The golden glow of the sun streaked across the sky as the Triarch appeared above Thule and passed through the white clouds.

Leon took in a deep breath as he slowly shifted his gaze to the three weapons he had placed on the empty section of the dashboard.

Wu Ze’s brevity flashed in Leon’s mind as he stared at her broken sword, followed by the fierce look she always carried and her tough voice.

Can’t she stop using that? It’s a waste.

Leon giggled slightly while his eyes slowly began to well up as he remembered how Wu Ze scrubbed her eyes immediately after she made that statement the night before they set out into Tartarus.

’Such a nice person she was on the inside,’ Leon said to himself, then swallowed the tears before shifting his gaze to the next weapon.

Looking at An Lang’s war disc, Leon’s chest heaved as he remembered the day he called them while he was celebrating his birthday with his family.

You... never mind. Welcome to the age of wealth... or death.

Leon remembered how An Lang sounded as he laughed on the phone while footsteps echoed from behind. He took in a deep breath, then began brushing the finger of his left hand on the blade of the war disc.

"He was good and jovial among us," Leon said in a low voice, then shook his head as he couldn’t control his burst of laughter that had suddenly landed on him.

When he shifted his gaze to Liu Yan’s sword, the laughter died instantly. He traced the shiny surface of the blade to its edge while Liu Yan’s statements reeled in his head.

I’m Liu Yan. Welcome to the madhouse.

We are a squad. We move together, train together, and bathe together.

What are you waiting for? Come on. Time is not on our side.

Let’s try our possible best to at least complete one task successfully.

Leon, I can’t hold on any longer.

Thank you.

When the last statement faded from Leon’s mind and was replaced by the smiling faces of the three members of the squad, Leon broke loose. Tears began falling from him like water.

Behind him, Seo-jun stood up as he saw water dripping from Leon’s face, but he didn’t move or say a single word.

Eun-woo stood up, brushed his hands on his face, then moved two steps forward. "What’s"

Seo-jun turned to him and stopped Eun-woo from finishing his statement. He walked to him, then placed a hand on Eun-woo’s shoulder. "He deserves to let them go through tears. Let him cry in peace."

Eun-woo lowered his gaze to the ground, then turned back to the walls where he had slept.

The moment the last tear fell from Leon’s cheeks, he lifted his face from his palms, then sighed heavily. He looked at the screen, then gritted his jaw as he saw them approaching the Agatha Special Forces landing spot.

"We are descending to the base, so brace yourselves," he said without even glancing back.

Meanwhile, Seo-jun, Eun-woo, and Kim had already wrapped their fingers around the handles and were ready for anything that would come as the Triarch descended.

At the landing spot of Agatha Special Forces, everyone stopped their tasks and began moving aside when they saw the Triarch approaching.

A siren sounded so loud that it woke up all the sleeping soldiers and made them hurry to watch what had caused the emergency sirens to activate.

Hei Yung, Hei Luo, Lu Wang, and two other officials of Seol-Mujin who had come for a visit walked from the Blackscale Citadel and moved toward the landing spot.

Lord Luo Fang nodded once when he saw the look on Hei Yung’s face. "Is that the package?"

Hei Yung shifted his gaze to him and tightened his jaw. "Not just the package as you requested, but someone who will change how everyone sees the world."

Lord Luo Fang’s head snapped back in surprise. "Interesting."

He stroked his long white hair back, then giggled while placing his left arm at his back as they continued forward.

Smoke blasted on the ground as the Triarch slowly landed.

Before its ramp could even open, countless soldiers arranged themselves in a queue, three times the number of soldiers who were tasked to welcome Lord Luo Fang the day he arrived in Agatha.

’If this person is so important, why is he not part of the citizens of Seol-Mujin yet?’ Lord Luo Fang said in his head as he gave Hei Yung a side look.

A mixture of green and black smoke exited from the Triarch as its ramp opened with a hydraulic sound following its descent.

The moment Kim stepped out of the smoke, all the soldiers standing before the Triarch slammed their boots on the ground and saluted.

Slam.

"Welcome, impending Lieutenant Kim."

’Lieutenant Kim,’ Lord Luo Fang focused on the face, then gave a slow nod. ’I know this lady.’

Hei Yung glanced at Lord Luo Fang’s reaction, then smiled secretly.

When Eun-woo stepped down, cheers rose in the air as countless female soldiers forgot they were even on duty. But they rearranged themselves and straightened their faces when Seo-jun stepped down.

’Nice. This is one of the guys from Agatha that came and shocked Seol-Mujin officials two years ago with his unique techniques with swords.’ Lord Luo Fang nodded continuously, then turned to Hei Yung.

"Now, I’ve seen all that I need to see. But I am not impressed yet."

Hei Yung didn’t turn to even look at Lord Luo Fang’s face; he kept his eyes locked on the smoke that was coming out of the Triarch, while his heart rate slowly dropped.

’Wait, is there another person? Is he the one Hei Yung talked about? And why are they all standing aside as if an unstoppable God is coming?’ Lord Luo Fang said in his head as he glanced at the faces of the soldiers and the three impending lieutenants he knew.

The moment Leon’s right foot stepped out of the smoke and landed on the ground, a thunderous sound lanced through the sky.

For a split second, dark clouds began forming in the sky. And when Leon stepped out fully, raindrops began falling.

Chills ran down half of the soldiers’ spines when they saw Leon carrying three weapons while holding a wrapped body.

Among the left group, the Yanlous began shaking as the bones in their legs trembled while they took slow, stumbling steps backward.

At their side, Tiger’s eyes kept on shifting to Samir and back to the new Leon he was seeing. "Is that," he said, pointing a trembling finger forward.

Samir shifted his gaze slowly to Tiger, then smiled. "Do you now understand why I told you the man Jade sent shouldn’t have gone to Tartarus?"

Tiger didn’t answer. He simply didn’t have the mouth or the words to speak when Leon’s gaze found him on the ground.

When Leon shifted his gaze from the Black Ops direction and looked at the four people walking from a distance to meet him, his heart rate dropped drastically.

Before he could blink, he went down on one knee, then lowered his head.

The moment Hei Yung neared Leon and stopped, he placed a heavy hand on Leon’s shoulder, then slowly crouched down.

"You’ve done a good job by carrying their remains with you."

Leon’s eyes were filled with tears as he lifted them to Hei Yung. "But, but, I couldn’t save them."

Hei Yung giggled, then shook his head. He looked at the wrapped body, at the three weapons placed on top of the body, then back at Leon’s face.

"You did more than we all imagined. You survived what most of us couldn’t."

When Leon shifted his gaze and locked eyes with Lord Luo Fang, memories from Alchemania flashed into his head.

The day he stood outside the vehicle and watched Lieutenant Hayes mention the name out loud.

Lord Luo Fang

This is Lieutenant Hayes

I have delivered the asset to the Academy

Lord Luo Fang grinned when he also remembered the image Lieutenant Hayes had sent to him years ago, then nodded once.