"I only need to keep it for one month and it will become even more valuable. Thereâs no need to go anywhere else," Richard replied.
He looked at Dasmond again, only to find that the manâand the cold-looking figure beside himâseemed as if they wanted to rob him on the spot.
"Are you planning to rob me?" Richard asked bluntly, since he didnât consider any action from them to be a real threat.
Dasmond looked too lazy to respond. He snorted lightly before turning around and leaving, followed by the cold man, who still occasionally glanced back at Richard with a sharp, hostile gaze.
There was no need to explain itâthey clearly had thoughts of robbing him.
But hadnât that been the case for a long time already?
From the very beginning, the Dark Star Legion had targeted him, ever since he obtained the inheritance of the Dragon Knight.
They simply couldnât do anything about it.
From their perspective, Richard genuinely struggled to imagine how they could even plan to rob him.
"Master Alex, Iâll be taking my leave now," Richard said afterward.
Master Alex responded by waving his hand, as if he truly wanted him gone.
He clearly had his own plans for the massive amount of Nature Spirits he had just obtained.
Richard immediately left together with William.
"Brother Anderson, Iâll keep the pagoda for now," Richard said to him.
William gave a light nod.
"Iâll contact you again later. Iâll make sure it doesnât take more than a month."
"See you then. Donât forget to come to the palace tomorrow night," Richard replied.
"Of course. Though I canât prepare a good gift."
"You donât need to bring a gift. I lack nothing."
Whoosh!
Richard suddenly accelerated his flight.
And he was actually flying in the same direction as Dasmond.
From the moment Dasmond left, Richard had never stopped keeping an eye on him.
He flew quite high, but slowly, allowing him to follow without being noticed too easily.
It seemed Dasmond intended to leave the city.
Dasmond and the cold man frowned when they realized Richard was following them.
More importantly, Richard was slightly faster, causing the distance between them to steadily shrink.
This made them both uncomfortable and angry, as Richardâs behavior made it seem as if he were the hunterâand they were his prey.
After reaching outside the city, Dasmond stopped and turned around.
"Boy, what is the meaning of this?" he demanded.
"Hand over the coin if you donât want things to get difficult," Richard replied.
"What?" Dasmond immediately scratched his ear, looking as if he couldnât believe what he had just heard.
"Who do you think you are?" he said, eyes wide.
"Iâm just tired of pretending. The truth is, I also want to rob you. But if you take a step back, I can forget everything elseâjust give me the coin," Richard shrugged.
"How dare you?" Dasmond looked as though he couldnât believe his own ears.
"Boss, letâs just beat this brat up. Heâs only in the Grimoire Realm," the cold man said.
He was also a Lord, albeit a newly advanced one. In his eyes, someone like Richard, who was only in the Grimoire Realm, wasnât worth fearing.
However, Dasmond was worried about something elseânot Richard, but Lilith.
She had become terrifyingly powerful. If she were to turn aggressive again, Dasmond knew he could lose everything.
Richard smiled at the cold man in response to his words.
When their gazes met, Richard unleashed a Mind Attack, instantly causing the manâs eyes to widen.
He staggered and nearly fell.
His aura immediately became chaotic and weakened.
"Rey, are you alright?" Dasmond asked.
"Boss, this is bad," the cold man replied.
He clearly hadnât expected Richardâs infamous attack to affect him so severely.
At this point, he felt as though he had been knocked back into the Grimoire Realm.
"Hahaha, your soul is far too weak. You were just lucky to reach the Lord Realm," Richard said.
From what Richard could tell, the man only possessed Tier 2 Aether.
Even within the Lord Realm, someone could be strong with Tier 2 Aether, but their endurance was extremely poor. In battle, they tired quickly and were especially vulnerable to techniques like Mind Attack.
Meanwhile, realizing that Rey was no longer capable of fighting, Dasmond pulled him into his Hidden World.
As a member of the royal family, he naturally possessed a Hidden Worldâbut it was nothing like the pagoda with its many functions.
At best, it was merely a place to hide, lacking powerful defensive capabilities like the Dragon Hall.
"So youâve chosen to fight..." Richard smiled, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
This was exactly what he wantedâto fight a well-trained Lord like Dasmond.
