Stuart wouldn’t bet with Elo, so this powerful fourth-rank wizard emperor boredly shifted his gaze away.

In his eyes, why Saul came, whether he could leave after coming—none of this mattered.

He just needed to fulfill his duties as Black Flame Emperor.

Currently, Nephret Continent had only two empires: Evernight and Black Flame.

Unlike the puppet-like Evernight royal family, Black Flame’s emperor was one of the only two fourth-rank wizards in Nephret. He had become Black Flame’s emperor since entering third-rank, and it had been over a hundred years to this day.

Although this wizard emperor usually didn’t manage much, his control over the entire empire was absolutely sufficient.

With wizard methods, it was too easy to figure out what subordinates were thinking!

The entire Black Flame Empire was located in the northwest corner of Nephret Continent. Its territory was smaller than Evernight’s, and its coastline wouldn’t face direct black tide impacts. Therefore, in anti-black tide operations, Black Flame Empire mainly handled logistics and elite support.

Additionally, since Black Flame Emperor Elo himself was considered an honorary elder of the Tribunal, he would personally attend black tide conferences and join forces with Frim at critical moments to fight against black tides threatening the entire continent.

While everyone was enthusiastically forming teams, a strong light suddenly descended from the sky.

At the same time, all torches arranged throughout the conference hall automatically ignited, with warm yellow flames burning steadily.

The entire conference hall immediately quieted down, with everyone watching the strong light in the center of the venue.

Saul was no exception. He watched that bright yet non-glaring pillar of light.

For the first time, light had the ability to transform, gradually changing from a pillar into a sphere.

Within the sphere, a dark shadow was faintly visible—not human-shaped, with a twisted form more like lightning.

When the entire light pillar completely transformed into a sphere, Saul heard a familiar voice.

“This black tide is quite formidable, likely the strongest in thirty years. From now on, all Tribunal operations are suspended. All adjudicators abroad must return within one month. Everyone stops private research activities to prepare for the black tide in three months.”

Wizards sitting in the outer areas let out small gasps of surprise. Even Alfonso beside Saul furrowed his brow again.

His two eyebrows nearly met.

After arriving here, Frim only announced this one matter, then transformed back into a light pillar and disappeared.

Saul’s position allowed him to immediately notice that the Black Flame Emperor diagonally across also disappeared at the same time.

“Two fourth-rank wizards… it seems there are other matters to discuss privately.”

Unlike Saul’s calm reaction, other wizards present were clearly shocked by what Frim had just announced.

Even Alfonso and Royer, who had been sitting beside Saul, were no longer as composed as before. They stood up to find someone to discuss matters with.

It seemed only Saul in the entire venue had nothing to do.

However, Saul soon discovered that Stuart across from him was also sitting alone in the first row like himself, with no one beside him.

Thinking of the mark Wizard Stuart had placed on him, Saul decided to test whether the other party could detect that he had already found the mark.

“Hello, Wizard Stuart.”

To avoid appearing abrupt, Saul leisurely strolled over and greeted him.

Small and small-eyed Stuart had already noticed when Saul approached that his route’s target was himself. But he remained silent, waiting until Saul greeted him before looking up.

“Wizard Saul.” Stuart appeared not very good at conversation. “Is there something you need?”

“Since neither of us has anything to do here, and Alfonso mentioned you’re skilled in plant-type magic, I wanted to discuss Red Sea Tree and Black Sea Tree issues with you.”

This topic was something Saul randomly chose.

But Stuart was unexpectedly interested.

“You’re researching Red Sea Trees?” Stuart’s small eyes immediately lit up.

“Yes, although that’s not my main responsibility here, I’m actually quite interested in them. Especially their relationship with Black Sea Trees and the special characteristics of their inability to coexist…”

Two third-rank wizards actually enthusiastically discussed Red Sea Tree issues in the chaotic conference hall.

Tribunal wizards were generally wary of Black Sea Trees because wherever Black Sea Trees existed, Red Sea Trees would wither.

But Stuart had no such concerns. When discussing Black Sea Trees, he was practically drooling with excitement.

He regretted not secretly hiding one when the Tribunal cleared Black Sea Trees. Now he could only analyze their characteristics through recorded materials in books.

Saul had originally just wanted to find a random topic to approach Stuart and test him, but unexpectedly they became more and more compatible in conversation.

Just as they were deep in discussion and agreeing to visit Saul’s laboratory later, the ground suddenly began violently trembling.

The solid conference hall initially wasn’t damaged by the earthquake.

But then, two powerful pressures descended from the sky!

Cracks immediately appeared throughout the hall’s walls and floor.

“Thump!”

“Thump!”

“Thump!”

Most wizards present were directly pressed to the ground by the powerful pressure.

Except for third-rank wizards, everyone else was in dire straits.

Even Saul felt suffocated. Though he wanted to breathe, his internal organs weren’t quite obedient. His entire body ached faintly, as if he’d suffered internal injuries.

Conversely, Stuart’s formal wear burst into black flames that seemed to help him resist the powerful pressure. His complexion didn’t change much.

Fortunately, the two powerful pressures quickly disappeared. Saul’s magic power boiled within his body, rapidly repairing damage to his organs and muscles.

But other second-rank and first-rank wizards weren’t as relaxed as Saul.

Several people’s faces were pale as death, as if they would faint the next second.

The entire conference hall had also become dilapidated, with fallen wall pieces and damaged chair debris everywhere.

“What happened?” Saul looked up, muttering to himself. “Did the two fourth-rank wizards start fighting?”

Although Stuart wasn’t affected, his expression wasn’t good.

He didn’t immediately answer Saul but waited a moment. After discovering no subsequent mental pressure descended, he said in a low voice, “They might have had a disagreement.”

“This level of power is just from a disagreement?” Saul sighed. “Then fortunately it was only a disagreement.”

Although Saul had seen the battle between fourth-rank wizard Ophelia and blood-depleted fifth-rank Floco, he had only watched from afar and hadn’t been affected by their combat aftermath.

This time, he truly felt the terror of fourth-rank wizards.

“The higher you go, the more you discover that the gap between each wizard rank is really large, and it keeps getting larger!”

The terrifying pressure of fourth-rank wizards didn’t make Saul feel afraid. On the contrary, it further sparked his desire for advancement.

“My redesigned Symphony of Fate can theoretically continue advancing to sixth-rank. But even just using Symphony of Fate to advance to fourth-rank, my strength should be very close to fifth-rank…”

“At that time… would I be able to crush these two terrifying fourth-ranks?”

(End of Chapter)

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