Chapter 414: Opportunity

"Hello, Mr. Miller!"

"!!!" A middle-aged man turned around in panic. He found Arnie appearing behind him. "W-Who are you?!"

"After monitoring me all this time, you should know me, Mr. Miller."

"I-I don’t know you!" He denied it with a solemn expression.

"I’m just letting you know that you are going to die soon."

"You can’t do this to me! Do you know who I am? With one phone call, I can make you lose your job."

"That’s great. I can also get a pizza with one phone call." Arnie smiled. "Unfortunately, no matter who you are going to call today, no one will dare to help you."

"We’ll see." He reached out for his phone to call someone.

Arnie continued, "Various bribes from multiple criminals, including the Red Stallion Gang and the Born to Kill. You are using their money to fund the organization, I mean the Apocalypse. That’s just a few of your crimes. I’m just saying that I have enough evidence to put you behind bars for a few lifetimes."

"You—" He was stupefied. "What do—"

Before he finished, Arnie grabbed his neck and said, "I only want your life. You piece of shit don’t even deserve to live. You should be grateful that you only need to suffer for a few seconds."

"Aaaahhhhh!" He struggled, trying to break free from Arnie. However, his hands were melting as soon as they touched Arnie’s wrist, causing him to scream even harder.

While he was screaming in pain, Arnie heard his phone ring. He accepted the call. "Arnie speaking."

"Hey, Arnie. I’m just telling you this, but make sure you tone down for today, okay?"

"No worries, no worries. You are worrying too much, Bernard."

"That’s beca—*Clack!*"

Arnie had hung up and spoke to the dying person in front of him. "You guys are so lucky that I can’t wipe out every single one of you. I’m only authorized to kill 80% of you, while they put the rest on trial. Isn’t it good? I kill all the high-ranking members, except for one who can be branded as the leader along with some low-ranking members that might create a buzz but not enough to threaten national security. Ah, don’t worry. Those 20% will definitely get the death sentence. I will make sure of it."

The man couldn’t reply as his neck had already melted completely, separating his head from his body.

Arnie snorted as he melted the rest. "I’ll be killing all of you soon."

The crackdown was divided into two parts. The police would arrest a few targets and put them on trial, but the rest would have died in the arrest because of the adjudicators.

...

While Arnie was wiping out anyone related to the organization, Ellia had returned to Thunderer City and headed back to Grand Magica College right after.

The academy had thrown a celebration for them.

"Welcome back!"

"Good job out there!"

"Ellia!"

"My prince, Auric!"

The students were cheering. Auric managed to become the MVP despite coming from their city. People expected that someone from the capital city would be the one to win.

It turned out that wasn’t true. Auric completely dominated the entire event.

The principal couldn’t contain his smile. The mayor was also celebrating.

They knew that Auric would become a powerhouse in the future.

Thanks to their achievements, Grand Magica College would become even more famous. More and more students from outside the cities would be coming to join them.

Auric was following what the principal wanted as long as it wasn’t too much trouble for him during the celebration. He just made sure that the celebration was handled properly.

He received a commendation and other rewards. In a way, he didn’t really need any classes because he was already Rank 3. If he continued at this pace, he might end up breaking the record by becoming the first student in human history to reach Rank 5 before graduation.

If they forced him to take classes, he might end up wasting too much time. However, Auric still intended to open his store.

After he settled everything with the principal, he finally exited the school again.

"You okay?" Stella asked, glancing to the side.

"Yeah, I’m fine."

"Where are we going then?"

"Actually, I want you to accompany me somewhere. It’s not in this city."

"Are you perhaps going to visit that place?" Stella, as the one who remained by his side during the battle, couldn’t help but overhear his conversation with his mother. So, she knew about his mother’s real grave.

"Yeah. She has been waiting for me for seventeen years. Since I think I’m done with everything that matters here, it’s time to pay her a visit." Auric nodded.

"Sure thing. I’ll make preparations. We go tomorrow?"

"Yep."

...

While Auric was preparing for his trip, Katarina finally executed the plan he had told him about.

