War had broken out starting from the north and the Savage Lands were now ruled by a new leader. Because the resources they have are naturally scarce, they marched south to invade Saint Empire only to be stopped at the border.

Thanks to Kairos’ inventions in weapons and stratagem, the empire’s troops are no longer the same as before and they held the invaders back.

However, as soldiers of both sides were pinned down, the other vultures circling around, attacked.

The Silent Lambs Empire gathered their troops for war, the Orcs at the Endless Plains rallied, and the mages of the South swarmed out like bees of a disturbed hive.

Despite the chaos, Saint Cadets Academy was in tumultuous celebration for their most legendary seniors graduating from their school.

Kairos and his band of brothers are now sixteen years of age and well-loved. They had not skipped years but stayed the entire six years of school for each other. However, it did not change the fact that Kairos had achieved the highest standard in the academy’s long history - if one disregards him getting zero for one specific class throughout his years: Beast Taming.

No matter what, it is hard to grant him any points when their valedictorian had no beast in the beast taming class.

Their instructor, the Sun and Moon clan’s genius Lalhal, had wrecked his brains trying to help Kairos successfully acquire a creature, but it was all futile.

He was certain that Kairos did not have problems forming a soul contract with spirit beasts, demonic creatures, or magical beasts. Although there is few records of divine beasts, Lalhal was certain that the boy that had physical and Ki capabilities far exceeding others will be able to bond with such magnificent creatures too.

Instead, there was no doubt that Kairos had tremendous talent.

If it wasn’t the physical condition that is limiting him, then it might be other factors.

He tried sentient and non-sentient creatures but failed. Altering the traditional soul contract did not work either.

In the end, Kairos became somewhat of a miracle in their class as a student who never participates.

The true culprit, all this time, stayed hidden in Kairos’ robe pocket. Aisa only needs to reveal a glimpse of her power to deter any lowly creatures that dared to pounce on her young master.

There were many creatures that scurried away in fright because of this, and soon Kairos received a new title from his friends.

‘The monster of monsters’ or The MOM in short.

Kairos, ever grateful, repaid the one who created the acronym with a title, ‘Proud owner of a Phoenix’ or POOP for short.

“Wha… that sounds terrible,” Jim exclaimed, “but why Phoenix?”

“Phoenix. Your Zhu Que is one.”

“Ah… That makes sense.”

The tiny little flaming Zhu Que was thrilled at being mentioned, and is its tiny beak, it chirped repeatedly, “POOP… POOP!”

Besides Beast Taming, Kairos managed to receive perfect scores in the other classes.

The rest also managed to acquire rather amazing results, even Tommy managed to graduate with everyone’s help. He was at the bottom of the class but nevertheless it was an incredible achievement.

There were many times he wanted to give up, but he gritted his teeth and held on. There is a good reason why he must complete his studies, and it is so important that he forcefully completed his retraining in such a short time.

The academy is the only path to become a general and stay together with his brothers.

With Kairos aiding them with his Veritable Sight and Heart’s Echo, they were able to uncover many secrets that even instructors would not know.

Further, the three master artisans – Laksa the chef, Siegfried the blacksmith, and Helena the herbalist – taught them techniques more advanced than anything Saint Empire had.

However, not everything was sunshine and rainbows in these four years especially for their archer.

Because of Edward’s quarrel with Toprak, Luciette and the archer had a shaky relationship.

The former was adamant about helping those less fortunate than herself, and she considered Toprak with great empathy.

The latter, as a male, felt both threatened, and worried, by Toprak. He firmly believed that this senior who approached Luciette had more than friendship in mind, and the more vulnerable Luciette appears, the more tortured the archer felt.

It did not help that they discovered that the massacre of the Alfonso nobles in fact links to the White Snow clan, except that right now, they had no leads to which family was the perpetrator.

Yet, the two seems to be fated to meet and in these four years they never completely separate.

