The Emperor had prepared a meticulous plan to capture James Novera.
He ordered all civilians to remain inside their homes for their own safety. The command quickly spread across the empire, and everyone waited anxiously for what was about to happen.
Meanwhile, James had already broken into the mansion of the Veradis Family.
His target was clear: the lady of the family who had reported him to the Emperor, the woman he believed responsible for all the troubles that had fallen upon him.
James entered the grand hall and found Seren Veradis sitting on her throne.
The moment she saw him, she stood up, her body trembling with fear. She was certain that her end had finally come.
James slowly approached her and said in a cold voice:
"Your death stands before you."
He gathered his power, preparing to strike the fatal blow.
But at that exact moment, an elderly woman entered the hall.
It was Seren's mother.
James looked into her eyes.
For a moment, time seemed to freeze.
Then he took one step back.
And another.
Without saying a word, he turned around and left the hall.
Seren stood there in shock, unable to understand the mysterious connection between her mother and James Novera.
James then headed straight to the center of Salimar City.
There, he gathered a group of civilians and intended to burn them alive as an act of revenge against the empire.
But before he could carry out his plan, the Lord of the Kryo Family appeared and tried to stop him.
A fierce battle erupted between them.
At first, they exchanged several blows, but James's power quickly proved overwhelming. Within moments, he grabbed his opponent and threw him aside before launching a massive wave of flames toward him.
The Lord of the Kryo Family had no chance of surviving that attack…
But at the critical moment, Trido Jams suddenly appeared, jumping forward and pulling him out of the path of the attack.
The Kryo lord looked at him with gratitude.
"Thank you."
But Trido shook his head.
"I should be the one apologizing," he said. "I suspected you and the King of Salimar of killing my father."
Then he pointed toward James.
"But now… my father's killer stands right in front of me."
At that moment, the Emperor's trap for James had already begun.
Before Trido could clash with him, the PG Squad arrived.
Realizing the situation had turned against him, James quickly activated a teleportation device and escaped.
He believed he had gotten away.
But one of the squad members had secretly placed a tracking spell on the device.
Because of that, the Emperor knew exactly where James would appear to repair it.
When James arrived at that location…
Minister Somil Farda appeared before him, spreading his wings.
"James," he said calmly. "Surrender."
James smiled coldly.
"I didn't come here to surrender."
The next moment, the two collided with tremendous force. The impact was so powerful that it felt as if the sky itself had cracked open above them.
Their speed was nearly identical, and every strike exploded with terrifying power.
Somil wielded the power of Purple Thunder, while James controlled the dark energy known as Novera Shadow.
They exchanged devastating blows for several minutes, but neither could clearly overpower the other. The difference in their strength was extremely small.
Then suddenly…
The PG Squad appeared.
All five members surrounded James.
At that moment, he realized that his end had come.
So he decided to use his final move.
He began reversing the flow of energy within his body.
If he succeeded, his body would explode with catastrophic power capable of destroying a third of Salimar City.
But the Emperor had anticipated this possibility.
He had already ordered the squad to use a combined sealing technique capable of restraining even the strongest monsters in the world.
As James began compressing his energy…
The squad activated the seal.
It was called The Ice Net Seal.
Five metallic threads shot through the air. They resembled ice, but they were actually forged from an incredibly strong alloy.
The threads wrapped around James from every direction, binding his entire body tightly, even securing his head.
The Emperor had discovered this ancient technique in one of the forbidden books hidden in a secret library in Normadia.
At that moment, people across the world were watching the battle live through networks of magical jewels that transmitted images and sound.
When the mission was finally over, people flooded the streets, cheering loudly for the PG Squad and Minister Somil.
They celebrated them as heroes.
Somil lifted the bound James and flew him to the most dangerous prison in the empire.
Later, the Emperor personally visited James in his cell.
He intended to kill him himself.
But one of the officials from the Court of Silence stopped him.
Even the Emperor was forced to step back and obey the court's authority.
Several days later, James was brought before the court.
The final verdict was announced:
Death by hanging in the largest square of Normadia.
Meanwhile…
Henry Novera, James's son and the father of Tenibras, watched the broadcast of his father's capture.
At that moment, he began carrying out his father's final instructions.
James had secretly implanted forbidden power from ancient creatures into a group of assassins.
There were only three of them.
But they were terrifying.
They were known as:
The Trio of Destruction.
They were James's ultimate hidden weapon.
Henry then prepared a blood puppet crafted to look exactly like James.
It could move and behave just like a real human.
One day before the execution…
The Trio of Destruction infiltrated the prison.
They successfully switched James with the puppet and escaped with him.
However, they were unable to remove the seal.
So they carried James away while he was still bound by it…
And left the puppet behind in his place.