Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Start of the second week of the graduation event.

A facility inside the Edinnica Arena - away from the audience. 4.30 PM.

The hall was grand and spacious. Cheerings and screams could be heard coming from outside the spectrally protected windows. It indicated that the graduation event still received plenty of responses from its viewers despite the frequent disturbances in the live feed.

Two men were sitting on opposite sides of a large study table. One was a middle-aged man who had just broken into the Grandmaster rank. The other was an old man who seemed to be in his 70s.

The middle-aged man was none other than Edinburgh's legitimate Duke– Arthur Renar.

This was the guy who was tricked by Eliza into making an artificial demon beast for herself. He wasn't able to gain the power of being a half-blood. However, he had managed to break into the A-Rank, courtesy of the resources and support provided to him by Layla for his contribution.

The old man sitting in front of him was an Earl from House Riverine– Roth Riverine. It seemed like both of them were arguing.

"Arthur… you bastard. Let me talk to Sage Hansen. You have no right to stop me."

Roth Riverine spoke angrily. Of course, his anger was directed at Arthur. The latter narrowed his eyes at the old man before speaking up in a threatening tone.

"Old Roth, has old age finally crippled your thinking? Do you know who you are talking to?"

Arthur released his Grandmaster aura all at once and created a suffocating atmosphere inside the grand hall. The hall's security measures were activated, which prevented Arthur's aura from leaking outside or damaging the interior of the hall.

Roth started coughing frantically when he was exposed to Arthur's aura. Duke's breakthrough had not yet been stabilized. So he could not express his A-Ranked powers the way he wanted them to. However, whatever he could muster with his current status was enough to intimidate an old man like Roth Riverine who was only a quasi Master ranker.

Arthur looked at Roth with irritation on his face when the latter started coughing. He retracted his aura and summoned a glass full of green liquid before offering it to the old man.

"Alright. Alright. Don't die on me yet, Uncle Rothy. Here, drink this."

Old Roth almost snatched the glass from Arthur while looking at him angrily. The quasi Master ranker was obviously not scared of Arthur despite the latter's pressure tactics.

The old man saw Arthur in his birthday suit when he was a child. Of course, he wasn't scared of the Duke despite the latter getting so much ahead of him in terms of ranking status.

Old Roth drank all the contents of the glass in one gulp and stabilized his condition. He channeled his mana through his body to revitalize himself before speaking to Arthur in a grim tone.

"Listen to me, you spoiled brat. My grandson Ken can't be seen in Sansara World's video feed. The last feed of him showed that he was being chased by a group of participants. There's been no news about him since then.

Has he been kicked out of the event or is he still participating? I just want to know what has happened to him. Let me talk to Sage…."

Arthur interrupted Roth's speech midway through before he could finish it.

"That's not possible, old man. Sage Hansen is busy with his own affairs."

Crack.

The earthen glass in which the medicinal green liquid was poured broke in Roth's grip. He was obviously angry at Arthur for interrupting him once again.

"Listen to me, you ignorant brat. There's definitely something brewing inside the Sansara event. Otherwise, why would so many participants try to target Ken's team? Especially the way they were doing it.

They gain nothing from House Riverine's anger directed at them for pulling off such a stunt. It's almost as if they don't care about what would happen to them even if they manage to pass their graduation with flying colors.

I think… I think…"

Arthur smirked at Roth before confirming his doubts.

"That's right, Uncle Rothy. The kingdom of Layos is up to no good. Don't worry though. We have things under control. Our moderators will take care of the…"

Zoom. Slam. Break.

Old Roth slammed his hands on the study table and almost broke it. Fortunately, security measures inside the hall kicked in, preventing Roth's force from getting transferred to the wooden table.

Old Roth got up from his seat and pointed at Arthur before speaking with clear agitation and anger on his face.

"I don't care about the politics between the two sides, damn it. My only goal is to ensure the safety of my grandson. He is as dense as anyone gets. So much so that anybody can use him for their benefit. And he'll happily get comfortable seeing a smile on their faces.

I… I am worried about his well-being."

One had to say that Ken had a caring family.

It recognized Ken as the potential clan leader of the House of Riverine despite his many personality flaws. This was all due to the kind of diligence and determination he had shown to his clan members through his accomplishments.

No branch of the Riverine family opposed Ken's succession. It's safe to say that the hero was used to winning people's hearts right from his base.

Arthur sighed after seeing Roth become emotionally unstable in front of him. If there was any other quasi Master-ranked entity in front of him, Arthur would have booked them for treason against royalty for their behavior. However, he could not do that with Roth. The old man may have changed his diapers when he was a child.

"Please calm down, Uncle Roth. I have sent my son inside the Sansara World as well. Do you see me worried about him despite the enemy's sorry attempt at defaming us?"

Arthur disappeared from his seat and appeared beside old Roth. He personally pulled up another chair and made the old man take a seat. He then resumed sitting in his own chair before speaking up with a tone of confidence.

"Relax. Everything is under control."

Unbeknownst to Duke Arthur, everything was not under his control.