At the same time, their guild, the Snowdrifts, had barely flourished in the four years. Granted, the money their businesses made during this time was enough to create a mountain, but every cent was used up. Most was invested in the members’ cultivation, while the rest was used for keeping their businesses running but, the main reason they could not expand was because of the Devilheart family. As regent for the throne, they had taken on the name of The One True Noble and surpassed the Three Great Nobles. They rapidly grew without hiding their lust for power and took over merchants and lesser nobles alike.

Fortunately, other than being overpowered, the Snowdrifts were generally safe, and all because of one man: Lord Yue.

Yue Chang Ming, his name literally translates to ‘The Moon of Everlasting Light’. It was given by the emperor himself, and with great meaning.

The emperor was known as ‘The Sun that Shines upon the Empire’, and he wished that Lord Yue would be the Moon that sends light to the land in the dark.

In Galahad’s absence, Lord Yue had done his role splendidly and preserved the last embers of hope for Saint Empire. His mission was to protect those loyal to the citizens, not the royal family, and not the nobles.

Not only Lord Yue and the Dark Gods family, there were many who joined his cause during this time.

The White Snow clan.

The Mountain Cat clan.

The Autumn Blossom family.

The Green Dog clan.

The Pink Chicken clan.

The Purple Turtle clan.

The Dark Sword clan.

The Solitary Blades clan.

The Light Rose family.

The Northern Cross family.

The Blue Frost family.

The Resounding Thunder family.

The Angelheart family.

And, one-and-a-half more from the Three Great Nobles: The Steel Rose family, and the Sun of the Sun & Moon clan.

Even the Trade Federate secretly supplied resources at cost-price.

Unfortunately, their consolidated strength is limited. Graduating from school will present another opportunity for Calculus and the Devilheart family to devour the Snowdrifts.

As Crown Regent, the Devilheart family has already assigned what Kairos and his group will do upon leaving school.

In the masses, there were many squads dressed in black armour standing guard around the place.

They are the top elites among the Saint Empire soldiers. The Dark Hall Unit.

However, they are not here to celebrate, nor safeguard the event. They were only here so they could bring Kairos and his brothers to the training camp right after the ceremony ends.

In full combat gear, and full section of fifty Double S rankers, they believe it is impossible for the five to escape.

After all, they are the empire’s death warriors, sent to do the most dangerous tasks like assassinating enemy Triple S rankers or defeating armies.

One soldier asked another, “Isn’t the commander being overly cautious? These boys, though strong, are only made up of S and A rankers, why would they need so many of us?”

“Shush! These aren’t just five boys that we can find anywhere. They have forces behind them that could conquer a small country if they want.”

“What? Then why would they be sent to the Dark Hall?”

“Haah? Have you been living under a rock? Oh… I remember, you were on a mission in the north for the past few years, right?”

The first man nodded. He had recently returned and missed all the major news so far.

“Well, I suppose you’ll be wondering. You know of the new leader in our empire?”

“Calculate Devilheart?”

“Yes, that’s the one. There are rumours saying that his son had great enmity with these five boys. Enough hatred to send them to their deaths.”

“They are sending them to the frontlines? But these are only new recruits!”

“Frontlines? Nay, they will be sent behind the enemy lines…”

The Dark Hall Unit, despite being death warriors, are not expected to die for their missions – at least, not for most occasions.

Each proud member must attain a respectable cultivation of SS rank before they could become active in the field, and each is an elite among elite.

Their group was formed because they target the best fighters of other nations. Those that could fight at the top level of the world stage cannot be killed easily.

It will take extraordinary effort, and a huge price to pay, to take down someone like Sihala – if the hero of the north managed to grow up to full strength. Incidentally, in their highest ranked assassination mission, the Black Invitation, Syriong’s name was listed.

Every death in their squadron is a great loss to the country, but only practitioners at their level could have any hopes in defeating the best fighters of other nations.

Thus, their lives were used in exchange for great victory. An honour for those chosen to join the Dark Hall.

However, it is different for Kairos and his group.

They will be sent to fight at the most dangerous warzones, to make them martyrs. And, more importantly, to send a warning to those who oppose the Devilheart family.

