The first thing that he did was obviously collect information on high-level Assassins that were affiliated with the Luspel Empire.

‘Firstly, a fact is that he is an Assassin. And that he is affiliated with the Luspel Empire. I remember his weapon being Wind and Fire Wheels, but since Assassins can change their weapon whenever they want and use it, that would be hard to count as a clue.’

Once he made a list of all the things he thought of, there was not a lot of fundamental information.

‘Although there aren’t a lot of clues, since there aren’t a lot of high-level Assassins either, it could actually be easier to find him than expected.’

Ian slowly put his brain to work.

‘How should I go about this in order to find out the identity of that dude in the easiest way possible?’

He had asked his guild members to take care of the information gathering, and as he also told Carwin about the compiling of that information, Ian was thinking of digging into a different part.

‘The organization that would receive the most profit if the Pyro Domain was to fall, or even a person.’

Ian figured out what was the thing that he needed to do immediately.

‘Firstly, it’s definitely a fact that it would be most profitable for the Allied Forces of the Kaimon Empire, so now the important thing is whether the Kaimon side made the offer to the mysterious Assassin first or a certain kind of power that’s affiliated with the Luspel Empire made a proposal to the Kaimon side first…’

Ian thought that the part that there was some sort of deal between the Allied Forces of the Kaimon Empire and the mysterious Assassin was an established fact.

This was because even if the Assassin had a different kind of reason, he wouldn’t have caused trouble without demanding any sort of reward from the Kaimon side.

Since if they offered to play such a critical spy part, they would certainly be able to receive an incredible reward.

Ian, who took a moment to organize his thoughts, messaged Herz.

• Ian: Yo, Yoohyun, are you busy?

And a reply immediately came.

• Herz: No, I was returning to the domain after just finishing hunting. Why? Is there something going on?

• Ian: No, there’s nothing going on, but I have a favour to ask.

• Herz: What is it? So randomly.

• Ian: By any chance, is there a named user that you know from the Kaimon Empire side?

• Herz: Hmm… I don’t think so? Why’s that?

• Ian: That punk that stabbed us in the back during this siege warfare, we have to catch him, no? I needed someone in order to get clues.

• Herz: Hmm, I don’t have an acquaintance, but I think I might be able to find one.

• Ian: Really? How?

• Herz: I heard that there’s someone amongst our guild members who was originally affiliated with the Kaimon Empire before they reset their character after the update and changed their nationality to the Luspel Empire.

• Ian: Ooh!

• Herz: I don’t know how high of a level they were when they were affiliated with the Kaimon Empire, but still, they probably have more acquaintances on the Kaimon side than us.

• Ian: That’s right. Even if they were a low-level, if it was before the large update, they would have been an early Kailan user, so it’s possible that they have connections.

• Herz: Either way, I’ll find out and contact you then.

• Ian: Okay!

Ian, who finished his conversation with Herz, leaned his body against the comfortable chair that was inside the Lord’s castle as he closed his eyes.

And he slowly began to organize his plan.

‘There’s also the method where I just ask the executive members of the Kaimon Empire’s Allied Forces myself, but if I ask them so directly, there’s no way that they’ll tell me.’

If they were to formally acknowledge the fact that they screwed around with the siege warfare by planting a spy in the opposing nation, the status of their guilds would greatly drop even from their position.

It was even possible that they would be ripped a new one.

Since it was an act that literally broke the commercial morality of the game.

‘However, I just need to make it so that they can’t help but bite the bait.’

So, the method that Ian thought of was letting some misinformation slide into the executive members of the Kaimon Empire’s Allied Forces.

‘The Lotus Guild knows that the Assassin that opened the fortress gate of the Pyro Domain was on the same side. So, the Lotus Guild is desperate in order to find him right now. At this point, if you slightly slide in information to Ian and slowly get on his nerves, a division will occur in the Luspel Empire, and from the position of the Kaimon Empire, you will be able to inversely gain a profit. Even if this much slides through, it will be a paste bait that’s delicious-looking enough.’

Of course, Ian had no intentions of making the mistake of blindly following.

Even if he was to find out which power within the Luspel Empire committed such an act, there was no need to act rashly.

Ian, who organized all of his thoughts, suddenly stood up from his chair and mumbled.

“Alright, so for now, I just need to wait until a result comes out of this.”

Ian grinned as he opened his Familiar information window.

“Then should I go raise this dragon until then?”

The one that revived Ian and the Pyro Domain from the edge of the cliff, that Familiar was the equivalent of a treasure.

After the siege warfare was completely over, Ian opened the information window of Karceus for the first time.

Ring-.

• Karceus (War Dragon)

Level: 85

Classification: God Dragon

Rank: Legendary

Personality: Destructive

Evolution possible

Offensive Power: 2992

Defensive Power: 1318

Agility: 1420

Intellect: 1658

Vitality: 89,250/89,250

Inherent Ability

*God of War (Passive)

Proportionate to the number of enemies that are within a 150-metre radius, the Offensive Power of all allies within that radius will increase by a fixed rate.

*Dragon Skin (Passive)

Damage from all magic attacks will be reduced by 40%, while damage from physical attacks will be reduced by 10%.

If you remain unharmed for 10 seconds, you will recover 2% of your Vitality every second.

