Book 19, Metamorphosis – Chapter 12, Four Badge Colors

Flamebone Mountain. The entire mountain swirled with flame.

Two blurs streaked through the horizon, pausing in the air above Flamebone Mountain. It was Linley and Bebe.

“Crunch!” Bebe viciously bit into a fruit, lowering his head to stare down at the mountain peak below. “Boss, last time we came to this place, we were blocked by those guards. It was because we weren’t Lord Prefects or Lords of Tartarus. It’s only been two or three months, right? Boss, you are a Tartarus Lord now. I wonder what sort of looks those guards will have on their faces.”

As he spoke, he casually tossed the core of the already-eaten fruit off to one side.

“Let’s go.” Laughing calmly, Linley flew into the skies, with Bebe following behind.

Atop the mountain peak, there was a completely pitch-black, ancient-looking castle. It, too, was wreathed in flames. There were still many guards patrolling outside, and at the front gate, there were more than ten people, divided into two lines, standing there. Upon seeing Linley and Bebe, one of the black-armored guards stepped forward slightly. “Eh? Them again?”

This black-armored guard, amazingly, was the guard who had received Linley last time.

It had only been a few months, after all. The guards here were very rarely changed.

“Hey, why did you two run over here again?” The black-armored...