A few seconds before the beginning of the fight between the King of Lanthanor and the Mad Doctor.
Just like the Head, the Chief had had an uneasy feeling, but his was stronger, as he had weathered many, many more situations than his disciple.
He could tell that something was going to happen, but alas, he hadn't been able to figure out exactly what it was.
Hence, he had been on alert, and even without the Head telling him that he should keep an eye on the continent, he had been doing so the entire time.
After the Head did contact him, though, the Chief had frowned, and he had been about to say that this might not be the best time to test something as dangerous and complex as the Cogitation Formation.
However, he knew his disciple well. The man had always been an idealist, and he was always passionate whenever it came to anything that could improve their chances against the Church.
So, he had let him go on, knowing that he would be able to take care of anything that might happen. If he had to, he would even use the many ancient means still available to them, and no matter the cost, he would let nothing happen to his beloved continent when he was on watch.
Everything had been going well. The continent had looked normal, and occasionally, the Head even looked for the Legacy Disciple to whom he had sworn his fealty.
Of course, the kid didn't know it, but he was a man who kept his word, and he had given his word that he would obey the Sect Founder the moment he had been accepted to this place which had become his everything.
Just when he was about to switch on the Network and catch up on the latest episode of the comedy show about a bunch of friends, he felt a detection formation going off in the corner of the continent, south-east of the Kingdom of Axelor.
These detection formations were spread out all over Angaria, and their purpose was to detect if there was any disruption in the natural order of life.
For instance, if there was any major destruction being caused, or if there was a disaster occurring that wasn't supposed to occur…they would find out, and they would be able to respond.
As it was a very, very large area, they could only depend on roundabout ways like these to track the happenings in the continent.
Right now, the alert was that an earthquake had just devastated the shore in that direction.
An earthquake in a place which had been stable for thousands of years?
Impossible.
Right away, the Chief contacted the Head, but to his shock…there was no response.
The message was going through, but there was no one answering on the other end.
As a man who had been through many, many wars and battles, he directly began assessing the situation to decide on what he should do.
However, it looked like he had no time, as another detection formation went off just a bit more inland than the first.
This one indicated that there was a small village there, and that they had been killed.
The worst case here was that the Head…had died.
Right away, the Chief realized that he should act if this was the case.
He was the one who was in charge, so he charged out of the Fortress.
He didn't call out for more Heroes, as protocol stated that any threat should first be assessed by the one in charge. Heroes were supposed to stay in key strategic locations to ensure that they wouldn't be run over, so responding to a threat with force could result in a disaster.
Hence, he had to take care of it himself.
As soon as he reached the area, he saw the culprit, and that actually…made him heave a sigh of relief.
It was the white-robed man from the Church, whom he had defeated recently.
Although he hadn't been able to do as much damage as the Head had done to this man's superior, it had been considerable, and this was indicated in the way the man was still holding his shoulder gingerly.
He was the one causing the earthquakes, and as soon as the Chief arrived, he folded his hands and asked, "Bored? Do you want me to bring the entire force of the continent down on you?"
This wasn't something very new. The Church had always adopted an attitude where they would occasionally prod the Heroes of Angaria, as if to always keep them on edge. Any organization that was repeatedly kept in a high state of tension would have high chances of collapsing on the inside, and it was apparent that that was what they were going for.
The Chief hoped that that was the case, but the Head not being reachable put him on edge. The best case was that the formation was malfunctioning, and he had tried to contact its maker, but there had been no response. All in all, he knew that he had to tread carefully, yet…
BOOM!
A meteor flew in his direction, almost as if its purpose was to not allow him to think further.
As a Hero-level Fighter known for his speed, he easily dodged the attack, but that was when he realized the true purpose behind it.
A Hero-level barrier and anti-teleportation formation instantly activated in the area he was in, and he was completely cut off from communicating to the outside.
This was a formation that the Church hadn't even used once on Angaria, and the Chief had no idea why the hell they were using it now, as he could simply memorize it, and they would be able to make ways which they could use to counter all such types of formations if they were used again. Strategically, it didn't make sense at all, as it didn't look like they were attacking anywhere else, either.
However…that was when he detected an alarm in the Sect of Hedon, and as he shifted his gaze to there using his control over the formations that he had taken due to the Head's absence, he saw the Mad Doctor laugh and then head in Lanthanor's direction.
Right away, he understood his target: the King of Lanthanor.
Although he couldn't figure out, for the life of him, why the Church was targeting that kid, he knew one thing for sure.
He had to get out of here.
He could already guess that no one would be going to his aid, as that seemed to be the objective of this whole thing.
