Sterling and Erick naturally noticed Richard and the others approaching — they were far too eye-catching, with so many airships flying together.

"Who are they?" Erick asked, clearly not expecting anyone to interfere.

He probably didn't understand the situation, thinking he had merely bought something from someone — unaware that his purchase had offended another.

"Don't worry. I'll handle them," Sterling replied calmly.

He glanced at the Giant Black Snake King and waved his hand toward it.

The massive serpent immediately moved toward the lake.

It could stand atop the water's surface, and its speed actually increased drastically.

"Master Alex, please!"

Richard knew that no one among those he brought could possibly defeat that snake.

"Don't worry, that thing's just a small animal. If necessary, I'll flatten all the beasts it's hiding," Master Alex said casually, stepping into the air.

With a single stride, he appeared directly before the enormous serpent's head.

The latter froze in shock, but before it could react, Master Alex's right hand — the one he had extended toward the serpent — suddenly expanded, becoming larger than the serpent's entire body.

Richard and the others were left in stunned silence at the sight.

How could the serpent possibly resist that hand?

Master Alex easily seized the creature's body.

In fact, his hand only continued to grow larger.

BANG!

In the end, his palm struck the ground beside the lake, smashing it open and flattening the beasts hidden beneath.

"So powerful..." the onlookers could only gasp.

"Master Alex truly is terrifyingly strong. No wonder the King made him his teacher."

"Of course. He's incredibly strong. He was born in the previous era, and his talent was said to be second only to the Founder of the Moonshadow Clan."

"He must have already reached the Ruler Realm. Even across the entire Land of Human, he's a genuine powerhouse!"

"..."

'Seems like bringing this old man alone would've been enough,' Richard thought, wearing a strange expression.

But he didn't expect the old man to come along in the first place.

Boom!

The Giant Black Snake King suddenly exploded in Master Alex's palm under the crushing force.

To Master Alex, even though the beast possessed a King's Bloodline, it was utterly worthless.

After all, a King's Bloodline could, at best, reach the Ruler Realm — it could never attain the Peak Ruler Realm — and this serpent was merely at Tier 50.

Both Sterling and Erick froze as if their souls had left their bodies.

The former even rubbed his eyes.

But the sight before him was undeniably real.

By now, the airships following Richard had already surrounded their vessel.

"You two, I suggest you surrender while you can!" Richard said coldly.

"Who are you, brat?" Sterling suddenly asked, being the first to speak.

Richard rolled his eyes at the question, glaring at him.

"You stole my horse and took its abilities, and now you're asking who I am? What's that supposed to mean?" he replied.

"Your horse?" Sterling looked as if he had misheard something, nearly making Richard stumble in disbelief.

"This is the Holy Star Kingdom. My master said I can take anything I want here," Sterling said.

"What?"

"Did Duke Ethan really say something like that?"

The nobles behind Richard were visibly shocked.

"He's truly domineering," one of them muttered.

"So the rumors were true — the day he returns will be the day he takes over this kingdom?"

"He must be stronger now, but how could he possibly seize control of the entire kingdom?"

"..."

Richard was somewhat surprised by their conversation.

It seemed this Ethan Holystar was a prince who held a grudge against his own kingdom — perhaps even harboring ambitions to become king himself.

"Even if your master said that, do you really think you can do whatever you want?" Richard asked.

"Of course I can... Don't think you can threaten me, brat."

"..."

While Richard was still taken aback by his words, Sterling suddenly pulled something out — just a stone the size of a man's fist.

However, it emitted an unstable light, swelling like a balloon about to burst.

It didn't look impressive despite its golden glow, but the oppressive aura it released made even the air seem to vanish.

Sweat immediately drenched everyone's bodies.

Even the water beneath them began to boil.

"This contains the power of a Grand Sovereign. If any of you try something foolish, be prepared for annihilation," Sterling declared.

The first to leap backward was none other than Erick, who had been standing beside him.

"Sterling, don't be insane!" he shouted.

"That's the power of a Grand Sovereign!" The nobles behind Richard finally understood — and their fear was nothing like that of ordinary people.

