Chapter 237: The Prophecy

"What do you mean the assassination failed?" A furious voice echoed through the Goblin Guild’s main office in the capital.

"I’m sorry, sir! We didn’t expect the target to be that strong," a young woman stood in front of Jason with her head lowered in fear.

It was clear she didn’t dare lift her head. Meanwhile, the furious man glared out the office window in frustration.

"What’s the current status?" Jason asked.

"All of the attackers are dead except for one. As for their bodies... we weren’t able to recover anything," the young woman replied.

Jason sighed and sat down in his chair. He hadn’t expected a mission to kill a kid who had only Awakened two months ago to end in failure.

How was that even possible? According to official records, the kid was only D-rank. No matter how strong he was, he shouldn’t have been able to wipe out the entire team they sent.

"Did you investigate whether someone was protecting him?"

"According to our investigation, the target seems to have a good relationship with the head of the Awakened Association in Sentis, but..."

"But what? Finish your sentence."

"Based on what we learned from the one surviving assassin... all the others were killed directly by that kid," the woman said hesitantly, clearly afraid the news would make her boss even angrier.

"How could that even be possible?" Jason growled. He couldn’t believe it.

To him, that was complete nonsense. A kid who Awakened just two months ago—even if he was extremely talented—should only be able to fight mid or maybe high C-ranks at best.

The group he had sent for the assassination could take down even B-rank Awakened with ease.

Unless that kid was actually as strong as a B-rank... which was flat-out impossible.

The idea that this kid could match a B-rank? That was even more ridiculous. He’d rather believe the world was ending tomorrow.

But that bastard being B-rank level? No way in hell.

"So what do we do now, sir?" the young woman asked cautiously, the silence around them pressing.

"Isn’t it obvious? Just send another group to finish the job."

"Umm, I don’t think we can..."

"What do you mean?" Jason’s eyes gleamed with rage.

"Guild Everlight Moon found out about our assassination attempt. They’ve issued a direct warning—if we go after the boy again, they’ll step in. And the warning came straight from that old man."

"That old bastard? Why the hell would he protect the boy? Don’t tell me he’s some secret son or grandson?"

"We don’t know exactly either, but from our research, it seems like Naya Everlight has a close relationship with Daniel Noir. She even offered him a spot in the guild. And now it looks like the boy’s caught the old man’s attention," the woman answered.

Jason went quiet, a headache creeping in. Things were getting more complicated than he’d expected.

If that old man made a statement like that, then they couldn’t make another move unless they wanted serious trouble—and any further assassination attempts would probably require approval from Jason’s father or brother.

"Call off the assassination plans... for now."

"Understood, I’ll issue the order right away."

"What’s the update on James?" Jason shifted the topic.

"The heir successfully cleared the third floor and has reached peak B-rank," the young woman replied with excitement. Even though she had been scared the entire time, she couldn’t hide her excitement when it came to James.

And how could she not be excited? The hidden heir of the Goblin Guild was breaking records left and right.

"Ha... that’s good. But where is the boy? Shouldn’t he have come straight to report to his superior after leaving the Tower?" Jason said in a darker tone.

"Well, after exiting the Tower, he immediately went to the combat simulator to challenge Lady Diana’s record."

"Oh? Does he know that the record isn’t hers anymore?"

"I think he’ll realize soon enough," the secretary replied.

Jason nodded. It looked like what he had tried to prevent was going to happen anyway.

"What a pain... Anyway, tell him to come see me once he’s finished."

The secretary nodded and left to carry out her orders.

"Troublesome days are coming..."

Meanwhile, in the Celestial Domain, in an unknown location, there was a palace known as the Hall of Fame.

If Daniel had been here, he would’ve been shocked—it was built in the exact style of ancient Greek architecture. More specifically, it was like a replica of Mount Olympus.

Inside that majestic place, an old man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, seemingly meditating.

Sensing a shift in the fate of the world, he slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of gray pupils.

It seemed he hadn’t opened them since the last time a change in the rankings occurred.

He looked up at a glowing golden board—ten lists, ten different rankings, each with its own title.

But his gaze settled on the second list. The name that had held the top spot for decades had fallen to second place... and a new name had taken the lead.

"Daniel Noir – Seven Stars," he muttered to himself, his tone filled with surprise and shock... and something hidden—fear.

He looked to the first list, the one beside it. The previously unknown name had now been replaced with something else.

Daniel Noir – Seven Stars.

"So it’s the same person... First, he took the record of the first floor from the founder of the Elthanor Empire, and now he took the second floor record from the old monster... I wonder how he will react to this, haha."

Out of curiosity, he waved his hand, and a projection of the River of Fate appeared in front of him.

He wanted to know who this person was, the one who had claimed two records.

The power of Fate glimmered in his eyes. For a moment, it looked like the destiny of the entire world was reflected in them.

Cough cough—but suddenly, he coughed up blood. The power of Fate was cut off, and the projection of the River of Fate vanished.

"He’s been marked... by that madwoman," an indescribable fear flickered in his eyes.

He couldn’t learn anything about the boy’s origins or background, but he did discover that the boy had been marked—by the woman known as the Mad Empress.

"Could the prophecy really be true...?" The power of Fate flickered in his eyes again.

This time, he began to burn away his own lifespan in order to uncover the truth he sought.

His face aged instantly, countless wrinkles appearing, and even one of his eyes went blind.

But even at the cost of an eye, he found the answer he was looking for.

"The prophecy... the prophecy that speaks of the apocalypse... has begun."