Clayton raised an eyebrow. "Why so?" He realized that all of his classmates seemed brighter and were chattering about the birthday party that Kai had mentioned earlier. "It's just a random girl's birthday." Clay gave a big yawn, showing his disinterest in the invitation, and settled his head on the table, indicating he wanted to sleep some more.
"Because it is being held at the Master Hall's residence. But why should the old man celebrate his birthday and invite the younger ones? Oh, wait! Is it the rumored daughter?"
"Daughter? I remember Master Hall has no kids."
"I heard rumors that he adopted a daughter after the monster wave last month. I thought it was just a rumor, but it seems like the rumor is true, looking at this invitation. But I didn't expect that the lucky girl's school would be here."
Clayton glanced at the name displayed in the middle of the beige-colored card.
Gwyneth Hall.
Clayton stared at it for a long moment, then removed the card from his sight.
"So, are you coming?"
What a coincidence, the girl's birthday coincided with the arrival of three divine envoys to Zelia. So Clay couldn't possibly attend.
"I have to ask my mother's permission first. Well, I doubt she would allow it."
"How could she not? We're talking about the legendary Telekinesis Master. He is a level 8 mage who is respected by everyone."
"And my mother is an eighth-level Knight that everyone is afraid of."
"Errr…" Kai couldn't argue with that. "Okay, I understand. I promise to tell you everything, including what the mysterious girl looks like."
"No need." Clayton wasn't interested in the girl at all. Currently, he was focusing his attention on finding the real Space Master's whereabouts.
Even after almost a month of searching for him, he and three other divine envoys had not found him. Well, if they couldn't find the Space Master, that meant the demon clan couldn't find him either. At least that was good news.
Even so, they had to find a Space Master immediately and ensure his growth so that he could become strong without hindrance. Thus, the three envoys would come to Zelia to discuss this matter.
They couldn't come before because they had to help their kingdom with restoration. The situation in other kingdoms due to the monster wave was no better than in the Zelia Kingdom. However, the three envoys weren't seriously injured, whereas Clayton… wasn't even confident that he could defeat a tenth-level monster in one fell swoop.
Last year, he and the Grim Reaper killed the seventh-pillar demon king and returned to their respective domains. Unfortunately for Clayton, the third-pillar demon king, Demon King Varagh, ambushed him.
At that time, Clayton was still injured from the previous battle and had not yet recovered, but had to fight Varagh, whose strength was many times greater than that of the former Demon King. Not only was his mount seriously injured, but he was exposed to death poison that eroded his bones and heart.
If not for the fact that he had two mounts and two spiritual swords, he would have died right then and there. As soon as he managed to escape, he immediately asked for help from a ninth-level Priest in the White Lily Empire to heal him. The priest could stop the spread of the poison but couldn't stop it completely.
As a result, Clay lived for a year with passive death poison in his body. As long as he didn't use all his strength, the poison wouldn't attack him and would be neutralized by itself as long as he received daily healer treatment.
The demon clan sure was cunning. Varagh leaked the news that the Realm Knight had been affected by his death poison. Almost every night, monster attacks emerged from within the city. Who knows how many demon clan spies had spread within the kingdom until they all appeared without warning?
They knew Clay couldn't possibly stand by while Zelia's kingdom was in threat. Almost every night, Clay went to the battlefield to exterminate monsters without rest, so he couldn't get rid of the poison in his body. That explained why he had eye bags and looked so tired at school.
Fortunately, the large-scale monster attacks decreased, making Clay relax a bit. He decided to recuperate for a few days and suppress the poison that was trying to attack him. Who would have thought that as soon as he came out of his recovery period, a mass monster wave would actually occur?
His two mounts were still unable to fight, and dozens of Hunters of level eight and above were carrying out missions outside the city. As a result, all that was left was his 'mother' and two high-level priests. Somehow, the demon clan knew that Zelia was not in top condition, so they attacked that very night.
He knew that the demon clan sent spies and spread across the three kingdoms and the empire. However, he never thought these spies could get information about the whereabouts of high-level Hunters in each kingdom. Moreover, the demon clan somehow made high-level Hunters go on missions simultaneously.
"Hhhh…" Clayton let out a heavy breath without realizing it.
"Why the sigh? Are you worried about something?"
"Nah. I just feel tired." How could he not? For the past month, he had continuously suppressed the death poison, which had been active in attacking him again since then.
Fortunately, the demon clan no longer attacked since the appearance of the 'Space Master.' He could focus on undergoing healer treatment and removing the poison completely. He succeeded in doing so, but… his eye power still needed time to recover to peak condition.
'I did push it too hard at that time.' He used the power of thought with his eyes to kill monsters without even slashing his sword. He shouldn't have done it since he still had poison like a bomb that could explode at any time. And as he had feared, the death poison, which had been passive until now, was now attacking him again, and it was all because he had gotten another poison from Dyroth!
What a cunning demon! They only rely on poison to defeat him. If only there were Hunters who had poison magic or were experts in medicinal concoctions, perhaps humanity could still survive.
Well, the blessing behind all his misfortune was that Dyroth's poison was an effective medicine for one of his mounts. Currently, his mount could reform its form and was ready to fight against the ninth-level monster. Even though it still hasn't fully recovered, at least he doesn't have to worry about the presence of Monster Generals again.
Not far away, a group of girls were watching Clay's reaction closely.
"You see it?"
"He looked uninterested."
"And he said he won't go."
"Doesn't he know his girlfriend's name? Hmph! As I expected. The two of them are not dating."
"That means that ugly girl tricked us."
"Don't worry, girls. I have other plans."