Chapter 76: Someone Destroyed the Tower
On the other hand, at that very same moment, and close to Amelia... Cain was busy conversing with a crowd of parents and locals who had gathered around him, urgently begging and pleading with him to perform another magic show, displaying their readiness to pay any amount he requested just to draw a smile on their children’s faces.
This flattery continued for a considerable period, to the extent that one of the local nobles went so far in his offer as to present him with ten high-quality, elite virgin maidens as a gift. But Cain, with his usual calm smile, replied with artificial nobility and coldness: "I do not do this for money, but for the happiness of my only daughter... As for the material rewards, you may give them to the ice cream vendor."
"The master magician’s daughter is truly so fortunate... How I wish the Lord would bless her; for she was the reason we witnessed your stunning magic show today, sir!"
Cain lightly scratched his head, pretending humility and gratitude, while on the inside, he felt utterly bored.
In truth, Cain did not care a single bit for the praise of these mortal parents; all that mattered to him and occupied his mind was Amelia’s happiness and satisfaction. When he caught a fleeting glimpse of her out of the corner of his eye devouring her ice cream greedily and cutely minutes ago, he could not help but feel a flood of parental pride wash over his chest.
Seeing your child enjoy what your hands have crafted is undoubtedly one of the greatest feelings any being can experience.
By nature, Cain was a cold, practical person, not ruled by emotions (or so he believed of himself). But now—from the sheer volume of ideas and gifts he was planning to present to Amelia in the future—he felt he might be slightly exaggerating his role as a doting father.
The real reason behind his standing here and exchanging pleasantries with these ordinary humans was his desire to make Amelia sit for as long as possible to blend in and interact with other children of her age.
’Doesn’t this make me the best father in this world?’ he thought to himself with absolute certainty.
While the smile did not leave his lips as he conversed with the parents...
His body suddenly stiffened. He felt sharp, intrusive magical fluctuations pierce directly into his ear.
It was a connection signal via long-range magical telepathy.
And the only ones in this world who possessed the ability to send such specific mental signals were the elite members of the "Transmigrators Organization."
Cain felt a coldness coat his features; he remembered very well that he had sent a firm, warning message to all members of the Organization, clearly ordering them that no one should dare message or disturb him; because he was spending private, solitary time with his daughter Amelia.
Yet now they were violating his orders and sending an emergency connection request... Was this act not akin to blatant military defiance?
In his past life, defiance and bypassing direct orders were met with immediate execution in modern armies. It appeared to Cain that his followers in this world had begun to underestimate his absolute orders and overwhelming power.
Cain decided at that moment that he would not hesitate to punish and crush the caller to serve as an example to others.
He opened the mental connection line, and a panicked, trembling voice exploded in his mind:
"M-Master Cain! I swear by everything I own that I did not want to interrupt your precious time with your daughter... We tried desperately to handle the matter ourselves and not disturb you, but... but a catastrophic, sudden attack has occurred on our Organization’s Monster Taming Guild tower!"
Cain’s thoughts halted for a moment. What?!
The Monster Taming tower was located just fifty kilometers away from his current location! More importantly, "Hazen"—who was considered a terrifying power of the [Prince Level]—was already present there to protect the headquarters! How could such an event take place?
The trembling voice continued with tears and a desperate tone: "I am sorry, my Lord, once again... but... Hazen, Holmes, Sylvia the Valkyrie, the witch Linda, and the volcanic commander have all been killed! Not a single one of them survived... Not only that, but the Celestial King Cerelius was extremely gravely injured, almost losing his life when he tried to intervene to repel the attack! The perpetrator has already fled, vanishing as if a mirage... even the reinforced magical positioning devices were completely jammed, as though an upper hand has trifled with existence itself!"
Cain could not believe what his ears were hearing. A battle of this scale and destruction happening at such a close distance from him without him noticing or sensing it? How could this be possible?!
Although most of his supreme, cosmic techniques and abilities had been restricted and scaled down due to the power of the [Michael Jewel], he was confident that he was capable of sensing any fluctuation in magical energy hundreds of kilometers away!
But worst of all... the battle had ended, his commanders had been annihilated, and he hadn’t even noticed any panic or disturbance in the streets of the capital! This meant the perpetrator possessed a masking and concealment power that transcended logic.
"I am coming immediately," Cain said in an icy tone that cut off the connection.
Although he hated interrupting his warm time with his daughter, he would never allow the perpetrator to escape or survive after daring to strike his influence at its core and erase his commanders like ants.
Cain turned and called out in a calm, endearing voice that hid a tempest of rage behind it: "Amelia... let’s go, we need to leave now."
Little Amelia ran toward Cain, stopping before him as she held the empty ice cream cup, looking at him with pleading eyes:
"Daddy... you are going for an emergency task, aren’t you? Can you leave me here for a bit? Please... go and finish your work, then come back to pick me up in a little while."
Cain looked at his daughter, guessing that she had probably found some friends among the children and wanted to spend more time playing with them.
He felt hesitant; it was extremely dangerous to leave her alone in these streets without any guard, and in the end, she was just a small child who could easily be targeted and kidnapped by his enemies.
’System... can you come out to remain with Amelia throughout my absence and protect her from any danger until I return?’ Cain asked his mind with concern.
A brief silence reigned within the folds of his consciousness, before the cold, mechanical voice of the System echoed:
{Very well, Host... I shall take charge of her protection.}