In the year 1320, in a small town of Parisie,Azalia, John Gottenbürg invented the printing press. A mechanical device able to apply pressure to an inked surface resting on a print medium like paper or cloth. It marked a dramatic improvement on the previous method of printing, able to produce up to 4,000 pages a day without the use of magic, it greatly accelerated the spread of books, grimoires, and even popularized a new method of information sharing, newspapers.

  The invention of the printing press brought a new era of printing revolution, increasing people’s literacy rate and even increasing the amount of magic users in Azalia, however, its popularity and impact was not truly felt in society until one of the biggest news of the century hit the public conscience,

  ‘THE EMPEROR IS DEAD’

  That was the headline that shocked all of Azalia and the world. All the papers in publication had those words printed in various languages. All the nobles in the land wrote letters to their associates, preparing for the worst. And the town criers spoke those words in all corners of the continent, from small hamlets to the capital of nations.

  All of Azalia — nay, the entire continent knew, war was on the horizon.

  ***********

  ‘OVER 50 PEOPLE ARE DEAD. GANG WAR ON THE STREET OF HAZEN’

  That was the headline of the paper that ruined Count Halmar of Hazen’s morning. He had read the content of the paper over and over again, he finally could not hold back his frustration and tore the paper apart.

  “HENGARD, KYLAN, WHAT IN THE FLYING HELL IS HAPPENING?” Count Halmar roared so hard the whole estate could hear it. In the room with him, there were only Kylan and Viscount Hengard, he already got all his secretaries out, so they were not caught in the crossfire. Kylan hung his head in shame, he felt like he had failed his father, no, the entire city. Meanwhile, Viscount Hengard was busy picking his nose. He had already given up, the situation was now no longer under his control, and he decided it was not worth the hair loss to be stressed about it.

  “Hengard…” If looks could kill, Hengard would have been ripped apart like Krieg and his men. “... Explain.”

  Hengard sighed. He knew no explanation could calm his brother’s wrath. “You know about that mysterious destruction of Lorca’s hideout.” Halmar knew about it, it only happened a few days ago, “the one where we suspect Molrrets … and Rex did?”

  “Yeah. My guess is Lorca also thinks Rex did that … thus the gang war.”

  “And nothing you could do to stop that?”

  “We tried. We posted a few guards around Rex’s hideout … they’re dead.” Those words calmed Halmar a bit. His brother really had tried, and he lost some men because of it. “Damn, scum. Have you sent some consolation to the guards’ families?”

  “Yes.”

  “Double it.”

  “Yes, brother.”

  “And? What’s the plan now?” asked Halmar, hoping his brother had a handle in all of this mess.

  “For now, we had a manhunt on both Lorca and Rex. We did not find their bodies, so we assume both of them are still alive. Their gangs should be both weakened though.”

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  “What about the rest of the crimelords? Would they start a war too?”

  “Hopefully, no. Carven and Gano are not the type to draw attention to themselves. But just in case, we’re putting a halt on some of Gano’s operations. We also have our lawyers working double to build a case against Gano.” Gano was a noble, so the Hazen could not just arrest him without Imperial authority, or at least a Duke authority.

  “Yeah, I have good news about that. Imperial Princess Tasha is planning to dock here in a few months. Whatever case we got against Gano should be enough to convince her to arrest Gano herself.”

  Imperial Princess, Anastasia Leo Cresnatine Azali or known as Imperial Princess Tasha, was considered a just Imperial Princess by her peers. While she and her family did not do much during the War of the Empress, after the war, Imperial Princess Tasha made her name as one of the best admirals in all of Azalia, taking care of pirates and foreign navies. For a port nobility like the Hazen, Princess Tasha was worthy of nothing less than respect, almost equaling Kaisar.

  “Great, I guess I can tell the lawyers to slow down a bit.”

  “No. Double … Triple their workload. Can’t risk anything when it comes to that sly rat Gano.”

