"What’s taking secret agent 001 so long? Did he fail to kill Zarak?"
About a kilometer from the mansion, Jared stood hidden among the bushes, frowning.
He had come with secret agent 001 to kill Zarak, yet more than ten minutes had passed, and the agent had not appeared.
By all estimates, killing Zarak shouldn’t have taken more than five minutes. Strangely, 001 had already exceeded that time.
"Could 001 have had an accident?"
The thought flickered briefly in his mind, but he dismissed it immediately. That was impossible.
Among the ten secret agents, 001 was the strongest and most experienced. He had served since the previous emperor’s reign and had even been part of the prince’s forces, the ones who had opposed Ragan.
When the prince was defeated and sentenced to death by Ragan, secret agent 001 had managed to escape before being discovered by Roswell and later became his subordinate.
Not only 001, but the other nine agents were also remnants of the previous battle for the throne, most of them coming from the losing side.
Of course, if the emperor discovered what Roswell had done, the punishment would have been severe. Luckily, only a few people knew—Jared among them.
"I’ll wait a few more minutes," he whispered, taking a deep breath.
He closed his eyes in silence. Two seconds later, a gust of wind blew from behind him.
His eyes snapped open. Just as he was about to turn, a sharp object pierced his cheek, blood rushing out.
Jared’s heart raced, and fear spread through his body.
"Who... are you?" He stammered.
Arnold smiled faintly. "You don’t need to know who I am. What matters now is this: did Cedric Lorian send you?"
Jared’s breathing quickened, and he instinctively reached for a knife under his cloak.
But Arnold’s sharp claws, piercing his cheek, not only immobilized him but also froze the flow of mana in his body.
Now, Jared was nothing more than an ordinary man, powerless and vulnerable to a single strike.
Realizing his situation, he restrained any rash movements and replied coldly, "What if I told you I wasn’t? Would you believe me?"
"Of course not, dummy," Arnold teased lightly. "Alright, I won’t linger. Tell me: what was Cedric’s purpose in killing Zarak? Was it just to get rid of him... or something more?"
His lord had once told him that among the princes, the most dangerous was Cedric.
He might lack Aldric’s physical strength, Zarak’s wealth, or Adalen’s powerful background.
But Cedric’s extraordinary intelligence, combined with the prime minister’s vast network, was enough to suppress all three.
So Jared didn’t believe Cedric would act without reason.
Jared grinned slightly. "Your goal is to find out, huh? How naive! Did you really think I’d tell you?"
He clenched his left fist, and suddenly...
Boom!
Black smoke erupted from him, spreading like a thick mist, carried by the wind.
Within a radius of three hundred meters, everything was engulfed, vision limited to just two meters.
Arnold winced and stepped back a few paces.
Whoosh!
A giant black shadow lunged from the front. Arnold dodged swiftly, but another shadow descended from above.
He twisted his body and dodged again, then blew a gust of air to disperse the smoke.
Whoosh!
The mist cleared, revealing an eighty-meter-tall monster.
It was a massive, black-furred wolf.
Claws jutted from all four paws, and fangs sharper than its claws lined its jaws. A scar ran down the right side of its eye, adding to its fearsome presence.
"Monster?" Arnold muttered in surprise. "Is he a summoner... or is he the monster himself?"
Some people had special powers, including the ability to transform into monsters, usually low-level ones.
But that didn’t mean turning into a powerful monster was impossible—and standing before him was living proof.
Awoo!
The wolf monster let out a piercing, agonized howl—but it had no effect on Arnold.
As the creature swung its right claw at him, Arnold leapt to avoid it, then darted forward and struck its head.
Boom!
The monster’s body bounced hundreds of meters before crashing to the ground with a deafening roar.
Thankfully, there were no buildings nearby, so no casualties occurred.
Even so, the dense trees in the surrounding area were torn apart.
The wolf slowly rose to its feet, opened its mouth, and a ball of lightning formed before it.
Whoosh!
It fired the bolt at Arnold, who floated effortlessly in the air.
Arnold raised his left hand.
"Dimensional Portal!"
Buzz!
A ten-meter-wide portal materialized before him, opening slowly and instantly obliterating the lightning ball.
Buzz!
Another portal appeared above the monster, from which the same lightning ball shot out again.
Boom!
Its own attack destroyed itself, causing the monster to howl in pain.
Arnold didn’t stop there. He formed a complicated hand seal, and four magic circles appeared in the sky.
The circles synchronized, emitting an intense, blinding purple light.
"Die!" Arnold whispered coldly.
Buzz!
Four beams of light shot out from the magic circles, striking the monster.
Awoo!
It let out a howl of pain, thrashing its massive body. But no matter how it struggled, an invisible barrier held it firmly in place.
Minutes later, the wolf gradually weakened, finally collapsing completely.
Arnold exhaled lightly and vanished, only to reappear beside the monster, which still radiated a faint glow.
Shortly after, Jared appeared—unconscious and pitiful. His red cloak was torn, revealing a muscular but charred body.
His face was battered, black blood oozing from his nose, ears, and the corners of his lips.
Showing no mercy, Arnold clenched his right hand. Purple flames materialized from the air and engulfed Jared, reducing him to ashes within a minute.
Then Arnold disappeared like a gust of wind, leaving the battlefield scarred and silent.
***
Whoosh!
Arnold appeared inside Zarak’s room, which was just as chaotic. Two bodies lay on the floor—Zarak’s and secret agent 001’s.
He approached Agent 001 and touched his head, causing a white ball of light to emerge.
Arnold’s cold gaze lingered on it. "His memories must be valuable. This will make a fine gift for my lord."
Without hesitation, he burned Agent 001’s body as he had done with Jared, then took Zarak and vanished.