Speaking of the general, the broad man had begun moving the moment the unassuming soldier revealed his true power.

He descended from the administrative building with measured steps, his face a mask of professional composure.

But all of that was only a facade.

Finn could clearly see fear and caution in the man's gait. The way his hands were carefully controlled at his sides, as if preventing them from trembling. The slight sheen of sweat on his forehead out of nowhere…

With the connections the General's position provided, he'd surely heard rumors. Whispers about agents who operated beyond normal military hierarchy. People who answered directly to the crown. People who could make entire noble houses disappear overnight if they deemed it necessary.

But he'd never encountered one. Never believed they were real.

Until now.

Normally, in this kind of situation, he would make a run for it. At his Grade, no one in the camp could keep up with him… No one except the Agent, that is.

The Agent was a full Grade above him. And not just that, he was well into the next Grade, somewhere closer to the peak of Grade 1, even.

That was enough to kill any thought of escape.

All the General could do now was approach and try to salvage something. Anything at all to simply stay alive. Perhaps he could use the name of the house backing him… though he knew that wouldn't hold much weight.

As he got close to Finn and the Agent, he abruptly stopped at the edge of the barrier, pausing for a second after he finally realized that he hadn't heard a single sound so far despite being this close.

With growing dread, he very quickly realized that it was wind magic. The Agent had cast a barrier so subtle, so perfectly controlled, that he, a Grade 2 Master-rank Arcanist, hadn't even noticed it being cast.

The General grit his teeth, took a steadying breath and stepped forward, crossing into the barrier's range.

.

.

As the General approached, Finn slowly tore his gaze from him and focused instead on the Agent.

A slow realization had dawned on him as he observed the man.

There's no way he didn't know what was happening in Greystone. The town administrator, the officials, and even the General too… He surely knew what they were up to. He probably even knows the family backing them too…

And if he knew, then by extension, the Crown also knew. The government also knew. The fact that it continued to happen definitely meant that the Crown had chosen to turn a blind eye to it for whatever reason.

Perhaps the family behind the operation was a high-ranking vassal family. Or maybe the crown was also curious about what an attempt at artificial creation of a magic beast would result in.

Regardless of what it may be, the crown had definitely known.

For a second, he almost asked the Agent why he hadn't taken any action, but then he stopped himself and simply said nothing. He couldn't judge them either way. Not really. Politics at that level involved considerations he couldn't fully understand. Not to mention the fact that he was also a sinner here…

The agent's smile widened, but this time it took on an uncanny quality. Something predatory lurked beneath the friendly expression.

"It's good you didn't ask that question," he said, as if he could read Finn's mind. "I would have been disappointed."

He leaned in slightly and his voice dropped.

"That would have been utterly pretentious of you, considering you yourself just killed forty-seven people. And that was just within the town. The number you killed in the forest isn't even counted with that total."

Finn's brows rose slightly.

Internally, he felt a cold appreciation for just how well-connected the agent's information network was. Only he and Elara knew about the forest killings. No one else had been present. No survivors to report.

And yet this man knew. He had sources that had relayed that information somehow.

Which brought Finn back to his earlier thoughts. The crown definitely knew of everything that was happening in Greystone.

But now things were different.

Now the secret was out. And whether the crown had been turning a blind eye before, they would have to act now.

The public still didn't know the civilian deaths caused by the beast horde had been orchestrated behind the scenes by certain individuals. But enough people knew now. He knew. Elara also knew. Even Lyssa and her team would have put one and two together.

That was enough that the crown needed to take action and deliver justice.

And what Finn knew about justice like this was that it would be swift.

The agent must have caught the change in Finn's eyes — some subtle shift in his expression that revealed his thought process — because the man grinned widely and nodded with approval.

"I like you," he said simply. "You think quickly and don't waste time on pointless outrage or moral posturing."

Finn's gaze shifted to the General, who was approaching them. He looked at the man as if already seeing a corpse.

.

.

As the General got closer, he noticed Finn's gaze and sensed something was wrong, opening his mouth to speak, perhaps to explain, perhaps to plead, perhaps to threaten with his backer's name…

But he didn't even get a chance to.

Immediately he was well within the Agent's range, the air inside the barrier suddenly filled with dust. Thick, choking clouds that made it impossible to see more than a few inches. The wind barrier that had been keeping Finn's and the Agent's conversation private had transformed, becoming opaque from the outside.

The General knew immediately what this meant.

There was no room for useless words.

The Agent had just sentenced him to death.

Years of the General's combat experience immediately kicked in. It seemed he was not going down without a fight. If he was going to die, he would take one of them along with him, or at least deliver a long-lasting final blow.

He charged directly at the Agent like a bullet, making Finn's pupils constrict slightly in shock. The man was fast. Extremely fast.

So he's a body enhancer!

The General rushed in with mad eyes, roaring, intent on landing one strike on the Agent. Just one strike that would pack all his vengeance and unwillingness.

The Agent stretched out his hand lazily.

A longsword materialized from thin air, swirling out of a ring on his finger. It was elegant, perfectly balanced, looking like the work of a Master Artifact Nurturer.

By all standards, the sword was magnificent and should have been the focal point of attention.

But Finn didn't even glance at it twice.

His eyes were wide open like saucers, staring at the ring on the Agent's fingers. The ring that seemed to have materialized the sword out of nothing.

A space artifact!

His heart thumped hard against his chest at the implications.

Space artifacts could only be created by someone who wielded space magic. Abstract magic, like his Error. Magic that touched concepts rather than mere elements.

Which meant...

The crown has a space bearer! A Transcendent who bears the abstract concept of Space!

The same magic that, in his future timeline, belonged to Egon Callahan. The Core Fragment bearer. The consciousness that had possessed Egon's body and created that moment of synchronization between all Space fragment bearers.

The same magic that had been divided among the Husks.

The same magic that Osmund, Hagen, and Madoc wielded as Greater Fragment bearers.

And most importantly… the same magic that Madoc had used to send him back through time in the first place!

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