Emperor Winterfire looked at the World Peak with a serious expression.
He wore luxurious robes and carried a much bigger crown than he used to wear in the past.
Well, he was an Emperor now, and he deserved a bigger crown.
He was the ruler of the world now, except for the Duchess of Twilight, but she wasn't interested in politics.
Could Emperor Winterfire become the actual ruler of the world?
Could he get rid of the Duchess of Twilight?
No.
The Duchess of Twilight was more powerful than all the other Transcendents combined.
Well, there was one way to get rid of her, but it wasn't the time yet.
"The three days are up," Emperor Winterfire transmitted to Silvester, who was currently waiting near the border of his own kingdom.
"You are allowed to enter and search for them," Silvester answered.
Emperor Winterfire furrowed his brows. "We agreed that you would exile them from your kingdom."
"Yes, as long as they were still in my kingdom by that point," Silvester answered.
"Are you claiming they are no longer in your kingdom?" Emperor Winterfire asked.
"If they are still here, I lack the power to find them," Silvester answered. "You are free to confirm for yourself."
Emperor Winterfire didn't immediately enter.
Instead, he summoned a blue gem and infused it with Ether.
After that, several seconds passed, and two people appeared beside Emperor Winterfire.
One had blue hair and wore the robes of an Advisor of the Winterfire Empire.
It was the Imperial Advisor, Harald.
The other person wore yellow robes, had long blonde hair, and also wore a crown, but compared to Emperor Winterfire's crown, his crown was much smaller.
He had a smirk on his face as he looked at Silvester.
It was His Holiness.
Although that was no longer his title.
The Divine Duchy was no more. It had been incorporated into the Winterfire Empire.
His Holiness' new title was the Holy King.
A king was inferior to an emperor, but a king was still extremely powerful.
The Holy King now controlled the western half of the Winterfire Empire.
In essence, he could do whatever he wanted in his half, as long as Emperor Winterfire didn't put in a veto.
While the Holy King was legally below Emperor Winterfire's command, practically, it wasn't completely true.
The Holy King and Emperor Winterfire had about the same level of power.
A battle between them would be inconclusive.
However, Emperor Winterfire had his Imperial Advisor.
With his help, Emperor Winterfire would definitely win, which was why he was the Emperor.
An emperor wasn't just as powerful as their person. Their power also included all the people under their command.
After arriving, the Holy King looked at Silvester with a smirk.
If his followers could see his current expression, they would be shocked beyond belief.
The Holy King had always been so kind and benevolent.
He had always preached about doing good in the world.
But now, he looked like a guy who just wanted to get into a brawl, and that description wasn't even inaccurate.
There was a good reason why the Holy King had been the first Transcendent who had reached the third level of Karmic Punishment.
At this moment, the Holy King was just searching for a reason to attack Silvester and his son.
According to the laws the Duchess of Twilight had established, empires were not allowed to declare war on kingdoms without a good reason, and kingdoms were not allowed to declare war on duchies without a good reason.
However, breaking an agreement would be enough of a reason.
Naturally, Emperor Winterfire had called his two allies for safety.
After all, he was about to enter foreign territory, and if Silver and his son attacked at the same time, he would die.
"We are now going to enter and search for the culprits," Emperor Winterfire said.
"You are free to search for one day," Silvester answered.
One day was more than enough time.
The three Transcendents entered the World Peak and searched for Kyle and Sebastian.
They spread across the entire mountain range and searched through every nook and cranny with their senses.
The entire World Peak only had six humans inside of it at this moment, and five of them were Transcendents.
The only non-Transcendent was Selene, who just watched in worry as the Transcendents searched through everything.
After searching through the entire World Peak, they still couldn't find the two of them.
The Holy King looked at the humongous World Wyrm for a while.
Were they hiding around it?
He approached the World Wyrm, who looked at him.
For a moment, the Holy King was reminded of the time he had been chased by the Nature Gods due to his low Karma.
Luckily, that was no longer the case.
The Holy King looked at the World Wyrm.
"I'm just here to search for two Experts," he transmitted.
The World Wyrm had been exposed to constant human talk since a war had been fought on its doorstep for centuries. Not learning human language would be harder than accidentally learning it at that point.
The World Wyrm just kept looking at the Holy King.
The Holy King could feel the World Wyrm's hunger and aggression rising.
This was a beast, not a human.
Fighting to the death for beasts was normal.
The World Wyrm felt like winning against the Holy King wasn't impossible, but also not likely.
Maybe…
But then, the World Wyrm glanced at the distant Silvester, who was just aimlessly looking out from his kingdom.
"They dug underground," the World Wyrm transmitted to the Holy King before lying back down.
The Holy King narrowed his eyes.
If the World Wyrm had attacked him without provocation, this could have also been turned into a reason to go to war.
Instead, it just answered the question.
The Holy King snorted and searched for the hole.
After some time, he found a place that had been recently covered.
Light gathered around him, and he broke the hole open again.
A smirk appeared on his face.
"Got you," he whispered to himself before going into the hole.
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