Chapter 249. Rising Influence

Sunrise hit the city of Ulford like a borrowed spirit of the summer, warm and bright.

The residents of the capital had just faced a curfew which His Majesty lifted today. Thus, as early as seven o'clock in the morning, people were out in the streets, making up for the last two days of inactivity.

Peddlers, smiths, craftsmen, teachers, drivers, cleaners - all working members of the society brought the city alive. It was like a grand theater opening up for a show.

The royal palace stood in the center of it all, its lofty presence a stark contrast to the plebeian houses below.

Well-dressed guards routinely walked on the tall walls around it. They would look at the civilians struggling for their lives from high above with a deep sense of pride.

"Hey, have you heard? One of the court mages has gone missing…" A 2nd Circle guard leaned on a bastion's railings, turning to his friend.

"Yeah, they're saying that he's succumbed to evil!"

"How can it be?" A young female guard joined in. "Sir Ivan is my idol and he's at the 4th Circle!"

"It doesn't matter." The earlier guard folded his arms. "There's even a bounty on his head."

"A bounty?" The female guard frowned. "They must be framing Sir Ivan-"

"Shh. Keep your voice down." The other two guards quickly distanced themselves from her and assumed a composed posture.

A few seconds later, a third circle captain passed by and only then did they relax.

Looking at the inner garden where the queen and her attendants were strolling, the oldest male guard complained.

"Sigh, you're going to kill us one day."

"Let's not talk about this for now…"

Hearing them, the female guard was about to say something when a bird landed on a nearby crenel.

"A message?" She quickly caught the bird and untied the piece of paper on its foot. As she began unfolding it, the other guards came beside her.

"What does it say?"

"Lord Commander!" The female guard's eyes widened. "He's back from the border."

The message quickly spread from one guard to another, reaching everyone's ears.

At the garden below, Isobel, who was with Queen Sophia, also heard this piece of news.

"It appears I'll be leaving soon, Your Majesty." The assassin smiled, as if a burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

Ever since coming to Ulford, the Isenwings had stayed at the palace on the pretense of protecting the royal family. However, they couldn't do that anymore.

Very soon, Isobel made up a reason to part with the queen. After leaving the garden, she turned into a dark shadow and entered the palace's right wing.

Another shadow followed her closely on the way. They both entered a guest room on the third floor. Inside, a tall man dressed in noble attire stood by the window.

"The Storm Holder is back." Heath turned around with a grim expression on his face.

"I've checked." Emory followed up. "Even the army is back. It appears Bors took time to gather the troops stationed around the borders. That's why he took so long."

"What do we do now?" Isobel asked.

Just as Heath was about to reply, he suddenly looked toward the open window. A grey figure flew in, blowing a gust of wind.

"Ancestor!" The clan heads quickly bowed toward the young man dressed in white robes.

"Hm." Zevik nodded. It had been three and a half hours since he returned to Ulford.

He'd even tried sneaking up in the Holy Cathedral but that Archbishop immediately sensed him. Zevik had no choice but to leave.

By now, the Paladin should've already spilled everything about the assassination attempt. However, Joseph still hadn't made his move. Something in the royal palace deterred him.

'One trouble was resolved, but now another is coming.' Zevik shook his head and turned to his descendants.

"It appears you three are already aware." He said, "I've informed the master. We must act now."

Hearing that, the three assassins felt a rush of adrenaline.

"But what about Bors? He's already at the city gates!"

"I'll hold him off." Zevik's figure swiftly disappeared from the room, but his voice remained.

"Secure the targets. Our help will arrive in at most two days."

…

Unlike for the residents of Ulford, it wasn't a peaceful morning for the people in Driftin. Monsters poured from the south while a terrifying dragon attacked from above.

By the time noon approached, half of the city was already burning.

As the provincial capital of Gaephia, the adventurers in Driftin were fairly capable. Jake was surprised to find two 4th Circlers present.

Both were members of a top B-rank party which held off the hordes of monsters for some time.

In the first wave, there were no powerhouses other than Yvonne and Jake himself. On the other hand, the second wave had a fifth circler and thirteen fourth circlers, including the four elf captains

The reason Jake had distributed his forces in such a manner was because of his confidence in the dragon girl. She alone could go against a dozen peak 4th Circlers.

Even ordinary fifth circlers wouldn't be able to do much to her. Only someone at the peak of the 5th Circle could possibly be her match.

Thus, the two powerhouse adventurers at Driftin didn't last long before being roasted to death by her flames.

"A pity." Jake sighed as he watched their charred corpses falling from the sky.

'Once I advance to the fifth circle, I'll finally be able to corrupt others.' He thought.

On the advancement to the 4th Circle, a qualitative change happens in the body and mind of a being, cementing a massive gap from the 3rd Circle.

If someone were to go one step higher and reach the 5th Circle, there would be another powerful change. The condensation of one's soul.

For beings below the 5th Circle, their soul is entirely tied to their body and only gets released once they either die or a higher being pulls it out.

However, a 5th Circler can exit out of their body and even possess others! Though possessing a living body is still extremely difficult.

They can even survive living without a body for some time. At the 5th Circle, a being has finer control of one's soul, and by extension, mana.

S/he can not only divide portions of their soul, but also perform rudimentary clone techniques. Thus, killing someone at or above this rank was way more difficult.

"My [Degeneration Halo] will be boosted a lot once I advance." Jake smirked, looking at the status screen.

[Mortal Souls Collected (185,034/100,000)]

''Looks like I'll be able to get twice the required quota of souls…"

However, that wasn't even his greatest harvest.

[Evil Points: 2,355,716]

Over these past four days, Jake had surprisingly racked up a lot of points. Although he did commit sinful activities, it shouldn't be that much.

But after checking the system logs, Jake realised something. Most of the evil points came from the acts of other people.

'In this conquest, my influence has reached far and wide.'

Greed and Pride were the greatest contributors this time, rather than just Lust.

"With two million evil points, I can buy a lot of things. But first…" Jake scrolled below, and clicked on the first icon he'd ever used in this system.

[Sinner's Roulette (Available. Requires 1,000,000 Evil Points to spin again.)]