Chapter 397: The opportunity... Part-1.


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    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?"


    Liamined 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 someone'' asked us toe 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 someone else, he wouldn''t have agreed.


    But he trusts Rio a lot; that''s why he didn''t disagree too much and came along in the end.


    "Still, I guess this is the first time we both are the only ones who are on some 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 meet someone and get some crucial information from them."


    "And if possible, we will convince her toe back to the academy."


    As if a sudden realization came upon Liam, his eyes shined brightly.


    "Wait, don''t tell me-"


    Before Liam could finish his words, a familiar person entered the dpidated 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 woulde, so he just nodded his head and then nced at Liam.


    "I dragged you along today because I once took her contact info and asked her to send me a message when she haspleted her quest of gathering information on Alverto."


    "And apparently this matter involves you deeply, so she asked me to bring you along."


    Liam was quite shocked at the sudden revtion, as he had no idea that he would even get to meet 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 nced at Rio for a while and spoke in a calm tone.


    "You seem much stronger than thest time, and Liam too... I see, you guys have been making a lot of progress."


    "Me, on the other hand... s, 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 members 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 me 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 something 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 missionstely to buy those secret information''s."


    How do you think the human nation remains so peaceful all the time? It''s because the troublemakers get assassinated overnight without anyone knowing at all.


    The information gathering agencies are not just mere 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 exined,


    "This is called ''Soul Stone,'' a kind of currency that higher-ranking demons use; it''s literally


    made out of metal and has a soul embedded in it."


    Liam''s eyes widened in shock after hearing those words.


    "What!? Isn''t it impossible to manipte 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 came into


    being two hundred years ago."


    "And you know what? That so-called Prince Alverto also was born around that time."


    "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 mean to say that... Alverto actually has some kind of power that involves


    manipting souls?"


    Riko nodded her head at that question.


    "Yes! Aside from his extremely powerful Chronos ''Time'' rted power, he definitely has


    something 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 someone''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 same way.


    Rio''s eyes widened in surprise after hearing those words.


    "But Lia''s mother died around the same time when that incident happened... Could it be that


    Alverto was nting these crests even before that?"


    Riko nodded her head,


    "Yes, it is very likely... In fact, I dare to assume that he''s been nning something grand since


    the past two hundred years.


    "From the very moment he introduced that ''soul stone'' into the demon continent, he was


    already nning something."


    Hearing all this, Liam tilted his head in confusion.


    "But what does all this have to do with me, though?"


    Riko nced 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 mere 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 me that-"


    Riko nodded her head, "Yeah, I suspect that Neo Aldif is working together with Alverto for some reason."


    Riko nced at Rio and said,


    "Rio told me 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 some kind of deal with him.


    Riko sighed to herself.


    "I have been working on this matter for a long time; I have already submitted my report, and


    all this information will be avable 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 then/o/vel/b//in dot c//om


    most." "Rio survived the drift city massacre, so you have some personal score to settle with Alverto, and Liam, on the other hand, has to figure out what his father is nning."


    "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 moment and spoke in a vague tone. "And apparently, the opportunity is not too far away now..."