I JUST WANT A PEACEFUL LIFE



"Therefore, the existence of the Guardian is necessary." explained Respected Flokes.

"Flokes, did you think our Heart Kingdom couldn't handle Gram waves by ourselves?" asked King Leon.

"T-This…" replied Respected Flokes.

"It seems not all of you are taking my mercy for granted. The only reason why I didn't erase all of you during the Civil War is because of the previous Archduke. And it is not because I fear him but because I respect him as my elder."

"I don't think all the moves you did all these years are known to him. No… Even if he knows it, he will not care much about it. That old geezer always liked that before and even now." said King Leon.

"You said that Guardian is needed to fend off Gram Wave. In truth, the only true Guardian is only that old geezer. As long as he stands there, no Gram will ever reach Everwhite." stated King Leon.

Hearing this, the Respected Ones couldn't help but be surprised since what King Leon said was true. The so-called Gram Wave is actually just the leftover of the real Gram Wave that passed the Ex-Archduke Dipo.

Even then, if the previous Archduke could easily care for them after he finished all the strong Gram. Still, it didn't mean the previous Respected Flokes analysis was wrong. Indeed, over the years, the number of Gram spawned is increasing.

However, this is already a known fact learned by King Leon and the Ex-Archduke. In fact, some of the people inside the noble Dipo family also know about this matter. Still, they couldn't do anything about it and only worked harder to kill Gram.

Nevertheless, gathering five sixth-grade combatants is unnecessary just to deal with the Gram Wave. Having two sixth grades is already overkill, much less five sixth grades. Anyone with a bit of brain could easily smell a conspiracy from this.

"Urgh… This… *Sigh* Alright, Your Highness. What did you want for our transgression?" asked Respected Flokes.

"Flokes!! You can't…" said one of the nearby Respected Ones.

"That's enough, all of you!! *Sigh* Did you want to have war with His Majesty? Did you think the Leader will help you when he knows about this matter? Leader… He has already lost too much. Even if His Majesty led his army to raze Everwhite, he may still not move."

"You.. No, we take his protection and His Majesty's mercy for granted. All these years, we have drunk off authority and become more greedy. Let's stop all of this before it is too late." said Respected Flokes in a somber tone.

'Hmm… I guess the advisor Flokes still hasn't gone senile yet.' thought King Leon inwardly.

Then, King Leon and Respected Ones negotiate their terms to avoid war. Though King Leon's demand was so cruel that even Respected Flokes didn't dare to agree immediately. One of his demands is to execute four guardian captains and leave only one.

As a seventh grade, King Leon knows how strong-willed sixth grade are. He knows they will prefer to die rather than submit to him. Hence, the most efficient move is to cut them off directly. It may look ruthless or inhuman, but this is not the first time King Leon did it.

There are few sixth-grade or many fifth grade he executed on his own because they would threaten his kingdom's stability. Unlike other mercenaries or adventurers, King Leon knows the conduct of the Guardian.

In his opinion, the Guardian group is similar to those zealots from the religious group. For this kind of group, there is already no hope since they will choose to die over changing sides. Their loyalty will be forever to the Guardian.

Since even his trusted person, Count Flamewaver would betray him, there is a huge chance those guardian captains will also cross him. Finally, because of King Leon's outrageous demand, Respected Flokes could only stall the negotiation while trying to change the terms.

In the meantime, Angus and his group finally decide to return to the frozen lake area the next day. After a whole night of using [Analyze] inside his space system, he could better adjust all the forging equipment and lit it without any problem.

[Analyze] The second threshold is really a broken ancient skill. By analyzing the snowy area, he could make a perfect counter rune for this fire elemental absorption.

After finishing a few adjustments and engraving the spell into his magic card, they approach the frozen lake again. The frozen lake is also often called Everwhite Basin. It is a massive frozen lake that spans dozens of kilometers away.

Magically, the center part of the lake is not frozen. The more it is to the center, the more unfrozen water can be seen. Then, this water will move to the center of the lake and turn it into a massive waterfall basin called Everwhite Basin.

The waterfall is like a bottomless abyss and never runs dry, especially with all the enormous ice elementals in the surrounding area. Based on Angus' calculation, the ice elemental in the Everwhite is enough to fill at least a small ocean or drown a few kingdoms at once.

This massive magical phenomenon is rarely seen even in this world. The last time Angus witnessed such a miraculous scene was during his adventure at the Endless Battlefield Dimension.

*MOOOO* A loud horn and animal growl could be heard from far away. In the distance, Angus and his group could see hundreds of Guardians moving in an orderly manner. Some of them are raiding ice-type beasts and giant mammoth-like beasts.

"Uwahh… Mommy! Mommy!! Look, it's eleven… Umm.. No, that's elven. But it didn't look like grass." said Anna while remembering the right word.

"Anna, it's an elephant." said Jayna gently.

"Ahh, yeah… It's phant phant." replied Anna excitedly.

Ignoring the loud troublemaker, Angus keeps observing their surroundings with vigilance. It turns out that after the previous attack, they can no longer be found by the Guardian, no matter how close they are.

'It seems the last time this happened was because of that Guardian captain. It is either he has special abilities to detect Gram or unique artifacts ability. This meant we could sneak in more easily.' thought Angus.

At this moment, everyone suddenly notices the change in the surrounding weather. A snowfall suddenly rained down out of nowhere. However, it is not an ordinary snowfall either. With Angus' sharp perception, he noticed the snowfall had a trace of miasma on it.

When the miasma concentration is too thick, the snowflakes turn more into ash rain than snowfall. Fortunately, this magical phenomenon is harmless to them.

Not to mention this thin miasma, Angus and Jayna already withstood a much worse environment during the Undermine Council incident. Still, this sudden change in the weather created a loud commotion inside the Guardian.

When they find the black ash snowflakes, some of the Guardian feels like being sentenced to death. After a few more observations, Angus finds the black ash snowflakes are a terrible omen belief for Guardian, especially before the Gram Wave.

However, it doesn't mean it is just a baseless belief or superstition. According to the senior guardian members, whenever there is black ash snowfall before the Gram Wave, it will show at least fifth-grade Gram being spawned.

It means the Leader Patimura will be occupied to fight against this strong Gram before he can take care of the other Gram. As a result, the pressure on the other Guardian Members will be increased.

Still, this has nothing to do with Angus and his group. In fact, Angus is more worried about this previous Archduke. He may not know the real story behind this Archduke or his personality.

Judging from King Leon's and Duchess Amberblaze's tone, he assumed he was an old-fashioned stubborn fool. It is the least people Angus wants to get closer to since he is inclined to be an innovator rather than a stubborn old-fashioned mind.

As they approach the lake's center, Angus starts to notice the frozen water deep below their feet is thawing, turning into water and moving into the center. Just as he wants to inspect this marvelous phenomenon out of habit, his [Great Mana Echolocation] touch with someone.

A few kilometers ahead of them, Angus could feel like an entity similar to a raging volcano. From his perception, a middle-aged man with a white stubble beard standing straight, facing the Basin in the distance.

A trace of battle scars could be seen all over his body. It shows the man's long experience in many fights and battles. The scar gives a pressure aura toward the onlooker and a sense of a unique charismatic aura.

For Angus, the previous Archduke has a unique charismatic aura different from King Leon and his Uncle Jade. King Leon's aura is more like a ferocious beast that could murder everyone, while Angus' uncle Jade is like a raging inferno.

'Judging by this strong fire elemental emitted from his body, he must be an expert at the fire elemental like Uncle Jade.' thought Angus inwardly.