Unsealing Emptiness

“That is what you are here for, Irvin. Explain everything you know,” Ozul calmly replied. He was not in a hurry since there was still more than a month and a half worth of time left till the tournament started.

Irvin nodded his head and began to explain all the details that he was aware of, “... Like all other organizations, many have tried to sneak into that Royal Palace, but not one could succeed. That is only because of the formation that the Silverbird family wouldn’t reveal to the world.”

“We don’t know how to create that formation, but what we do know is its functions...” Irvin described the history of that formation.

“The most reliable rumor is that the formation alarms the Royal family anytime a body of Mana more powerful than a certain range they have set gets past their walls. And it doesn’t even matter if the person has used some artifacts to hide their Mana intensity or not,” Irvin said while slowly shaking his head.

“That is not all... it is said that even if a person who is weaker than the Mana level that they have set tries to sneak in, it would also alarm the family. There has been such an incident before, guards immediately searched everywhere and found that man in a few minutes.”

By now, Irvin could guess what he planned to do, and he hoped that Ozul drops the idea, “The point is, there is no way a person can get inside without getting noticed by that formation and the moment it detects you, all the other formations are automatically activated.”

.....

The more Ozul heard about the formation, the more his mood dropped. Even if the formation only detected bodies with Mana, it would have been fine since he had none of it.

However, if every big movement across the walls also alarms them, then there was truly no other way than to force his way in whilst dealing with every defense that they have set up.

“What about the people who go through the main entrance?” Ozul remembered that he had entered through the main gate previously at the start of their escort mission.

Irvin shook his head with a sigh as he wasn’t aware of every little detail. Even all of this was just conclusions based on what had happened in the past. The Royal family wouldn’t just release all the information about their treasured formation.

*Sigh...*

Ozul could not help but release a tired sigh. His last option was always to brute his way through, but he knew that things could go wrong at any time if he did that.

Irvin stayed silent by his side when he noticed that his young master was contemplating his actions. He could only hope that he would drop this suicidal plan.

Meanwhile, the battle between Blaze and Raven continued on. They were engaged in fierce close combat.

Raven kept trying to get closer to him with both the daggers in her hands, but Blaze didn’t give her any chance at all. Whenever she used spells, he would block them with ice walls, try to attack her, and back away.

Very quickly, both of them were getting exhausted because of them using the spells.

‘Just one hit! Only one hit!’ Raven shouted in her mind. Her daggers had the ability to steal people’s Mana and stamina.

Since the battle had come to a stalemate, a winner would probably be decided on who had more Mana reserves and endurance. Naturally, both of them knew that Blaze was superior in terms of that, so Raven was desperate to get even a single hit on him.

If she did, then the victory would most likely be hers. Just a single cut would reverse the outcome by stealing Blaze’s Mana and giving it to Raven. If she got 1 hit in, the rest would get easier.

‘She lost...’ Ozul muttered as he had been watching their duel as well.

Blaze had many devastating Magical Spells that if he used, would be fatal to Raven. However, he had not used any because that would also give Raven an opening that she was desperately looking for, which he was not willing to after losing a duel once due to this in the past.

Ozul understood that Raven wouldn’t be able to even scratch Blaze’s hair like this.

‘Is it because she is nervous?’ Ozul thought since there were many other ways Raven could go on about this fight instead of what she was doing right now.

Putting these thoughts in the back of his head, he looked back at Irvin who was patiently waiting for his orders.

‘This is a headache...’ Ozul thought with an unamused expression.

“Irvin, use our resources and try to find if you can learn anything more about the formation, but be discreet about all of this. I will hear from you tomorrow,” Ozul said before dismissing him.

Irvin wanted to say something but stopped himself when he remembered his young master saying that he knew what he was doing. Whatever he said would fall on deaf ears, so it was better to just comply with his orders.

He gave a short and respectful bow before taking his leave.

Now only Ozul and Jinx on his lap remained as the spectators of the fight. Though Ozul’s mind was occupied with thinking better ways to infiltrate the Royal Palace than charging in without any planning.

If he entered normally, the formation would most likely detect him even if he did not have Mana and then activate all the other defensive formations that could very well be so many that he might not be able to get past them.

‘The problem is that I have no information whatsoever about what awaits me once I enter...’ Ozul knew that he lacked information, but there was no way that he would be able to obtain anything related to that in such a short time.

‘Heh... the irony. One moment I have too much time and the other, I am out of any...’ Ozul said in his mind, dispirited because he couldn’t think of any better way right now.

‘Sigh... I should think about it after another nap,’ he thought as he ran the fingers made from the Ball of Purity through Jinx’s soft fur. Her soft purring sound seemed to ease the loud noise because of the battle before them.

Just then, Jinx’s ears twitched and Ozul also raised his head to focus back on the duel between Raven and Blaze.

More than two hours had passed and both of them seemed to be exhausted after the continuous clash.

Sweat drenched both of their clothes but Blaze appeared to be noticeably in a better condition. Things were looking good for him and if he could maintain his current strategy, he would come out as the winner.

Even Ozul concluded that it was Blaze’s win. Though he still waited and didn’t end their match just based on his conclusion.

However, Ozul noticed something now that Blaze didn’t.

A small shadow had erected just a few steps behind him! He was so busy dodging Raven’s daggers that he forgot to secure his back.

*Pichu!*

The shadow plunged in Blaze’s thigh at a lightning speed when he was only a foot’s distance away from it.

Blaze felt a burning pain when it pierced his thigh, but he tried his best not to ruin his stance. However, the next step he took back made him hiss in pain and he almost stumbled.

In the end, he did manage to steady himself, but a dagger still got through the opening. It cut the side of the chest, deep enough that the blood dyed the pitch-black dagger in red.

In that instant, the blood visibly started to get absorbed by the dagger and a moment later, Raven’s expression improved by a large margin!

On the other hand, Blaze’s wounds weren’t enough but the stab had also depleted a small portion of his Mana and stamina!

‘She turned the tables...’ Ozul mused. All of that took so much effort but if anyone else was able to spectate their fight, they would be surprised since it all happened in just a few seconds.

Blaze didn’t even put up a fight after that and dropped on the ground while panting heavily.

“Haa... What... was that?” he asked as the dark smoke started to disappear.

With the smoke gone, the aftermath of their duel became visible. Before it was only plain ground, but now there were small craters everywhere!

“You can guess that on your own,” Raven replied with a smirk. The only times she had won against him after he caught up in the Rank was when she did something unconventional.

Blaze gave up on asking and dropped on the ground. He had two deep wounds and no strength to stand up while Raven at least had the energy to walk back to where Ozul was sitting.

She stood just at a little distance away from him and waited for his response. It didn’t matter how many times she had previously lost against Blaze because, in front of Ozul, she was the one who won.

Though Blaze didn’t have enough strength to stand up, he did keep his ears to listen to what Ozul had to say about the fight as well.

Contrary to both of their expectations, Ozul didn’t praise them, neither was he disappointed. He only said, “From tomorrow onwards, be here early in the morning.”

“...”

“...”