Roland was naturally dominating the fight. Luke could only defend, and it had to be admitted that he was holding on quite well.

Even though they were in the middle of the city, no one stopped their fight.

"Brat, hand it over!" Roland shouted.

"If you can, take it yourself. If you're too late, you can only dream. Our reinforcements will arrive soon," Luke replied.

"Damn it!" Roland was furious, punching toward Luke, and his fist transformed into a massive lightning fist that roared endlessly.

However, Luke's shield was actually able to absorb the lightning, dispersing its destructive power.

"Is this all you've got? You can't defeat me with just this… Hahaha…" Luke burst into laughter.

"What are they fighting over?" Richard wondered.

Grace naturally didn't know since she had been with him since yesterday.

However, someone at the table next to them suddenly answered, "They're fighting over the key to the Aether Chamber of the Boundless Temple. There are even 100,000 Tier 3 Aether inside, specifically for outsiders who obtain the key."

"Why didn't I hear about this?" Richard rolled his eyes after hearing the explanation.

He immediately stood up, walked out of the restaurant, and then flew into the sky, chasing after the two men who were fighting.

Grace followed behind him.

The two weren't far. Richard only needed a moment to catch up, and their battle was still at a deadlock, where Roland couldn't break through Luke's shield no matter how much lightning he released.

Richard had to admit that the shield was truly troublesome.

It was strong yet could also absorb attacks.

"Mm…"

He was surprised when he suddenly noticed a bronze key hanging from Luke's waist.

He actually didn't store it inside a Storage Artifact. Unless, of course, it was the kind of item that couldn't be stored because perhaps the temple required people to fight for it.

Richard smiled after his brief surprise.

If it couldn't be stored, then it was much easier for him to steal it.

Whoosh!

He left behind a Teleport Disk before vanishing into the void, moving rapidly toward Luke until he arrived at his side, his hand reaching directly for the bronze key.

Then, in the next moment, he appeared while pulling the key, which felt very light in his hand.

Before Luke and Roland could even react, he vanished again—this time teleporting to appear beside Grace.

The latter was even holding the Teleport Disk he had left behind.

Roland and Luke needed a moment before reacting.

Meanwhile, Richard had already pulled Grace toward the Boundless Temple, which wasn't far away.

"Chase them!" Roland and Luke shouted simultaneously.

Apparently, their teammates were also fighting elsewhere.

But hearing the orders from the two, they understood that the key had been taken by a different party.

They quickly realized the culprit was Richard.

Naturally, Roland and Luke also gave chase.

The latter was slower, but Roland, enveloped in lightning, was unbelievably fast.

He was even three times faster than Richard.

The raging lightning around him released overwhelming pressure, making the air seem to thicken.

ROAR!

Roland then sent forth a gigantic roaring lightning fist.

The buildings below were flattened simply because the massive lightning fist passed above them.

"Leave it to me!" Grace suddenly said, turning around while extending her hand toward the lightning fist.

Suddenly her red domain appeared, but only as a means to trap the lightning fist.

The domain's power pressed down on the lightning fist, preventing it from advancing.

Roland was stunned at the sight.

Meanwhile, Grace continued following Richard.

"So your domain can be used like that," Richard said.

"You two think you can run…"

At the same time, Luke shouted.

Richard then saw him spew out red light from his mouth, turning into something resembling a massive tidal wave. No— it was a tsunami.

But it wasn't fire, and it wasn't water either. And it didn't cause any destruction at all.

Even so, Richard's instincts told him it was dangerous.

Just as he was about to act, Grace suddenly released her domain fully.

Her domain expanded immensely, covering the area as far as the eye could see, including part of the Boundless Temple.

Most people were swallowed by the domain, and it revealed its strength by suppressing the red tsunami unleashed by Luke.

Although it didn't erase the red tsunami, it slowed it down enough that it couldn't pursue them.

And Roland, who wanted to continue chasing them, was drastically slowed.

Now, continuing the chase was pointless.

