Lyxander fell silent.
Commotion, panic, and chaos immediately filled the entire hall. Several people near the podium were swallowed by the flames, most of them quickly ran out of the hall, while a small number could only stand frozen as they watched the chaotic scene unfold.
The crow and security officers tried to calm the situation as quickly as possible, but they were helpless against the overwhelming panic of the crowd.
Lyxander still stood motionless, his eyes clearly recording every single event.
"Lie!"
Quartz tried to pull Lyxander away, but he was pushed and shoved by the crowd. The two of them were separated, leaving Lyxander alone beside the blond man.
The man still wore a wide smile, his braces clearly visible, and his gaze seemed to be filled with happiness.
However, everything came to a halt when a single word was spoken.
"Stop!"
A shout echoed from within the sea of flames.
The moment that voice rang out, everyone suddenly froze as if time itself had stopped.
From within the fire, a man calmly walked out, his blond hair neatly tied back as though untouched by the raging flames.
Claudius Jahanam gazed across the entire hall. His red eyes had now turned golden, resembling the gaze of a god looking down upon ordinary humans.
He raised his arm high into the air and shouted a single word.
"Judgement."
Golden chains burst out from the sleeves of his white shirt, flowing endlessly as though their number was infinite.
The golden chains moved through the frozen crowd, advancing with only one purpose—to enforce justice.
At last, the chains pierced the chest of the blond man beside Lyxander, wrapping around his heart with the coldness of justice itself.
Blood poured from the man's mouth. As time finally seemed to move once again, he collapsed beneath the judgment of justice.
The people might not have realized what had just happened, but Lyxander's eyes captured everything perfectly.
They recorded Claudius' terrifying power—the power to stop an entire crowd effortlessly, the power to kill someone with a single word, a power that seemed absolute, the true power displayed by a 4-Star.
—
Back to Saturday, July 24th, 1740.
A conversation between No Scope and King in the group chat.
In private chat.
No Scope
"So, what kind of information can you offer?"
No Scope
"Of course, I'm expecting something extraordinary from one of the Jahanam princes."
King
"Relax, I'm certain even Villain doesn't know this information. But before that, I'll tell you the price of the information I want to sell."
No Scope
"Go ahead. I'll trade any information as long as it's worth it."
King
"I only want to know the identities of your compatible 5-Star, 4-Star, and 3-Star."
No Scope
"Wait, what? How can I agree to a request like that when you haven't even told me what information you're selling?"
And so, the bargaining continued for quite some time.
No Scope
"Fine. I'll agree, but only for the identity of my 5-Star."
At last, the two of them reached an agreement.
King
"The information I'm selling is the identity of Claudius Jahanam's compatible 4-Star."
No Scope
"What?! He's a 4-Star?!"
After hearing the information King wanted to sell, No Scope immediately chose King as the winner of Round 1 without hesitation. And after King won the bargaining war against Villain, he finally revealed Claudius' 4-Star identity.
King
"Claudius' compatible 4-Star identity is Justice."
No Scope
"He hid the fact that he was a 4-Star extremely well, didn't he?"
King
"Yes. After all, if the higher-ups of the Empire found out that he had reached 4-Star, they would definitely increase the bounty on his head. Then truly powerful hitmen might actually succeed in killing him, so he had to hide this fact very carefully."
No Scope
"But now they're already hiring many powerful hitmen, even forcing an O'clock like me to step in. Do they already know about Claudius' 4-Star identity?"
King
"No, they still don't know. It's just that the repeated failures and the losses Claudius has caused them have become too great to tolerate. They've finally reached their limit and are now serious about eliminating Claudius."
King
"After all, history records that people who fight for the truth only ever have two choices: die or succeed."
No Scope
"Come on, man. The way you say that makes me sound like the villain here."
King
"The fact that we're Sigma's lackeys is already enough to make all of us villains, isn't it?"
No Scope
"Well, you're not wrong."
—
Back to the present time.
After Claudius used the power of his 4-Star identity, news that he was a 4-Star quickly spread among the hitmen.
After previously suffering a massive blow from the deaths of one hundred hitmen, this news was like salt rubbed into an open wound. Many hitmen ultimately decided to withdraw from the mission to assassinate the Second Prince of the Jahanam Empire.
Naturally, this news quickly reached the ears of the Empire's higher-ups, and they immediately decided to raise Claudius Jahanam's bounty from 1 million volars to 10 million volars.
With the increase in the bounty and the revelation of Claudius' 4-Star identity, a major change was about to occur in the escort mission.
Because now, the remaining hitmen were the very best among the five hundred hitmen participating in this mission.
—
Thursday, July 29th, 1740.
At the train station.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, look! There are real skyscrapers here!"
"Grandpa, that's a car! A real car!"
Wulf looked incredibly excited. For the first time in his life, he had left the snowy mountains of the northern region of the Empire and arrived in a great city.
For a little boy who had spent his entire life living in a simple wooden cabin with his beloved grandfather, this journey felt like a dream.
Wulf was so excited that Lugh had to tightly hold his small hand to stop him from running around everywhere.
"Wulf, do you like the city?"
Lugh asked gently.
"Umm, I like it, Grandpa. But sadly, I can't go hunting anymore."
A small smile appeared on Lugh's face, and a strong sense of affection shone through his eyes.
"Then once Grandpa finishes his work, let's live together in the city."
A cheerful smile immediately appeared on Wulf's face. He jumped around excitedly before tightly hugging his grandfather.
"I really love you, Grandpa."
"Hahaha, if you hug Grandpa too tightly, my bones might break."
Witch Killer Lugh had arrived in the city of Faulust.
And he was the hitman who would bring the greatest change to this escort mission.