Back in the spacious hall from earlier—
A sudden uproar erupted the moment they stepped inside.
"Aaaaaahhh?!"
"Lady Calliope?!"
"You insolent brutes! Put down Lady Calliope at once!"
"Who are you people?!"
"What do you plan to do to Her Highness the Princess?!"
The elven clerks in the store glared with fury and disbelief.
Clearly…
This was their first time witnessing such a disaster unfold.
Normally, once outsiders were led into that hidden VIP chamber—
None ever escaped Calliope's grasp.
If you were caught by her phantom shadow claws, only two outcomes awaited you:
Either you were drafted into their army as low-tier combat fodder,
or… you became an underground slave.
Of course—
There was a third option:
—Death.
That's how the Magic Nation of Alterna operated.
Beneath its glamorous surface lay a ruthless core.
All the enslaved were merely mana batteries to fuel the nation's power.
In truth—
Without mana, this so-called magic nation couldn't even function.
"What are you trying to do?!"
"What do you think?"
Raven smirked as he approached the crystal pedestal that held the store's prized artifact.
He balled his fist and punched it.
But...
The translucent blue crystal didn't budge—it was harder than steel.
Raven frowned slightly.
One of the elven clerks, catching on to his intent, sneered coldly.
"Heh… You think you can take that magic staff?"
"You must be delusional. Who do you even think you—"
She froze mid-sentence.
Her eyes widened in shock as she watched what happened next.
The other clerks also held their breath.
Raven channeled his mana into the crystal.
Immediately, the surface shimmered with a brilliant rainbow glow—
an unmistakable sign that the pedestal recognized and accepted his magic.
Then—
Crack…!
Fine web-like fractures spread across the crystal casing.
One by one, shards of crystal peeled off.
Revealed at last was the store's most treasured relic—
one of the Five Supreme Staves in the lower realms:
"Celestial Sovereign."
This golden staff was embedded with fifteen premium Mana Crystals.
Its effects were astonishing:
Maximize the power of any magic cast.
Prolong the duration of magical effects.
Greatly reduce spell cooldown time.
Its body, crafted from sacred royal ore and fine celestial alloy,
was so durable it could also serve as a long polearm.
Its listed price was 1.5 billion vali—
not including the 300 million vali worth of Mana Crystals.
Raven gripped the golden shaft with one hand,
gave it a few spins, and smiled at its perfect balance.
The store clerks stood slack-jawed, eyes full of disbelief.
"How… how is this possible?!"
"Y-You… you actually passed the mana resonance test?!"
"Why…?"
They simply couldn't fathom it—
That a human could be acknowledged by the sacred crystal.
To them—
Only highborn elves were worthy of such recognition.
Who was this man?
A red-haired elf's eyes suddenly lit up in realization.
Her lips trembled as she pointed at Raven and gasped:
"I-I remember now!"
"He's from Orario! He's the Heavenly Demon Lord!"
"Heavenly Demon Lord?!"
Another elf groaned in disbelief.
"Who's that? I've never heard of him."
"Yeah… What kind of title is that?"
The clerks exchanged confused looks.
"Don't you remember the recent War Game held in Orario?"
"He soloed the entire Apollo Familia on his own!"
Raven ignored their screams of disbelief.
With a thought, he stored the Supreme Staff into his inventory.
Then he stepped up to the display of glass cases.
"Ryuu, help me collect all the top-tier grimoires."
"R-Right!"
If you're going to do something, do it all the way.
Might as well loot everything.
This wasn't Orario—here, it was every man for himself.
And with a hostage in hand, they couldn't pull any tricks.
All the elven staff could do was watch in horror
as Raven swept up grimoire after grimoire from the displays.
"W-What kind of magic is that?!"
They gasped as he packed the books into his dimensional storage.
In total—
The display held only 30 grimoires, each one worth a billion vali.
"Let's go, Ryuu."
"Time to run."
And just like that—
Not a single coin paid.
A clean, unapologetic robbery.
As Raven and Ryuu calmly walked out—
"Wait!"
One of the elf clerks suddenly cried out.
"If you're going to take all our merchandise—at least leave Lady Calliope behind!"
Raven paused, thought for a moment,
then gently set the unconscious princess down.
"Here. Take her."
The clerks immediately rushed forward,
casting healing spells to tend to her wounds.
As Raven and Ryuu stepped through the front entrance—
What greeted them was…
Thousands of mages and spellcasters surrounding the shop.
A massive barrier had been deployed,
stretching a full kilometer from the store's center.
But that wasn't all—
The entire Magic Nation was now encased in a massive blue dome.
The mana fueling all this?
It came from the slaves underground.
Their purpose—
To trap the invaders like rats in a cage.
"Well then…"
"Tell me, invaders—"
"Will you surrender, or die?"
A male elf stood in the distance,
his tone cold and uncaring.
Raven surveyed the massive formation,
smirking at the net cast around them.
"Now this is getting interesting…"
"Ryuu—leave this one to me."
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