Merlin who had returned to the castle felt unprecedentedly relaxed. In those few days, he did not go to Phantom, nor the palace and simply stayed within his castle.

"Swish."

Suddenly, a shadow swiftly vanished from the castle. When Merlin looked up, there was a note on his table. He reached out to pick it up and carefully read its contents.

After reading it, Merlin used the candle's flame to burn the slip of paper to ashes, his face falling into a contemplative look.

"The king had made the decision to quickly gain control of the power vacuum left after the Princess Royal 'died' and he's indifferent towards the second prince, merely sending out the order to seize Shadowthorn. As for Shadowthorn, I wonder if there are dozens, or more than a hundred, of his wanted posters."

Merlin shook his head. Although he was in the castle and did not go out, he still knew everything about the palace and even the whole Holy Dragon Empire. This was the advantage of having intelligence.

As the Deputy Minister of Phantom, Merlin's position was not meaningless. Using the fortune of contribution points he had received from the previous mission, he had let Iza, Shiya, and the rest operate things. Now, he had gradually infiltrated every department of Phantom Headquarters.

Of course, the most important target was the Intelligence Team. These reports were sent by members of the Intelligence Team who had been converted. Whatever intelligence Merlin wished to learn about, it would be delivered endlessly from the Intelligence Team.

Currently, Merlin was like Farron and the King. Even if he did not go out, information on anything that happened at that time was still made known to him. Merlin only controlled a very small part of Phantom for now but the more he understood, the more he realized Phantom's fearsomeness. No wonder the King who merely controlled Phantom was able to suppress the second prince and the Princess Royal.

"I wonder what Lisa will do."

Merlin slowly got up to leave the castle and walked towards the palace.

Soon enough, Merlin reached the palace and went to the Princess Royal's place. Currently, the palace was dead silent, with only the Princess Royal alone inside.

"Lisa, what have you decided? What will you do?"

The Princess Royal stood up, her beautiful face as cold as frost. She said coolly, "That Father King of mine must be a dotard. Since he paid no judgment to that good little brother of mine, I don't have any reservations. Leon, are you confident in facing Second Brother's full-shifters? They're much stronger than the Black Gorilla King."

The Princess Royal exuded a harsh aura.

Merlin's expressions remained calm as he slowly replied, "I'm only worried about one person – Farron!"

"Farron?"

The Princess Royal was silent. If Farron was involved, this thing would be hard to carry out. Nonetheless, Merlin continued, "In truth, I wish to have a go at Farron myself. Back then, he saved me. I still haven't found the chance to repay him. If he interferes this time, I'll stop him!"

Merlin's words were resolute and firm, revealing no room for questioning. Even the Princess Royal felt a slight shiver in her heart. She did not expect Merlin to have grown to a point where he could truly threaten Farron.

At least, Merlin had the courage to face Farron. In the royal family of the Holy Dragon Empire, ] no one was brave enough to face Farron other than a few old fellows who lived in seclusion.

The Princess Royal drew in a deep breath, made a decision, and said softly, "Very well, we'll do this then. This time, that good brother of mine won't be so lucky. Come on, I want to give him a big, big surprise."

A trace of excitement flashed through the Princess Royal's eyes for once. Perhaps this was something she had always looked forward to.

…

Within a secret chamber of the second prince's, he and the three full-shifting old men were discussing how to handle Shadowthorn.

"Everyone, the three days are up. Shadowthorn can't possibly locate this secret room. How confident are you three in confronting Shadowthorn?"

The second prince's face was ashen. In truth, they had discussed this three days ago, but the three full-shifting old men dared not guarantee they could kill Shadowthorn. This had infuriated the second prince. High and mighty full-shifters who were relatively powerful than other full-shifters, and they could not even deal with Shadowthorn?

The three full-shifters exchanged glances and finally came to a decision. They said in a low voice, "Your Highness, as long as Shadowthorn shows himself in the main foyer, we'll spare no effort in killing him. Moreover, to prevent him from getting suspicious, we must not arrange for secret backup and only have the four of us. Only then can we get Shadowthorn to really let down his guard."

"That's right. As an assassin, one who's even ambushed full-shifters before, Shadowthorn isn't simple at all. We must not let him become suspicious in the slightest. Otherwise, if he turns into a shadow, it'll be hard for us to kill him."

These old men analyzed the method to kill Shadowthorn. He could turn into a shadow, which was strange indeed. They could not guarantee that they could fully deal with Shadowthorn. Still, as long as he appeared, they still had some confidence.

"A mere Shadowthorn – if I can't even kill him, how can I accomplish anything greater? Humph, the Princess Royal is already dead. This Shadowthorn dares to threaten me. D*mn him! After killing him, my forces will be consolidated. I'm sure Father King will perceive the overall situation clearly."

The second prince had already decided to kill Shadowthorn today.

"Let's go. We'll wait in the main foyer. Once Shadowthorn shows himself, we'll strike!"

The second prince stood up. Once he had made up his mind, he had to carry it out even if it was difficult. Furthermore, if he dealt with Shadowthorn, who was a headache to the royal family, the second prince would have made the first step in gathering his forces.

