Chapter 1

“As of this moment, Leonardo Blaine, commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, a special forces unit of
the Imperial Army, is stripped of all military ranks and positions, demoted to the lowest rank, and
dishonorably discharged.”

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The sound of the verdict echoed through the silent military courtroom. As soon as it was announced, the
once quiet courtroom erupted into chaos.

Leonardo Blaine, his hands bound by mana-restraining handcuffs, sat slumped in the chair at the center
of the courtroom, silently staring at the judge with bloodshot eyes.

“This can’t be happening… Commander, say something. Tell them it’s not true, that you did it to protect
us!”

He could hear his squad members shouting behind him, but he couldn’t bring himself to turn around and
face them.
Someone’s screams, the sound of his former comrades restraining his squad members, and the hushed
mockery directed at him, now a mere civilian, all blended together, creating a deafening ringing in his
ears.

The military judges, having no further business, stood up and left the noisy courtroom. It was then that
Leonardo’s eyes finally fell upon the massive flag of the Raina Logia Empire hanging behind them.

He had worn the same insignia and donned the cape to defend this empire, traversing countless
battlefields and dangers, only to be branded with the disgrace of “dishonorable discharge due to
insubordination.”

Leonardo let out a bitter laugh. It all seemed to have passed by in such a short time.

As if his consciousness was trying to escape reality, his body grew numb, and the sounds around him
became muffled. The feeling of being separated from his surroundings was followed by a piercing
ringing in his ears and a wave of nausea.

Unable to endure it any longer, he abruptly stood up from his seat. The chair toppled over roughly, and
everyone turned their heads to stare at him.
Leonardo, breathing heavily, glared at the massive imperial flag before him with fierce eyes. Facing it, he
felt an indescribable surge of resentment rising in his chest.

“Aaaargh!”

His once pale face turned red, and veins bulged in his neck. A massive flame erupted around him as he
screamed like a madman. Everyone in the room tensed up and took a step back from the wildly
flickering flames that threatened to engulf everything.

He roared out his grievances and swung his arms, trying to break free from the handcuffs. However,
instead of the cuffs coming off, everything around him shattered.

“S-Someone do something about him!”

At the shout of a military officer, soldiers guarding the courtroom rushed in and surrounded Leonardo.
However, they couldn’t easily approach him due to the fierce flames and the menacing black sparks
dancing around him.
Leonardo’s flames were explosive, but they seemed to be sucked away and fluctuated in size as if
something was absorbing them. The handcuffs on his wrists were rapidly draining the mana he was
emitting.

Nevertheless, Leonardo continued to ignite his entire body, his face contorted as if his insides were
being twisted.

“Damn it, how could you do this to me? How could you do this to me?!”

“What are you all doing? Hurry up and subdue him!”

He expressed his bitter sense of betrayal towards the empire he had once devoted himself to. However,
in the eyes of others, he was nothing more than a criminal who refused to submit and was going on a
rampage.

At the officer’s repeated command, the hesitating soldiers took advantage of the weakening flames and
charged at Leonardo. As if he had been waiting for this, he desperately resisted his former comrades
with his hands bound by the thick handcuffs.
He threw punches and kicked, explosively releasing his mana even if it was immediately absorbed.
Terrifying gusts of wind swirled around him, and the scorching air shook his surroundings.

As a result, fierce winds blew, flames soared, and soon the entire military court was engulfed in a
crimson blaze. The constantly rattling windows shattered, scattering shards like ashes.

Amidst it all, Leonardo’s golden eyes, reflecting the undulating flames, seemed to glow red like blood.

At that moment, the courtroom door burst open, and dozens of knights poured in. They were the
Imperial Knights, directly under the command of the Raina Logia royal family, wearing white uniforms
embroidered with gold and red insignia.

The knights quickly entered the courtroom, blocking all possible exits and surrounding Leonardo. They
were all equipped with cloaks and armor designed to resist fire-based attacks and took a defensive
stance, moving in perfect unison as if they had anticipated his actions.

Behind them, the commander of the knights, their leader, calmly revealed himself.
Amidst the tense standoff between the heavily breathing Leonardo, who resembled an agitated beast,
and the knights, the commander approached the unfolded siege line without hesitation.

He seemed to know Leonardo well, as he stared at him intently without taking his eyes off him.

“Leonardo Blaine, surrender.”

In contrast to his gaze, his voice was cold and frosty, as if addressing a complete stranger.

