Next Morning,
Outside the academy, A nearby abandoned factory.
"I already know that Fade and Kira disappeared here, but why are we here anyway? Does it even have anything to do with us?"
Liam complained loudly while sitting on an old chair with a look of confusion on his face.
Hearing his question, Rio, who was standing just nearby while leaning his back against the wall, replied in a calm voice,
"We are here because a 'certain soone' asked us to co here... Don't ask too many questions; I don't know the answers myself..."
Liam sighed at those words and stopped questioning.
Just when he was on a peaceful morning walk today, Rio dragged him to this abandoned factory with him without giving any apparent reasons.
Liam wouldn't have just tagged along with anyone; if it was soone else, he wouldn't have agreed.
But he trusts Rio a lot; that's why he didn't disagree too much and ca along in the end.
"Still, I guess this is the first ti we both are the only ones who are on so kind of unknown mission together... Usually it is the whole group."
Rio shrugged his shoulders at those words.
"It's not a mission; actually, we are just here to et soone and get so crucial information from them."
"And if possible, we will convince her to co back to the academy."
As if a sudden realization ca upon Liam, his eyes shined brightly.
"Wait, don't tell -"
Before Liam could finish his words, a familiar person entered the dilapidated factory hall.
Looking at familiar armor and that familiar stern look on her face, Liam was quite shocked. "It's been a while... Rio, Liam..."
It was none other than Riko Embeth herself.
Rio was not much surprised after seeing her, as he already knew she would co, so he just nodded his head and then glanced at Liam.
"I dragged you along today because I once took her contact info and asked her to send a ssage when she has completed her quest of gathering information on Alverto."
"And apparently this matter involves you deeply, so she asked to bring you along."
Liam was quite shocked at the sudden revelation, as he had no idea that he would even get to et Riko again one day.
He had thought that Riko dropped out of the academy and would eventually settle down and move on in life.
He had no idea she was on a quest for revenge all along.
Riko glanced at Rio for a while and spoke in a calm tone.
"You seem much stronger than the last ti, and Liam too... I see, you guys have been making a lot of progress."
", on the other hand... Alas, I am still stuck at the peak of A-rank like before."
Riko shook her head and sighed deeply.
She herself chose the 'path' of revenge; obviously, it will be more difficult for her to break through fast as her mind is already corrupted with revenge.
Moreover, she isn't really much talented either; her max talent potential itself is just S-rank, so she will not progress too fast, and the mbers of team Astra will surpass her easily.
But she doesn't care about it anymore.
For her, revenge is the only motive of her life now, and there's nothing else she wants.
"Where have you been this past year though, Riko Senpai?"
Hearing Liam's question, Riko sighed and replied in a solemn voice,
"A lot has happened... Let tell you in brief."
First of all, Riko went on to look for that person who sold her and her younger brother and was the owner of their orphanage.
And it turns out that person was already dead.
He died from a heart attack when Ashtel Rex suddenly appeared on his door to arrest him for doing illegal things.
Opening your door and suddenly seeing a literal demi-god standing out there to arrest you is sothing that can indeed cause a shock, and the man died from that.
He was just as pathetic in death as he was in life; Riko stopped bothering herself with investigating him after she found out everything about him.
"I have gotten in touch with a few powerful intelligence agencies and have also joined one of them to find out a lot of information that I wanted."
"All information has a price though; I have done a lot of secret missions lately to buy those secret information's."
How do you think the human nation remains so peaceful all the ti? It's because the troublemakers get assassinated overnight without anyone knowing at all.
The information gathering agencies are not just re unofficial organizations; a lot of them are officially recognized by the SS rankers themselves.
Riko worked in these information agencies and took a lot of missions to assassinate influential people who were creating chaos purposely and had criminal records.
Those who hold too much influence and can't be legally dealt with despite being an issue for the empire, the SS rankers deal with them in a more covert manner by using these
assassinations.
Rio's father, Kevin, also used to work in this field in his younger days.
"Here, take this."
Riko brought out a strange coin from her space ring and tossed it towards Liam.
Liam caught the coin and looked at that ancient-looking coin with a confused expression on
his face.
"Hmm? I have never seen this kind of currency in any of the history books. what's this?"
Hearing that question, Riko explained,
"This is called 'Soul Stone,' a kind of currency that higher-ranking demons use; it's literally
made out of tal and has a soul embedded in it."
Liam's eyes widened in shock after hearing those words.
"What!? Isn't it impossible to manipulate souls, though!? Even SS rankers are said to be
powerless in this matter! Then how is this possible!?"
Riko nodded her head and replied in a solemn tone,
"I also used to believe that it was impossible, but apparently this currency only ca into
being two hundred years ago."
"And you know what? That so-called Prince Alverto also was born around that ti."
"Rumors are that he was the one who introduced the use of currency to the barbaric demons."
Rio's eyes narrowed at these words.
"So, you an to say that... Alverto actually has so kind of power that involves
manipulating souls?"
Riko nodded her head at that question.
"Yes! Aside from his extrely powerful Chronos 'Ti' related power, he definitely has
sothing that can temper with souls."
"Aside from that, on one of my previous missions I also found a very peculiar thing."
Riko brought out her smartphone and showed a photo of the back of soone's hand; there
was a weird demonic crest imprinted on the hand.
"This weird demonic crest has appeared on the hands of quite a few people in the human empire ever since seven years ago. That was the day when Alverto carried out the Drift City
massacre."
"Although I don't know what this crest's purpose is, there are nearly a thousand people who were recorded to have this crest by the secret agencies."
"Most of them died a slow, irreversible sign of decline in health, and then it ultimately leads
to death... And it turns out, Lia's mother had died that exact sa way.
Rio's eyes widened in surprise after hearing those words.
"But Lia's mother died around the sa ti when that incident happened... Could it be that
Alverto was planting these crests even before that?"
Riko nodded her head,
"Yes, it is very likely... In fact, I dare to assu that he's been planning sothing grand since
the past two hundred years.
"From the very mont he introduced that 'soul stone' into the demon continent, he was
already planning sothing."
Hearing all this, Liam tilted his head in confusion.
"But what does all this have to do with , though?"
Riko glanced at him and spoke in a calm tone.
"In that mission of assassinating the demon general Azazel, your father was involved too;
how do you think a re S-rank demon like Alverto escaped that day from right under the
nose of Ashtel Rex?"
Liam's eyes widened in shock after hearing those words; he stood up, and his voice stuttered.
"Wait, don't tell that-"
Riko nodded her head, "Yeah, I suspect that Neo Aldif is working together with Alverto for so reason."
Riko glanced at Rio and said,
"Rio told about what Neo did in the Dragon Valley today on the phone, and from all this, I
am already 80 percent sure that they both are working together."
"After all, Alverto is likely the only person who knows about locations of forbidden magics...
He was likely the one who told Neo about it and made so kind of deal with him.
Riko sighed to herself.
"I have been working on this matter for a long ti; I have already submitted my report, and
all this information will be available to the SS-rankers by evening today."
"I am just informing the two of you about it early because it involves the two of you the
most." "Rio survived the drift city massacre, so you have so personal score to settle with Alverto, and Liam, on the other hand, has to figure out what his father is planning."
"If you two don't handle this matter properly, you will never be able to find your answers."
"I myself, on the other hand, have been preparing for an opportunity for a long while now."
"Although I was not able to kill the person who murdered my brother, I will definitely take revenge for Zach no matter what."
Riko smirked at that mont and spoke in a vague tone. "And apparently, the opportunity is not too far away now..."
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