They were that mysterious, that powerful. So powerful, it was beyond imagination. After Arthur returned from Heaven Island, Hugo had made a point of digging around for information. Only then did he learn that Heaven’s Cult had been secretly helping Lioran all along—a force often referred to as the nation’s guardian. He hadn’t been involved in that side of things before, so he hadn’t known. It was only then that Hugo had finally relaxed a little, no longer too worried about Arthur and Ashley’s safety. But now, Arthur had said—Heaven’s Cult was founded by his grandfather?? Didn’t that mean... the “Crown Prince of Heaven’s Cult” that Mr. Silas was talking about was Arthur himself?! God! That was too much to take in. Even more shocking than the aircraft carrier. They were completely stunned into silence. Just then, voices came from the doorway—it was Taylor and Natalie returning from their shopping trip. After Arthur and the others left, Hugo and the three others had been placed in Taylor and Natalie’s care. Since they couldn’t help Arthur and Ashley directly, the only thing they could do was take care of the four still-recovering patients. Hugo ended the video call. When Taylor and Natalie entered the room, all four patients turned to look at them. The way they were being stared at made Taylor and Natalie uneasy. “W-What’s wrong?” Taylor asked nervously. “Did something happen to Arthur and the others?” All four shook their heads in unison and said in chorus, “No.”Their voices were so synchronized it sounded rehearsed. Taylor and Natalie exchanged confused glances. “Did something happen?” Natalie asked. Again, four heads shook at once. “No!” they answered together. They had just received too much shocking information. They were afraid that saying it out loud would scare the two young ones senseless. Taylor and Natalie looked at each other. Their instincts told them something definitely had happened. Then why were the others hiding it from them? After a moment of thought, Natalie asked, “Arthur and Ashley—they’re okay, right?” Again, four heads shook. “They’re fine. They’re perfectly safe!” When they said perfectly safe, their tone was extra firm. They were on an aircraft carrier—what mode of transport could possibly be safer than that? The next afternoon. With Lioran’s people clearing the way, Arthur’s journey went smoothly. After more than a day of sailing, the fleet led by Arthur, with the Heaven’s Cult flag flying high, reached the outskirts of Tamaria’s maritime territory. They were less than an hour away from crossing into Tamaria’s waters. Meanwhile, in Tamaria—they had already started to panic long before Arthur even reached their boundary. When Tamaria’s supreme leader, the emperor, received word that Heaven’s Cult was approaching fast with a full naval fleet, he completely lost his composure. He had no idea what had provoked such a godlike force. The fact that President Holland had secretly detained Mia was a personal matter—no one else in Tamaria’s leadership knew about it. If the emperor had known, there’s no way he would’ve allowed it. Lioran was a global superpower. Tamaria had always eyed it greedily, but they hadn’t yet had the guts to provoke it with something like this. Even if they wanted a piece of that prize, they would never have been this careless or unprepared. Stirring up trouble this way was suicide. This matter could be small or enormous, depending on how it was handled. From President Holland’s perspective, it was just a private grudge—nothing that should escalate to a national level. He had detained Mia only to use her as leverage over Arthur—to force him into an apology, to regain some dignity. At its core, he just wanted to abuse his authority and bully the weak. The Lovaris family may have been a powerful legal force, but they weren’t part of any government. President Holland had assumed they wouldn’t be able to stir anything up at the top levels of Lioran’s government—and that’s why he acted so brazenly. And he hadn’t even filed formal papers regarding Mia’s detention. As far as appearances went, he had merely “invited” Mia to his residence as a guest. Inside the Tamaria royal palace, the atmosphere was thick with tension and dread. The short, pudgy emperor sat at the head of the chamber, his face filled with anxiety as he looked down at the gathered officials. “Have you figured it out yet?! Why is Heaven’s Cult suddenly attacking us?!” His voice trembled with both panic and fury. Years ago, Tamaria had been repeatedly defeated by Heaven’s Cult. It had become clear: whenever they faced Heaven’s Cult, they would lose. Every single time. Eventually, they were forced to sign various treaties with them, pledging never to provoke Heaven’s Cult or Lioran again. Only in recent years had things begun to settle down. Tamaria’s economy had slowly recovered. The people had finally found some peace. And now, just as they were beginning to enjoy better days, Heaven’s Cult suddenly showed up—with overwhelming force.