sofus raised his eyebrows slightly, regarding Lein with unusual seriousness.
"Are you absolutely certain?" he asked again, his voice low, deliberate, like he needed to hear it one more ti to believe it.
Lein nodded firmly. The mory of that threat was still vivid in his mind. "Yes. He said it clearly before I ended him ’The Hunter Association of the Dawnlight Cosmos will avenge us.’"
A faint smirk tugged at the corners of sofus’s lips. He rose to his full height, eyes gleaming with sothing unreadable.
Then, without another word, he raised his hand and began drawing glowing symbols in midair lines of golden light that hovered like a living script. His fingers moved gracefully, deliberately, as if writing a ssage not ant to be spoken.
Lein watched in silence, tension winding tighter in his chest.
The golden script shimred for a mont, then faded into nothingness, absorbed by the air itself.
And sofus, he smiled again, this ti darker. Sharper.
Lein narrowed his eyes. "What’s going on, Lord sofus?" he asked cautiously, unable to shake the feeling that sothing was off. "Why does it feel like... we’re the ones being hunted?"
sofus glanced sideways at him.
"I’ll tell you later," he said calmly, almost too calmly.
A chill slithered down Lein’s spine. That was not a good sign. He didn’t have the power or authority to press sofus further. Not yet.
From behind him, Laras and Efan stepped closer, both visibly uneasy.
"Efan," Lein whispered, "can you see anything?"
Efan frowned and shook his head. "Nothing," he whispered back. "My Eyes of Fortune are completely blind when I look at him. It’s like he’s wrapped in fate itself."
That only made things worse.
The three of them fell into an uneasy silence as the elite troops behind sofus completed their task, rounding up the last remnants of the Hunter Association’s agents, sealing them, and dragging them aboard high-tech prison ships.
Lein’s gaze drifted to the ships themselves. There were large vessels and small ones, each designed with a level of technology he had never encountered before. Smooth black plating, glowing runes etched into the hulls, and engines that didn’t even emit sound, just vibration in the void.
He couldn’t help but feel a surge of envy.
What I’d give to own sothing like that... he thought, almost amused by himself.
Not that I need it. His personal power far outstripped most military fleets. But still, just the thought of it was satisfying.
Before the mont could linger, Efan’s voice broke through.
"Brother Lein," he said softly, "what about Dragnar’s guardian? Is he... alright?"
Lein’s expression stiffened.
Dragnar. The one person they still hadn’t seen.
"I don’t know," he answered honestly, exhaling through his nose. He looked to Laras, who shook her head, she hadn’t seen him either.
Then sothing clicked in Lein’s mind.
The Contract Scroll.
Without hesitation, he reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the scroll, a sealed item that glowed faintly with old power.
[Emperor’s Contract Scroll]
A seal that binds a powerful being. The slave cannot disobey orders or harm the master.
Status: Sealed (Aion)
Master: Lein
Slave: Dragnar Faldor
Note: Unusable – Contract forcibly sealed.
Lein gazed at the tightly sealed contract scroll, then stored it back into his spatial ring. After taking a deep breath, he said softly, "If the contract is still active... it’s very likely he’s still alive."
"Let’s hope so, Brother Lein," replied Efan, his voice calr but not hiding the worry in his eyes. He then turned to Lein, hesitating. "By the way... what’s our next plan?"
Since being forced into that cursed dinsion, Efan had never felt safe. Even now, out in the open, his heart still occasionally raced uncontrollably.
Laras, standing beside him, also turned toward Lein. Her gaze was sharp but held quiet hope.
Lein rely offered a small smile. "We’re going ho," he answered. "I’m also worried about the others."
That response seed to ease the tension in their chests. Efan exhaled in relief. Laras nodded slowly, her expression softening slightly.
For a mont, they simply sat together by the outer deck railing, letting ti pass while sofus busily jotted notes and issued commands to his troops.
Conversation flowed.
Efan spoke first. With a mix of enthusiasm and dread, he recounted his experience in the sealed dinsion how he faced thousands of monsters using his cha robot army.
"Lucky I managed to cram plenty of energy stones into their units... Otherwise, I’d have been finished," he said with a bitter laugh.
Laras chid in monts later. "I faced endless assaults too," she said, her tone heavy. "Like rain turning into a waterfall of blood. Unrelenting."
She bowed her head briefly before eting Lein’s gaze.
"Thank you, Brother Lein. The sword you gave ... and that clone.... they saved ."
Lein simply nodded, but unease stirred in his heart, impossible to ignore.
"I hope... you weren’t offended by their attitude," he murmured softly. "Those clones... they can sotis feel too... alive."
Given Laras’s perpetually cool and stern deanor, he’d worried the clone might’ve insulted or unsettled her.
Laras furrowed her brow in confusion. But then, a rare occurrence she let out a quiet laugh.
"Not at all," she replied lightly. "They’re incredibly strong. Highly efficient. I liked that."
Lein offered a faint smile.
Their conversation continued, and for a few minutes, everything felt almost normal.
Yet it all ceased in an instant.
Footsteps approached, soft, but deliberate.
"Excuse , Lord Lein."
sofus’s voice.
Lein turned casually, assuming the commander had a routine report.
But as he spun around, the smile vanished from his face.
Standing beside sofus...
...was soone he’d never seen before.
And more unnervingly, Lein couldn’t sense him. At all.
No trace of aura. No detectable footsteps. No psychic pressure.
Only... perfect silence.
Laras and Efan shot to their feet, bodies rigid. Their combat instincts scread, soone had infiltrated perilously close, utterly undetected.
Lein stared at the man. Tall, draped in a shadowy black robe that seed to absorb the surrounding light. His face was half-concealed, but his eyes, those eyes radiated a depth no ordinary human should possess.
Lein stared at the old man and summoned his status panel, but nothing ca up. Just like with sofus. No information. No stats. Not even a "Sealed" tag, only emptiness, as if the world refused to acknowledge his existence.
That alone was warning enough.
His movents were asured, his fra gaunt yet steady. And from the way sofus dipped his head slightly while speaking to him... Lein deduced one thing:
This elder outranks sofus.
"Lord sofus," Lein inquired politely, keeping his tone formal. "Is there anything else we need to know?"
sofus glanced sideways and offered a faint smile. "Yes, Lord Lein," he said casually, gesturing to his right. "Elder Yefta will be assisting us."
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