He Became A Monstrous Genius After Obtaining A Time Dilation Artifact

Chapter 814. Targets

A spacious hall greeted the group the moment the doors swung open. The large hall had a lot of chandeliers. There were several paths from the large hall which led to different parts of the house.

Everyone proceeded towards one of the paths, choosing rooms for themselves.

Kailen chose a room and entered it.

He decided to relax before the banquet.

Several hours flashed past.

Someone knocked on Kailen’s door.

Kailen opened the door.

It was Austere.

"Professor... how may I help you?" Kailen said, honestly taken aback.

What was the professor doing here?

"Mr Darkhaven, can I come in?" Austere asked.

"Errmmm... sure."

Kailen allowed her into the room and led her to the couch.

"There’s a mole in the top ten. You should be careful during the competition tomorrow. The royal family may want to use them to kill you. The vice principal told me to pass on this news to you."

Kailen nodded. Just as he had suspected. It seems his conjecture was true.

"Who do you suspect, Professor?" Kailen probed. He wanted to know the professor’s view.

"Teiken, the second ranked on the Heavenly Fate rankings, the former first ranked. His friend is ranked 10th on the Royal Fate rankings. Rumors are that his friend died on a royal faction mission. However, it’s possible he’s being held hostage to coerce Teiken to do their bidding."

Kailen nodded.

It made perfect sense.

"If he does not assassinate me during the competition, his friend will be killed," Kailen said.

"Exactly. It’s just a conjecture. However, it’s possible. He may not be the mole, or he could be the mole. But, best to be on your guard." Austere stood up, about to leave.

"Thanks for the notice," Kailen replied warmly.

"No problem, Mr Darkhaven," Austere replied as she saw herself out.

Kailen nodded. She shut the door and left.

Kailen sat on the couch, in thought.

"It seems you have to use emotional resonance seriously at the banquet tonight." The Will of the universe appeared abruptly. She sat on the couch and flexed her dainty legs.

She was currently in some sort of beach wear and sunglasses.

Kailen shook his head at her weird fashion sense and nodded to her words.

"I will be observing him closely with emotional resonance tonight. Not only him, every other representative, from the Venzula Empire Academy or not, will be on my watch list." A glint of coldness flashed through his eyes.

He had to be on the lookout for any representative from any empire academy working for any assassin syndicate hired by the Venzula Royal Family to kill him.

Aside from that, he needed to identify who the mole from the royal family among the Venzula Empire Academy representatives was. It could be Teiken or it could be someone else. It could even be that Teiken had an accomplice.

He needed to identify them and deduce strategies to handle them before tomorrow. Although he would not be associating himself with any of them, he didn’t think it would be wise in this situation to wait for his enemies to attack him before he made a move. He would be the one hunting them in the competition if he identified them.

****

StayNight Hotel and Estates.

Central Villa.

Several individuals dressed in suits and elegant dresses could be seen entering the Central Villa.

Currently, Kailen, dressed in a turtleneck, elegant jeans and shoes, was seated somewhere at a table relaxing and enjoying some orange juice.

Several professors were exchanging casual conversations with one another.

The representatives from the five empire academies were exchanging conversations with one another. Some were getting to know each other. Others used words to probe others.

It was the usual political facade that occurred at banquets of this kind.

It looked as if Kailen was doing nothing.

However, he was using emotional resonance to study everyone.

He had already studied Teiken.

Teiken was the mole. Everything the vice principal had said was on point. When he stared at Kailen, the only thing he thought about was his captured friend, being held hostage by the royal family. It confirmed everything. Kailen added him to his targets tomorrow.

Currently, he was studying one person he was already familiar with.

A tall elf with an arrogant bearing.

Alongside him, there were nine other people in his group.

Kailen recognized all of them.

These were the fellows who slaughtered the academy personnel at the Venzula Empire outpost several years back.

"So they are the top ten on the Imperial Rankings of the Andromis Imperium Empire Academy, huh," Kailen mused to himself.

"That elf fellow is the first ranked. Guy must be very strong. No wonder he slaughtered everyone at the outpost by himself," Kailen thought.

"So far, he does not seem to be one of my targets. Same for the others with him."

Kailen shifted his gaze towards a different direction.

Someone was staring at him. However, the moment he looked at the person’s direction, the person stood up and started walking towards his table.

She was very beautiful. She was a mermaid. The second ranked on the Oceanic rankings of the Meridian Oceanic Empire Academy.

Several stared in their direction.

"What’s Isolde doing?"

"She’s walking to the table of the first ranked on the Heavenly Fate rankings of the Venzula Empire Academy."

"Why is she walking towards his table?"

"This fellow.. I heard he recently broke into the rank 5 novice stage Transcendent level. He may have killed the crown prince of the Venzula Empire, but it only means the crown prince was probably very weak."

