Having eaten and drunk his fill, Zorn took the gift from Miss Isabelle, boarded the carriage, and disappeared down the end of the street.

"Not bad!"

Inside the carriage, Zorn contemplated his gains from this trip, nodding in satisfaction.

’It’s a shame I didn’t get to spar with those Transcendents; it wasn’t as fulfilling as it could have been.’

’But at least I ate my fill.’

’The Crying Blood Sun will rise whether I participate or not.’

’Coming here to cooperate is basically like getting a free Sun King’s Golden Skeleton.’

’And there are extra rewards on top of that.’

’The Shadow Blood Race is a rather unique Sequence, and they’re still quite difficult to kill.’

’These Boundary Passages that intersect with the Divine Kingdom Passage only allow Level Four, or at most Level Five, Transcendents to enter.’

’But deep within the Shadow Castle, I remember there’s a high probability of finding powerful Level Six or even Level Seven members of the Blood Race. Those are Middle Rank Level beings.’

’If they haven’t been disturbed by the outside world and are still dormant, I might even be able to pull off a speedrun.’

’Even if the speedrun fails, I won’t be the one to suffer for it.’

For Zorn, using the others as a shield was just standard operating procedure.

’Overall, I’ll need to plan this out carefully if I want to gain anything.’

Zorn mused silently inside the carriage.

***

「Lakefront Manor, Third Floor.」

Dressed in an off-white blouse and a white woolen hat, Lady Sun stood by the window, silently watching the carriage disappear deep into the shade of the trees.

The other two male Transcendents were also gathered here.

Isabelle slowly walked up the stairs.

"How did it go?"

Lady Sun looked at Isabelle.

Isabelle thought for a moment before slowly speaking.

"His appetite is enormous. He must have a Magical Organ like a Glutton’s Stomach."

"Over thirty different dishes, and he ate every last one by himself."

"He also drank all of the wine."

"Although he’s a nobleman and displayed the dining etiquette expected of one..."

"...when he was consuming that large amount of food, the attitude he displayed, based on my observation, was... indifference!"

"He didn’t care at all what I or the manor’s servants thought of him."

"He cared even less if there was danger around him."

"He was truly just enjoying the moment, enjoying his meal!"

"He even told me two jokes between courses."

"Of course, he praised the food more. I think he genuinely found it delicious, and the two jokes were just a bonus. Though, the jokes were a bit lame."

"In a situation like this..."

Isabelle said with particular seriousness.

"He either has no sense of caution whatsoever, or his strength—or rather, his trump cards—are so powerful that he’s not afraid of us at all. He doesn’t care if we were to make a move on him."

"Based on his previous behavior, I believe it’s the latter."

"But the problem is..."

Isabelle’s slender eyebrows knitted together.

Her gaze swept past the window, through the clear glass, hoping to see something.

But the silhouette of the carriage had long since vanished without a trace.

She withdrew her gaze, her voice speaking evenly.

"He’s only Level 4, and just a Fighting Master."

Hearing this, Lady Sun chuckled softly.

"So... you believe this Fighting Master isn’t worth us investing so much in him?"

Isabelle didn’t speak, clearly acquiescing to Lady Sun’s words.

During her conversation with Zorn today, many of the decisions she made were not her own, but were based on prompts Lady Sun secretly gave her.

She had seen many Fighting Masters.

Although they were quite strong at the Level 3, Level 4, and Level 5 stages, that was the extent of it—they were merely "quite strong."

The Fighting Master was not among the truly top-tier Extraordinary Sequences.

As Lady Sun smiled gently, a halo of sunlight appeared in her eyes, and what looked like liquid gold seemed to flow in the depths of her pupils.

"What if I told you..."

Her voice was ethereal and piercing.

"That Level Four Fighting Master... those words he said to you earlier weren’t just to scare you."

"He really can twist your head off in under three seconds."

"What... do you think of that?"

Isabelle froze for a second, a look of astonishment appearing on her delicate, fair-skinned face.

"How... is that possible?"

A moment ago, she had assumed the Fighting Master was just bluffing.

She never expected Lady Sun to actually confirm it. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

"The Fighting Master Sequence isn’t known for Insight or Perception."

Taking a deep breath, Lady Sun looked out the window at the increasingly captivating autumn scenery.

Her voice became even more ethereal and melodic.

"The Egunus-fleshed Knight he digested also lacked any Talent for Insight."

"And yet, he sensed our presence."

"That... is quite incredible, isn’t it?"

"Besides that, do you know what else I discovered?"

Isabelle, standing to the side, shook her head.

"It’s his Life Force!"

Lady Sun said seriously.

"That Fighting Master’s Life Force is astonishingly powerful!"

"Your Sequence is quite good, but the external Life Tenacity displayed by his Sequence is several times greater than yours."

"Several times greater than mine?"

The ripples of astonishment in Isabelle’s heart grew into waves.

Her Life Tenacity was already seven or eight times that of a typical Level 4 Sequence.

’If his Life Tenacity is several times greater than mine, doesn’t that mean it’s an absurd thirty or forty times the norm?’

’How... is that possible?’

"Did you hear his heartbeat?"

"I imagine you did not."