"Boy, youâll regret angering a dragon," Dasmond replied.
After saying that, he suddenly tore off his cloak, leaving his upper body bare.
Richard hadnât expected this.
On Dasmondâs chest, he saw a black star tattoo that looked like a bottomless abyss.
Whoosh!
A long black scythe appeared in Dasmondâs hand. Its sharpness alone made Richard feel as though something had been pressed against his throat.
It was clearly an extremely dangerous weaponâa Tier 6 armament.
Tier 5 weapons were practically useless against it, as they would be shattered on contact.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the dark star tattoo on Dasmondâs chest emitted an endless darkness, instantly engulfing everything.
Richard could see nothing but darkness. Even his Sixth Sense and Waves detected absolutely nothing, as if everything had become pure emptiness.
This was clearly a domainâthe Dark Star Domain, a famous Arcane Art once wielded by the Second Great Ancestor of the Holy Star Kingdom.
Though that Great Ancestor failed to become a Grand Sovereign, he had still astonished the entire world in his era.
Whoosh!
Richard felt a faint gust of wind from the side, which instead made him excited.
Dasmond clearly wasnât very skilled in using this domain yet.
He hadnât reached the level where he could completely conceal the effects of his attacks.
Without hesitation, Richard slashed his dagger toward the source of the airflow.
Clang!
It instantly collided with another piece of metalâclearly Dasmondâs scythe.
Despite the clash, Richard still couldnât see anything. Even the sparks that should have been produced by the collision failed to appear.
It was as though he had been rendered completely blind.
Even so, his physical strength was not inferior to Dasmondâs. Despite Dasmond wielding a larger weapon, Richard wasnât pushed back at all, even while blocking with nothing but a small dagger.
"Duke Dasmond, is this all the power you have?" Richard chuckled.
Whoosh!
He released an extremely powerful Wave. Although he couldnât detect Dasmond with his Waves, he could still attackâespecially at such close range.
Boom!
Richard heard a violent impact pushing everything around him, including Dasmond.
Surrounded by darkness, he pondered how to destroy it.
But this wasnât something solidâit was darkness itself, something that couldnât be destroyed with physical attacks.
"Boy, die..." Dasmondâs shout echoed once more.
This time, it sounded distant. He clearly wasnât attacking directly but sending something from afar. Richard couldnât tell what it was since he couldnât see it.
Still, he was prepared.
"Mmph..." He suddenly stiffened, sensing sharp objects approaching from all directions.
They felt incredibly heavy and fast, likely sent by Dasmond to pierce through his Waves.
Even if they pierced him, Richard wouldnât dieâbut he didnât want to experience the pain.
Thus, Richard activated Moonshadow Armor.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
He could feel the sharp objects pass through him, as though he didnât exist at all.
"What?" Dasmondâs shocked voice echoed in the distance.
"Boy, you can even use Moonshadow Armor? Are you a member of the Moonshadow Clan?" he demanded.
Up until now, it had only been a rumor that Richard had used Moonshadow Clan techniques.
The Moonshadow Clan itself had never commented, much less acknowledged himâthey didnât even know who he truly was.
Moreover, Moonshadow Armor required at least 50% mastery of the Codex of Moonshadow to use.
"Thatâs not important. What can you do now?" Richard replied.
This domain was troublesome since it blinded him completelyâbut for Dasmond, Moonshadow Armor was even more troublesome.
Richard heard nothing but silence.
Clearly, Dasmond had nothing to say.
Whoosh!
Richard chose to fly upward at his maximum speed.
He knew this domain had limits. As long as he left its boundaries, he could escape it.
"You think you can run!" Dasmondâs voice echoed again.
He was clearly chasing Richard, keeping their distance close enough to prevent him from escaping the domain.
However, there was something Dasmond failed to realize.
As he moved faster in pursuit, Richard was actually able to detect his position through the subtle sounds produced by his continuous movement.
If he couldnât escape the domain, then tracking his opponent was just as good.
Richard touched the left side of his chest, where his heart was.
Using Mind Attack was difficult without direct visual contact, so the only thing he could rely on now was strengthening himselfâto unleash an attack powerful enough to seriously injure Dasmond.