Unsealing Emptiness

The word would quickly spread, and everyone would think that the Three-Eyed Strangers are affiliated with them. That is why he would ask for their men who were not so popular and still had the expertise. He naturally did not think that Raymond would be willing to send those hidden men of his.

Ozul wanted the Three-Eyed Strangers to be widely known as a neutral organization that sold information of any and all kinds, so getting any form of help that could link them to any other party was out of the question.

‘Should I go to the Ashin family’s estate?’ Ozul contemplated but then decided against it since he did not know if Raymond would be there.

He flew straight to the Orita town where the Order of Dusk’s headquarters was located.

He was right outside the town after a couple of hours. Just when he was about to head towards the invisible tower, he sensed a familiar aura moving towards him.

A few seconds later, there were a few sparks around him when suddenly Raymond appeared before him. If Ozul hadn’t been paying attention, even he wouldn’t have been able to follow his movements because of that speed.

.....

Certainly, the nature of a Mage’s Element affected their overall combat prowess. Like Raymond, he was naturally faster than a Mage at the same cultivation realm but with a different Element because the Lightning Element had a clear advantage of the speed and destructive capabilities.

“How did you know I was coming over?” Ozul knew that he did not have any Mana so it should have been impossible for him to know unless there were some unknown formations at work.

“... I was just heading back to the family’s estate and noticed you from afar,” Raymond replied, but only after staring at him for half a minute.

Ozul noticed his weird behavior, but he did not know any cause or reason for it. Only a moment after, he put this thought in the back of his mind.

“Uh... It’s been so long. *Cough.* Do you... mind if we continue in the family’s estate?” Raymond asked when he realized that he would not be able to do it alone. It wasn’t a suitable place either.

“Alright,” Ozul nodded his head before Raymond led the way to the Ashin Family’s estate.

On the way there, Raymond felt the silence awkward, but Ozul, on the other hand, was only disturbed because of the emotions directed at him.

He could not help but think as if something was wrong or something might have happened. However, he did not ask any questions. It was none of his business.

With their speed, they were in the Neutral city only an hour later. To his surprise, Raymond did not stop flying even when they were in the city.

He noticed Ozul’s confusion and surprisingly realized what he must be thinking, “Haha, those unspoken rules don’t apply to us. Rank-8 or below won’t even notice if we are serious.”

Ozul nodded his head in understanding. He had only heard about the Neutral City from people below Rank-9, so he did not know such things. But it did make sense since it was Rank-9 Mages that ruled the city.

A few moments later, they were atop the Ashin family’s estate. Ozul was about to head towards the entrance but stopped when he noticed that Raymond was directly entering from above.

He hadn’t done that because he knew that there was an invisible shield covering the whole estate, so it wasn’t possible to enter without attacking it.

‘Surely he knows about the defensive formations of his own Manor, right?’ Ozul had his doubts.

He squinted his eyes just when Raymond was about to come in touch with the invisible shield, it disappeared! There was a subtle glow of a blue hue on his hand, which Ozul noticed was because of a ring.

‘Is it some kind of key?’ Ozul had read about the formations, but the book contained only a part of its knowledge. It was not detailed about everything, so he wasn’t sure about it.

Raymond entered inside and motioned Ozul to follow behind him.

Right after Ozul had gone to the other side, the invisible shield came back. He could not see it, but it was easy to feel the dense Mana from it.

Following Raymond, Ozul landed right in the garden. More than a few people noticed their presence and entry from above, but none dared to even glance at their way.

Everyone knew about the older brother of the Head of the house. Even when Raymond wasn’t the head, his authority wasn’t in the least lower than Alver. The only reason he hadn’t become the head of the house was that he had chosen to give up the position himself.

Because of their sudden entry, Alver quickly came out from inside the manor. People simultaneously bowed as he passed by them.

‘Hmm... This guy sure respects Raymond a lot,’ Ozul thought inside his mind.

“Elder brother,” Alver respectfully nodded his head at Raymond, who returned the greeting with a nod while subtly hinting him towards Ozul with his eyes.

