"Oh, while we're at it," Leo added, his expression momentarily flickering with a desperation he quickly hid, "you wouldn't happen to have a few bombs lying around? Something untraceable that couldn't be linked to Necropolis?"

He directed his plea toward Malakor. Between the two guardians, the undead magician seemed more calculating and the more likely to throw up a hurdle if not handled correctly.

"Nothing universe destroying," Leo clarified. "Something just powerful enough to... umm, let's say perhaps be capable of destroying a few middle-tier planets just as an example?"

Ossius snorted, his hand resting idly on the hilt of his blade. "An explosive to level a planet? Why waste the effort? A single slash of my sword would do the same. Why do you even need such toys?"

"Let's call it a personal project," Leo replied, mixing a bit of truth into his lie. "If I succeed, it brings me one step closer to bringing His Highness back."

Leo's mind was already racing. He needed two things to dismantle the Lionel Family.

One was a massive influx of untraceable capital to destabilize their banking monopoly, and the second was a weapon with the punch of a Necropolis warship but without any obvious link to Necropolis.

Just money wasn't enough to bring their downfall aster all. He needed to take away their credibility. If they couldn't even protect their own, why would anyone trust them or fear their power?

That was also when Alpha Bank could sweep in, killing two birds with one stone.

After all, what good was it if he completed fairly. They spilled blood first to bring him down. Now he was going to spill blood to drag the Lionel Family to hell while making them watch their downfall in agony.

"Please," Leo said, his voice dropping as his eyes grew concerned. "Tell me you have something."

Malakor watched in silence, his magical staff drifting lazily in the air beside him.

"Hmm. If we are talking about valuable resources that can be brought to the outside world without completely destroying the world's balance, we do have quite a few from our initial era of conquest."

The undead mage crossed his skeletal arms. "I doubt His Majesty would even notice the loss of such trash. To us, they hold no value. But as for explosives specifically capable of destroying middle-tier planets..."

Malakor paused, a spark of green fire flickering in his eye sockets.

"We have none of those, since we never needed such things. However, we have something far more effective that might fit your criteria."

"And what is that?" Leo frowned. Since Malakor was mentioning it, it couldn't be anything simple.

Malakor didn't answer with words. Instead, he snapped his bony fingers.

The floating staff erupted in a dark light. A spatial rift tore open in the space above it, and a wave of artifacts began to pour out.

They weren't items that belonged to the Necropolis. They were simply the forgotten treasures of thousands of dead worlds most of which had been high-ranking planets before their extinction.

The planets had long been destroyed in various calamities. These artifacts were now ownerless, and many of the rare materials they were composed of had gone extinct along with the worlds where they originated.

"None of these bear the essence of our realm," Malakor said as the mountain of treasure grew. "Since these were accidentally swept up while we were collecting souls, we never paid them much attention."

"They were simply... swept up?"

After a moment of silence, Malakor raised his bone hand and an object materialized. He tossed the large item to Leo, and just like the sword of Voldred, the object shrank to fit into Leo's palm.

"This cannot be linked back to us. After all, it belonged to another ancient world."

"An object linked to another ancient world?" Leo mumbled. He looked at the small golden ring, which had a single emerald gemstone embedded in it.

"Yes. Apparently, it belonged to an ancient planet whose history even predated ours. Unfortunately, that planet disappeared long ago during the forgotten era."

Malakor continued, "Many fools believe it was that planet's disappearance which gave birth to all the planets you see today. Whatever the reason, even Lord Voldred respects that part of history."

"A planet that people consider the origin of the universe?"

"If it's true or not, who knows. There is barely any information left about that place after all. We don't even know what it was called. We only believe that if that planet still existed today... then even Necropolis would have to be wary."

Malakor sighed, as if reminiscing about the things he had heard from Lord Voldred regarding the ring. "That ring is said to be an artifact of that forgotten planet."

"If it's such a precious ring, why are you giving it to me? What's the catch?" Leo looked at Malakor suspiciously, his frown deepening. "And how can this actually help me?"

It was understandable that Malakor would toss away resources that were "trash" in the eyes of an ancient power, but even Necropolis wouldn't give away an artifact from an ancient world that they talked about with such respect.

Even if Malakor had a favorable opinion of him, he wouldn't do this without Voldred's permission. There had to be a catch.

"Don't think too much. While it's true that this artifact is one of the few remnants we found, it is also one of the most useless," Malakor shook his head lightly.

"It probably belonged to a servant or a commoner who couldn't afford anything decent. At best, it would be comparable to a mediocre treasure from a high planet. It's not enough to be worshipped by us."

"And don't misunderstand. We aren't giving this to you; we are letting you borrow it. Because no matter how useless it may be, it is still an important piece of history."

Malakor raised his hand, revealing another ring that was completely identical to the ring he had given Leo.

"There are two of these?" Leo asked, taken aback by another ring.

"You see two. But there could be three, four, or even five. It depends on how much you're willing to sacrifice for it," Malakor responded. "If you make a sufficient sacrifice, the ring multiplies. We already created multiple rings this way, but the effects were so weak that we gave up."

"Yeah. I also have one," Ossius agreed, as he raised his hand, revealing a similar ring. "It's pretty useless stuff."

Leo listened, but the explanation was going over his head. Fortunately, Malakor continued as if reading his mind.

"As for why I said can help you... Is that the ring... Explodes with enough power to blow up a middle tier planet. Isn't that what you were looking for?"

"This thing explodes?" Leo's lips twitched as he looked at the ring in his hand. Should he really be holding something like this in his hand?

For Ossius and Malakor, that explosion might be like someone lighting a firecracker, but it would obliterate him if it blew up by accident.

"You said I need sacrifices to create more of these exploding rings? What kind of sacrifices? Please be clear." Leo's eyes narrowed with caution. If even Necropolis called the conditions as sacrifices, it couldn't be simple.

"Living souls, of course. Those that haven't been dead for more than a few hours. What else? Even though it isn't related to Necropolis, it still operates on the principle of souls. That is why we initially paid so much attention to it. Unfortunately, it yielded a disappointing result."

Malakor finished, "Since it can be of use to you, however, I'm happy to let you borrow it."

"So to multiply this explosive, I need to feed it souls? And you lent me one ring, so I have to return one. Doesn't that mean if I want to use it, I have to multiply it first."

"That's correct." Malakor laughed. "It shouldn't be hard for you, right. If we tasked you with finding our Prince, then this should be a child's play for you."

"How many souls are we talking about?" Leo asked, his voice barely showing any emotional fluctuations.

"Hmm? Let's see..." Malakor's voice was filled with amusement. "Maybe comparable to a middle tier planet... In other words, if you want an explosive to destroy a middle tier planet, then first you have to destroy one yourself and feed the souls to this ring."

"Since you wanted explosives, I'm sure you had a target in mind, right?" he further asked.

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