"Death to the traitors!" shouted one of the angry mobs in front of the Red Moon Guild headquarters. They threw all kinds of things toward the building, from rocks, rotten eggs, bricks, and Molotov cocktails to anything else they could get their hands on.

The front part of the building was already heavily damaged, with shattered glass and flames burning from the Molotov cocktails.

The only reason the angry crowd had not stormed inside yet was because of the hunters from the four big guilds. They formed lines surrounding the building while preparing to charge in first, though they were still waiting for orders from the higher-ups.

Usually, in a situation like this, the police would maintain order and prevent the protesters from becoming more violent. Even more so when it involved the Red Moon Guild. Any disturbance connected to them would normally be dealt with immediately.

However, this time was different. The case involved the taboo existence, the Malignant.

Even the police wanted nothing to do with protecting the Red Moon Guild.

Neither the police nor the local government wanted to be dragged into the matter and risk being considered in cahoots with the Red Moon Guild and the Malignant.

But then, even without the police, the hunters of the Red Moon Guild should have been the ones handling the situation.

Yet not a single hunter from the Red Moon Guild appeared, and the building itself seemed completely abandoned.

"To the traitor Wei Zhenyuan. You better crawl out from your turtle shell and face your punishment. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be, and you might receive a painless death!" shouted a man with SSS-rank power from the Red Dragon Guild as he floated above the protesters.

He had short brown hair, with two swords strapped behind his back.

His gaze turned toward the highest floor of the building, where he could see the one-way glass. He could not see what was inside, but anyone on the other side would be able to see him clearly.

"To the traitor Wei Zhenyuan! If you do not come out and surrender within fifteen minutes, we will storm inside and drag you out ourselves!" he shouted once again.

Not far from him, three other figures floated in the air while watching the highest floor of the headquarters.

They were the guild masters of the three big guilds: the Red Dragon Guild, Iron Heart Guild, and Blood Rose Guild.

"Are we really sure that bastard is inside that building?" Gang Lie, the guild master of the Iron Heart Guild, asked.

"I’m pretty sure. My informant saw him entering the building the day before we spread the news of Godwin’s capture. Since then, he hasn’t left the building, though we still don’t know what he has been doing inside." Guo Zhenyu, the Red Dragon Guild master, replied.

"As for his son, his location is still unknown, he might be hiding somewhere," he added.

Beside him, Chu Linghan, the guild master of the Blood Rose Guild, clicked her tongue.

"What a coward. If it was going to come to this, we should have killed them back at the Monsters World Gate base. To think those bastards really had connections to the Malignant!" she said in an infuriated tone.

The other two guild masters remained silent, though they agreed with her words. If they had known the truth beforehand, they would have tried to kill the father and son right there on the spot.

After capturing many members of the Malignant and searching their hideouts, they discovered traces showing that the organization had been in contact with someone outside their group in China.

Then, after Aldrian interrogated several of the higher-ups, the truth finally came out.

The Malignant truly had connections with the Red Moon Guild.

To think that their original plan to frame the Red Moon Guild as being in cahoots with the Malignant had turned out to be unnecessary, because the guild was already working with them from the very beginning!

The moment they learned the truth, fury exploded inside them. They had allowed the Red Moon Guild to remain untouchable all this time, while those bastards had secretly been sleeping in the same bed as the Malignant!

Just thinking about it made them feel like complete fools, and at that moment, they wanted nothing more than to kill those bastards immediately.

However, they knew they had to stick to the plan in order to minimize casualties and chaos. Moreover, Wei Zhenyuan had already been doomed the moment Aldrian decided that the Red Moon Guild should fall. There was no way he could escape from Aldrian’s grasp.

While they continued waiting for the time to storm the building, on the highest floor, inside one of the offices, Wei Zhenyuan stood with his hands behind his back as he looked at the scenery outside.

At this moment, the view felt completely different to him.

Usually, he looked down at the city with a sense of superiority. The feeling that everything lay beneath his feet. Everything within his sight was under his control. Nothing could stop him here.

But at this moment, his calm gaze had turned cold.

A restrained fury burned deep within his eyes, as though something inside him was on the verge of erupting.

Not far behind him, his strategist stood silently as he looked at Wei Zhenyuan’s lone back with a regretful expression.

