Affinity:Chaos

"How incompetent can you people get?" The old man in the middle asked gently. 

His voice was low but steady. 

The current Emperor bowed his head, unable to answer. This was the first time something like this had happened in the castle, and being the one in charge, he was naturally the one who would be blamed when his superiors came. 

"Great Grandfather, if I…" 

"You too, with your intelligence, I expected you to find this person right from when that kid was almost assassinated. But you've all disappointed me," The old man interrupted Jason. 

Jason dropped his head, not daring to speak up again. Unlike his Father, in the face of his Great Grandfather, he didn't have any courage. 

The Sage Plane experts in the hall kept quiet, afraid to offend the old man any further. 

"Brother, scolding them wouldn't change anything," An old man almost identical to the one Jason referred to as Great Grandfather calmed the old man down. 

"Father, you should be a little lenient with Robert. We've been active for hours now, and we haven't even been able to locate the perpetrator as well," The last old man spoke up, albeit, respectfully. 

"This doesn't mean we can forgive his negligence," The old man in the middle said coldly. 

"I understand, he'll be punished once this whole thing is settled."

"Since it's already like this, what do you think we should do? The Azure Empire is using this opportunity to push into our territory, and the other two empires aren't letting go of the chance as well." The Emperor reported their current situation to them. 

Just like the Lenz organization, the upper echelons in the castle have been able to get their hands on a communication device. With its aid, they naturally knew what was going on on the battlefield. 

The faces of the old men turned dark, exchanging glances between themselves. 

"Where are the kids?" The present Emperor's father asked. 

"The one who was almost killed is still bedridden, while his friends are keeping him company. Of all three of them, he's the one with the most mysterious background, and it could also be said he has the most potential…" Jason gave a general rundown of Grey and his friends. 

When they started to search for Grey, he did a background search and no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to find anything about his parents. Other than how they suddenly appeared and disappeared from Red City, he got nothing else. 

If Grey wasn't here, it would've been like they never existed. 

After listening to the report from Jason, the old man in the middle gave his verdict. 

Jason also told them of his suggestion of executing Grey and his friends in front of everyone. 

"Can we confirm that they consumed the Great Earth Essence Liquid?" The old man in the middle asked. 

"We'll take their cores from their bodies once they're dead. Killing them secretly won't change our current situation since the others will think we are only lying, but if they are killed in front of everyone in the city, then it wouldn't be a problem anymore. The other empires will naturally call back their troops, while we will take the chance to eliminate the Azure Empire. After all, this is our empire, we have greater power here," Jason replied calmly. 

The old man in the middle nodded his head to Jason's words, just as he was about to make an input, his pupils dilated, before a terrifying elemental essence exploded out. 

Extreme cold spread in all directions, almost freezing Jason and the current Emperor who were below the Sage Plane. 

The old man could be seen shaking vigorously, and his eyes were bloodshot. 

"Find this person now!" He exclaimed at the top of his lungs. 

"Brother, what happened?" The man identical to the old man in the asked. 

"The treasury," The old man in the middle didn't need to say more. 

Everyone could sense the extreme anger in his voice. After leaving these words, he vanished into thin air. 

The two old men by his side exchanged gazes before disappearing as well. 

The face of the Emperor turned sour, while Jason wore a frustrated expression. From the old man's statement, they knew that someone had entered the royal treasury. 

If it were to be the same person, then it would be terrible. Luckily, the old man made an array that informed him the instant someone stepped into the treasury. Unlike other arrays that focused on sensing new auras, this one focused more on physical touch. 

There was no way one could hide from physical touch. As long as anyone stepped into the treasury, even if it was a single step, he would be alerted. 

The other Sage Plane Elementalists in the hall kept their heads down before going out as well, heading in the direction of the treasury. Since the old man left almost immediately he sensed the intruder, then he would definitely be able to capture the person before they escaped. 

Jason and the Emperor followed behind as well. 

The royal treasury wasn't far from the castle's building. Just like most treasuries, it was located underground, in a secure location. 

….

When the old man and his brother got to where the treasury was located, the Sage Plane Elementalist guarding it could be seen sitting cross-legged out with eyes closed. His expression was a serene one. 

On seeing him, the old man flared up, attacking instantly. 

"Useless fool!" 

Extreme cold gushed out of the old man, and the Sage Plane expert opened his eyes when he sensed it. He wanted to retaliate, but on seeing who it was, he stopped instantly, letting the cold rush towards him. 

He was frozen to the ground, with just his head left out. 

The old man went straight to the rock blocking the treasury, and when he opened it, his eyeballs nearly fell out. 

"How could this be possible?" He staggered, almost falling to the ground. 

His brother who was by his side felt like he wanted to spurt out blood. He couldn't believe his eyes as well. 

It hadn't even been up to a minute, yet the entire royal treasury was empty. This was a royal treasury, not the regular city treasury. 

"Impossible…" He muttered, dumbfounded.