<h4>Chapter 213 James, the schemer!</h4>


    Silver Mansion, Master''s office.


    "It''s not about being able to protect or not, you gave your best, that''s what matters the most..." (James)


    James took out a ''cigar'' from his pocket, lit it, and smoked it to his heart''s content, then he nced at Lia''s depressed face with a frown.


    "B-but... I-I just stood there and, I was not even able to help in that battle at all..." (Lia)


    "Being able to identify your own weakness, that''s already a huge step forward, you don''t have to stress yourself that much..." (James)


    James got up and walked towards the window, he released the smoke from his mouth and said in a solemn voice.


    "Being an awakener is a risky profession, every veteran awakener knows the risks that this profession brings..." (James)


    "Your life can end the very next day in this kind of profession, I have seen so many of myrades die an untimely death that I can''t even keep a record of how many of them I have seen dying..." (James)


    "Those who chose to walk the path of an awakener.... They must always be ready to ept the sudden arrival of death too... otherwise all that will be regret and guilt..." (James)


    James looked back at Lia and leaned his back against the wall.


    "You must be thinking that if it was ''Rio'' in ce of ''Zach'', then you would have been powerless to save him, right?" (James)


    James''s words seemed to hit the exact target, Lia immediately raised her head and stared at James as if she was surprised that he knew about her inner thoughts.


    "It''s not that surprising... I had simr thoughts when I used to go on dungeon raids along with your mother..." (James)


    "Whenever arade used to die, I used to stress over the fact, ''What if it was her?'', you have the exact same thoughts now..." (James)


    James closed his eyes as if he were remembering those past memories.


    "These doubts are extremelymon, they appear in the minds of all those who want to protect their loved ones..." (James)


    "And the tragic thing is, there is no way to get rid of these thoughts..." (James)


    James stared into Lia''s eyes and said in a calm tone.


    "As long as you care about their safety, these thoughts will never go away, and thus you will have to learn how to ''co-exist'' with these thoughts without burdening yourself too much..." (James)


    "You mean to say, that I will need to always be ready for ''death of my loved ones''?" (Lia)


    "No no, What I am trying to say is, you must never give up the ''struggle'' to protect and live, but you must also prepare yourself for the ''unexpected'' situations too..." (James)


    "That''s the way of an awakener... those who get swept by emotions won''tst long in this field... " (James)


    "Those who choose to raid dungeons must also be ready for the ''side-effects'' that this career brings..." (James)


    "I-i understand..." (Lia)


    ...


    Looking at the troubled look on Lia''s face, James simply shook his head and said.


    "No need to hurry, you have a long path ahead, you will understand these things eventually... it took me years to get over your mother''s death after all..." (James)


    Lia nodded her head at James''s words.


    James used the hologram device on his work table to show the pictures captured by the satellites.


    "Even with the satellites, there were no images captured due to the space-time barriers cast by that demon... this information has been provided by the alliance to all S-rank or above level individuals..." (James)


    A serious look appeared on James''s face and he said in a solemn tone.


    "The barriers cast by that demon were capable of hiding from the detection of an SS-ranker... I am quite certain that if this demon appeared in front of me... I will not be able to win against him at all..." (James)


    Lia was surprised that her father imed his own defeat so easily.


    James simply smiled at her surprised face and replied in a calm tone:


    "I may be an S-ranker now, but I have been through a fair share of unpleasant situations before bing an S-ranker... I have my own intuition by now..." (James)


    "And my I can feel it in my guts, this guy is big trouble... no he is a bigger trouble than we think..." (James)


    James has been an S-ranker for a long time now, he knew a lot about the S-rank.


    "Being able to ignore the detection of an SS-ranker, easily confining insanely strong spirit beast like Kai and restraining a dragon at the same time.... This demon is not too far away from the ''ascension''..." (James)


    "I assume that in just one more year, this demon will breakthrough and will be a new SS-rank demon..." (James)


    James clenched his teeth and a look of worry appeared on his face.


    "The birth of a new SS-rank demon, this is big trouble... once this demon ascends, I don''t think anyone aside from Ashtel Rex could contend with this demon in today''s human race..." (James)


    At James''s words, Lia asked in surprise.