In a certain mansion in the capital city, two middle-aged men were clutching their heads.

"How is Delila?" The younger twin, Ileff, asked.

"She is depressed. We have been doing our best, but we simply can’t find another source. The best we can do is to commission Auric Elfe personally, but I don’t think it’s possible. He’s not the type of person who will take commissions like that. Besides, do you think the others will let us do that?" The older twin, Kleff, shook his head helplessly.

"I see. Can we really do anything about this? We are doing our best, but all we want is for your son to reach Rank 4 or Rank 5. That’s the biggest goal so that he doesn’t feel too left out."

"I know, but there’s no way of acquiring another Rank 3 artifact. I have been searching the market, but there’s no chatter about unique element artifacts."

"This is going to be troublesome." Ileff crossed his arms, wondering if there were still other options.

"I have talked to Refftin, but he’s starting to give up. I don’t know. He’s just..." Kleff let out a long sigh.

"I understand, Bro. We are going through this together. I’m not going to rest until we find a solution for your son because I know you’re going to do the same for me. We’re brothers."

Kleff nodded. "Yeah. We need to keep looking. Hopefully, it doesn’t take too long, or Refftin will be in trouble. Or should we just risk it and find the perfect material for him?"

"I don’t know. Even if you can do that, 70% of the time, it won’t result in what you want. Even when we search for our own materials, we still find problematic materials from time to time." Ileff shook his head.

"I don’t know what I should do anymore." Kleff sighed. "If we wait too long, he might fall into despair."

"I know. We can only be hopeful right now. You should go back to your family first. Go home. Hug your wife and son."

Kleff was also stressed by seeing his family like this, but it looked like he had no choice but to go home.

When he stood up from the couch, a woman entered the living room.

"Oh, you two are still here?"

"Hey, babe? What’s going on?" Ileff asked.

"Lila." Kleff nodded politely.

Lila pointed toward the entrance. "She said you’re expecting her."

Katarina entered the living room with a smile.

The two brothers were startled. They had never expected Katarina. While it was true that Katarina had become famous after her achievements in the training program, they’d never thought she would be bold enough to enter this mansion by lying.

"Hello, gentlemen." Katarina politely greeted them.

They looked at each other. While it was true that they didn’t expect to see Katarina, there was no way someone like Katarina would take a risk without a reason. She must be after something.

While they were skeptical, they probably needed to hear her out. After all, her family was the one having the most extensive information network in the capital city, aside from the government.

"Hey, babe. How about you get us something to drink?" Ileff asked.

"Sure. The usual?"

"Yeah." Ileff nodded.

"What do you want to drink, sweetheart? I’ve got plenty of options."

"I’d like hot water, if you don’t mind. My stomach can’t exactly stomach something strong at a time like this."

"Oh, I got you, sweetheart." Lila nodded and walked to the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, Ileff’s expression turned grim. "So, what do you want from us, Katarina Vasilyevna? You are not the type of person to barge into someone’s home without any preparation. If you think that your achievements in the training program are enough to threaten us, then you’re wrong."

Kleff crossed his arms, giving Katarina a cold glare.

Katarina placed her hand on her chest before politely bowing. "I’m honored that the famous Kefflin Brothers know me."

"Cut the crap." Kleff snorted. He wasn’t exactly in the mood to handle unnecessary talk. Ileff waved his hand downward, gesturing for his brother to calm down.

Ileff continued, "We’re not in the mood for pleasantries. So cut to the chase. If it’s something unimportant, just know that we will remember it."

"Very well." Katarina raised a finger. "I can grant your wish."

"Grant—what?" Ileff squinted.

"I know your son, Refftin, is in trouble because you can’t acquire an artifact for him, Mr. Kleff."

"You are the one buying the artifacts? So, you want us to feel indebted to you?" Kleff gritted his teeth.

Katarina shook her head gently. "Of course not. I don’t have any unique element artifacts. However, I can give you something better."

"Something better, is that right, huh?" Ileff snorted.

Katarina smiled. "I have a way to let your son reach Rank 6."

"!!!"