When it was already morning in Leopoldine...
In the capital of this state, news of the deaths of the specialists who were to take Lothur to the Imperial Prison had already reached the groups of the Second and Third Princes.
The operation had been ordered by the Third Prince, Lars. Still, Klaus Leopoldine was aware of everything, so he had soon been notified of the failure of his younger brother's plans.
But contrary to what one might imagine, Klaus was not at all happy about Lars' failure. After all, as much as those two level 17 elders who went to Peters City had sided with the Third Prince, they were relevant members of the Leopoldine family at the end of the day.
That family would feel their deaths!
Meanwhile, not only those two had died. Even two members of the Imperial Prison who were previously waiting for those two at the Cavaliere post perished as well.
Thus, after receiving this news this morning, he could not help but express his displeasure as he spoke to his men.
"So the damned Lothur escaped? How could that have happened? He shouldn't have the strength for it, or he wouldn't have been arrested in Peters City." Klaus questioned his advisors while still dressed in his sleeping clothes, having been awakened by such news.
One of the imperial guards from Klaus' faction then said. "Our groups are moving to begin investigations, Your Highness. But for the moment, we have no idea. Those formations that arrested him should be powerful enough to hold even His Majesty..."
"Hmm, only someone from outside, controlling our men, could have released him."
"So someone powerful intervened in escorting this group to the Imperial Prison?" The prince asked, not liking that at all. "Who would do that? Daemon?"
"It's possible."
"But that would be risky... He would have to leave his post and show himself in a relatively dangerous place." One of the men with the Second Prince said, thinking that much more was to come if it was Daemon's doing.
That man would not risk so much just to save his son!
"But thinking on the bright side, if this is Daemon's doing, it could mean that our plans in the Three Great Lakes Region will have a better chance of succeeding."
"Oh?"
...
In another part of the imperial palace...
Lars had also been awakened by his men with the news of the death of 4 Nascent Soul Transcendents of his family the night before.
Since Lothur's arrest was his plan to hurt Daemon and end this enemy who had imposed several defeats on him, Lars was many times more furious than Klaus!
"Doom! I curse your name, Lothur!" He shouted as he smashed the furniture in the living room of his residence.
Meanwhile, three of his most trusted men stood in that place, well-dressed in their armor, while they had terrible looks on their faces.
The family had lost a lot of power in a single night!
"Your Highness, what shall we do? That was probably a move by Daemon." One of the three said, worried. "If that is the case, I believe he will soon attack the capital... We must prepare ourselves."
"Hmm, Daemon said that when he returns, he would turn this city upside down and not forgive his opponents..." Another of them remembered.
Hearing that, Lars clenched his fists, feeling terrible about losing Lothur and still being at risk of facing Daemon after this sudden weakening of his family.
To make matters worse, his father was in seclusion, and no one knew how long the emperor would take to return.
Some said he had chances to advance his cultivation a little further, even without changing levels. Perhaps this would give him a few more years of life in this world, but there were no guarantees.
Thinking about how this family could face Daemon without the Emperor, Lars felt fear once again, something that hadn't happened since the departure of the First Prince.
He then said. "Start investigating the matter urgently! In the meantime, send orders for our top experts to return to the capital. We are in a state of emergency as of now!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
...
Meanwhile, in the imperial throne hall, Emperor Leopoldine's younger brother, the Supreme Elder of this family, was receiving this news in his role as temporary regent.
"So they died, huh?" He said in a worried tone. "Is that Daemon's thing? But why would he do that now? I thought he wouldn't get involved with us while my brother was alive."
"That had been the promise..." One of the higher-ranking imperial guards said as he stood alone with the Supreme Elder in that important place. "But Daemon was always fickle. Hard to predict his movements. Maybe he changed his mind."
"I don't know. Despite everything, Daemon is very much like his father. He was always someone who could follow through on his promises... Maybe it was someone else."
"Who would it be? I don't see anyone else in the entire empire with the ability to stop this group and rescue Lothur Ritter."
"Hmm, we don't know the strength of Lothur's mysterious mother. That could have been her doing!" The emperor's younger brother commented, worried if this meant that her group would act against their family.
That guard frowned and worried, "What would we do if it was that person?"
"Hmm, communicate with the Jansen family. I will see if they will help us in that matter." He said, indicating one of the houses that lived in Leopoldine's shadows, but was a power many times stronger than the imperial family.
Gulp!
"I will do that urgently!"
...
While the powers in the capital were moving, Lothur counted the minutes to the moment he could finally reuse his bloodline ability.
After an entire night of hiding, no one had found him because of his difficult-to-track speed.
Because of this, he had enough time to use his visual ability and knowledge of formations to study the formations of this city.
He now knew more or less how they worked, and even though he had no idea how to escape at the moment, he now had enough to confirm his theories.
If he used his bloodline ability there, only those inside the Imperial Prison would feel the worrisome spiritual fluctuations that could draw the attention of powerful cultivators in Concordia!
With that, he was confident in going ahead with his plans, waiting for the moment when his ability would finish recovering for him to show himself to the enemies looking for him around this city.
'Just a little more... I will soon dominate this place!' He thought, tracking the movements of the people in the surrounding area, prepared to move once more and maintain his unknown position.