They had already arrived in front of one of the temple's doors.

Entering the temple, Richard—who had been wondering where the Aether Chamber was—realized he could sense its location through the bronze key.

"Grace, follow me!" Richard immediately sprinted, rushing through hallway after hallway until he reached a large copper door.

He saw a small keyhole in the massive door and inserted the key right away.

Rumble!

The door shook violently before opening on its own, revealing a vast chamber with white, light blue, and purple lights drifting like auroras.

Richard's eyes gleamed at the sight. They were large clusters of Aether gathered in massive amounts.

Richard immediately entered, pulling Grace with him.

Even without trying to absorb Aether, he noticed some Aether entering his body on its own.

Richard couldn't begin right away. He first closed the door and locked it from the inside.

"Grace, let's split the Tier 3 Aether here in half," Richard said.

There were a hundred thousand, but Richard knew he couldn't absorb everything recklessly—so absorbing just 50,000 Aether first was safer.

Grace nodded softly. She didn't object and said, "This might take a few hours for us…"

She walked to a corner and sat down.

To avoid interfering with each other's absorption, keeping a distance was indeed better.

Richard sat in another corner, closed his eyes, and began absorbing the Aether around him.

He could absorb it even faster, especially with the Aether already gathering around him.

They flowed into his body as though he were a water channel.

Richard naturally felt his strength increasing little by little.

He quickly lost track of time, as though falling asleep.

It continued until he stopped sensing Tier 3 Aether, prompting him to open his eyes and realize that none remained.

He also felt extremely full, as though he had just eaten an enormous meal and wouldn't be able to eat again anytime soon.

In fact, it might not be just "anytime soon."

That full feeling could last quite a while unless he improved his body further.

His eyes then glanced at his stats.

[Aether: 50,250/200,000 <Tier 3>] +50,000

[Aether Accumulation: 135,250 <Tier 3>]

"Exactly 50K," he muttered, surprised that it was so precise—not a single bit more or less.

But he couldn't hide his shock. It was only 50K, yet he already felt full.

Even with his solid foundation, it wasn't easy to keep stuffing more Aether into his body.

Reaching the Lord Realm clearly wasn't simple, even for him.

He looked at Grace, who had also just finished.

This slightly surprised Richard because she truly matched his speed in absorbing Aether.

After standing up, Grace approached him.

"There are at least 1 million Tier 1 Aether and 500 thousand Tier 2 Aether here. What do you plan to do with them?" she asked.

Richard was honestly unsure. They couldn't be taken out, yet they were useless to him.

Perhaps he could use them for business, but he was honestly too lazy to handle that.

After all, how much could he gain from Magi who only possessed Tier 1 or Tier 2 Aether?

For Tier 1 Aether, it was even extremely rare to find someone who could reach the Grimoire Realm.

Richard didn't answer and shook his head.

He gestured for Grace to follow him to the door.

When he opened the door, he saw a crowd already lined up outside—including Roland and Luke.

They were all trying to peek inside, only to be filled with frustration.

There was no more purple light. This meant there was no more Tier 3 Aether.

"Everyone, anyone who wants to absorb Aether may enter. However, only Tier 1 and Tier 2 Aether remain." Richard announced.

That was his decision: to share the remaining Aether with the people.

"Really?" Someone immediately responded.

However, power inspired fear. Even though Richard allowed anyone to enter, no one dared rush in recklessly.

Richard couldn't be bothered to explain further.

He simply walked to the side and waved his hand.

Whoosh!

Several people no longer hesitated and leaped into the chamber.

"Boss!"

"Young Master!"

Roland's and Luke's subordinates who possessed Tier 2 Aether were tempted as well. But they hesitated, afraid they would anger their bosses.

Both Roland and Luke were now glaring daggers at Richard.

Richard, on the other hand, behaved as though he didn't see them at all.

Even if they were angry, what they wanted was already impossible to obtain.

Unless they wanted to take out their anger on him.

That depended entirely on whether they dared.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.