The Author's POV

Bang—!

The air trembled, and two powerful forces clashed in the air.

High-pitched shrill cries echoed throughout the air as demonic energy began to envelop the surroundings.

BOOOM—!

A terrifying shockwave spread out in the air, dispersing the clouds in the air.

The two responsible for this were none other than Marquis Kornivor and Marquis Atheora. The two most powerful figures around. Facing each other in the sky, a frightening pressure bore down on the demons below.

Standing up from my spot, I distanced myself a little. However, just because there was a fight going on at the moment, it didn't mean that I was still in the clear.

Despite being high up in the sky, I could feel Marquis Kornivor's gaze from above. It was filled with malice and resentment.

Understandable though.

I was indeed the one who had lured him into a trap.

Unfortunately for me, Marquis Kornivor wasn't the only one looking at me. Marquis Atheora was also looking at me.

Since this was supposed to be a quick operation that wasn't supposed to be known by the other demons, he was most likely going to silence me once the fight was over.

Not that I didn't expect this.

"It doesn't really matter."

Placing my hand on the sheath of my sword, I stood still and watched the fight that was happening above.

'The first part is done...'

Turning my head, I secretly gazed into the distance.

"Now all I have to do is wait for the next part..."

BANG—!

It was then that I felt a frightening energy coming from the sky. Lifting my head, I realized that the two Marquis-ranked demons had finally begun fighting.

"Ukh..."

Their energy caused me to step a couple of steps back. It was so strong that I almost groaned as my internal organs shook from the residual energy released from their attacks.

Channeling my mana to stop the shaking, I cursed.

"Damn it, the difference between <S> ranks and <A> ranks is huge..."

Still.

Planting my foot on the ground, I took a deep breath and calmed my mind.

"Not yet..."

I softly muttered.

***

"Cards won't replace magicians!"

"They are taking our jobs!"

"Tyranny!"

"Magic cards are what's going to reverse our progress!"

"Shame on the Demon Hunter Guild or stealing our jobs!"

Holding onto signs and megaphones, people flocked beneath the Demon Hunter Guild as they started protesting.

As this was happening, a black car with tainted black windows quietly drove by. Sitting in the backseat of a car, a girl wearing a black suit stared at the crowd with an impassive look on her face, making it hard for anyone to judge what she was thinking.

Taking her eyes away from the people, she muttered.

"The situation has gotten worse lately..."

"Do you want me to do something about it, Young Miss?"

Answering her was the driver of the car. Maxwell, Amanda's assistant.

Taking another look at the people protesting beneath the building, Amanda thought for a while before nodding.

"Yes, get rid of everyone."

Her tone was firm.

It was about time they did something about the protests.

Her decision might result in a backlash to happen against her, but she was prepared for this.

If her estimates weren't wrong, more than half of the people protesting there were paid actors hired by the other guilds in order to put more pressure on her and the guild.

After the release of the magic cards a couple of months back, they instantly swept the market and sold out on the very first day which was well above her initial estimate.

In fact, even now there was far more demand than supply for the magic cards.

It had gotten to the point where she had to purchase a couple of more processing plants to make them.

That said.

Not all was positive.

With the success of the magic cards, a lot of new problems started to arise. One of them was the massive flood of complaints and protests coming from magicians who found the cards a threat to their profession.

Amanda did reassure them that magic cards could never replace magicians, but in the end, it only served to anger them even more, leaving Amanda helpless.

To make matters worse, the other diamond-graded guilds also found the newfound success of the magic cards a serious threat to them, resulting in them becoming even more brazen when trying to put pressure on her guild.

With news of her father's disappearance becoming more and more of a reality, they started to openly suppress the Demon Hunter guild.

Just the thought caused Amanda to clench her fist tightly.

"Fine..."

She ended up muttering underneath her breath.

Amanda wasn't the type of person that let something like this happen. Since they were looking out for her blood, she decided to finally make her move.

It took her a bit to plan everything out, but with all of the money she recently gained from the magic cards, Amanda was confident in her chances of dealing with the other diamond-graded guilds.

Not only that, she had already expected such a situation to arise from the moment she released the magic cards.

The situation looked helpless for her, but it really wasn't.

"Young Miss, we're here."

Snapping out of her thoughts, Amanda looked outside the car window.

It was then that she realized she was inside the parking garage of the guild. Brushing her hair behind her ear, she opened the car door and got out.

She then proceeded to head for the elevator in the distance.

Tok. Tok.

The calm sound of her heels hitting the ground echoed throughout the parking lot. Following her from behind was Maxwell.

"Maxwell..."

Amanda called out.

"Yes?"

Halting her footsteps in front of the elevator and pressing the button, Amanda's voice became icy.

"How are the preparations for the things I've requested."