"Retreat, hurry! The explosion could wipe out half a province!"

"Where could we even run?"

"Boy, you may have to step back... I already suspected there was a reason Erick dared to let his slave wander freely and steal others' beasts," said Master Alex, appearing beside Richard.

For the first time, he didn't just look cautious — he looked frightened.

Perhaps he could survive as a Ruler, but he would definitely be severely injured. One thing was certain: he couldn't save the others.

"Sir Richard, we truly should withdraw for now. Later, we can negotiate to retrieve your horse's ability — it should be in Erick's hands. I'm sure he'll hand it over if we demand it. What's important now is that Sterling must leave first," added the royal butler.

Richard froze, staring blankly in disbelief.

He had one of those too — his trump card for life-or-death situations.

But to think someone else also possessed one.

What he found hard to believe was that the one holding it was a beast slave.

Could its master really be so generous as to give such a precious thing to a mere beast slave?

No — this could only mean that Ethan Holystar likely had more than one. Perhaps three, since sharing only two would still be too costly.

Compared to Charles, this one — the King's youngest brother — was clearly a far more dangerous enemy.

And he was the same age as Rebecca. Richard couldn't help but wonder which of the two was more dangerous.

So far, though, Rebecca's reputation was certainly higher within the Holy Star Kingdom.

But that was probably because she lived in the kingdom... while Ethan did not.

Richard thought quickly, trying to find a way to deal with this dire situation.

Retreat?

That was indeed what he should do, since he wasn't alone.

He could save himself—but not everyone else.

Transferring all of them to the Dragon Hall in such a short time was clearly impossible.

However, that didn't mean he couldn't take a gamble by relying on the Void Element—by becoming nothing at all.

If he became nothing, then everyone here would forget about him.

At that point, he could approach Sterling and steal the stone in his hand.

The only problem was, he couldn't be sure whether Sterling would detonate the stone in his confusion after forgetting what had just happened.

'No, while he's confused, I'll have enough time to steal the stone,' Richard thought.

He was quite certain about it. After all, they were facing each other. A split second would be enough for him to snatch the stone from Sterling's hand.

"Boy!" Master Alex called out, seeing that he was still silent.

But there was still no response from Richard.

Right after that, he suddenly vanished.

If he had merely disappeared, Master Alex would probably have scolded him—since that practically provoked Sterling.

However, Master Alex had forgotten everything about Richard.

Everyone forgot about him, including Sister Lisa, who was very close to him—let alone Sterling.

Sterling's memory seemed to rewind to the moment he was first surrounded, and Master Alex had just slain his serpent.

He forgot about Richard, so how could he remember their conversation?

It was perhaps more accurate to say that it hadn't happened yet.

And Sterling was confused as to why he was already holding the golden-glowing stone in his hand.

The confusion of the people who followed Richard, including Master Alex, was slightly different. They were puzzled as to why they were even at the lake in the first place.

While everyone was lost in confusion, a small hand suddenly appeared right above the golden-glowing stone in Sterling's palm.

Whoosh!

That hand snatched the stone and swiftly moved backward before the figure behind it was revealed—with a wide grin.

Unfortunately, Richard couldn't touch anything while in void form. Fortunately, he could partially revert his body to normal—so he changed his hand first, just so Sterling wouldn't be too startled.

If Sterling were too shocked and suddenly remembered him again, that would also be extremely dangerous.

BANG!

As he leaped backward, Richard landed directly on his vessel—right beside Master Alex.

Everyone remembered him again—and remembered clearly that he had vanished and reappeared.

Of course, what truly astonished them was the fact that they had just forgotten about him moments ago.

Many believed it was an unexplainable phenomenon, though some quick thinkers managed to deduce what had happened.

Unfortunately, the Void Element was no secret. It had existed before—and two people had even reached the realm of Grand Sovereign by relying on it, though their strength wasn't particularly great.

Richard, however, possessed tremendous power and the Void Element.

Even if the future remained uncertain, one thing was clear—killing him would be extremely difficult.

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