Celestial Era: The Rise of the Full-Time Enhancer

"Are you sure you\'re not working for the Black Magic Organization?" The knight suddenly asked as the middle-aged man flinched for a moment.

"I\'m not! I have never seen them even once… I heard that they are only active in the central plains. Even if they tried visiting the union, they will only meet the higher-ups… I\'m only a leader of a small department!"

Caiden replied in hurry.

"Then why are you being nervous? If you are not one of them, there\'s nothing to be afraid of." The knight asked with an eerie smile on his face.

"W-what? I\'m just afraid that you\'ll falsely accuse me… No one wants to get imprisoned for a false accusation…"

"Hmm… That\'s true."

"Yes… Is that all your questions? I\'m feeling uncomfortable. This room is suffocating me." Caiden said as he wanted to get away from here as quickly as possible.

"Ahh… My last question is about your plan here. Is it true you\'re here for Miss Faviona!"

"Yes… She\'s a Tier 5 Alchemist and we need her help."

"Alright… That\'s all my questions you can follow the guards outside."

Caiden heaved a sigh of relief as he stood up to leave the room.

***

Inside the secret room, Ceri felt confused.

"Hmm? Are we just going to him leave the room? Did you not mention that he was lying? He lied about not working for the Black Magic Organization and his reason for coming here. It\'s not about Miss Faviona at all." She asked.

"It\'s alright… The others will find it suspicious if they felt that a battle broke out. It\'s better if we interview them all first to know who is innocent and who is not… Cleaning them up after isn\'t hard anyway."

Millie replied as she already knows the protocol for this task.

Nevertheless, this is her first time finding a member of the Black Magic Organization sneaking up in their city!

She couldn\'t help but grip her sword tightly as she felt eager to fight against them.

Thud…

The door opened as the second person finally came in… While Caiden was considered to be the leader, the man in front of them is the vice-leader for this expedition.

He appears to be in his thirties but with his short and clean cut hair, he appears younger.

He also has a reading glass which is quite unique since most magicians, especially alchemists, would use high-grade potions to treat their eyes and grant them better vision.

Blurry eyes for magicians weren\'t common at all.

"Please introduce yourself." The knight said after he gestured to the man to sit down.

"I\'m Erasto… I\'m a Tier 3 Alchemist… A Pill Master to be exact."

"Sir Erasto, is that your real name?"

"Hmm? Yes. Although I do have an alias, I don\'t think it\'s appropriate to use it since you\'re not part of my field."

"I see… Are you a member of the Black Magic Organization?"

"What? Are you suspecting me?" Erasto asked with a frown."

"Not really, it\'s just a question, Sir Erasto. If you don\'t want to answer, I\'ll just write here that you don\'t want to answer. It\'s not a big deal, Sir."

Erasto immediately calmed down after hearing this.

"Ohh… Ehem, Is that so? I apologize for being too sensitive. In any case, I\'m not a member of the Black Magic Organization. Although the Alchemist Union accepted a truce with them, becoming a part of their organization is still considered a sin."

"A sin?" The knight repeated.

"Yes… It\'s because of how they killed thousands of men just to rule a small territory of this continent. Isn\'t that laughable? I mean, isn\'t that a sin that deserves death as a punishment?"

"Hmmm… I see." The knight paused for a moment as he listened to Guven\'s words.

"Did you really come here to visit Lady Faviona?" The knight continued with his question.

"Yes… She\'s one of our best Tier 5 Alchemists. We need her help on something important. Though I would like to share it with you, I have to get Lady Faviona\'s permission before I could tell you that."

"I see… That\'s good enough, Sir Erasto. Thank you for your cooperation."

Erasto nodded with a relieved smile on his face before leaving the room.

The knight then looked at the one-way mirror. Although he can\'t see the people inside the secret room, he can still feel the tension brewing inside.

Two members of the Black Organization had just appeared!

"Just continue, Sir Knight."

He suddenly heard Guven\'s instruction in his head as he nodded solemnly.

The interview continued for a while and to their surprise, all 15 of them are members of the Black Magic Organization.

The knight even made sure to ask varying questions to ensure that Guven wouldn\'t make an incorrect judgment. Nevertheless, these Alchemists were only telling the truth about their names and attainments in alchemy and completely lied about their innocence regarding their membership with Black Magic Organization.

They can already guess that even the people who didn\'t leave the airship were all members of the Black Magic Organization.

To be precise, the ones who didn\'t leave the airship were probably the original members of the organization or those who weren\'t members of the Alchemy Union at all.

"If it\'s only one or two spies, we can deal with them easily… However, there are hundreds of people in the airship that might be enemies, we have to be careful…" Millie spoke after the 15th person left the interrogation room.

"That\'s right. If we capture one of them and they managed to send a signal that their cover was blown, there might be chaos and we need to avoid that." Ceri added.

In the end, they had no choice but to consult this matter to Vincent. Capturing those alchemists including the people inside the airship would cause a lot of commotion after all.

***

Vincent learned everything after Calidia gave a report.

\'I really have to thank Guven later on… Should I give him Legendary Equipment?\' Vincent mused as he consider what reward he may give to his lie detector device… or man.

After thinking about it, he decided to give him a better Magician\'s Robe. If he wasn\'t mistaken, the one he was using was just the mass-produced one…

\'Alright… I should make a team to capture those spies now…\'

Without any hesitation, Vincent organized a Punitive Force consisting of all the Celestial Beings, Grand Magus, and Grand Knights…

Since he doesn\'t want any casualties from this mission, wanted to ensure that only the best would act.

In any case, the enemies are inside the city. There shouldn\'t be a problem if they leave their posts for a while to deal with the intruders.

"Calidia, have you informed Miss Faviona about their arrival?"

"Ahh… No, Sir Vincent. Since she was busy with the concoction, I decided not to disturb her. But I told those from the Union that she already knows that they are here and was hurrying to complete the concoction… Ugh, they were too demanding so I can only say that to appease them."

"Oh… No worries. That\'s fine. In any case, these people weren\'t really here for her."

"That\'s what I thought as well."

After they completed their arrangement, Vincent decided to meet with the 15 Alchemists inside the Kayser Tower.

He\'s together with Luna and Rem and three other Celestials who were observing from a distance.

As for the rest, they were sent to subjugate the entire Airship. The leader of this second team was Yulia since Vincent trusts her commanding skills. There may be other people who had better skills than her but Vincent trusts her the most.

The Alchemists are currently inside the reception hall and they don\'t seem to be aware that their cover was already blown.

Vincent used his eye\'s Mana Sensitivity to confirm that all these Alchemists, who were actually acting on behalf of the Black Magic Organization, are real Mana Arts Practitioners.

\'As expected, they have hidden Aether in their bodies…\' Vincent frowned after noticing the deeply hidden energy inside their bodies.

Not all members of the Organization have Aether…

Vincent knows this fact after battling against them several times already. Those who possess Aether were all high-ranking individuals or perhaps those who had directly made contact with the magic god and made a wish.

"Activate the Dragon Slayer Formation Art…"

Vincent announced the start of the battle… Since his opponents this time are Alchemists, silently dealing with them with drugs or poison would easily be seen through.

With this in mind, he can only trap them inside a huge Formation Art to suppress or kill them.

As soon as the Formation was activated, the previously relaxing Alchemists stood up in horror… They can easily tell that the Formation Art that was trapping them is a complex one and powered by the Tower itself…

"W-what\'s going on?!"

"Who activated this Formation Art? We are still inside the hall?! Release us from here!"

"Are you guys declaring war against the Alchemist Union?!"