The burning sun shone so hot above that it seemed capable of melting metal.

And yet, the streets of Mongoltar were as busy as ever, filled with many top energy arts experts. On the street occupied by the Myriad Consortium, business boomed as usual.

The guards at the gate were in the middle of a conversation. “Captain, remember that Nonary Lifeseizer who stopped by three days ago? I wonder if he’ll be back today. He was pretty generous. Three Lifeseizing fiend-devil demon cores? I wonder what sort of deal he wants to work out with our Myriad Consortium.”

The captain snorted. “He won’t be back, I guarantee it.” After all, he knew what was going on behind the scenes. Smiling coldly, he said, “Look, you need to forget about the whole thing. Asking questions will only get us in trouble. From now on, just pretend you never saw that guy.”

“Yes! Yes, of course….” the other guards replied, averting their gazes from the captain.

The captain nodded in satisfaction. “Excellent. I like that you can obey orders. The first rule in the Myriad Consortium is to follow orders no matter what.”

Suddenly,...