In the end, this was how the Red Moon Guild fell.

The organization they had built over hundreds of years had finally reached its end today.

They both knew that once their connection to the Malignant was brought to light, there was no longer any way out of this situation.

That fact also filled him with fury.

He could not understand how the other four big guilds and the Hunter Association had managed to capture Godwin and so many of the Malignant’s higher-ups alive.

How had they uncovered the connection between the Red Moon Guild and the Malignant?

There were countless questions he wanted answers to, but all of them had already become meaningless now.

"I wonder... where did everything start going wrong? Just a few days ago, we were still enjoying our glory as the strongest guild, and now we suddenly fell into this situation," Wei Zhenyuan said.

"I still don’t understand how those bastards managed to get their hands on proof of our connection to the Malignant. How did they find the hideouts and even capture so many of their higher-ups alive, including the Red Devil himself?"

His strategist took a deep breath.

"I think we can say that the arrival of those otherworlders was the trigger for all of this. Although we do not have any proof to support it, all of our recent problems seem to be connected to them. Starting from that man, Aldrian, killing one of our members in Shanghai, up until this moment where their abilities are the most likely reason the Hunter Association and the other guilds managed to find the Malignant," he said.

"Maybe it is just my feeling, but the incident where master and young master were forbidden from entering the Monsters World Gate base was already a sign. A sign that the Red Moon Guild had already been deliberately targeted. Perhaps by those otherworlders, which in the end also influenced Master Gao’s decision."

"For the Hunter Association to take such radical action against us, and for those guilds to dare join in, means they are confident in something backing them up. And in my opinion, that support is those otherworlders." The strategist then fell silent.

After a few moments of silence, the strategist spoke again in a hesitant tone.

"Master, how about you escape somewhere first? Hide for some time until the situation calms down while planning for the future."

Wei Zhenyuan turned to look at his strategist. His expression was fierce and resolute.

"I will not leave the place that I spent so long building. This place was built upon the blood of countless lives and everything I have done. If this place falls, then I will not leave like a coward. I will defend it!"

The strategist nodded silently.

"If that is what master wants, then I will not say anything more."

"What an honorable character Guild Master Wei Zhenyuan is."

Suddenly, another voice, foreign to them, resounded through the room and startled both of them. They instantly took wary stances and turned toward the source of the voice.

The moment their eyes landed on the figure’s appearance, they were truly shocked.

That was because the figure was Aldrian!

He stood in the corner of the room, a place that should have remained within their peripheral vision the entire time. Yet Aldrian had seemingly appeared out of thin air without any sign or presence they could sense beforehand.

He was like a ghost himself.

Wei Zhenyuan and his strategist immediately became solemn as they prepared themselves for battle if necessary.

However, they suddenly felt their bodies stiffen, unable to move at all. They tried to force their bodies to move, but not even a finger budged.

The only good news was that they could still move their heads, which allowed the horror on their faces to be clearly seen. Wei Zhenyuan instantly realized that Aldrian had done something to them, and they were completely unable to resist it.

From the shock and horror on his face, Wei Zhenyuan gradually became resigned. A chuckle escaped his mouth before it turned into laughter.

He knew that if Aldrian wanted him dead, then there was nothing he could do.

Aldrian walked toward them, completely ignoring his crazed reaction. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

"Are you really the one behind all of this? The one that made the Red Moon Guild end up like this?" Wei Zhenyuan asked.

Aldrian stopped walking.

"What do you think?" he asked with a calm expression.

Aldrian’s seemingly casual response was already enough for Wei Zhenyuan and his strategist to confirm that their guess was correct. Aldrian was the one behind the situation that had befallen the Red Moon Guild.

"Why are you doing this? Is it because you had a conflict with one of our members in Shanghai? Is that really enough reason for you to destroy the Red Moon Guild?" the strategist asked.

"Why am I doing this, huh?" Aldrian muttered as he thought for a moment.

He could not help but remember Zhang Haoran’s memories from Earth, along with his plea before he killed him.

Aldrian looked at the strategist and shrugged.

"Nothing specific. I just came to return the karma all of you created."

The strategist frowned in confusion, but then his eyes suddenly widened as he felt something pierce through his forehead.