The Unvanquished: Child of Nihility-Chapter 56: Mysterious First Elder

"What happened to Thur? Speak–now," he demanded.

---

The man said a silent prayer, ’Oh dear heavens, help me...’

The room’s temperature dropped. A chill ran down his spine, and cold sweat began to form on his forehead.

"It was reported in the letter that Young Master Thur was crippled during the trial and will be sent home after..."

The man in the black suit didn’t get to finish his report before he was cut off.

"What?"

The First Elder suddenly rose to his feet as a chilling aura intensified in the room. The man in the black suit couldn’t bear it any longer. His legs weakened, and he collapsed to his knees, sweat dripping down his face.

’Shit, I’m doomed,’ he cursed his luck silently. ’This is exactly what I feared–and why I hesitated to tell the him what happened to his son.’ He already knew what this petty and ruthless man might do once he learned that his only son, Thur, had been crippled. He might vent his fury on him.

But contrary to what he feared, the room returned to normal. The cold aura retreated. Then, the First Elder spoke in a serious and eerily calm tone.

"Tell me everything written in the letter. And don’t dare do not skip a single word."

The man quickly report "After the survival trial and the candidates exited the dungeon, a trial candidate said..."

The man continued his report, still kneeling. Though the information wasn’t entirely accurate to what had truly occurred, the informant did his best not to skip any detail mentioned in the letter.

What he reported included the appearance of a mysterious girl who was allegedly responsible for Young Master Thur’s tragedy. It was also reported that the incident happened because Thur had attempted to attack another trial candidate–the one who had fainted...

It took the informant roughly thirty minutes to complete his report. When he finished, the First Elder sat back down.

"You may leave now. And I don’t want to hear any rumors–understand?"

His voice was thick, calm, and chilling.

The man nodded repeatedly and rushed out of the room, silently thanking his stars.

’The First Elder seemed strangely calm after hearing about his son’s tragedy. That’s... odd,’ he thought, but quickly shook the thought away. That wasn’t his concern. What mattered was that he had escaped the elder’s wrath.

Inside the now silent room–immediately after the door shut–an eerie cold filled the air. Dark smoke began to swirl and eventually formed into the outline of an abyssal face with a grin.

"Hehehe... interesting. Who would’ve thought an important pawn of yours would be taken out even before carrying out the mission? How disappointing. You must be furious right now, correct? Hehehe..."

The First Elder’s aura flared violently for a moment before calming once again. A loud laugh echoed through the room. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Hahaha! You may be right... but who said he was the only pawn I planted this time?"

He cleared his throat and continued, eyes sharp as if piercing through the void.

"Morca... Oh, Morca. I must say, you have some means to escape Heaven’s pursuit. But you’ll never know... you were discovered the moment you awakened. Although I had my doubts at first, you can’t be left alive. Enjoy the little time you have left, because I’ll be coming for your life soon. This time, you won’t escape from my grasp–unlike before..."

"You’ve already wasted two opportunities to end him. Why not let me handle it this time? Your second attempt was questionable anyway. He had just awakened, and then that Emmett Lee appeared right before you could strike. The aura he released... it seemed to belong to those..."

"That’s why I need to make a flawless plan this time before making another move," the First Elder said firmly. "We must keep watching him. We cannot afford to miss the kill again."

He closed his eyes once more.

’Emmett Lee... who exactly are you?’ he wondered. ’A mere mortal, and yet... even I can’t see through you. And that Poison Gu guy... things are accelerating too quickly. I must adjust my plans.’

---

It was already night, with stars shining brightly over the planet Eden.

Right in the middle of Section Two–a place surrounded by towering cliffs and dense forest–stood a majestic institution, enclosed by a rare dark metal fence that rose a hundred and fifty meters high and ten meters thick. A single tightly shut gate marked the only entrance to this magnificent place.

Inside the institute, various structures of different shapes were built in an orderly manner. The streets were illuminated with lights of various colors, giving the academy a breathtaking and unique appearance. The reflection of the night stars on the buildings created an illusion–anyone looking from above might think this was a bustling city rather than an academy.

This is the most prestigious institution on the planet Eden–Eden Domineer Academy–a place dedicated to nurturing the future pillar experts of Eden.

At the very heart of the academy stood a luxurious, hundred-story building, bathed in reflected light from both the night sky and the illumination within.

On the topmost floor of the staff building was a grand, luxurious meeting room with a long black-and-gold table. At a single glance, one could tell it was crafted from a rare material.

Neatly arranged on both sides of the table were rows of furnished chairs. At the forefront of the setup stood a massive screen, displaying various statistics about the weather outside.

To one side of the meeting room was a wide, transparent door leading to a balcony. There, a single fluffy white couch sat comfortably, accompanied by a small black-glass table that held a luxurious golden liquor bottle and a matching liquor glass beside the couch.

Seated on the couch was a man with short, neatly trimmed brown hair, styled with care. He was clothed only in a thick white sleeping robe, and in every way, he looked exactly like a mortal celebrity.

In his hand was a glass filled with golden liquor, from which he sipped from time to time while glancing at the projection screen in front of him. His serious yet calm face bore a faint smile.

"Ah, interesting... This year’s little rascals produced nine epic-grade physique test results–one or two in each of the four categories: strength, reflexes, genetics, and comprehension. This hasn’t happened simultaneously since the founding of the academy, which spans over two centuries of history."

He scrolled down the mail until he got to one report with a red dot, which signified the most important report. He glanced at the information "And not to mention that Laura girl, who performed excellently across all her tests–achieving mythical-grade results in two aspects and epic-grade in the other two."

He was truly elated this time, having never expected someone with two mythical-grade results to appear in Eden Domineer Academy.

It wasn’t the first time he had witnessed such talent appear in the academy, but if one were to count those who possessed such gifts, they wouldn’t exceed the number of fingers on two hands. And he, Stuart di Milla–the principal of Eden Domineer Academy–was one of those ten.

"With this girl, the academy will gain another powerful expert who can lead from the front, guiding the other youths in the upcoming Tri-State Competi..."

Ahem.

He cleared his throat with a hint of ridicule, unable to believe his own thoughts.

"Am I growing old already, that I’m considering throwing such a responsibility onto a new recruit?"

"We could just pick someone from the second or third class to handle it," he muttered, clearing his thoughts as he continued staring at the screen in front of him.

"And it’s also been reported that a 003-threat monster appeared in the trial dungeon..." he paused, as if recalling something. "What’s the background of the kid who slew the 3-Star Monster?"

He tapped the screen a few times, and soon the profile of a youth named Morca appeared.

"Huh? A Sherman?"

Upon seeing the youth’s surname, he frowned, then scrolled down to access more information about this ’Sherman kid.’ Within seconds, detailed information appeared.

As the principal of Eden Domineer Academy, there was no information he could not access with his authority. Though he appeared much like a mortal, he could shift the tide of the planet with the snap of his fingers–let alone track down information on a mere awaken... no, a Saint-rank youth expected to enter the academy.

He wasted no time and read through the information in a single breath. His frown deepened.

"Junior brother to Emmett Lee, the Diamond Ghost-Hand Assassin King?"

But soon, a soft smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.

"We might have another genius this time–if he’s truly as exceptional as his elder brother, no?" He shook his head. "We don’t need someone as ambitionless as him. Maybe just having his talent will be enough. Thank goodness nothing happened to that kid, or else that fool would’ve already been here causing troub..."

"Are you so desperate to see me, Mr. Principal? And who did you say is a fool and ambitionless?"

A figure materialized from the shadows.