Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

Veronica died on the spot.

She was not even given a chance. Arthur's overwhelming might and presence coupled with her own unstable mental condition caused her a quick and easy death.

The participants had ashen faces as they watched a Grandmaster ranker kill one of their own like swatting a fly. They wondered if they were supposed to be wary of Layos or rankers on the same side as them.

The Duke had decided to kill one person as soon as he could- Jaime. It had been made very clear to him that Jaime was working for Layos' kingdom from the beginning. However, the guy was not present at the Arena. He locked himself in the broadcast tower. Therefore, Arthur needed to wait a bit before settling his score with Jaime.

"Arthur. I'll not say anything about this incident since your son died. But you better behave yourself now. We have guests at our house."

Hansen spoke calmly while looking at Gregory Grant. And for a fraction of a second Arthur was exposed to Hansen's aura that almost made his heart skip a beat.

Arthur took a step back from his position when he realized how domineering Hansen Lehan could get. The Duke knew that his political power was of no use against a Sage like Hansen. So he could only adjust his gears according to Sage's instructions.

"Ye… Yes, Sage Hansen. I'll be careful."

Arthur was forced to calm down. And he was glad about Sage Lehan's intervention as well.

He gestured to his men and they stored Jason's dead body in a special, palm-sized spatial artifact. The Duke had decided to give proper last rites to his talented son. He had plenty of people to blame, he thought. His grief can also wait. Dealing with Gregory Grant and his people was more critical at this point.

Hansen was satisfied with the Duke's response to his words. He then turned to his right and looked at another grieving ranker– Roth Riverine. Earl from House Riverine attempted to locate Ken among all the survivors. He also checked all the dead bodies that had left Sansara World.

Since Ken wasn't present anywhere in any form, Roth could only conclude that Ken had died in such a way that not even his body remained. This realization made Roth so sorrowful that he didn't even know what Arthur had done earlier. And the old earl was too mature to gloat at what Arthur had to face.

Unlike Arthur who was riddled with guilt for Jason's death, Roth was immersed in pure sadness over Ken's death. He neither saw the need nor had the strength to express his sadness through anger and violence. Roth felt like his limbs had become powerless, making him vulnerable to enemy attacks.

Hansen understood that Roth was in danger of being targeted by enemies when things became serious. So the Sage ranker decided to do something about the gloomy atmosphere his side was suffering from.

"Roth, Arthur, and every other ranker who has lost someone they know in this event, you have my condolences. Death and suffering are part of being a ranker. Still, we need to express grief for losing someone or something significant to us. This expression is for the departed as well as for the living.

You can blame the kingdom's policy for these deaths. And I, on behalf of Edinburgh, am ready to accept that blame. I am responsible for many deaths. A few more wouldn't matter.

I know it might sound heartless to some, but the living associated with the dead can ask for compensation from the kingdom. We will do all we can to make it up to you."

Hansen's voice was emotionless and firm. And yet, it calmed participants and rankers.

"That being said, I ask you to control your emotions. Be it grief or excitement of clearing the graduation, you can feel what you want to feel after we take care of the uninvited guests.

If you really want to experience anything, feel the wrath. You must feel angry towards Layos' forces for forcing us to take these extreme measures. They are your real enemies. The ones you need to focus on at all times."

Hansen changed his audience's mood with his simple yet effective speech. Participants and other rankers viewed Layos' forces with animosity.

Even the participants who had survived for weeks inside the Sansara World felt hatred towards the kingdom of Layos. That's because it was because of the infiltrators that they had to suffer so much.

"If we can just…."

Hansen was about to motivate his audience. But he stopped speaking when he received news from someone through voice communication. The Sage's eyes lit up when he heard positive news from his underlings.

"Never mind. I just received some good news, everyone. We will now cull the pests that have tried to mess with us."

The opaque domain that protected the participants from potential enemy attacks started flashing newly introduced runes on its layer. These runes did nothing to strengthen the domain. Instead, they had special effects on the participants– or rather, the infiltrators serving as participants.

"Aaaaaaaargh"

"Aaaaaaah… Heeeeeelp! It burns. My face burns."

"Get it… get it off me…."

The infiltrators, who relied on their elven masks all this time, cried in pain and agony. They scratched their faces with their nails to get the artifacts off their faces. But the masks couldn't be removed for some reason. Infiltrators' faces were burned with newly introduced runes.

The protected domain ensured genuine participants' safety. But it acted as a cage for the infiltrators who looked forward to leaving Eden with their identities intact.

It seemed that the kingdom of Edinburgh had finally come up with countermeasures against the elven artifacts. These artifacts threatened the kingdom's internal and external security.

As such, the kingdom wasn't satisfied with lackluster ways. It not only wanted to identify the infiltrators but also make them suffer for their impudence to take the kingdom for granted.