The rest of the Snowdrifts are not excluded either. Whenever someone graduates, they will be pulled into the Dark Hall as new death warriors, and it caused plenty to leave the guild in fear.

There were no exception. Von Cixton – now the heir apparent of the Steel Rose family, Alucard – heir apparent of the Angelheart family, George – heir apparent of the Mountain Cat clan, Snow – heir apparent of the Autumn Blossom clan, Luciette – sole heir of the White Snow clan, and the other heirs in their guild were all enlisted, needless to say the fate of the rest.

Fortunately, even amongst Death Warriors, there are significant differences in treatment.

Statistics-wise, they suffer less fatalities than the usual soldiers. After all, such valuable tools needed to be exhausted at the right time, the right place, and the right purpose for maximum effect.

What set them apart from the normal troops are the Soul Slips each Death Warrior must make upon enlistment, and the fact that there is a hundred percent mortality rate.

Once someone joined, they will only leave as a corpse.

The only exception is for recruits. Without being privy to any information, not even the training centre of the Dark Hall, they still have a chance to transfer out of the unit.

With so many heirs now as recruits, the Devilheart family now hold the other nobles hostage.

Coupled with sending Kairos and his friends into the most dangerous zones as example of what will happen when crossing the Devilhearts, they have almost succeeded in ruling through fear.

After the graduation ceremony was finished, the soldiers moved swiftly to secure their targets.

The five boys looked around without any fear in their eyes as fifty Double S rankers surround them. Directly fighting a force like this might be disastrous but, to escape is still simple. In their eyes, these are still too few enemies to pose them any threat if they wish to extract themselves.

Moreover, the academy is their home ground and they have uncountable number of tools at their disposal.

Even if the enemies are far stronger than them, if they are stabbed, poisoned, or fell into a trap, they still must obediently die like any other man.

It is unfortunate that they are held captive and can’t make any moves with their friends and families’ lives on the line.

The soldiers easily took them into custody, shoving them down the stage and towards the exit.

The boys moved without any resistance. It could be said that they were well-aware that this day will eventually come.

In fact, no one knew how many times the thought to flee crossed their minds before this, but there was no solutions to be found in avoidance.

Finally, after considering every avenue of possibility, the five had appeared for their graduation today, fully prepared to be taken away.

Many of their juniors were surprised when they were encircled and handed so roughly as though they were dangerous enemies of the state.

These are heroes that saved the empire before.

The news of them being recruited by the Dark Hall was never kept a secret, but everyone assumed that they will only become fresh recruits like the rest of Snowdrifts.

It was only afterwards that they will find out the fate that lies in-store for the five and many wept openly.

During the four years, the leaders of Snowdrifts had truly won the hearts of the other students over.

Each of the brothers contributed differently, but together, they improved the usual cultivation resources in both quality and quantity for all the students, introduced many new techniques in blacksmithing, forging pills, creating talismans, identifying new runes and combat methods, simplified but strengthened the modern cultivation methods, and sent the infamous Blue Blood into hiding.

The deeds they had done had greatly benefit everyone and plenty of people believe that this generation of cadets are the strongest in their academy’s history.

The juniors were all full of gratitude to them. Despite their youth, these cadets could wisely tell that the gears of advancement had been set into motion. When the five were marched out of the ceremony with soldiers from all sides, it felt as though the future they were anticipating, is being wiped away.

A fist thrust into the sky, alarming the Dark Hall soldiers and immediately all of them went into combat preparation. They crouched and placed their hands on their weapons facing Kairos. More than one had sweat rolling down the sides of their faces.

Unlike the one in their group that had not been around the empire for years, the Dark Hall troops had closely monitored the boys and studied their past. They knew how two hundred Double S rank Phantoms perished in the boys’ hands. In addition to that was the heads of the princess, Axtalia, and Guardian of the Realm, Syriong, delivered to their ex-emperor, Galahad.

They stared at him as though he would turn into a monster any second and no one dared to let their guard drop in the slightest.

Suddenly another fist thrust into the air, and then, following it, a third, fourth, and a fifth fist.