*Dragon Fear (Cooldown Time 10 minutes)

All enemies within a 50-metre radius with yourself as the centre will all fall into a ‘Fear’ state. The higher your level is compared to the enemy, the chance of falling into a ‘Fear’ state will increase, and once in ‘Fear’ state, they will not be able to attack Karceus for 100 seconds.

(Applied disregarding the immunity level of the enemy.)

*Dragon Breath (Cooldown Time 120 minutes)

Within a 50-metre range towards the front, the powerful breath of a dragon will be emitted in a fan-shape. It has the force equivalent to 2370% of Karceus’ Offensive Power, and additionally, for 10 seconds, 40% of that force will be dealt as continual damage.

(The effect will decrease to half when facing a user.)

*Polymorph (No Cooldown Time)

Using Polymorph, Karceus can transform into the form of a human. Once in the form of a human, all combat stats will decrease by 30%, and amongst his Inherent Abilities, Active Skills cannot be used.

One of the seven legendary God Dragons, War Dragon Karceus was given his abilities from the God of War.

As he has not found all of his strength yet, he is in an incomplete state.

The information window expected of a dragon was so fancy that it was truly jaw-dropping.

However, there was an aspect that Ian was a little disappointed in.

‘I needed to have leveled him up when his Potential was in a state where it was at 100…!’

Karceus’s Potential at birth was 98, and because of that, up to until almost lv 60-70, he had leveled up in a state where he lacked 2 Potential.

‘It couldn’t be helped, but…’

Against Ian’s will, he had leveled up while he fought inducted to Kaizar.

Either way, the difference between 100 and 98 Potential was minor, and based on the calculations that Ian did like a pervert in order to find out how much stats he had lost, it was a minor level where he lost less than 10 stats even if they were all added together.

However, Ian was pointlessly leery, and thanks to that, Karceus’s nickname became ‘Mojilee[1]’.

He wanted to actually name him Mojilee, but because he was an individual that already had a name before he was even born, that was impossible.

“Mojilee, summon!”

• Familiar ‘Karceus’ refuses the summoning command.

While looking at the system message that popped up, Ian grumbled.

“As expected… I needed to have named him Mojilee. If I did that, then he wouldn’t have been able to refuse my commands.”

Ian, who smirked, invoked the summoning command again.

“Karceus, summon!”

Whoong-.

And in front of Ian, a muscular man with dark purple eyes and hair appeared.

His expression looked incredibly displeased.

• I am Karceus, the War Dragon, owner.

“I know.”

• Then I would like for you to not call me by such a nickname.

However, Ian, who found Karceus’s sulky form cute, grinned as he shook his head.

“What can I do when you’re still a mojilee?”

• Whew… I am not lacking. I am a perfect dragon!

“No, your Offensive Power is lacking about 3, while your Defensive Power and Reflexes are each lacking about 2.”

• …

While looking at Karceus, who was at a loss for words, Ian smirked.

“Mojilee, should we go to level up instead?”

• Don’t want to. I’m not a mojilee.

While looking at Karceus, who frowned intently with his sharp-looking face, Ian smirked.

“Sure, well, got it. Karceus, let’s go hunt.”

As Ian opened his door and left, Karceus acted as if he couldn’t win against him and followed him out.

Karceus was a dragon that loved fighting most.

* * *

“What do you think, Ilahan. Don’t you think it’s quite a decent idea?”

The temporary barracks of the Allied Forces of the Kaimon Empire.

The guild masters of the top-ranking guilds affiliated with the empire were gathered in one spot inside the barracks and were discussing about something.

“Hmm… It certainly is a good idea. If all goes well, we’ll be able to blow our noses without even placing a hand…”

“I don’t know if Ian will be able to use that dragon that he showed during the siege warfare again, but even without that, the fighting power of the Lotus Guild is exceptional.”

“That’s right.”

“If we can come between them through this opportunity, and make Ian attack Splendor or Oaklan, we should be able get through the rear line of defense easily, no?”

After they returned with the attack on the Pyro Domain as a failure, the Allied Forces of the Kaimon Empire changed their route entirely.

While ignoring the Pyro Domain that stood alone in the middle of the central area, they chose to go with the method where they advanced towards the east continuously.

The Lotus Guild without the defensive fortress of the Pyro Domain wasn’t that threatening either way, but as there wasn’t much they could do in a state where they were isolated, they decided to just completely ignore them.

While the masters of many guilds were sharing a variety of conversations, Shyakran, who watched that image quietly from one corner, slowly stood up from his spot.

“Shyakran, where are you going?”

At Ilahan’s question, Shyakran stretched for a moment as he replied.

“By the looks of it, I don’t have an aptitude for fights like these that require a lot of brainwork, that is. Ceilron will listen instead of me.”

“Ahem…”

Shyakran whisked his arm around as he headed towards the outside of the barracks.

“Decide on your own and just notify me. Then, I’ll be on my way.”

As Shyakran left the barracks, Ilahan momentarily wore a displeased expression, but shortly after, he began to focus on the meeting instead.

And after about thirty minutes.

The meeting proceeded in the direction that Ian predicted, but instead, a variable that he didn’t even think of appeared.

This small seed conceived a large change in the composition of the continent in the future.

[1] Mojilee = Someone who is lacking just 1-2% from being perfect (ex. A guy who has the looks and money, but is a little lacking in the brain department) Sorry for the romanization, it just sounded weird to call someone just by “Lacking” ^^;;;