"They are already done."

"I see..."

Ding—!

A low chime sounded and the elevator door opened. Taking a step forward, she entered the elevator.

With her back still against Maxwell, Amanda muttered.

"Proceed with everything that was planned. Make sure there are no mistakes."

Opening his mouth, Maxwell eventually nodded his head.

"Understood."

His eyes began to squint.

In the meantime, the elevator door started to close.

"You understand what the consequences of your actions will bring right, young miss?"

"I do."

Amanda softly replied. Her tone was very chilly.

"But I don't care. It seems like people have forgotten just how scary the number one guild in the human domain is. It's time we show them what happens when they provoke us."

A satisfied smile formed on Maxwell's face.

"Understood Young Miss. I will carry out your orders immediately."

"Good."

Amanda nodded her head in satisfaction.

Starting from today onwards, a couple of Diamond Graded guilds will cease to exist.

Turning his wrist to glance at his watch, Maxwell suddenly recalled something.

"That's right young miss, I forgot to mention this, but Melissa has scheduled an appointment for later on today."

"Melissa?"

Turning around, surprise flashed across Amanda's face. She eventually nodded her head.

"Alright, once she comes send her to my office directly."

Ding—!

Right as her words faded, another chime sounded and the elevator doors opened.

Taking another step, Amanda got out of the elevator. Her elegant figure quickly attracted the attention of everyone that was waiting outside the door.

***

"This should be the place..."

Lowering and raising his head to make sure that he wasn't in the wrong place, Han Yufei looked at the large warehouse in the distance.

Scratching the back of his head, he put his phone away and walked toward the entrance of the warehouse.

It took him a while to convince the elders to let him join Ren's team, and it took him even longer for him to make them agree on the trade he and Ren talked about.

Well, that part wasn't actually too hard.

From the moment that he mentioned that he was going to trade the family art with another five-start technique, all the elders stopped talking.

"Why was I even worried..."

Han Yufei could still recall their sparkling eyes to this day. He shook his head at the thought.

It seemed as though he had overthought things.

Stopping in front of the door of the warehouse, he glanced around the place. On the outside, the place didn't look like anything special as there were only a couple of flowers carelessly put out as decoration. But Han Yufei wasn't one to be fooled by outer appearance, as his eyes soon paused on the doorbell of the warehouse.

Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he eventually pressed the doorbell.

"Alright, here goes nothing."

Di Dong—!

***

BANG—!

As time passed, and the fight between the two Marquis-ranked demons continued, it wasn't long before one side started to gain the upper hand.

As this was an ambush, it quickly became clear as to who held the upper hand in the exchanges.

It was Marquis Atheora.

With more forces at his disposal than compared to Marquis Kornivus, the momentum of the battle was starting to shift in his direction.

"It's over..."

But after taking another closer look, I realized that the fight was already over.

BANG—!

Another powerful blast reverberated throughout the air as a black body shot down on the ground, resulting in an enormous crater appearing on the ground. Masking my vision was a small and dense cloud of dust.

Once the dust disappeared and I managed to get a good look at what was going on, I started to get ready.

"Give it up Marquis Kornivos. You're finished."

A haughty voice rang in the air.

With a smirk on his face, Marquis Atheora looked down on Marquis Kornivos as he struggled to get up from the crater.

Despite having won the fight, Marquis Atheora didn't exactly come out unscathed. A part of his right-wing was torn, and blood leaked out from his mouth.

Beating a Marquis-ranked demon wasn't something someone of the same rank could do so easily.

"Ukh..."

Letting out a low groan, Marquis Kornivor turned around to look at how the situation with the other demons was. It didn't take too long for him to understand they had lost.

Lifting his head, he glared at the sky.

"You know the consequences of your actions, right?"

"Consequences?"

Marquis Atheora laughed out loud.

"What do you think we've spent so much time preparing for? We've sealed the whole area, and have killed everyone you brought along with you. No one will find out anything."

"Yo—!"

"Die."

Before Marquis Kornivos could reply, Marquis Atheora raised his hand and shot a powerful energy his way.

BOOOOM—!

What followed the attack was a thunderous explosion that destroyed the nearby vegetation and some of the demons that were standing nearby.

Fortunately for me, I was quite far from the location of where the energy blast was, therefore, I came out unharmed.

By the time the sound of the explosion faded, and the dest clear, all that remained of the Marquis Kornivos was a small cracked core.

"You're still alive even after that, heh?"

Descending down to the ground, Marquis Atheora grabbed the core. The smile on his face twisted even more.

"Well, it doesn't matter."

Crack—!

Squeezing his hand, the core broke into millions of pieces. Just like that, a Marquis-ranked demon had died.

Staring at the scene from a couple of meters away, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Looks like it's my turn to move now."