Supreme Monarch

Epilogue.

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*Clang Clang Clang...

Like a steady heartbeat, the sounds of his footsteps gently rang across the empty halls of the Zorak Family's main castle as an elderly figure walked silently in a dignified posture. The air around him seems stale as he casually stare into space with a deadpan expression.

Ignoring the occasional guards that patrolled the halls and the maids that bowed respectively to him after moving to side of the hallway, the former Lord of Winged city, Aur Zorak walked quietly as he was lost in thoughts.

Currently stripped of his undying will after battling for his sanity in the presence of so many powerful being, his mind continuously flashed back to the event that had unfolded in the meeting room only a few minutes ago.

Having relayed the reason why he was unable to follow through with the instructions given to him. The Grand Elder seemed to have unusually taken an interest in the situation currently going on in Winged City.

She had shown a lot of interest in the mysterious VIP merchant that had joined the Magic institute which was the first time he had ever seen her shown any emotions.

He had been forced to relay every information he had gathered on the unknown pair as well as the information on the unexplored Grade 3 Gold mine.

Of course, in front of the Grand Elder, Aur could not lie nor withhold any information from her. Frankly, it was a good thing such an unfortunate event had happened in his city as what Aur had found out, later on, had shaken him to his very core.

He had been worried about the reason for his summoning as he held a faint hope that his loyalty to the family was being rewarded and he would be promoted to Earl but that was not the case.

Hell, he should even consider himself lucky, after all, he had somehow mange to walk out of the room with his head intact.

♦️♦️♦️♦️♦️

—A few minutes earlier.

Back in the Meeting hall of the Zorak family.

Seated at the far end of the long wooden table placed at the center of the hall. Aur's heart pounded rapidly as he was being stared at by the Grand Elder cold and emotionless gaze.

The pressure her eyes alone exerted was enough to kill a demon of his level but Aur knew that death would not be the end for him if he were to embarrass the Zorak family's name in such a manner.

He stood firmly in place with his back as straight as the blade on a sword, maintaining some of his dignity as a noble. However, his head could not look up at the throne seated atop a short flight of stairs at the other end of the long table.

The Grand Elder sat leisurely on it with her legs crossed and a cold expression on her flawless face. Donning a luxurious black dress with jewels of various priceless metals adorning her person, her visage was clearly that of absolute authority that could not be challenged even by the Elders.

"What makes you think the Magic institute is capable of rescuing a party compromising of the strongest Hunters in your city?"

"Well, according to reports, the magic institute just acquired two very capable mages. One of which defeated the vice guild leader in a duel and the other became a V.I.P merchant after only his first transaction."

"Hmmm... interesting. And who might these two be?"

As she said that, a faint smile seemed to adorn her face, rendering the entire hall speechless as this was the first time any of them had ever seen the Grand Elder smile.

Even her own sons looked astonished, which only goes to show her level of interest in these pair.

Left with no other choice, Aur revealed everything he knew about the demon known as Lix and his partner, Lilith. Causing the smile on Marline's face to suddenly disappear.

"A hooded demon in Winged City? Sounds familiar. Ahhh... so he must the same."

While no one seem to understand what she was talking about. Nox frowned profusely as he could clearly remember the servants speaking about the hooded man that had defeated his sister, Nina, causing her to flee with her tails behind her legs.

'So he's the one that dare insult our name. That peasant.'

Naturally, Nox couldn't care less about what happened to his sister but what he could not tolerate was for a commoner to sully the prestigious name and status of nobility.

Especially when such a being was dealing with royalties like them. Even if she had been the one who had attacked him, a sin against the Zorak family was still a sin and could not be forgiven.

He would have to locate this Lix fellow and make sure he pays for the crimes he had committed. Before Nox had realized it, his hands had already been ball into a fist when he suddenly heard his mother addressed Aur once more.

"Very well. Aur."

"Yes your Grace."

"You are positive this merchant, Lix has truly registered with the Magic institute?"

"Completely your Grace. I conducted the investigations myself."

Tying his best not to lose his composure, Aur answered the Grnad Elder's question confidently.

"I see... very well then. Elder Campil, do issue a decree for the Magic institute of Winged City to aid in the rescue of the missing Hunters. Make sure they include this Lix and his companions in the quest. Also, do extend an invitation to him from the Magic Academy."

Although the Magic institute was supposed to be an independent organization, the same as the Hunter's Guild and Merchant Guild, it was still under the Magic Academy which was not so secretly controlled by the Zorak Family and in turn, the Grand Elder.

