At the city gates of Twilight City,

Julian was being subjected to a brutal execution. Large iron nails were driven through his limbs, head, mouth, and chest, pinning him firmly to the city wall.

The number of onlookers continued to grow, many of them recognizing this prodigy from House Silverlight.

After all, House Silverlight was a renowned alchemy family with immense influence, and its potions were coveted even by imperial nobles.

Yet such a genius from such a prestigious family was openly executed.

To openly defy House Silverlight's authority with such boldness could only be accomplished by a power that controlled a 200,000-strong High God army.

"This is tragic!"

"Tragic? I think it's a great relief!"

"Exactly, he caused so many families to be destroyed. This is the least he deserves for his past deeds!"

Many in the crowd watched with satisfaction.

"Hahaha… Good riddance, no one can save him now."

Those who knew of Julian's notorious reputation snickered under their breath.

"One mistake, and it's the end of your life," someone else sighed.

The entire city's taverns and marketplaces were abuzz with talk.

The four contract deities had taken control of the lord's mansion, seizing all the wealth and resources of the Eborwen family and the lord's estate.

Among these were numerous divine and high-level potions, holy essences, Divine Springs, rare magical metals, and world-class treasures.

Twilight City's lord's mansion was incredibly prosperous!

After all, it had to support the 700,000-strong Twilight Legion.

Moreover, Twilight City was strategically located, with prosperous trade and a wealth of resources accumulated over many years.

Tusen, having killed the previous lord with the Doomspear, had rapidly risen from near-God General to God General, and then to near-True God.

The massive resources that supported this rapid rise were at the core of his success.

He had originally prepared resources to exchange for divine treasures like Dragon Orchid in order to reach True God rank.

If successful, combined with the Doomspear, he would have cemented his control over Twilight City.

But no one had expected that all of this would be seized midway by the Court of Darkness.

Now, Twilight City itself had become their possession, with resources quickly being sorted and dispatched, some even secretly sent back to Crossbridge Empire.

With the situation in Twilight City now stabilized,

Natasha entered the Court of Darkness's rear chambers.

A man, wearing a gray hood, was being closely guarded and restrained by a powerful force.

He had been attempting to recover in secret.

"How is the recovery coming along?" Natasha's voice echoed.

The man shuddered, feeling an intense fear of Natasha.

Although this woman was not very powerful herself, the power she controlled behind her was terrifying, something he had personally experienced.

"What's your name?" Natasha asked.

"Zach," the man replied.

"Where is the sacred ruin you spoke of?"

"How did you find it?"

"How much do you know about the ruin? And what about the Void Codex?"

Natasha bombarded him with questions, then warned,

"By the way, I'm much better at bargaining than you."

"So don't waste your time trying to play games here. If you tell the truth, you might live."

Zach was indeed calculating, but now trapped, he could only confess the truth.

After all, they weren't fools.

If they were going to explore the ruin, they would likely take him along.

Lying would get him nowhere good.

"The ruin is located to the north of the Demonfeather block, in the Snail Sea!"

"I learned of it from a young adventurer. He mentioned the general location of the ruin, so I went there with a mindset of testing my luck and eventually found the entrance."

"The interior of the ruin is vast, like an independently created dimensional world."

"Once inside, I found the Void Codex among a pile of massive, unknown bones, but I inadvertently disturbed a guardian beast that was at least at God General rank."

"I had to escape."

Natasha listened quietly.

How did this young man know such information?

Was there someone else who knew about it?

She detected some inconsistencies in Zach's account.

"The person who told you about this, what was their identity? And how did you know that the ruin contained countless divine treasures?"

Natasha pressed further.

Zach's expression grew a bit strange.

"I was worried the young adventurer might leak the information, so I didn't ask too many questions about his identity."

"However, there were indeed a lot of divine treasures in the ruin. While exploring, I accidentally stumbled into an area where I saw some ancient images recorded in the Moonlit Mirror."

"The images showed grand halls and a garden with glowing plants, and it was deep inside the ruin."

"What is the Moonlit Mirror?" Natasha asked, her curiosity piqued.

"The Moonlit Mirror is a special magical artifact that records past scenes by absorbing the light of the Abyss Demon Realm's twin moons. It creates illusory images, like mirages, that are preserved in the mirror," Zach explained.

"Since it recorded these images, they must exist, and I was only on the outskirts of the ruin, never entering the core area."

Natasha's mind stirred.

It seemed that Aetherian Sanctuary might indeed be located within that ruin.

But what exactly did Aetherian Sanctuary look like?

Was it truly a palace floating in the sky?

Even she couldn't help but feel a sense of curiosity and anticipation.

From Zach's words, Natasha further learned about the ruin's details.

The exact location of the entrance, however, was something Zach withheld.

But that was understandable—he was leaving a card up his sleeve to save his own life.

Later, she could simply bring him along.

With the divine herb garden, grand halls, and possibly Aetherian Sanctuary hidden deep within, it made sense.

The golden authority seal was the key to unlocking it!

Once Twilight City was fully stabilized, she would head to the northern part of Demonfeather.

At the same time, she could establish a branch of the Court of Darkness there to gather more intelligence about the Abyss Demon Realm.

As for the ruin…

"Would sending the Elemental Legion to explore the treasure have unexpected results?"

Natasha's beautiful eyes glimmered slightly.

Apart from infiltration, assassination, and intelligence gathering, the Elemental Assassins' ability to merge into the light and shadow void was extremely unique.

For the unknown threats in the ruin, they might actually be the perfect tool—definitely the best candidates for exploring such secret realms!

Since Aurek had entrusted the army to her, she could deploy them as she saw fit!

"The Divine Dawn Day is approaching, and I'll use the Aetherian Sanctuary as a gift," Natasha mused.

She knew that a grand event was coming to Eura continent.

An unprecedented achievement was about to be completed by the king!

At that moment, he would ascend to the Peak of the Firmament, sit atop the world's authority, and wear the divine crown forged from the laws…

It would be a dazzling and glorious moment!

Natasha walked out of the side chamber.

Raul quickly approached and reported,

"We've just received word that the Dawonru Empire is preparing for a full-scale war against the empire. The plan has been submitted to the military office, and forces are being gathered. We need to notify the empire immediately."

At the mention of this, Natasha's eyes immediately sharpened.

A full-scale war was about to begin!

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