Leonardo flinched and turned his head, causing the entire line of knights to react to his movement and
tighten their guard.

Leonardo’s lips twisted into a vicious sneer. He also seemed to recognize the commander’s face. His
golden eyes, upon meeting the commander’s, were not only bloodshot but also filled with a baleful
aura.
His predatory golden eyes slowly rolled, scanning the crowd with a look that seemed to burn everything
to ashes. Then, as if in disbelief, he let out a mocking laugh and spoke in a menacing voice.

“If you were in my position, would you surrender in this situation?”

In response to his sneering remark, the commander stared at Leonardo with emotionless eyes. After a
moment, he spoke in a calm tone.

“It’s an imperial order.”

A brief silence fell.

Leonardo’s fiercely burning flames suddenly died down as if doused with water. The menacing aura that
had been swirling around him plummeted to the ground. His face, which had lost its momentum in an
instant, slowly contorted with shock and contempt. He gazed at the commander in disbelief, as if he had
lost everything.

The commander, who had been willingly meeting his gaze, signaled his subordinates to apprehend
Leonardo now that the flames had completely subsided.
Numerous knights and soldiers, who had been hesitating, rushed at Leonardo once again. They forced
him to his knees, pushed him down, and restrained him.

Even as his head and shoulders were forcibly pressed against the ground, Leonardo intently stared at
the feet of the humans in his lowered field of vision.

The commander, who had been watching the end of Leonardo’s futile resistance, turned to leave,
believing the situation to be over. As he walked away, Leonardo, with a contemptuous smile on his lips,
muttered savagely.

“Even if you live your entire life like that, in the end, you’ll be discarded just like me.”

The commander paused for a moment at those hate-filled words tugging at his collar. He turned around
and met Leonardo’s piercing golden eyes that were glaring at him, but only briefly.

Soon, he turned away again and, as if nothing had happened, walked towards the courtroom door,
saying,
“Transfer Leonardo Blaine to Amphitrite Prison.”

At the commander’s words, the military officer, who had only been shouting orders to subdue Leonardo,
showed a look of disapproval. Although it was an imperial order, he was not pleased with the Imperial
Knights intervening in the military’s internal affairs.

“There’s a military prison right next door, so why transfer him to Amphitrite Prison?”

To this, the commander looked back at the military officer with a look of disappointment and said,

“He’s no longer a soldier, is he?”

 **

The news that Leonardo Blaine, the commander of the Armsilver 11th Squad, a special forces unit of the
Imperial Army, and a true war hero of the empire, had been expelled from the military spread like
wildfire. He was immediately transferred to Amphitrite Prison, located on a rugged island with strong
waves, and the 11th Squad he had belonged to was temporarily disbanded after the court-martial.

A few months later, he was released on parole, but he was no longer a soldier. Contrary to people’s
concerns that he would go on a rampage driven by a desire for revenge once he was out of prison, he
vanished without a trace, leaving behind only brief rumors.

It was a well-known fact that Leonardo Blaine was a powerful mage, even though he had been
dishonorably discharged from the military. Moreover, the 11th Squad he had been a part of was a
formidable unit that was often dispatched to dangerous areas, so various guilds, associations, and
organizations were desperate to find him after he disappeared.

However, despite rumors circulating about him working as a mercenary in certain places or participating
in certain subjugation missions, it was difficult to actually meet him.

Occasionally, there were stories of people claiming to have seen him in person, but there was no way to
know if they were true or not.

As he vanished, the empire continued the war as if nothing had ever happened.
To recapture the territory they had lost due to Leonardo’s insubordination, they carried out numerous
battles, resulting in many casualties. However, in the end, they achieved victory without the hero,
demonstrating their prestige to neighboring countries and thoroughly erasing the fallen hero’s reason
for existence.

Nevertheless, the empire did not exile him abroad, as they wanted to prevent his uniquely powerful
mana from falling into the hands of other countries.

Time passed quickly, and the faded glory of the hero was buried deep in the past. It had been three
years since the name Leonardo Blaine had been forgotten by the world.

Around the time when it was thought that all traces of him had been completely covered up, ripples
began to form once again in the calm lake of rumors about him.

A new movement to pursue him had emerged.

The ripples grew larger and larger, and his name resurfaced in people’s consciousness.

However, unlike before, his name was no longer that of a glorious hero.
He was now known as an atrocious mage who had disobeyed orders, set fire to the military court, and
insulted the royal family and the people of the empire.

