Lord of the Karmic Fate

Once the young man walked out hurriedly, closing the door behind his back, everyone within the room shifted their gaze at President Bai with almost identical faces.

It was needless to say, they were in deep shit right now.

"Sir... if I may..." after a lengthy silence, a man having a long beard pushed his large circular glasses up scarcely shaking, and raised a hand.

President Bai, just like the rest in the room, slowly directed their attention at the man and gestured at him to talk.

"I... I don't wish to worsen our current situation even more, but what if those four candidates are not the strongest?"

The question that the man asked was indeed correct. After all, while there were millions of people's data recorded already in their system, there were still many who decided not to share their information.

Furthermore, as people who had been recorded in the system had to refresh their data every week, there was also the possibility of others secretly getting a huge leap in strength.

It was not impossible to assume that there were others out there with either similar strengths to the 4 candidates or stronger powers and Traits than them!

When this seed of thought reached the minds of everyone within the room, in a flash, almost all of them thought about a single individual.

"That masked man... What do we know about him?" with a grave and dark face President Bai looked at a man on the other side of the table.

He was none other than Goran Vernize, current chairman of the Star Treasury, and also the one who ordered his men, including Alexios to find the mysterious man that fought against the black statue during the Special Event.

With a grim expression and clenched teeth, Goran lowered his gaze and shook his head.

"I apologize, Sir, we have yet to find him."

"How is that even possible? Couldn't you track him back through the address he had given you when you shipped that Avatar Flask?" a young woman beside Goran frowned dubiously, earning intense stares from the rest.

"Lady Dana is right. It is just impossible for you not to find that individual, even so, if he has registered anonymously." a fat man nodded with anger and doubt plastered on his chubby face.

However, despite getting intense stares akin to sharp blades, Goran still sighed and shook his head helplessly.

"We did, in fact, we have already found out that the flask was shipped to the headquarters of the Black Moon Guild, and was a young individual that took it away."

"Huh? Then how could you not find him?" the fat man inquired again which made everyone in the room nod and frown deeply.

Goran looked at everyone one by one before he closed his eyes and said, "The young woman who handed the package over to him can't seem to remember his face as she didn't pay any attention at that moment."

"That is the biggest bullshit I have ever heard!" not caring the stare he got from President Bai, the fat man slammed his fist onto the table and continued, "There must be at least a small detail she could remember! But even if there is none, what about the video recording within the facility? They must have recorded the individual's face, right?"

However, Goran shook his head once again, "Although it will sound ridiculous, for some unknown reasons, during that exact moment the young man received the package all the cameras were malfunctioning."

"How the hell is that even possible?" everyone felt dumbstruck, including President Bai himself.

Everyone knew that technology in the current era was so advanced that devices were not going to malfunction for no reason. Thus, if one says they do, the reason is either it got hacked or got destroyed.

"Whoever that masked man is, it is pretty much obvious he doesn't wish us to know who he is."

After that, silence descended on the room which lasted for several minutes before President Bai finally decided to talk;

"We have no other choice but to use 'that' to find him. Also, find out if there are people unregistered on or even above Rank 8. If there are, bring them here at all cost!"

"Understood!"

With those words, everyone stood up from their seats and hurried out of the room, some already holding phones, either texting people or calling.

As for President Bai, once the door was closed and was left alone, his previously grave and dark expression became weak and exhausted, looking almost as if he had just gotten a decade older just in a single second!

Then, after remaining in his seat for a long while, he sighed deeply and looked outside the window beside him.

"...A single soul deciding the fate of billions of lives. It is truly a question of heaven or hell, whether to live or die huh?"

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Inside Old Dan's mansion, in the living room, Raven lay on the soft and long couch with closed eyes, his body as motionless as a doll.

Time ticked by seconds and after an unknown amount of time the. The eyelids of Raven finally fluttered, indicating he was about to take up.

"Raven!" sitting right beside Raven, Luna quickly jumped onto her feet and looked at her brother with worry.

Next to her, Old Dan, Thomas, and even Kayn stood, all three of them looking at Raven with eyes full of nervousness.

With a pained groan and a deep scowl on his face, Raven pushed himself up and slowly opened his eyes, looking at everyone with a hint of puzzlement.

From his eyes, it was obvious at the moment he fell rather dizzy and was confused about what happened to him and where he was at the moment.

"Young Master, how are you feeling?" taking a step closer while extending a cup of water forward, Thomas asked with a soothing voice.

Glancing at the cup of water, Raven hesitated for a second before he accepted and drank it. It seems the way he instantly gulped down the large cup of water has pretty thirsty.

But soon enough, perhaps because of the refreshing feeling of the water, memories of what happened quickly emerged within Raven's head, freezing his whole body and causing his face to go pale.

All of a sudden, he felt sick and wished to throw up, but for some weird reason, he couldn't.

"Raven? Are you ok-" Old Dan was ready to give him a hand to support his body as he seemed to sway, but Raven quickly raised his palm and showed he was okay.

Of course, he needed about 5 minutes to be fine, which in truth only meant he didn't have to throw up. As for his feeling of sickness, cold body, pale face, and scarcely trembling body, all those things still assaulted his whole being mercilessly.

'Come one... It is not you at all! Just take a deep breath and calm down!' thinking to himself inwardly, Raven closed his eyes and began to force himself to calm down.

The last thing he wished right now was to get sick or faint again.

Taking in and out of deep breaths, it seemed Raven's condition began to undergo visible changes as his trembling finally stopped while his pale face was slowly regaining its natural colors.

"How long have I been unconscious?" once calm again, Raven opened his eyes and looked at the four standing in front of him.

Seeing that Raven was fine, everyone sighed with relief before Kayn on the side answered with his usually indifferent voice, "Just about 45 minutes."

"45 minutes..." Raven mumbled quietly, "Then that means I have only 23 hours to prepare."

"Prepare? For what?" both Thomas, Kayn, and Old Dan looked confused while Luna beside him had a stiff expression, her slim and delicate fingers tightened into firm fists.

Raven seeing her little sister like this sighed and shook his head helplessly before he waved his hand and immediately summoned his Avatar Status.

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[Avatar Status]

• Name: Raven

• Rank: 9

• True Rank: 6

• Avatar Title/s: The Blessed Prodigy (Active), Death Defier (Dormant), Chaotic Survivor (Inactive), Beast Slayer (Inactive)

• Avatar Class: None

• Avatar Imprint: Luck Boost (1st Layer)

• True Artifacts: Dice of Fate

• Fragmented Artifacts: Monarch's Crown

• Rune Marks: Death Runner (+3), True Heir's Resolve (+4)

~~~

° Vitality: 65 [20]

° Mystique: 60 [25]

° Strength: 70 [20]

° Speed: 90 [32]

° Constitution: 81 [32]

° Dexterity: 60 [20]

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The moment the floating panel appeared, everyone except Luna froze and soon their complexion paled, the harsh realization dawning on their faces in a flash.

As for Raven, he just sighed and shook his head before he showed a wry smile, "Now you understand what I have meant, right? I don't really have a choice."

The living room fell into a heavy silence, no one talking, deep in thought. Raven, on the other hand, just laughed bitterly in his heart, cackling at both his cursed luck and fate.

Now he really understood what it meant to carry the weight of the world...