Armipotent

"Why should I listen to you, Guild Master? In fact, you are suspicious in my eyes," Tang Shaoyang smiled, "I thought you would ensure these guys would never bother me again. You are not keeping your promise; you let them go easily and tail them while they are following my party. I am waiting for you to stop them, but you are just watching from your spot. Are you also part of the resistance? Do you want to take back your precious subordinate?"

Before Guild Master Rodin could answer or clear the misunderstanding, Tang Shaoyang swung the battle-ax, slicing through the man's neck. There was no resistance as the head fell off. At the same time, he heard the leveling up notification. He did not expect to level up by killing the Epic Rank, but the surprise was a delight to him, "Not a waste of time, I guess."

The forty minutes he spent waiting for Russo was not a waste since he leveled up. Of course, one level was nothing big for someone of his rank and level. There was no difference whether he stayed on the same level or leveled up one level. He could not even tell the difference after allocating the Attribute Points.

"You know that I am following them?" Guild Master Rodin was surprised to hear that. He hid his presence and made sure no one noticed him, not even the guard at the gate. The reason he did not stop Russo was to watch the fight. He wanted to know how strong Tang Shaoyang and the other travelers were. He did not get any information about how strong the traveler was, and he lost the lead to the resistance group too.

Rodin did not foresee Tang Shaoyang would rather kill Russo than find out more about the resistance. He thought Tang Shaoyang would try to find them and eliminate all the resistance after Russo admitted to a part of the resistance. The resistance was the group that wanted to hold the travelers as long as possible inside the tower. The enemy of the travelers, yet the emperor seemed not to care about the resistance.

Tang Shaoyang saw the Guild Master through the Spirit Eyes the moment Russo's party moved out. It was so easy to find the Guild Master who knew nothing he was capable of, "Is that really important to know, whether I know you are following me or not? Isn't your life more important than that? You are a prime suspect as part of the resistance group. If I kill you here, no one will know that you were killed by me."

Rodin's eyes widened as he subconsciously took a few steps back. He was not doubting Tang Shaoyang's words about killing him. He could tell that the emperor did not have hesitation to kill anyone deemed to be an enemy, "I am not part of the resistance group. I admit that I am in the wrong for failing to stop Russo, but…." The Guild Master hesitated to finish his words.

"Do you want to see how strong we are?" Tang Shaoyang completed the words with a smile, "Did you find out how strong we are now?"

For once in a while, Rodin felt fear. The smile on the emperor's face was scarier than the expressionless for sure. His heartbeat sped up as everything in his head was being read by the emperor, 'Does he have the skill to read mind?'

"I don't have the skill to read your mind, but it's so easy to read your expression and emotion. I can feel it…." Tang Shaoyang grinned ear to ear. It's been a while since he made this kind of smile, "I can feel fear from you. Perhaps, do you fear me?"

Guild Master Rodin gulped a mouthful of saliva, remaining silent under the emperor's scrutiny gaze.

"This will be easy then. I don't care if you are part of the resistance or not. Ensure everything is smooth for me and set up ten or even more quests that I can complete in one trip, then I will spare your life," Tang Shaoyang approached the Guild Master with the battle-ax on his shoulder, "That's not a bad offer for your life, no? Ah, I don't need the reward, so you can keep it. Another reward, so you don't work for free. How is it?"

Guild Master Rodin stared at the man who stood three meters away from him. He did not know how strong the man was, but the fear was real. However, it was not necessary that the emperor was stronger than him just because he could not use [Detection] on Tang Shaoyang. It might be an artifact that could block the detection. But it was just one of many possibilities as there was a higher chance Tang Shaoyang was just far stronger than him.

"So either die or do what you say? Is there a third option, like we never meet today?" Rodin made a forced smile. It was a pitiful attempt to solve the issue peacefully without putting him in a disadvantageous position despite knowing there was barely a chance the emperor would agree to his proposal.

"I don't take a bargain for someone under my mercy. If you want to keep your life, then you have to follow my words," Tang Shaoyang made a confused expression, tilting his head, "I think there's no reason for you to refuse my offer, no? It's not like I am asking to kill someone. You just need to do what you have been doing all this time with a little more work to do. In fact, you don't need to set the quest personally since you have your people in your guild. This only makes me more suspicious of you, Guild Master Rodin. Perhaps, are you…."

"No! I am not part of the resistance," Guild Master Rodin instantly denied. After saying that, he let out a sigh, "Is this the saying, curiosity kills the cat? Had I not been curious about you, I would not be in this situation. But it's not like I don't get anything from this. At least, now I know there's a resistance group in my town.'

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Alright. I will do as you say. I will prepare everything for you and your party. Do you need anything else? Do you want me to prepare a house too instead of staying in the inn?"