Killing Shadowthorn was the first step in the second prince's seizing of the throne. He could already see himself leading, quelling the rebellion in the Holy Dragon Empire. The hundreds of millions of people of the Holy Dragon Empire would pay attention to his name.

…

Within the well-lit foyer, a black shadow appeared without anyone realizing and gradually turned into a black-attired, masked man. He carried a slender sword on his back which induced a chilling sensation.

"Your Highness, the three days are up. Have you given it any thought?"

Shadowthorn was as elusive as a spirit. No one had found out how he appeared, nor where he came from. His voice was also incomparably cold and made them feel a bone-cutting chill.

"Shadowthorn, since I've promised you, I'll fulfill my promise. Alright, follow me but you're not allowed to bring any weapons."

The second prince stared steadily at Shadowthorn.

Shadowthorn thought about for a moment, then flung off the sword on his back. He knew that the head of the Sacred Lion Beast was the royal family's greatest secret, their most important place. There must not be any errors.

"Very well, follow me."

The second prince slowly stood up. Seeing that Shadowthorn had truly let down his guard, a barely subtle cold smirk flitted over his lips.

"Boom."

Suddenly, the three old men shapeshifted instantly, exploding with unparalleled strength. They formed a circle and trapped Shadowthorn within.

"Kill him!"

Without any more chatter, the three full-shifting contenders ruthlessly aimed their strongest attack at Shadowthorn directly.

At this time, although Shadowthorn had recovered his senses, it was too late to escape when faced with the attacks of the three full-shifters.

"Shadowshift!"

Shadowthorn let out a shout. Immediately, his entire person transformed into a shadow. However, faced with the attacks that filled the air, coming from all directions, this was not enough.

"In so many years, you're the first ones to learn my secret. In fact, I'm no longer a fourth-form shifter, but… A full-shifter!"

"Boom."

After Shadowthorn spoke, a huge swathe of shadow emerged. The whole foyer seemed to darken, blanketed in a layer of gloom.

"Supreme Talent?"

The three full-shifters were astounded. They did not expect that Shadowthorn would hide his secret so well. He was already a full-shifting contender and had a Supreme Talent.

It appeared that this Supreme Talent was very formidable.

"Bang bang bang."

Three mighty attacks smashed heavily into Shadowthorn. Although he had Shadowshifted and was a full-shifter, he still could not fully withstand it and was instantly injured grievously.

However, he was not dead and just heavily injured. His Shadowshifting technique was powerful indeed with the ability to reduce the damage to its lowest impact.

"Second prince, what you've given me today, I'll return the favor tenfold someday!"

Shadowthorn's figure vanished without a trace, leaving only his cold voice echoing in the main foyer.

The second prince's face changed greatly. Shadowthorn was actually so hard to handle. They had been ready, and three full-shifters had attacked at once, but he still escaped in the end.

As the second prince felt a chill gripping his heart at the thought of Shadowthorn's terrifying ability to approach anyone silently.

"No, we mustn't let him escape. Kill, kill him!"

The second prince roared in fury. It was too bad that they had not brought other full-shifters other than the three most powerful full-shifting contenders because they were worried about Shadowthorn finding out rousing his suspicions.

One of the full-shifters, despite feeling unwilling, still said powerlessly, "Your Highness, it's futile. Shadowthorn has already fled. It'll be hard for us to catch up to him."

The second prince was in a terrible rage and yelled, "How did you guys prepare? Didn't you say that once he appears, you were confident in killing him? Why did he manage to escape just now?"

"Your Highness, this Shadowthorn had hidden his secret too well. Who would know that he's actually a full-shifter already? Plus his Shadowshifting technique is too much. We couldn't kill him in one blow. To actually kill him would be too hard. According to Shadowthorn's personality, I'm afraid we must be careful at all times. Your Highness, you'd better stay within the palace. Don't just go out as you wish."

The three full-shifters were somewhat helpless. A troublesome character like Shadowthorn would be monitoring them at all times once he escaped. They were restricted in everything they did.

However, they could only do this for now.

"I don't care what method you use. You must kill Shadowthorn!" The second prince spoke coldly. He had not expected that in the heights of his lofty aspirations, he had failed at the first step just as he was about to seize the throne.

"My good brother, it's merely Shadowthorn. How about if Elder Sister helps you solve the problem?"

Suddenly, a sweet voice came from outside the foyer. The second prince and the three full-shifters felt their expressions changing into looks of disbelief. They stared bewilderedly out of the foyer.

"Bang."

The doors of the foyer were thrown open and a figure came flying backward from outside, crashing heavily into the ground. This figure's face was deathly white, appearing to be at his last gasp.

"Shadowthorn?"

They saw that this person on the ground who put up no resistance was Shadowthorn, whom they were so helpless against just now. Nevertheless, now Shadowthorn was sent flying by someone straight into the foyer, completely without the strength to retaliate.

"Swish."

The second prince stood up abruptly, not even glancing at Shadowthorn who was on the ground. His piercing stare was fixed firmly on a familiar figure who was sauntering in from outside the hall.

"Lisa!"

The second prince lowered his voice and growled coldly.