Few days later
Imperial Capital
After calming himself, Reif went back to the Imperial Capital. Although he doesn't plan on stopping himself from destroying the church since it concerns his big brother's life, the incident a few days ago made him change his mind
Reif originally planned on taking the longer but steady rode. However, that all changes after knowing that his big brother was being put in such a painful situation
Reif completely loses his patience. He cannot let his big brother be in Nath's hands for long
Instead of doing things in a safer way, Reif decided to barge in completely
In front of his eyes was the magnificent Imperial Palace. All around it were all sorts of defensive mechanisms
There are barriers, offensive and defensive formations, anti-stealth and such
Even with Reif being stronger than any person out there, that is only when it comes to pure offensive power
He was certainly not the best at stealth and he cannot sneak in at such a heavily defended palace on his own. Much less doing so without anyone or anything finding his existence
The Imperial Palace was as magnificent as one would think of it. The size alone was already insanely large. Not to mention, it was created with the most outstanding materials
It wasn't just the Main Palace, even its surroundings were beautiful. It was filles with almost everything they would want their homes to have. It ranges from ponds, gardens, to large and extravagant rooms
Not to mention, the security is even top-notch. Only the church has a security that could rival it
However, what makes Reif doubtful was that there are already signs of the church in the Palace which was really weird
If Reif is the Emperor, the Monarch, the one person that holds the most power, he would definitely do everything he can to keep his power to himself
He wouldn't let anything that could threaten his power he born. If Reif was the Emperor, he would have destroyed the church before they can even expand their influence everywhere in the world
The church's presence might already be much bigger compared to the Emperor that seems to be only there as a plot device but in the end amounts to nothing
This is a really weird thing. Even if the Emperor is a man with not enough intelligence and only knows how to indulge himself with power, alcohol, and women, that would make them even angrier at the church's existence
If the Emperor is a wise man, he would have crush the church as soon as the signs of threath appeared
In other words, whether the ruler is a big fat fool or a wise man, they would still not tolerate the church's existence
However, that is far from what currently is happening. It was like the Monarch just let the Church do whatever they want to do with no care even if that influence is already seeping into their own home and territory
This is something that Reif wants to investigate and he immediately sneaks inside
The entrance and the guards are easy to trick but the deeper that Reif entered into the Palace, the higher his chance of being found out would be
Although Reif is almost 100% sure that he cannot sneak in with no mishaps, he would only be found out when he was quite deep into the Palace already
In the meantime, he has the chance to go find the Emperor without the guards trying to kill him
Reif went into a secluded garden first with little to no people and he found a lone maid
Reif immediately appeared behind that maid and he knocked her head to make her fall unconscious
After that, Reif read her memories so that he could know more about the outline of the Palace and the place where the Emperor could be seen
The information he got was quite helpful but this maid never saw the Emperor before
Well, although they are living in the same place, the Palace is just too big. A maid not being able to see the Emperor at least once wouldn't be surprising for a place this big
Even though Reif hasn't gained enough information, it still gave him a better understanding of the palace's outline
He tried his best to sneak in as discreetly as he can but when Reif was about to enter a certain building which was the Main Palace, he immediately sensed something being shot in his direction
As such, Reif immediately moved away from one of the doors to the Main Palace that immediately got destroyed by a streak of lightning that hits it
"Kill the intruder!" An old man wearing a mage's robe shouted. He has a dignified appearance and his aura wasn't to be trifled with
People like this old man that has such a large amount of mana is definitely rare in this world. Definitely a person befitting of being a guardian of this place
The detection magic that swept Reif before he was discovered is definitely this old man's doing and despite being really powerful, he didn't underestimate Reif
He called for the Palace Guards and men wearing gold and blue armor arrived
They were holding swords in their hands as they dash at Reif's direction with the intent to kill
They didn't hold back at all. Not even trying to find the intruder's identity which was smart
No matter who it was, an unknown intruder is a dangerous person. They must kill him as soon as possible and just deal with the aftermath later
Tens of swordsmen attacked Reif at the same time but before they could even reach him, a heavy gravitational pressure already bore down their bodies
The pressure was heavier than an entire mountain. Their bodies weren't even able to resist before their were forced down
Although the these guards are powerful on their own, they are still not the cream of the crop
They were stronger compared to most people but they are not the best
Among them, only the old magician packed some power
The old man wielded his long staff and a red magic circle almost as large as his body was condensed in front of him
The magic circle spewed out multiple balls of fire but no matter how strong they were, they weren't able to approach a certain direction from Reif
It was like an invisible wall was blocking them and in the next second, they were sent back to their maker
The old man was unfazed by that turn of event and he just controlled the fireball to fly into the sky and explode
That was more than enough to attract the attention of almost everyone in the Palace and it was a sign that an enemy has infiltrated
With that, more and more guards would come here
In fact, it only took a few seconds before swordsmen and magicians arrived
Reif is now suddenly facing attack from all direction and he created a repelling gravity force to send all those magic back to the enemies
Seeing how the situation is far from his liking, Reif created a spatial portal
He cannot go into certain places in the palace due to the protection it has but if he forced it, he could still come to the areas with weaker defenses
As such, a spatial portal appeared behind Reif and he step backwards to enter it when the portal was closed shut
Reif's pupiles constricted before he sensed several spatial portals around him
They must be the mages that has spatial magic as their forte. Reif only knows how to create spatial portals to teleport but his skills paled to the 'pros'
That was the reason why the enemies managed to forcefully shut the spatial portals that he had created
The spatial magic users didn't waste anytime as they tried to bind Reif through space-lock
However, that wouldn't possibly work unless they are like tens of thousands of them
If they can manipulate the space to bind Reif then he only has to destroy space to break free!
Flashes of crimson lightning energies swam all over Reif's body and every streak has shattered the space into pieces, setting him free
"H-how could this be!"
"Such power!"
"Just who is this man?"
Since everyone was focuses on trying to kill Reif before he could do any harm, they weren't able to recognize him at first until they stared hard at him
Reif was using his own face currently and almost everyone recognizes him
"Isn't that the Demon Reif?"
"What is he doing here? How dare he intrude in the Imperial Palace?!"
"Does he think that the Emperor's home is the same as other places? How bold!"
Everyone ridiculed Reif. Although they are aware that he is a powerful man but they don't think that Reif was powerful enough to face the Royal Family
Isn't Reif's lack of power the reason why he even got found out in the first place?