelled. They won't be able to interfere with my plan for long."
His smile became increasingly distorted.
"Just give me a little more time… Soon I will completely master this Heart of God. And then…"
"I will become the new King of Sumeru!"
His eyes gleamed with almost sickening ambition.
"When that happens, there will be no need for that little Archon to exist anymore."
He snorted with disdain.
"As the ruler of Sumeru, she can't even grant us infinite knowledge… how ridiculous."
He clenched his teeth.
"How could anyone choose such an insignificant little girl as a successor?"
He laughed coldly.
"Since you cannot grant us true wisdom… then hand over the throne."
His gaze became fanatical.
"Haha… how exciting. The World Tree, which records all the knowledge of the universe…"
The Grand Sage narrowed his eyes.
He was completely lost in his fantasies.
The mysterious and omniscient Irminsul.
For countless generations, only the true rulers of Sumeru had the right to connect with it.
It was the greatest treasure of knowledge in existence.
Anyone capable of establishing a connection with it could instantly access an infinite amount of wisdom.
Although he knew he would never be able to create new knowledge like the former Archon…
That didn't matter.
Simply accessing that ocean of wisdom would be enough to satisfy his insatiable thirst for knowledge.
Thinking about it…
The Grand Sage gripped the Heart of God even tighter.
He could hardly wait to ascend the throne.
In his imagination, he was already diving into an endless sea of knowledge, becoming something like a demigod who understood everything in the world.
What a wonderful feeling!
For a lunatic obsessed with infinite wisdom like him…
That was the ultimate pleasure.
Something that transcended even the most primitive biological instincts.
The thought alone excited him immediately.
But at that moment—
"N-No! This is bad, Grand Sage!"
BANG!
The office door was violently forced open.
A subordinate rushed in, completely panicked.
The atmosphere in the office instantly became awkward.
The Grand Sage's eyes twitched.
He looked at the subordinate with a dark expression while quickly adjusting his clothes.
A cold thought appeared in his mind.
Perhaps…
His secret illegal research had just found a new laboratory rat.
Meanwhile, the subordinate trembled violently.
Ah… I'm dead.
That was the only thought in his mind.
The Grand Sage narrowed his eyes.
"You burst in like this… you don't look like a scholar at all."
He spoke slowly:
"You—"
But the subordinate immediately interrupted him.
"Something terrible has happened! Something truly terrible!"
He quickly handed over a newspaper.
"Please… look at this!"
At the same time, he lowered his head deeply and tightly shut his eyes.
As if he hadn't seen anything.
As if he knew absolutely nothing.
He understood very well that he couldn't allow the Grand Sage to keep speaking at that moment.
His goal was simple.
Divert the Grand Sage's attention.
And then…
At the first opportunity, escape immediately.
It was the only way he might have even the slightest chance of surviving.
The Grand Sage's eyes twitched.
Now he was even more irritated.
That bastard actually dared to interrupt me…
he thought coldly.
It seems he truly doesn't want to live anymore.
In his mind, the decision had already been made.
Later, he would use that man's body as experimental material.
Perhaps to produce a new series of potions.
"Hmph! What the hell is this?"
Even so, he took the newspaper.
Deep down, he knew his subordinates wouldn't burst into his office without reason.
Something important must have happened.
Although that man would certainly die later for creating such an embarrassing scene…
The Grand Sage didn't want to make mistakes at such a critical moment, when he was on the verge of ascending the throne.
Even so, he wasn't particularly worried.
After all…
It was just a newspaper.
So what if a few scandals about him were written there?
He was now the de facto ruler of Sumeru.
Any scandal could easily be erased.
Besides…
He had always been extremely careful.
A thought crossed his mind.
Perhaps one of the false scandals he had deliberately prepared had been discovered by some reporter.
He knew very well that people in positions of power were always targets of paparazzi and investigators.
In order to hide his real crimes—things truly dark and unforgivable—he had deliberately committed various minor scandals.
Small controversies.
Those things would be easily discovered.
Ordinary reporters would be satisfied exposing those superficial flaws and stop investigating any deeper.
Thus…
The real secrets would remain buried.
It was a simple strategy.
Use small sins to conceal monstrous crimes.
Among those crimes were things such as:
Usurping the authority of Sumeru's Archon.
Conducting forbidden human experiments.
And even…
Establishing secret cooperation with the Cult of Diablos.
Numerous talented individuals had been sent to that organization.
Furthermore, countless ordinary citizens—and even people suffering from demonic possession—had been used as experimental material.
In the past, several Akademiya scholars had discovered traces of these secrets.
But all of them…
Had been sent to the Cult of Diablos.
Where they ultimately became test subjects.
While thinking about this, he glanced casually at the newspaper.
He imagined that later he could track down the reporter responsible and execute them publicly as an example.
Even if it was a planned scandal…
It was still irritating to see it exposed.
But then—
He read the newspaper.
Once.
Twice.
And then—
"What?!"
"H-How… how is this possible?!"
His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.
His breathing became heavy.
His hands trembled violently while gripping the paper.
His heart began racing instantly.
In the newspaper…
There were not only the superficial scandals he had prepared.
There were…
All of his real secrets.
Secrets that should never have been revealed.
The headlines screamed:
"THE DARK LIFE OF THE AKADEMIYA'S SAGES!"
"THE GRAND SAGE BREAKS HIS OWN LAWS — CRUEL AND UNFORGIVABLE EXPERIMENTS!"
"THE USURPED THRONE OF SUMERU — REBELLIOUS OFFICIALS IMPRISONED!"
"SECRET COOPERATION WITH A TERRORIST ORGANIZATION — THE GRAND SAGE'S TRUE PATH TO POWER!"
"SHOCK! GRAND SAGE THREATENS STUDENTS — HIDDEN RULES FOR FEMALE RESEARCHERS!"
The entire newspaper was filled with filth.
Everything that should have remained hidden…
And even things that should never have been known…
Had been exposed.
Every detail was described with absurd precision.
Some pages even contained photographs and evidence.
"Who… who did this?!"
His vision darkened.
The next moment, he collapsed straight onto the floor.
Somewhere in the distance, calmly observing everything…
Leon commented casually:
"The first step is to cause devastating psychological damage."
He smiled faintly.
"Take it slow. We're not in a hurry."
(End of Chapter)