The Territory of the Dark City was known as the Dark Kingdom, and there were over 300 islands in the Dark Kingdom. These islands were known as the Dark Fiefs, which were given to high-ranking dark nobles to manage.
The heart of the Dark Kingdom was known as the Dark Palace Continent, which was also the home of the ruler of the Dark Kingdom, Dark Duke Tomas, and his race, the Spirit Tree Race!
At this moment, within the majestic Dark Palace was the dark throne hall; there were many golden pillars on both sides of this place, and between these pillars were vivid black statues of many races and strange beings.
In the top center of this magnificent hall was an empty dark throne on a jade pillar; three meters below this dark throne was another small throne.
On this small throne was sitting a black-robed, wizened old man with a burly body; his long green hair and long beard were still silky as a youth while his cold emerald eyes were filled with the vicissitude of life. Furthermore, an emerald crown was seemingly made with tree branches and filled with light green runes wrapped around his head. This was none other than the Dark City Administrator of the Unique Plains Dark City, the Dark Duke Tomas!
Below Tomas's throne was standing a charming woman in a white dress that greatly complemented her white skin; her long green hair was tied in a high knot with a beautiful silver hairpin, and she had an aura of nature around her.
However, her emerald eyes were filled with complicated emotion as she bowed to Tomas and said, "Zoe greets His Highness, Dark Duke!"
Indeed, this woman was none other than Zoe, who had arrived in the Dark Kingdom for over a month, but she didn't receive any warm welcome from her uncle in the Dark City of Unique Plains nor her clan in the Dark Kingdom.
Even her father and mother treated her coldly and scolded her for returning by abandoning her post in the epic plains' dark city.
Then there was her Grandfather, who was silent and merely gave her a Dark Fief of Dark Marquis level to handle, and that was it. However, this was just the start of her problems since her fief suddenly became the target of her own family and the other two clans.
If not because she had Jacob as her mental spot, she would've already fallen into despair.
But today, the Dark Duke suddenly summoned her into the Dark Palace, which was too surprising for her since she knew only truly top members of the Dark City were allowed an audience with Tomas.
Even as Tomas's granddaughter, she had only met him three times in her entire life and had talked with him to give him the report of the epic plains. Today was her fourth time, and she couldn't help but think that her Grandfather had become old after the last time she had seen him.
She was a little emotional as well, as she had never expected that she would go against him and come back to the Unique Plains. She didn't think she was capable of this until recently when she met that daring giant.
Tomas impassively said, "You're not going to call me grandfather anymore?"
"I won't dare without the High Highness's permission," Zoe replied respectfully.
"It seemed you have gained valuable experience in the epic plains. But it was still too soon for you to come back, yet you went with it anyway against my wishes. You know, I can demote you for this insubordination." Tomas stated with a cold tone.
Zoe paled a little as she knew Tomas had such authority as long as he had proof. Although he can't strip her of her membership, he can demote her if he has a valid reason.
"I will accept it if His Highness deems it sufficient," Zoe replied with gritted teeth.
Tomas's eyes flashed with a peculiar glint, "You've changed. Alright, I won't be petty to strip off something you worked hard to earn after all this time. You should know that to gain any rank above the Dark Marquis, Dark Merits became mandatory!
"Each Dark Mission completed after becoming Dark Marquis will result in Dark Merits or if you can contribute to the Dark City. The higher the Dark Mission or contribution, the higher the Dark Merits will be rewarded.
"To become a Dark Duke, you have to earn 10,000 Dark Merits, and I've seen you have already earned 1,783 Dark Merits despite staying in the Epic Plains all these years.
"It's an impressive achievement, even I acknowledge it. But…" Tomas's tone suddenly turned icy cold as a terrifying aura suddenly locked on Zoe; she was in a daze when she heard her Grandfather praising her, but it was calm before the storm.
"But do you think this gives you the right to lie to me and hide information? Now, I give you one last chance to amend for your transgression, tell me the truth about Faceless Ancient!" Tomas ordered as his eyes glowed in emerald light, and a vague outline of a tree appeared behind him, which gave off an ancient air.
Zoe felt like her life was no longer hers anymore, and with just a thought from Tomas, she would die without resisting. She was shocked about Tomas's mentioning of Jacob and truly frightened since she knew the consequences of Tomas finding out the truth.
'How did he know!? Could it be Mr. Jack did something that exposed him? Or did he sell me out? No, if he had, Grandfather wouldn't be asking about Faceless Ancient from me. This means he still doesn't know the truth; I should stick with Mr. Jack's plan!' Her mind raced as she resisted the urge to spill everything.
Jacob had already given her a contingency plan just in case the Dark Duke found the truth or became suspicious of him if his power was exposed.
Zoe spoke with extreme difficulty, "I-I didn't lie! I to—told Dark Duke everything I knew about Faceless. E-except, I found Faceless Ancient's actual power level after traveling with him!
"He told me he acquired a precious elixir from the epic plains trial that helped him quickly break into the unique rank! This is the only information that wasn't included in my old report. Besides… it was His Highness who… b—blocked my calls and messages so that I couldn't tell you about it!"
Tomas's eyes narrowed as he mused, 'She doesn't seem to be lying unless she has the will to resist three steps of legend's unique mental pressure. It's impossible for her, who is only at the Tier-4 Unique Rank right, or she no longer fears dying anymore…
'Then this Faceless Ancient might be the one who's using Zoe or hiding his real prowess from her from the start. But it didn't make sense since he was the champion of the epic plains trial, and a unique rank can never step into the epic plains like I can't go into the unique plains.
'Then could it be he found something in the epic plains trial that helped him achieve this strength in less than a decade? Moreover, now I'm doubtful about him handing the medallion to the federation.
'But if he didn't, how did he enter the unique plains? Zoe would've missed such detail and dared to hide it from me; she's loyal to a fault. I…'
His thought process broke when he heard a painful scream from Zoe. He had forgotten entirely about retreating his mental pressure, and right now, blood was oozing from her eyes as she kneeled on her knees, supporting her body with her hands while she vomited blood!
"Hmph, consider it your punishment for going against my wishes!" Tomas sneered coldly before retracing his mental pressure and waved his sleeve, "You are dismissed now."
Zoe felt massive relief as she collected herself and began to walk back with difficulty while she kept her head low.
But Tomas didn't notice her emotional eyes were emotionless and turned as cold as an abyss, 'There is no family for me in this world anymore!'
Tomas didn't care about her thoughts, or if she resented him, she was not worth his attention unless she could become a Beyond Unique Rank Expert. Before that she was just like others, a pawn nothing more nothing less, if she wanted to escape this fate then she had to show her worth.
Tomas then looked towards the empty high throne as a chilly glint flashed past his impassive eyes, 'If Necro managed to enter the Quasi Legend Rank, there wouldn't be any peace in the unique plains, and YOU wouldn't be alone anymore.
'Furthermore, if he had the legendary key, his first target should be the federation since they had the most medallions out of all the powers. But it's still not confirmed whether he managed to get Free Sword in the end.
'Now this Faceless Ancient appeared, and ATLAS seemed to have a keen interest in him. Did they know how he became so strong in so little time?'
Tomas's eyes shimmered with greed, 'I need to see for myself!'