After all, the Head Master of the Magic academy was none other than Elder Campil Lorain Zorak.

"Pardon my bluntness mother, but you cannot invite a commoner to the Magic Academy, such filths cannot be allowed into our prestigious—"

"Be Quiet."

With as calm a tone as ever, Marline silenced her son without even looking his way as she waited for Campil's response.

Nox could not utter another word as he was forced to hold his feelings on the matter back completely. To think his mother would develop an interest in the man who had dragged their family's name into the mud, this situation could not be more absurd.

​ However, he knew full well that there was nothing he could do about this when she had gotten this excited. His only chance of restoring his family's pride was to get to this merchant before anyone else.

Campil on the other hand was forced to swallow back his objections after seeing the Grand Elder shut down her own son. He simply maintained his dignified look and nodded.

"As you command. Still, I do not believe we have the time to wait for the Hunters from Winged city to be rescued before we proceed with our main objectives. That is, if they even still alive. What should we do about that?"

"I'll leave everything to Elder Grey. Do handle the rest as we have discussed."

With a single glance at the old man, Grey smiled broadly as he graciously accepted the honor with enthusiasm.

"Of course your Grace."

"Now then, Aur, let us get to the reason you're here."

Aur's heart nearly jumped out of his chest when he heard that as the atmosphere in the hall immediately got tense. Everyone's gaze was now fixed on him and the pressure was more than enough to crush an ordinary man.

Stepping forward was Elder Campil who took out a magic device from his storage ring and placed it on the wooden table before a holographic screen suddenly popped up as it displayed a still image of a masked figure wearing a single black gauntlet on his right arm.

He stood amid battle, faced with two of the three demigod level representatives from the Zorak family as the winds of tempest created an isolated realm around him.

"This is."

As the figure was wearing a golden mask, it was natural for Aur not to recognize him but something about the person on the screen sent a thrill of fear down his spine.

"As you may have guessed. This person has been judged to be amongst to highest-ranked members of that mysterious behemoth's forces. With that said, can you guess what that gauntlet on his arm is?"

"I... I... that can't be. I took care of him."

Aur was completely at a loss for words. Of course, he knew what that gauntlet was, an image of it had been burned into his brain by the family so there was no way he could forget about it.

However, the last he knew, the Gauntlet of Haze had gone missing and while the family had suspected Zomatsu, without any proof, they could not just interrogate a direct descendant of the family, even if he was only half-blood. Such a thing, would've made them a laughing stock amongst the noble families.

Aur had sent one of his Ghost after Zomatsu and saw he had clearly seen his heart being pierced through the memories of the broken Ghost after a certain intruder had interfered.

Now that he thought about it, that might've been the same behemoth they were not talking about but even so. That attack should've prevented any type of resurrection spells or skills to be used on Zomatsu's body while slowly destroying his soul.

So, there was no way. Absolutely no way he could've—

"Impossible!!! There's no way that's him. He was only a tier 4 scout. How can he kill two demigods? Even with God-tier artifacts that's asking too much. Someone had to have stolen his storage box and broken past the encryption, there's no other explanation!"

Nearly driven to madness just by imagining everything he had worked so hard for all his life crumbling because of that man. Aur desperately tried to deny the possibility. And frankly, all the Elders here agreed with him.

After all they all knew that Zomatsu's potential was only Tier 4 and it was impossible to change ones potential. Such a thing was not something they were willing to accept themselves.

"Viscount Aur, I'll advise you to not raise your voice in the presence of the Grand Elder again. You're already walking on thin ice."

"...My-my deepest apologies."

"Back to the topic. It doesn't matter who that masked demon is. What's important is that our family's most precious and sacred innate ability is now in the hands of an outsider."

"I..."

"You also failed to report sending your personal legion into the Darknar region. All of these are crimes punishable by death. However—"

"..."

At this point, Aur was already at his breaking point. Even though he had tried to deny it, he knew full well what would happen to him. Even if he was somehow spared from death, his life, everything he valued the most, what he had spent so many years building.

Everything would be taken away. And all because of that man. That bastard son of the Zorak family. Zomatsu Zorak. Even in death, he had still won agaist him in the end. What a joke his life turned out to be.

"The family had decided to give you another chance. Congratulations, you shall retain your head and title. However, your position as the Lord of Winged city is stripped. In exchange for this leniency, you will be expected to surrender your ghost legion to Lord Nullen who will be taking over control of Winged city within a week."

"Understood."

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📍 End of Volume 5 Part 2 - Undead War.