Chapter 331: Finally...

Leon jumped down from the tree and rolled his arms. His body hurt all over, but the pain was negligible. After all, this was his only chance at succeeding.

Taking out his loyal spear, he dashed toward the battlefield. Far away, the serpent and his wholesome creation—the Tier Four abomination—were still engaged in a brutal battle. They tore at each other with their fangs, ripping off scales and flesh.

Leon kept great distance from them, not wanting to be caught up in the battle. He quickly reached the parasites and began slaughtering them from behind. They fell quickly to his blade, caught off guard.

Many others began turning to him, but Leon didn’t stop. He pushed through their line while activating Shadow Sense to map the area. After several minutes of fighting, and with the battlefront within sight, he finally stopped.

Pulling out his spear from the head of a parasitized Vaelari zombie, he sank into the shadows of the battlefield. The Vaelari warriors didn’t notice him, and the parasites certainly didn’t talk about him either. They simply refocused their attention on the non-parasitized creatures before them.

Meanwhile, Leon reappeared inside the underground drainage connecting to the city. He blocked his nose from the foul odor and shook his head.

"I can never get used to this."

Putting his spear away, he rushed down the drainage, moving closer to the city from underground. There were no guards here, so he didn’t need to sneak around.

He quickly crossed the outer walls above him, finally entering the city. Even then, he didn’t surface. He moved deeper through the network of drainages, reaching the inner city in a matter of minutes.

He still didn’t surface yet.

A few minutes later, he finally crossed into the land surrounding the castle. Only then did he reappear on the surface, standing under the shadow of a large vibrant tree.

He looked around, then rolled his arms. "Let’s go..."

He rushed towards the castle at full speed. A few Tier One guards noticed him, but they couldn’t even make a sound before they were skewered by shadow spears.

Leon burst into the grand building, rushing straight for the throne room.

"A-An alien!"

"Kyaaa!"

Several maids screamed and ran. He ignored them. A few braver ones tried to block him and fight—he killed them.

Before long, he arrived at the throne room and kicked the door open.

Walking into the empty room, he realized it was barer than he had expected.

’Huh... and here I thought I could loot something.’

Shaking his head, he headed toward the other door at the back of the room and forced it open. Just as he expected, it led underground. He closed the door behind him and quickly descended the flight of stairs.

’Who the hell builds a shrine underground, anyway?’

Grumbling inwardly, he finally reached the place where the Heart was kept. There was no guardian waiting to terrify him this time, so he boldly approached the altar.

Only when he got a closer look did he realize that the Heart was actually inside a crystalline bowl of water placed on the altar.

"Weird people."

Dipping his hand into the bowl, he hissed at how cod it was, and grabbed the Heart. He froze, feeling something heavy slam into his mind.

He almost collapsed on the spot, but strangely, he didn’t. He pulled away from the Heart, stunned.

’What was that?’

He frowned, his eyes narrowed. It felt like the Heart had just... attacked him.

As he realized this, his eyes widened. Could that be true? Perhaps the Heart had sensed his intentions to take it and attacked his mind directly.

’But whatever blocked its attack... what could it be?’

He hesitated for a moment, then reached out again. Pushing his hand into the cold water, he grabbed the Heart firmly.

This time, he didn’t feel anything strange, and he was able to pull it out.

Unknown to him, the Heart could actually have killed him upon the initial touch, as it was literally the heart of a Tier Three planet.

However, since he was simply completing his evolution requirements, the Star Stream had intervened and sealed the Heart’s capabilities, rendering it harmless.

Leon held it in his hand, feeling it pulse weakly. Exactly a minute later, he received a notification that he had completed the requirement.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips, and he felt greatly relieved.

’Finally. After so long...’

He felt a little emotional, but he suppressed those emotions. Rather than leaving the Heart behind, he took it with him and returned to the throne room.

At the same time he emerged from the door, several guards, along with the queens and children of the king, rushed inside.

They all froze, staring at him in shock.

The First Queen recognized what he was holding and screamed, "Kill him!"

The guards didn’t hesitate. They rushed at Leon, and he responded with a swing of his spear. Several heads flew into the air, and blood splattered on him.

The other guards paused, then attacked. Leon didn’t hesitate. He attacked them too, slaughtering them as they came at him.

Most of them were Tier One, with only a few being Tier Two. He had no problems dealing with them.

Soon, the throne room was littered with corpses, and only the queens and their children were alive.

Velora hid behind her mother, absolutely terrified. The First Queen stood before the others protectively, her expression grim. She was a Tier Two Evolver, but relatively weak. Her Class wasn’t related to combat in the slightest, so she had no delusions of defeating Leon.

Still, she stood up to protect her family.

Leon admired that. He glanced at them indifferently, then went ahead to sit upon the throne.

They all stared at him in shock.

"How dare you!" A prince shouted, only for him to fall to the ground when a shadow scythe cut his legs.

He screamed in pain, then fell unconscious.

Leon didn’t even look at him. His gaze was fixed on the First Queen.

"Where is your treasury?"

He asked, his voice dead calm.

The woman didn’t reply, as she’d rather die than tell him. Leon chuckled darkly, sensing her defiance.

He knew he had limited time here, as the battle outside could end anytime and the real powerhouses would return. However, he was going to make sure he stripped them of their valuable items before leaving.

Suddenly, the throne glowed, startling him. He stared at the golden crescent markings in surprise, feeling like they were familiar.

His heart cooled slightly, and he relaxed. Recognition made his eyes widen.

’Rune...?’