 **

“So, you lost him again?”

“Commander, that guy is a demon, I’m telling you! We all nearly got fried to a crisp!”

Hugo let out a small sigh as he looked at his two subordinates, who were reporting to him in a
disheveled state. One of them had his hair completely burnt off, looking like he had been bombed.

This wasn’t the first time they had failed to capture the target, and it was proving to be no easy task.
Hugo narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze away for a moment, suppressing his troubled expression
before asking his two subordinates again.

“What was the situation at the time?”

“We managed to sense his presence and block all nearby exits, creating a standoff… but he broke
through the siege and escaped again.”

“…”

“After that, we used all our equipment to track his mana signature, but by then, there were no traces
left to follow. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.”

“Vanished without a trace…”

“I’m sorry, Commander.”

The other subordinate, a woman with long hair tied up, briefly reported before lowering her head. She
was the captain of the 8th Platoon of the 1st Battalion of the Central Branch of the Council and was
unrivaled in the field of mana detection and tracking. Even for such a capable subordinate, it was just as
frustrating to admit failure.

The Council’s army had repeatedly dispatched powerful mages to pursue him, but the problematic
individual, classified as a high-risk target, was overwhelmingly strong. In fact, it was fortunate that things
always ended at this level, considering how powerful he was.

However, the world always values results.

Hugo, rubbing his forehead in exhaustion, shifted his gaze to the scattered documents on his desk. The
contents of the documents were what could be called a letter of demand.

As time passed without the Council being able to capture Leonardo Blaine, voices questioning the
Council’s capabilities grew louder, and this had displeased the prideful council members.

However, the Council, to which Hugo belonged, had many responsibilities, such as maintaining social
order and carrying out various missions to maintain security in the empire, so they could not always
form a unit to track him down.
Moreover, this period was particularly prone to incidents, so he had to send the two individuals in front
of him on another mission to a different region without a moment’s rest.

Recalling the numerous failed attempts in the past, Hugo concluded that the reason was a fundamental
difference in strength. With a small sigh, he made up his mind and slowly rose from his seat.

“I’ll go in person.”

“…Pardon?”

The 3rd Platoon captain, who had been complaining about the target being a demon, asked with a
surprised look on his face.

“You’re going in person, Commander?”

Hugo lightly nodded as he picked up his uniform jacket from the hanger. His resolute and solemn
gesture made the 3rd Platoon captain feel a chill run down his spine. An aura of sharpness emanated
from him, filling the office with a heavy atmosphere.

Until a moment ago, he had been rambling on about how much of a demon the target was, but now,
faced with the commander’s overwhelming presence, he felt a complex emotion towards the soon-to-
be-captured individual.

Of course, he had always hoped that the commander would personally intervene, but now that it was
actually happening, the situation seemed to be taking a grave turn.

If the commander were to personally pursue him, it would be unlikely for the target to be captured
unscathed. After all, he wasn’t the type to surrender so easily.

Hugo put on his jacket and fastened the cuff buttons on his wrist. Meanwhile, his cold gaze fixated on
the name written on the letter of demand.

Leonardo Blaine.
Three years ago, he had been expelled from the military and, according to imperial law, all civilian mages
in Raina Logia were required to register with the Council’s management system. This law was intended
to facilitate the monitoring and control of powerful mages who might cause trouble in the future.

However, immediately after being stripped of his position and released on parole from prison, he
disappeared without a trace and naturally did not respond to the Council’s summons to voluntarily
appear and register his personal information. Whenever rumors of his sightings circulated, the Council
would go after him, but by the time they arrived, he was always long gone.

As Leonardo Blaine had been a member of the Imperial Army, his information was shrouded in secrecy.
Uncovering that information had been a challenge that the Council had yet to overcome.

Even when several of the Council’s high-ranking mages were assigned to him, he always managed to
gain the upper hand in battle and vanish without a trace. It was clear that he possessed exceptional
combat skills, surpassing their expectations.

Hugo, who had repeatedly tasted bitter failure in his attempts to capture him, had grown weary of that
name.

Whether he liked it or not, he had been dealing with that name for three years now.
As he recalled the numerous failed attempts of the past, Hugo concluded that it was time to put an end
to this once and for all. He gazed at the document containing Leonardo’s personal information with a
somber look. He stared intently at the photograph attached to the document