It seemed that Alver was quick on the uptake and realized what his brother was trying to say. He turned towards Ozul with a visibly stiffened smile.

*Cough!*

Raymond coughed and hit on Alver’s shoulder to wake him up from his stupor.

“Ha-Haha... I am Alver Ashin. What is your name?” Alver awkwardly introduced himself as he felt the burning pain from that simple blow of Raymond.

“Ozul Ashfall,” Ozul briefly answered, making Alver again stiffen on his spot. It was like he could not believe that the son of his sister, long thought to be dead, was standing in front of him.

“This... is not a suitable place to talk. Should we move inside?” Alver offered.

Raymond nodded his head and did not let Ozul speak and started to move inside, forcing him to follow behind as well.

The female guard of Alver was standing in the distance. She bowed her head when the three passed by her and then followed behind as well. She maintained her distance all the time.

Raymond quickly led them to an area with no almost no one around in the corridors. He then quickly turned and entered a big room that Ozul noticed was dense in Mana.

“Don’t let anyone in,” Alver ordered before the three entered the room, and the woman stood outside.

Ozul did not fail to notice that just when Alver had closed the door, another invisible bubble of Mana seemed to cover the whole room. However, it was not strong enough to be acting as a shield.

“Don’t mind it. It’s only so our voices aren’t heard outside this room,” Raymond noticed him looking around curiously, so he explained.

“Hm...” Ozul could not help but think that he had to read more books about the formations. Just the basics weren’t enough.

After the three sat down on the couches, an uncomfortable silence ensued in the room. Raymond and Alver moved their eyes to every object in the room but avoided Ozul.

Meanwhile, Ozul himself had no idea of the awkwardness caused solely because of his presence.

“About why I had come here for...” Ozul started.

“Oh! Yes yes! Please,” Raymond blurted out in alarm.

“The organization has covered that part of the continent. It is time to build the headquarters in the Neutral Lands, but I need men who obviously can’t be linked to you people,” Ozul stated, surprising both Raymond and Alver.

Although they were keeping themselves up to date with whatever was happening with Ozul and anything related to him, they didn’t know that the organization was ready to step into the Neutral Lands.

It was just that they could never think that Ozul was building this whole organization for the sake of his own convenience.

“How many men do you have here?” Raymond asked. It was his nephew personally asking him a favor, so he was more than happy to help. Heck, even if Ozul had not asked for help, he would’ve sent his most trusted men to watch over the process so that nothing unfortunate happened.

“Only Irvin as of now. There are a few Rank-7 with him, but they are useless,” Ozul answered with an annoyed tone.

Right after saying that, Ozul noticed the slight hint of curiosity on the two brother’s faces. So he confirmed their doubts, “Yes-the same Irvin who worked for you. I know there has been a conflict between you, but he is now under me. So I hope there is not a problem.”

“Haha... Of course, there is no problem. If you say he is under you, the matter is finished here. Right, Alver?” Raymond threateningly smiled at his younger brother.

“You don’t have to say it, elder brother. It’s already been years since I sent anyone after him,” Alver answered with a smile while he was cursing Raymond from the inside, ‘Not only are you becoming the good guy, but you are also making me a villain in front of him! Dammit!’

Meanwhile, the two brothers could not help but think of the possibility that it might have been Irvin who protected and took care of Ozul after their sister passed away.

‘We will have to ask him ourselves,’ both brothers silently nodded at each other.

“Hmm.” Ozul nodded his head, but he was getting a little doubtful at how easily they accepted it. Not to mention, their weird behavior was getting hard to ignore now.

“Anything else?” Alver took the initiative this time. There was no way that he would let Raymond steal all the goodwill from their nephew.

Ozul was about to shake his head when he remembered something, “Ah yes. Of course. I almost forgot.”

‘How could I actually forget it for so many years...’ he could not help but virtually facepalm inside his mind.

“There seems to be a spy of the Church in your organization...”