The high-ranking members of Shadewhite were in a state of panic.
After all, their strongest members were merely at the Stellar Rank, utterly insignificant compared to the Emperor, who had reached the Demigod Rank.
Even if this Emperor was only at Demigod Rank Lv1, they were still no match for him.
The gap between Stellar Rank Lv9 and Demigod Rank Lv1 was insurmountable. Even if a dozen Stellar Rank Lv9 warriors besieged a single Demigod Rank Lv1 powerhouse, the best outcome would be the Demigod sustaining minor injuries, while all the Stellar warriors perished.
"The opponent seems even stronger than before he went into slumber. I fear he is no longer just at Demigod Rank Lv1. With such power, even if we gathered all our forces, we would still be unable to resist."
The leader of Shadewhite's forces wore a grave expression. Gritting his teeth, he retrieved a magical artifact from his robe—one that made him feel a deep pang of regret just to use.
"This is a Demigod Rank magical artifact personally crafted by the Lord. It can disguise itself as an ordinary bird, devoid of any magical aura. It has no combat abilities, but its sole advantage is that it can transmit intelligence."
Upon hearing this, the Shadewhite leaders immediately showed expressions of delight.
As high-ranking members, they naturally understood the terrifying potential of this magical artifact.
Having no magical aura meant that no one could detect it as a magical tool—it would simply appear to be an ordinary bird.
Such a reconnaissance method was practically flawless!
"However, using this magical artifact requires an immense amount of mana. I'll have to trouble all of you for this, as gathering accurate intelligence will require some sacrifices on your part."
Ilan Kingdom
Durin let out a weary yawn.
These past few days, he had been idling away in the royal palace to the point where he felt he might grow moss from boredom.
Not because he was forbidden from leaving, but because after some investigation, he had realized a terrifying truth—this world was simply too dangerous.
With his status as an ordinary person, if he ventured out without protection, he could be devoured by ogres or drained dry by vampires in mere moments.
All things considered, staying in the palace was much safer for now.
But he couldn't use magic, nor could he meditate in the palace to cultivate it.
If he were to suddenly become a mage, wouldn't that completely expose him?
Bored out of his mind, he had rummaged through the royal treasury and found a crossbow. He decided to head to the royal garden for some bird hunting to pass the time.
He had already familiarized himself with the surroundings—there were no dangers in the garden. Even an ordinary person could enter without harm.
The crossbow he carried was actually just an ordinary Stellar Rank magical artifact.
Of course, it had to be infused with mana to activate its abilities. But since Durin had no mana at all, using it was no different from using a regular crossbow. Still, it was good enough for hunting birds.
Thinking this, he casually scanned the sky and soon spotted a plump black bird perched on a treetop, locking eyes with him.
Damn, that bird is fat!
Durin's face lit up with excitement.
Meanwhile, inside Shadewhite's conference hall, the high-ranking members of Shadewhite were equally excited.
"We see him! Finally! So he is the Emperor of humanity… I never expected him to be so young! He must have mastered Shadow Magic."
The Shadewhite elites all nodded in agreement.
Even powerful Demigod Rank individuals would gradually age, as Demigods were not immortal. It was said that only those who reached God Rank could achieve eternal life, though this was merely a legend.
Just as the Shadewhite leaders prepared to observe the Emperor more closely, they suddenly saw Durin's lips curl into a faint, icy smile.
Then, he slowly raised the crossbow in his hand.
Impossible! Did he discover us?!
The hearts of the Shadewhite leaders skipped a beat. They were just about to activate the magical artifact to escape when—
A streak of black light flashed across their vision.
In an instant, everything before them disappeared without a trace.
One of the Shadewhite leaders was so terrified that he fell to the ground, his face filled with horror as he muttered to himself.
"This is impossible… This magical artifact has no aura whatsoever! How did he detect it?"
Clearly, this event had completely shattered their understanding of reality.
Another Shadewhite leader's face was also pale with terror.
"Do you remember? Just before he attacked, he smirked at us. I think he had already seen through everything and was simply lying in wait for us to walk right into his trap!"
"My god… Are Demigod Rank powerhouses really this terrifying? Why do I feel like even our Lord isn't this fearsome?"
The leader of Shadewhite suddenly let out a long, anguished howl and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
"Damn it! We overlooked one crucial thing!"
"The Emperor of humanity is the only one in this world who understands Shadow Magic—and Shadow Magic specializes in concealment!"
"So the magical artifact we thought was flawless might have been nothing more than a crude plaything in his eyes."
"Damn it! We've completely miscalculated…"
At these words, the leader of Shadewhite's forces showed a look of desolation.
"With an Emperor like him among humanity, our spies are useless. They have surely already been exposed. We need to cut our losses and recall them all immediately."
Hearing this, the Shadewhite leaders couldn't help but look grief-stricken.
They had spent so much effort infiltrating humanity's ranks, only to have the entire operation effortlessly dismantled by one Emperor.
Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.
Meanwhile
Durin's face was filled with excitement.
He looked at the plump black bird that had fallen from the treetop, feeling quite pleased with himself.
It seemed that even though he couldn't practice magic, his hunting skills had improved quite a bit.
If he ever needed to go into hiding in a remote mountain, at least he wouldn't starve.
Just as he was thinking this, a familiar system notification rang in his ears.
[Congratulations, Host! You have completed the objective: Eliminate Shadewhite's intelligence-gathering operation.]
[Congratulations, Host! You have completed the objective: Capture a Shadewhite spy.]
[Congratulations! You have received rewards: Guidance Spell, Mystic Magic Leaf.]
Huh?
What did I even do?
Durin was utterly baffled. He was just plucking the feathers off his bird for a roast when the system message popped up.
Wait, what? How did he eliminate Shadewhite's intelligence-gathering operation or capture a spy? Was this a joke?
He hadn't even seen a single Shadewhite spy!
No way… Was the fat bird in his hands actually a Shadewhite spy?
Come on, that's ridiculous!
Did the system glitch?
Durin pondered for a while and felt that a system malfunction was the most reasonable explanation.
Just as he was wondering if the system would grant him more rewards, a terrifying aura erupted from the core of the palace!
Wait… That's the power of a Stellar Rank fighter!
Damn it! Has Shadewhite actually dared to invade the human territory and start a battle right in the royal palace?!
No way—I have to go help!
Durin instinctively clenched his fists and started toward the palace's core.
But in the next second, he froze.
Wait a minute. I totally forgot—I'm just an ordinary person!
With gods clashing, mortals suffer. Why was he running over there to die?
It was much more practical to check out his system rewards instead.
Since he had completed two missions at once, he had received two rewards. But this time, there was no reward level assigned.
Guidance Spell: Allows an ordinary person to channel residual mana from magical artifacts and activate them to a certain degree. Too weak for combat use.
Mystic Magic Leaf: Requires a small amount of mana to activate, enabling the user to fly.
Reading the descriptions, Durin's eyes lit up.
Individually, these two rewards were pretty useless.
But together? They were incredibly useful!
He immediately used the Guidance Spell to extract the residual mana from the Mystic Magic Leaf. As expected, his body began to float in midair!
Amazing! Absolutely amazing!
As the Emperor, he couldn't just walk everywhere—he'd get exposed sooner or later!
But now, with the Mystic Magic Leaf, that problem was solved!