"Call out those guys from the Arbitration Office!" Leander waved his palm casually, his tone calm.Celia's expression shifted dramatically. "The Arbitration Office is here too?"She tried to sense the energy around her, but everything was eerily still. Not a breeze, not a rustle. It felt off. Then suddenly, a whirlwind tore through the sky, making her pupils shrink in shock.A thick cloud swept across, swallowing the spire at the very top of Yelem Church. Everyone craned their necks, and through the swirling mist, they could just barely make out seven figures, hazy and flickering in the fog."More people?" Zara and Liana stared at the clouds, eyes sharp and cold. As members of the Southern Wyvern Blade, they knew a thing or two about the world's hidden truths. The Arbitration Office was no stranger to them either they had heard countless rumors. Seeing seven figures emerge in the sky, they immediately pieced it together: these people were here for Leander.Celia's lips twitched. She could feel it deep in her bones-each of the seven hidden in the clouds carried an immense, almost terrifying power. Even as an Infernal Crown Transcendent, she couldn't hope to match them. She was stunned to realize that any one of them could rival the Hermit."Jeff, finally, we meet!" A voice carried through the mist. A gust of wind swept past, pulling the fog aside and revealing the seven in full.Each of them wore different clothing, their appearances varied, but the nobles and elites below immediately recognized the threat. Each one of these people had the power to level a city.The one speaking was clearly the leader this time, Deo. He fixed his gaze on Leander, a faintly amused smile tugging at his lips. "From the way you talk, it sounds like you already knew we were in Yelem."Leander's lips curved into a faint smile. His eyes swept over the seven, calm and indifferent. "The Arbitration Office always carries a certain stench of decay. Even from miles away, I can sense it. You seven, Half-Kings all, have arrived in Yelem. How could I not know?"He pointed at the Hermit, expression unmoved. "The Hermit wanted to lure me to Yelem Church for a fight. That wasn't entirely his idea, was it? You all had a hand in it."The seven Half-Kings from the Arbitration Office froze slightly at his words. Even the Hermit felt a pang of surprise and couldn't help asking, "If you knew I deliberately brought you here, and you knew they were seven, why did you still come?"Leander spread his hands casually, unconcerned. "If I didn't come, how else would I make you all show up?"He grinned, a shadow of mischief in his smile. "If you hadn't appeared, I'd have had to hunt each of you down one by one. Too much work. Now that you're all gathered here, dealing with you is far easier."At his words, the eight in front of him all changed expression slightly."Jeff, you've got some nerve!" Deo's eyes glinted coldly, anger simmering beneath the surface. "Knowing we're all gathered here and still daring to show up, I have to admire your courage. But to claim you could take all of us on by yourself-do you think we're as dumb as those fools from Greed?"He stepped forward, Primordial Energy erupting from his body, shaking the black clouds above them violently. "The fifteen Chief Arbitrators you killed before? They were the low-ranked ones among our twenty-four. The highest-ranking Master of the Fable Court barely ranked tenth. You think killing those scraps made you invincible against the Arbitration Office? Jeff, today, your arrogance will cost you!"As he spoke, Gragas, Moffat, and Watz stepped forward in unison, an oppressive, deadly aura sweeping across the land.Everyone below could feel the overwhelming pressure pressing down from the night sky. Even birds flew lower, screaming as they fled from Yelem Church. The airspace above had effectively become a no-fly zone."Is that so?" Leander chuckled softly, shaking his head, giving off the air of someone completely unfazed.The Hermit wiped blood from the corner of his mouth andstraightened. "Jeff, you really are the strongest genius I've everencountered in over a hundroval neyears. Even the Dragon Emperor doesn't compare. Today, one-on-one fight, I've lost to you. But I'm an assassin. An assassin's duty is to hunt the target at all costs. You're my enemy, the Arbitration Office is your enemy, and an enemy's enemy is a friend. Today, I'll team up with those seven to killyou!" As soon as the Hermit finished speaking, Deo suddenly raised his hand andsmashed a vial of pale blue liquid over the Hermit's body.The Hermit drew a deep breath. The pale blue liquid twisted into spirals, sucked into his body, and in an instant, his aura swelled, his gaunt face flushing with color. The icy chill around him thickened, coiling like a living thing.Watching this, Leander shook his head slowly. Honestly, before I got to Yelem, held a bit of respect for you, King of Assassins. I thought you were some unparalleled force in the Assassin's World. But now? You're just a disappointment. Turns out the so-called King of Assassins is nothing more than a pawn of the Arbitration Office." His eyes darkened, sharp as blades. He swept his fingers across the eight figures before him, faint sparks flickering at his fingertips. "Today, every single one of you dies here. Yelem Church will be your grave."Before anyone could react, he struck first, throwing a punch that stretched across the distance like a raging dragon bursting into the sea. A thunderous roar shook the sky and ground and below, all they could see was a golden dragon apparition streaking through the air slicing through the void. "Humph!" Gragas, the craziest of the bunch, hugged a massive wooden barrel like it was a toy and lunged forward. He sucked the wine inside the barrel into his mouth and sprayed it out violently.The dark purple wine transformed into a towering curtain of water, solidifying into a wall meant to block Leander's punch."Roar!" The golden dragon apparition barreled forward, smashing into the water wall. The surface rippled briefly before a concave hole was punched through. The dragon didn't slow down and cut straight through the middle."What?" Gragas' eyes went wide. He threw a punch instinctively, colliding head-on with the apparition.Boom!Gragas had already poured eighty percent of his Primordial Energy into the strike, but when it connected, he felt an overwhelming force slam into him like a tidal wave. He was thrown backward dozens of yards."That power... insane!" He struggled to stop, heart pounding in sheer shock. Leander's punch hadn't just shattered Gragas' water wall. It had launched him into the air. His arm throbbed, nearly numb from the backlash.After that single hit, Gragas wasn't taking chances anymore. He spun to the others. "This guy is way too strong. Don't underestimate him. Hit together. Don't let him pick us off one by one. Today, we're going to make him pay."Before he could finish, the other six-everyone except the Demon Hunter, Neil— attacked.noveldramaSix streams of Primordial Energy shot skyward like the collapse of a mountain, crashing down toward Leander.The most heart-pounding opening act in Yelem tonight had officially begun.