"No one is looking down on the Venzula Empire Academy but, if someone like that is the first ranked on their heavenly Fate rankings, then it means the rest of the top rankers are considerably weak."

"I don’t think so. This Kailen Darkhaven does not look simple."

"Rumors are that he’s just very low-key."

"Well..."

The Venzula Empire Academy representatives chuckled. These people thought they were weak?

They would see for themselves in the competition tomorrow how terrifying Kailen Darkhaven was.

Kailen naturally ignored these conversations. He didn’t care what others thought of him.

He remained calm. With one leg crossed over the other, he enjoyed his drink with a serene expression on his face. However he was using emotional resonance on the lady walking towards his direction.

"Ragna, looks like your fiance has caught the attention of someone." One of the representatives from the Solaris Dominion Empire nudged in the direction of someone.

Ragna, a titan, draped in an elegant suit, the fiance of Isolde, stared in Kailen’s direction.

Ragna was first ranked on the Dominion rankings of the Solaris Dominion Empire Academy.

He met Isolde on an academy mission to the Meridian Oceanic Empire 70 years ago. The two were engaged now.

"It’s rare for her to show an interest in someone. I wonder what’s special about Kailen Darkhaven," Ragna observed with intrigue.

"You are not jealous?" Someone by the side, another ranker asked.

"Jealous? We’ve been together for seventy years. I know her more than anyone. Whatever reason for which she’s approaching him, it’s definitely not romantic. Even if it were for romantic reasons, it’s her choice. Instead of throwing a tantrum, I would have just broken up with her," Ragna shrugged.

Everyone around him nodded. This was just how Ragna was. Straightforward, simple and pragmatic.

Everyone observed as Isolde walked towards Kailen Darkhaven’s seat.

"So.. she’s working for an assassin syndicate, huh. The BlackHall Assassin Syndicate. She wants to probe me to see my state of mind and see if she can use her fiance to get rid of me. If that does not work, she will resort to trying to kill me herself," Kailen noted. "She’s a target."

"Hello, Mr Darkhaven. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you. I’ve heard so much about you," Isolde said.

"Pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Isolde. To what do I owe this sudden disturbance?" Kailen said with a slight smile at the edge of his lips.

The moment Kailen spoke, the room became silent.

This woman was one of the most beautiful women across the five empires of the Tesla Belt. She was also a Transcendent with terrifying potential. Although no genius in the room would suck up to her, everyone would at least give her some face.

Kailen Darkhaven actually said she was disturbing him?

"Ho.." Morgana could not help but smile. The professors were also observing this interaction.

"It seems this first ranked from your academy is quite cocky, Morgana." The vice principal of the Meridian Oceanic Empire Academy chuckled. He was amused at Kailen’s response. The look on the face of his disciple when Kailen Darkhaven spoke was very entertaining. Did she think everyone cared about how beautiful she was?

Finally, she had met her match this time. The universe was vast. One could not be presumptuous.

"Mr Darkhaven, you don’t have to be so cold to me. The purpose of this banquet is to foster diplomatic relations," Isolde said "It’s only natural that I take the time to come and greet someone of your calibre. Does Mr Darkhaven find this banquet insulting to him?"

Interesting. Several thought.

She was trying to use the banquet as a shield. By accusing him of frowning on the banquet, she was trying to say Kailen was disrespecting the banquet host, the Meridian Oceanic Empire Academy.

"Miss Isolde, surely you don’t think I should entertain you, just because you came over here, right? I was sitting here by myself. You are the one who came here. I find that an intrusion into my personal space. Don’t try to play political games by using the banquet as a shield," Kailen added with a genuine expression on his face. "Or it can’t be that you are interested in me romantically, right? Sorry, but I’m engaged."

Several giggles spread across the room.

This Kailen Darkhaven was not simple. He was very adept at psychological games.

Everyone looked at Isolde; she was smiling.

"He cannot be manipulated emotionally. I wanted to use him to make Ragna angry, so that Ragna takes care of him tomorrow in the competition for me. It seems I have to get rid of him during the competition. The syndicate will offer me a promotion if I manage to kill him. He has to die."

"Very well, Mr Darkhaven, thanks for the hospitality."

Everyone watched Isolde as she returned to Ragna’s side.

"What was that about?" Ragna asked.

"I thought he was interesting since everyone was talking about him. I wanted to greet him, but it seems he is quite the introvert. No need to bother with him. We will be opponents in the competition anyway. What’s the purpose of such useless conversations with others?" Isolde replied.

Ragna shrugged, agreeing with her. "Right."

As for Kailen, he continued taking his orange juice.

"Looks like only Isolde and Teiken are on my hunting list," he thought.

There was no need to waste any more time here.

After he finished the orange juice, Kailen melded with the void and disappeared from the banquet, retiring to his room.