Shang left the cave and walked over to the entrance.

Desert Storm was simply sitting near the edge of the entrance, waiting for Shang. Of course, he had already noticed that Shang had finished his breakthrough.

"Congratulations," he said with a smile as he stood up.

Shang only nodded and walked past Desert Storm without answering.

Right now, Desert Storm was more interested in Shang's sword since it had grown a lot. 

It wasn't too unusual to carry a small sword around, even if one wasn't fighting with it. Some people used them as jewelry or accessories, while others used them as materials for Spells that required external materials to show their full effect. The Magnetism Concept for lightning was one of these things.

Some people also just transformed their Foci into the shape of a sword. A Focus didn't specifically need to look like a round ball with several circlets around it.

pAn,Da-n0v e1,c<o>,m However, one thing was always the same.</o>

The Focus was not very big.

And now, White Ghost was suddenly walking around with a humongous sword that was nearly three meters long. 

That was unusual.

But Desert Storm already had a suspicion. In fact, he had already come to that suspicion while Shang was breaking through.

When Shang had broken through, Desert Storm hadn't felt White Ghost's mind reach the Archmage Realm. 

In fact, he had felt White Ghost's mind reach the High Mage Realm.

Usually, this wouldn't be anything unusual since White Ghost was known for continually hiding his power in front of everyone. He always made it appear like his mind was at the Peak True Mage Realm.

That was obviously fake.

Yet, during a breakthrough, someone wouldn't have the time or concentration to mask the fluctuations of their mind from everyone else. 

But White Ghost's fluctuations had still been the same, and everything had appeared very much like a True Mage reaching the High Mage Realm.

The only difference was that there was much more Mana entering White Ghost's body.

Such a breakthrough couldn't be faked without a third person focusing on faking the fluctuations.

So, what did this mean?

The only reasonable explanation was that White Ghost's mind had reached the Initial High Mage Realm, but reasonable was only subjective here.

How could a True Mage possibly kill Early Archmages?

That only left one possibility, even though the chances of that possibility being the truth were just slightly higher than believing that a Peak True Mage could kill an Early Archmage.

White Ghost wasn't relying on his mind during fights, which meant that he wasn't a Mage.

However, Desert Storm still couldn't wrap his mind around that.

Believing any of these explanations was beyond difficult. It just seemed impossible.

After walking past Desert Storm, Shang stopped.

"How long did I take?" Shang asked.

"About four hours," Desert Storm said. His politeness felt more artificial than before.

It was almost like he was a bit more apprehensive than before.

Desert Storm was not sure what he should think of White Ghost right now.

He had always held a lot of respect for White Ghost. After all, White Ghost managed to succeed in several extremely difficult missions while still being in the Peak High Mage Realm.

His talent and power were probably one in a million in Desert Storm's eyes.

Yet, he wasn't a Mage?

Desert Storm had no idea what he should think of White Ghost anymore, which made him uncertain about White Ghost's goals and actions.

"We don't need to change our route?" Shang asked.<novelnext>please visit panda(-)N0ve1.co)m</novelnext>

Desert Storm furrowed his brows and looked at Shang.

After the last two questions, Desert Storm became even more suspicious.

It was obvious that White Ghost's secret would be unveiled during his breakthrough and that every person watching him would realize it.

Under normal circumstances, White Ghost's escort should have been informed prior to the start of the mission to avoid any misunderstandings.

But Desert Storm hadn't been informed, and this shocking revelation had come very suddenly.

It was almost like it didn't matter if Desert Storm knew or not.

"No," he said slowly.

For a while, Shang just stood there.

Desert Storm looked at Shang with slightly narrowed eyes.

For some reason, the atmosphere felt tense.

"I wonder what you did," Shang said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself.

When Desert Storm heard that, all his suspicions were confirmed.

He immediately knew what would happen now.

WHOOOOM!

Desert Storm immediately activated his Mana Shield.

At the same time, intense Light Mana came out of Shang's body, completely isolating Desert Storm's vision and Spirit Sense from the outside world.

The entire world seemingly turned white, and Desert Storm immediately activated Mana Step.

But it failed.

Desert Storm's eyes widened in terror as he felt the Mana he had used to cast Mana Step suddenly vanish.

At that moment, Desert Storm wasn't thinking about Shang, surprisingly.

No, the image of the Keeper appeared inside his mind.

‘Are you serious?! I wasn't even sure if I would go through with it! I was just looking through my available options!'

‘You didn't need to immediately go for my throat! Are you honestly willing to sacrifice the second strongest Named Agent you have just because I looked towards the exit?!'

‘I can't spend my entire life in the Temple of Blood! I also need to think of my future!'

‘But you will kill me just for that?!'

‘I wasn't even doing anything!'

To Desert Storm, it was obvious that the Keeper was responsible for White Ghost suddenly attacking him.

‘But I won't just die! If you think I've shown you my full power, you are horribly mistaken!'

‘You want to kill me? Fine! I'll kill your favorite pet!'

Desert Storm immediately readied a storm of Mana Steps.

He had felt that the Mana in the surroundings had subtly changed, and Desert Storm's instincts were telling him that there was a limit to the suppressive effect of his Mana Steps.

CRACK!

But then, Desert Storm's Mana Shield cracked, and his eyes opened wide in shock.

An instant later, his entire body blew apart.

The light in the surroundings had vanished.

Dusk had arrived.