    "What!?" (Lia)


    "Yes... if it was some other demon who had awakened the ''time maniption'' skills, then I would not have cared that much..." (James)


    "But this is a demon prince we are talking about, royal demon blood runs through his veins and a royal demon who can use ''time maniption'' so precisely is no small fry..." (James)


    Among the demon race, a legend tells of an extremely strong demon god''s existence, that being''s name was ''Chronos'', he had the power to use time maniption to travel to past, future or present.


    Changing time flow and creating variables in the world was as easy as breathing for that being.


    "Once in every thousand years, a demon with the same ability as that great ''being'' appears in the demon race… and this demon prince Alverto is likely that one ''genius''…" (James)


    "If he reached SS-rank, then his time maniption abilities will be beyond other SS-rankers with simr ''time'' authority… like Jin Walt…" (James)


    James''s spection was precise and urate, with his years of experience he was easily able to deduce the problems that the existence of this demon would cause.


    Certainly, James is not the only one who has arrived at this conclusion, all four of the SS-rankers knew that the existence of Alverto was a great trouble for the human race.


    "This demon will likely try to attack the SS-rankers of our race one by one… and I doubt anyone else aside from Ashtel will be able to withstand his strength…" (James)


    "We need to get rid of this demon before he grows up…" (James)


    Lia also nodded her head, she also had some unsolved matter with that demon.


    "It is very likely that there will be talks about this demon in the ''Meeting of gods'' too…" (James)


    James suddenly walked towards a nearby cab, he used his mana and unlocked the cab with ease.


    After searching for a few seconds, he brought out a small book from the cab and ced that book right in front of Lia.


    "Take this book, it has some information about the royal demons, it mighte in handy in your future adventures…" (James)


    "There is information about various underhanded skills that those demons use to torment others… read it on your way to the Elven empire…" (James)


    James thought about something and a look of contemtion appeared on his face.


    "Oh, talking about the Elven Empire, I advise you to not get involved with the son of the Elf king, I heard he is a ''scumbag'' type of person…" (James)


    Lia was a bit confused at James''s words.


    "With Kai to protect me, I don''t think I need to worry about my safety though…" (Lia)


    "Idiot, I am not worrying about your safety, I am worried that your little boyfriend will end up killing that elven prince for messing with you… that will create a great amount of conflict…" (James)


    "Uh… that…, i-I understand…" (Lia)


    Lia knew that James''s words were quite feasible.


    Except for Alverto, it would be difficult for even an S-ranker to stop Rio from killing someone if he really made up his mind.


    "I-I don''t think he is that violent of a guy though…" (Lia)


    "Hmm, yeah, Rio is quite a calm-minded kid in my opinion, but I am giving this advice just in case things end up going the wrong way…" (James)


    Lia simply shook her head, she knew Rio quite well, and he wouldn''t really go to such lengths in her opinion. (She didn''t count the fact that he can go to any lengths for her…)


    "Also, I have heard that the Elf princess is quite a beauty… be careful, otherwise your little boyfriend will be stolen away by someone else, hehe…" (James)


    "No way!" (Lia)


    Lia got up from her chair and shouted in disbelief. Her eyes red at James angrily.


    "H-he won''t leave me like that!" (Lia)


    "Cough! I am just being hypothetical, no need to get so worked up over it…" (James)


    ''Heh, so this tactic worked in the end…'' (James)


    James has been waiting for this moment. He said all those things before because he was setting the stage for this one sentence.


    (This was his n to get Lia out of her depression from Zach''s death… he used Lia''s feelings as a way to boost her spirits…)


    Oblivious to James''s schemes, Lia took the book given by James and rushed towards her personal maid''s room for ''love advice'', with a serious and determined look on her face.


    Seeing the disappearing figure of Lia, James smiled as he knew that his n to get her out of depression had seeded.


    "Don''t forget to get plenty of rest!" (James)


    "Okay!" (Lia)


    Lia went away in a hurry and James shook his head with a smile on his face.


    "Children these days… sigh~" (James)


    …


    …


    Author''s Notes.


    Yo! It''s your beloved author here! It turns out James is also a good tactician…


    Question of the day.


    Do think Rio will ''kill'' if someone messed with Lia?


    1. Yes (Bro is too cold-blooded in this matter…)


    2. No (He is calm, he will plot against the other party instead…)


    3. Other (Tell me in thements.)


    By the way, don''t forget to use those power stones and also leave a review if you like the story. Comment your opinion about the chapter. Your support is my motivation.