There was no need for words. It is a declaration from the five of them that they will smash through death itself once again.

The crowd that were in dismay seemed to struggle with their internal worries. They tried to convince themselves that miracles will happen once again, but unbelieve is a sticky poison.

Suddenly, the Dark Hall soldiers seemed to lose their strength and almost fell to their knees. It took them a great effort to remaining standing with their weapons as crutches.

“P… poison? When did you…”

The four years that Kairos had spent in the academy was not wasted. His calibre is enough for him to skip years, but he had refused to wait for Tommy to catch up. At the same time, it was also to bid for time for his own growth.

His proficiency in the different arts had all made tremendous improvements.

Including his ability to poison his targets in a crowd.

Anyone that had touched him had contracted an infectious poison derived from a sickness that causes paralysis. The name of the poison is called, Weakening Plague.

The moment someone raise their guard and activate their inner strength, the poison will wake up and leech onto the energy, causing the victim to become weak and wobbly.

Because the poison spreads upon contact, almost all who are present at the graduation ceremony had contracted it, including the students and teachers. But those that did not use their Ki had no symptoms and the poison will neutralise naturally after an hour while those that activated the poison will be sick for a week.

In the crowd, only those wary and prepared for battle were poisoned.

The tables had turned, and the students now had smiles on their faces. Their seniors are indeed as untouchable as ever.

The Dark Hall unit that felt certain that they had completed their capture, now felt aghast with fear. These teens are indeed as fearsome as the reports state.

…..

Two days later.

Five teens that looked like the heirs of top clans or noble families rode Dragon Horses alongside a large merchant cart with the banner of the Snowdrifts.

They smiled and joked around as their hair fluttered in the wind as they enjoyed the morning ride.

One of them turned to the cart and spoke in a light-hearted tone, “Which direction to the Dark Hall?”

A hand, trembling with weakness, stretched out of the window with great difficulty and pointed.

The boys shifted the cart accordingly until they reach the meeting point at an inn.

Several fresh troops from the Dark Hall were waiting for them here.

They were alarmed to see their targets escorting fifty of their comrades.

“W…what happened? Why are you guys brought back by them? Didn’t you went out to capture them?”

“We…,” One of the sickly soldier laying in the cart breathed. He almost died from the strain of speaking a single word, until another one by his side gestured with a pathetic wave to ask him to continue resting.

The one by his side, a burly man almost eight feet tall, spoke in his stead with a voice that sounded like he was ready to go ‘home’ anytime, “We… were… captured…”

He whizzed and panted, like he had been the most difficult task in his life, then his head cocked to the side and fainted.

The fresh Dark Hall troops shivered in fear.

The ones sent to capture five boys were captured instead!

Furthermore, the targets were the one that cooperatively brought them back.

All of them felt cold sweat roll down their backs. Are they the ones who had these boys by their neck, or is it the other way around? It certainly feel the other way around… Maybe, it was a grand mistake to bring them back?

Moments later, the group are on the road again. They have a mission to complete that cannot afford any delays.

This time, it is the fresh troops that surround the merchant cart as escorts. The fifty poisoned victims laying on the shaking ground, not much better than before.

No matter what antidote they tried, nothing worked for them. After all, this is a new poison developed by Helena and Kairos. It wouldn’t be easy to cure.

Kairos and his brothers sat nearby with their Dantian seals, their hands and feet bound, and a blindfold on their eyes.

They can neither escape nor tell where they are going.

The location of the Dark Hall training centre is a state secret. No matter what, Kairos and his brothers cannot find out its location.

Only those that had their Soul Slips safely in the hands of the Dark Hall’s master may freely return to that place. Thus, the group had to detour and come to this meeting point first and be escorted to the base.

A few days later, they finally reached an ancient-looking valley with a dull grey gate that blocked entry.

Two soldiers stood guard as the merchant cart pulled up.

A single dragonling with a piece of rolled up paper in its mouth, flew out from the back end of the cart and disappeared into the skies.

The guards had rightly judged. It was a grand mistake.