He had given his word that he would follow the Sect Founder's every order…and one of the most important duties of the Chief of the Fortress, was to protect the Legacy Disciple until he came of the age where he could take up his responsibility.
And to fulfill that responsibility, the Chief didn't even care if he had to die.
Knowing that every second was precious, he instantly activated his peak mode. His body turned back into the state it had been in many centuries ago, and he laid his gaze on the man from the Church.
This gaze was so scorching that even the white-robed man couldn't help but flinch, and then catch his shoulder, where that wound he had sustained in the fight before still ached.
Yet, laughing out loud, he said, "It's useless."
A pearly-white barrier came into existence around him, and he calmly conjured a chair and took out a wine bottle from his coat.
It was clear that he had been prepared to do this from the start.
Panic beginning to creep into his mind, the Chief prepared to take out all of his trump cards, even though a strange feeling told him that they wouldn't work.
The reason behind this was given by the white-robed man in an idle tone, while he sat down in the air and poured a glass for himself before sipping it and frowning, as if it was too bitter for his taste.
"It's useless. As you must already have guessed, I am using the same Energy Source that saved our lives before. It is one that can only be made by those who are above the realm of Heroes, and you peasants don't even know what that realm is called! Haha, that's rich! Anyway, for 10 minutes, you should just stay put and watch the show. You, alone, can do nothing, so I advise that you relax."
He was right.
The High Council had already had a meeting regarding this, as they had all sensed the rich Energy used by those from the Church in that fight. If it hadn't been for it, they might really have died, but the High Council had only been able to deduce its level, and hope that it was limited.
With a deep frown, the Chief focused his sight on the scene in Lanthanor, while the white-robed man did the same.
With an appalled expression, the Chief could only watch as the kid was tortured incessantly.
The brave words he had uttered made it clear that if someone was recording this, then all those who were showed the video would right away wish to swear fealty to this King, who was ready to die rather than allow his people to be harmed.
This was the kind of emotion that would spring up in most, and it was a precious tool that had been utilized very well to make many Kingdoms fall and rise in the history of the continent.
Yet…all that didn't matter to the Chief, as his only priority was to save the Legacy Disciple of the Fortress.
With increasing anger, he watched the horrendous actions of the Mad Doctor, until finally…he made his decision.
If no one intervened, even at the last moment, then he would do it.
There was one attack that would cost his life, and he had been saving it for the final fight against the Church so that he could die brilliantly. If used well, it would be able to take out multiple Heroes, but the Chief did not hesitate at all to use it now.
It was worth it. At least, he would die knowing that he had done his duty for those that had given him everything, when he had nothing.
Up until the last moment, the Chief observed that the white-robed man was watching happily, as if what was going on was what he had hoped for.
Yet, when that cocoon suddenly came into existence…both of their eyes widened, and the white-robed man even stood up with shock.
Only, right after that, he realized what it was and said, "Tch, the Bloodline of a Divine Cockroach? So that's all he has? With that Bloodline, even his Mage Paths are restricted! What a letdown. And to think we thought of him as a threat! Ha, what a joke!"
The white-robed man's deriding words made the Chief understand everything that was going on.
After that, as they saw the Mad Doctor vanish, they wondered where he had gone, but it didn't matter.
Little did they know that that man had only gone…downward.
Indeed, in a deep, deep cave under the spot where he had been standing, the Mad Doctor burst through, and laid his eyes on the man whose life he wanted more than that of the King.
Ashahell.
He had gotten the message that Ashahell had broken free in a weakened state and was here, and without hesitation, the Mad Doctor had left.
He didn't care about the motives. This was the man who was the reason behind him being injured in that manner, and now that he was more powerful than before…he longed to crush this previous sect master of his under his foot and take his revenge.
Besides, he had already understood that he couldn't break through that shell even if he tried for a long time, so he had chosen this target, which was very, very appealing to him.
However, the moment he appeared in the cave…a Hero-level formation came into existence, and the man inside who looked like Ashahell simply faded into the air, as he had just been a clone.
Meanwhile, inside the shell, the King of Lanthanor received a message that made him smile at the corner of his mouth.
[Dummy message mimicking previous mode of communication used after target 'Mad Doctor's awakening has been successfully sent. Target has appeared in the pre-prepared underground cage. Hero-level restriction formation with one-way teleportation access activated. Erasing all traces of the location of the target. Ready to teleport host into the formation.]
His eyes burning with the kind of wrath that would not stop until it saw blood, the King gave an order to the system.
"Good. Prepare to deploy Mage Champion Path Consolidation Module using preset parameters. Standby to induce breakthrough on my mark."