The Shining Star Above The Heaven

The night was still in its early phase, the moon not yet at her prime position in the sky. At this moment, the entire population of Balin stood outside their houses, looking at the direction of the battle. Some began approaching the scene and the Hydra's corpse. Even though the Hydra was dead, its residual aura still terrified them.

Despite that, many came closer to the corpse in hopes of seeing the powerhouse who killed it or perhaps appealing to their magnanimous heart for a piece of the Hydra's body. After all, many parts of its body could be useful for various purposes.

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In front of the big building of Golden Swan Commerce, Norman stood, looking in the direction of the battle. He stared blankly, with only one thought in his mind, "Are the devils fighting someone who can unleash that kind of slash? Who is that? Is it the elf emperor himself? But he is not a sword cultivator!"

He began to panic. When the devils suddenly disappeared, he thought they had gone somewhere. Even when all the devils inside the Golden Swan Commerce tower vanished, he let it slide. But upon seeing the massive Hydra and the oddity of the situation, he realized that the devils had been in a fight and someone had discovered their operation.

"I have to get rid of our involvement with the devils." he thought. With this in mind, he rushed back to his room on the top floor. When he arrived and opened the door without hesitation, he was stunned to see another person already sitting in his seat, reading a book. A boy with black hair and a handsome face, with a laid-back expression, sat with one leg crossed over the other.

It was undoubtedly Aldrian. After defeating the Hydra, he had teleported there to look for evidence of Golden Swan Commerce's involvement. In a short time, he had already found the book he was looking for and was reading the part he wanted to know.

"The logbook!" Norman didn't care about the other's identity. He instantly rushed to seize the book from Aldrian's hands, his Marquess stage aura booming. Using his movement technique and fastest speed, he tried to grab the book. But before he could, his movement slowed, and his technique canceled on its own, causing him to be shocked. His body became heavy, and he dropped to the ground. He gritted his teeth and looked at the boy in front of him.

"He can control gravity! Gravity laws!" Norman screamed in his head.

"When I saw the devils in this city, I wondered how they could come here undetected. When I saw them gathered in your building and learned who you are, something came to my mind. And when I read the logbook, I understood." Aldrian said as he stood and walked toward Norman.

"No wonder the devils could quickly establish their foundation here. There is a legal entity helping them infiltrate this place." Aldrian then summarized what he read from the book.

"For the past three years, three packages of energy stones have arrived every two weeks. Sometimes, they were followed by sets of equipment to create artifacts. The energy stones were used as camouflage for the devils to infiltrate the city through the Golden Swan Commerce caravan. Nobody would be suspicious of the energy stones, and the reputation of Golden Swan Commerce made the checking process more lenient. So, you could bypass the orb of origin. My guess is you helped the devils with some kind of artifact to hide their devilish aura and souls."

Aldrian stopped to look into Norman's eyes for a moment before continuing.

"The sets of equipment to create artifacts aren't unusual, but you also included black rock. Black rock is one of the materials that can withstand devil energy. For devil cultivators, it's a main ingredient for creating artifacts or altars, especially summoning artifact, because summoning artifact can only summon living beings, and you have to create the artifact from scratch." He stopped and looked at Norman again.

Even though Norman tried not to show it, his heart was already beating fast, and his mind was in chaos. As for how Aldrian knew about the material and its characteristics, he suddenly remembered one of his visions and felt the experience as if the knowledge was already ingrained in his brain.  

"How did he know?! No, I must deny everything," Norman thought. But then he heard the boy in front of him say, "Deny everything, huh? It looks like I'm correct in my deduction." Norman trembled. "You can read my mind?!" he said with difficulty.

"Read your mind? Well, I can know your intent too if I want." Aldrian answered. He touched Norman's forehead and then said, "Look into my eyes." Norman was forced to look into Aldrian's eyes, and his vision began to blur. Aldrian then took out an information crystal that he had asked from Livrin before their operation started from his storage ring and placed it in front of Norman.

"Who are you?"

"I'm Norman Harris, the branch leader of Golden Swan Commerce in Balin."

"Do you know about the devils' existence who infiltrated Balin city?"

"Yes, I know."

"Does the headquarters of Golden Swan Commerce know about the devils' operation here?"

"Yes, they know, or at least the Harris family knows about it. I don't know about the others."

"Good." Aldrian then stopped his technique and released Norman, making him gasp in horror. He had answered those questions with his own awareness, unable to resist.

"Who are you really?! How do you do that? Why didn't the seal inside my head trigger?!"

"Well, there's no harm in telling you, but do you think I will just reveal it? Even if I tell you, you'll forget the next moment. I've already gotten what I wanted to know. After this, you will forget our conversation and do what you would normally do in this situation." Aldrian kept touching Norman's forehead and maintained the position for a few minutes before disappearing, leaving Norman unconscious.

Aldrian didn't teleport back to the mayor's mansion instantly but first stopped by the top of the world tree and sat cross-legged on one of its branches. He did it as if it were his own home and not a sacred place of the elves. If the elves saw Aldrian casually sitting on top of one of the highest tree branches, they could charge him with blasphemy against the world tree. From here, he could see the entire city from end to end, with the glittering lights of buildings all over the city at night. However, he hadn't come here to enjoy the scenery.

"This incident will spread to many places, and from the way I see it, the devils' infiltration isn't specific to Balin but extends to other strategic cities within the Ivory Empire. With this situation, they will have to be more careful with their operations or even stop them for a while. The Evergreen family will know the situation and act according to what they find." He started thinking about his next move.

"I left Norman alone because if I act against him now, Golden Swan Commerce could use it to corner the elves by claiming they were falsely accused of colluding with the devils. Now that I have evidence and know their weaknesses, I can give it to the elves and let them act accordingly." He felt that the problem of devils in Balin could be considered resolved, leaving only Golden Swan Commerce as a lingering threat.

"As my gain, I acquired a few techniques to test, such as hypnosis and memory erasure. The battle with those devils taught me important lessons and gave me valuable experience. Thanks to them, I was able to create 'The Slash of The End,' even though it's still incomplete." He smiled, thinking about what he had gained from tonight's operation. His mind was already forming new techniques and comprehensions, leaving him satisfied with the result.

Then suddenly, Aldrian said to no one in particular, "To what do I owe this beautiful lady's visit in this place? You don't have to hide, I've sensed you since you first looked at me."

Aldrian waited for a moment before the silhouette of a woman appeared from behind one of the tree trunks.