A look of realization suddenly appeared on his face.

"Oh... I see."

"So your will has fused with nature itself."

"That’s how you were able to sense me from so far away."

He fell silent for a moment as countless thoughts raced through his mind.

"So... is that how a being becomes a Saint?"

"By fusing a part of themselves with something beyond their own existence?"

Asher simply shook his head, pushing those thoughts aside.

"No use thinking about that for now. Let’s focus on the upcoming battle and on perfecting this new power. After all, I’ve never used it against anyone since reaching the Master Realm."

Asher then summoned the black fog and gazed at it before speaking.

"So, what should I call it? I guess there’s no need for a new name. I’ll just call it what I’ve always called it..."

"Nothing."

The black fog slowly faded away.

Moments later, Asher vanished once again and returned to the branch of the Reaper Guild, where he had broken through to the Master Realm.

And just like that...

The world had gained its one and only Master of Nothing.

The Master of Death.

In the Grimwood Continent.

Innermost Region

The Ancient Dragon returned to his lair. Looking in Asher’s direction once more, he muttered,

"So... he has even learned to erase the traces of the Abyss. Now, no one will be able to detect it unless he uses it in combat."

From this moment onward, even the spirits could no longer sense that anything was unusual about Asher.

After returning to the branch of the Reaper Guild, Asher spent his time practicing with his newfound physical strength and elements, getting used to the new limits of his vessel while waiting for his other vessels to break through to the Master Rank as well. Only then would he begin preparing to take over the Reaper Guild.

Two weeks later.

Aetherium Academy.

All the students had returned from Elyndor Academy, and classes had resumed as usual. Only two students were different from before—Celestine and Leon. They had taken a week’s break from the academy due to some personal reasons and had only resumed attending classes last week.

Now, everything had returned to normal.

Today, all the students of Class S were attending their lessons as usual. Professor Elisa was teaching as always before turning her gaze toward the students listening to her.

Her eyes eventually stopped on Asher, who was sleeping as usual. She simply ignored him before shifting her gaze to Noah, who had a strange smile on his face. It was obvious he was lost in his own thoughts and wasn’t paying any attention to what she was teaching.

Elisa spoke in a stern tone.

"Noah, what could possibly be more important than learning that you’re thinking about it in class instead of listening to what I’m teaching?"

However, Noah remained lost in his own fantasy.

Adam, who was sitting beside him, shook his shoulder firmly. Only then did Noah snap out of whatever he had been thinking about.

He turned toward Adam and complained,

"Why did you wake me up? I was in the middle of a really good dream."

Elisa looked at Noah with a gentle smile and said,

"While having your eyes open."

Without missing a beat, Noah replied,

"So what? All you need is a good dream. Whether your eyes are open or clos—"

He suddenly stopped.

Slowly, he turned toward the source of the voice.

The moment he saw Professor Elisa staring at him, all the color drained from his face.

"P-Professor Elisa... I was just thinking about... something."

But Elisa didn’t give him a chance to explain.

"You can think about that outside the classroom. Now get out and stand outside."

Without saying another word, Noah began walking toward the exit.

As he did, he glanced at Asher, who was still sleeping without a care in the world.

Everyone else also looked at Asher.

Anyone could tell exactly what they were thinking, but no one dared to say it aloud. Their expressions clearly said,

"What about that guy?"

Elisa naturally understood what everyone was implying.

She looked at Noah and then at the rest of the class before saying,

"Can any of you perform in practical exams like him? Or do you have no desire to become better people, earn society’s respect, and have a social life?"

No one replied.

After all, performing like that idiot was impossible in the first place.

Just as Elisa finished speaking, Asher slowly woke up.

He looked around in confusion before asking,

"Was someone talking about me? What did I do this time?"

Elisa looked at him and sighed.

"If you want to sleep, then go outside and sleep there. Stop disturbing the entire class."

Asher looked at her, then at everyone else.

Finally, his gaze landed on Noah, who was just about to reach the exit.

Meanwhile, in a branch of the Reaper Guild.

This was one of the branches located in the capital of the continent, Lunaris.

Inside one of the branch’s rooms, every one of Asher’s vessels was present—or at least those whose cultivation was below the Master Rank. Among them, only one vessel had already reached the Master Rank.

This vessel belonged to a man with black hair and an average-looking face. Looking at him, no one would ever think he was someone extraordinary.

As for Asher’s other vessels that had already reached the Master Rank, they were already where they were supposed to be.

Today was the day this Master-ranked vessel would enter the headquarters of the Reaper Guild.

The location of the headquarters was unknown to everyone except the members stationed there. They communicated only by sending messages containing mission objectives, targets, and all the necessary information regarding those targets.

Apart from those messages, the members of the smaller branches had no way of contacting the headquarters except by submitting reports regarding their completed missions.

Whenever someone from a smaller branch reached the Master Rank, they would simply send a report to the headquarters.