  “Yes, brother.”

  “And Carven?”

  “We are preparing task forces made up of knights, mages, and slayers to clear the sewers and hunt for Carven. We’re also requesting Paladins from the church. They should come with a reply sooner or later.”

  “Send some donations to those greedy priests. That should speed things up.”

  “Yes, brother.”

  Count Halmar sighed. It seemed his brother had a plan of some sort to handle this mess. Now, he only had one problem left.

  “Kylan.” Kylan was shocked that his name was called. He was ready for any punishment his father would hand to him. “Go talk to your elder brother. You will work under him for the Carven extermination. I’m relying on you, Kylan.”

  Kylan’s face brightened up; his father had given him a second chance. “Yes, Father. I won’t disappoint you.” He saluted his father and immediately left the room, looking for his elder brother.

  “Look at you. Being a good father.” Viscount Hengard teased his brother. “Shut up, or I’ll become a bad brother.” Snapped the count back.

  Count Halmar leaned back on his chair, he felt like ten years of his life just flew away in a day. “Hengard … I have a bad feeling about this.” Viscount Hengard had to agree with his brother. Even he could not help but feel like things were just getting worse and worse.

  “If … if anything happens to me. Please take care of my family, Hen.” Halmar called Hengard with his childhood nickname, which he rarely did once he was an adult. Hengard knew, this was serious.

  “Brother … I will. But … isn't it more likely something will happen to me first before you?” Hengard tried to make a brotherly jab, but it did not work. Halmar kept a serious face. “I just got this feeling, Hen. I do hope you’re right though.”

  Hengard could not take the somber mood away … wait … Hope you’re right? Son of a bitch. Halmar had won the brotherly banter. “You ass. You got me this time, Hal.” The two brothers joked and smiled at each other. Making it seem like Halmar’s previous anger was just an act.

  However, as soon as Hengard could not see his face, Halmar dropped his smile. He wondered how long he could laugh with his brother. He could feel death approaching him …

  … and approaching his beloved city. Gripping it in its grasp.

  *********

  “What do you think, master?” Irvin was standing next to an old man in his fifties, with a short grey beard, grey unkempt hair, and fancy coat not matching his appearance.

  “Yep. It’s Rex. This is his signature mana. And the corpses, I can feel Carven’s mana on most of them … especially the one inside the building.”

  Irvin clicked his tongue. The worst hypothesis in his mind was right. “So they were decoys. Most of Rex's men are still alive.”

  “Yeah. Whoever planned for this is smart. Too bad Carven is a third-rate Necromancer, leaving traces of mana sloppily. Otherwise, his plan would be flawless.” Carven had tried to hide his mana traces, he even did a good job on it. An average mage would not be able to see the traces of mana. However, for both Irvin and the old man, it was as obvious as a human pretending to be a cat.

  “So, master, Kel. Would you finally get off your ass and do your due diligence?” Irvin asked the old man, the master of the Hazen mage tower, Kel Mauro, a fifth-circle mage.

  “For a gang war and Carven? No.” Kel Mauro rejected. He felt it was beneath him to deal with some small fries and a third-rate necromancer. “However, I’ll get off my asses for Rex. That one is dangerous.”

  A former Imperial knight was different. Even though Rex could only be considered as a third-circle mage at best, a knight could make up the difference in magic circles with their [Iron Body] and [Aura]. A fourth-circle mage like Irvin, who had no combat experience stood no chance against him.

  “Only for Rex, huh. Good enough. He's our biggest worry after all. What are you gonna do while we look for him though?”

  “Take me to this Orca gang house. There’s something that piqued my curiosity.”

  Kel Mauro was interested in Lorca's hideout case ever since he heard about it. He just could not be bothered to leave the tower until today. Somehow, he felt like he was making a big mistake delaying things until it had reached this point.

  He could feel it in his neck …

  … something tightening its grip.