Shang had seen the person before the person had seen him.
They weren't traveling at their full speed, and maybe, Shang could escape before they saw him.
However, Shang just smirked and chuckled a bit.
'How interesting,' he thought. 'It seems like Gregorio hasn't been the most careful.'
A moment later, the person found Shang, and they just watched with shock.
This confirmed that they hadn't known that Shang was still alive but that they had only had a hunch.
Shang could feel the person looking at him, and the person could also feel Shang looking at them.
A moment later, a portal opened just 100,000 kilometers behind Shang. It wasn't close enough to count as melee range for Shang, but easily close enough for a Peak Mage King to fight him.
A moment later, an older man with an immaculately groomed suit walked out. The Custodian, Wester.
Wester looked at Shang with narrowed eyes while Shang just looked at the silver wall.
Shang hadn't hidden his new limbs, and Wester could see them in all their glory.
Shang chuckled a bit and turned to look at Wester with his black-and-white eyes. "Wester, what a pleasure to see you," he said with a smirk.
Wester's emotions were going crazy.
When Wester had talked to Gregorio, he had already noticed that Gregorio was acting strangely.
Gregorio had often talked about Shang when talking to Wester, but as soon as the Grand Tournament had passed, Gregorio had completely stopped talking about him.
It was almost like Shang had stopped existing in Gregorio's mind.
However, based on how Gregorio had acted when Shang had wanted to talk to him, Wester knew that Gregorio wouldn't just dump Shang like a piece of trash after he became useless.
At the very least, he would have lamented Shang's demise many times.
And yet, Gregorio had never talked about Shang again.
Wester had guessed that Shang might still be alive.
That, in and of itself, wouldn't be such a bad thing. After all, Shang belonged to the Lightning Manor, and they all worked together.
The suspicious part was that Gregorio hadn't told Wester about it.
One had to know that Wester was the second-in-command of the Lightning Manor, and he had been the closest friend, colleague, and servant of Gregorio.
Wester hadn't betrayed the Lightning Manor a single time. In fact, he hadn't even shown the slightest inkling of betrayal.
He had always kept confidential information confidential.
After over 50,000 years of working for Gregorio, Wester had expected that Gregorio would inform him about such things.
And yet, he didn't.
This worried Wester and made him suspicious.
Gregorio wasn't a paranoid or secretive person. In fact, he had always been quite open, transparent, and cooperative.
So, what kind of secret could be so important and destructive that Gregorio didn't even dare to tell Wester?
Of course, as soon as the first suspicions arose, Wester found many more suspicious points.
For example, even though the Abominations became more and more troublesome, Gregorio had stopped asking about the Child of Calamity.
In the past, literally every single conversation between them had started with Gregorio asking about the Child of Calamity.
And then?
Nothing.
It was like Gregorio no longer cared. Then came that sudden breakthrough that allowed Gregorio to stop Ancestral Abominations and Abomination Lords from appearing.
That was such a monumental and sudden breakthrough!
Especially since Gregorio hadn't seemed to be researching Abominations at all in the recent past.
That had created a suspicion in Wester's mind.
Shang was the Child of Calamity, and Gregorio knew about it.
It took a long time for Wester to accept this possibility. After all, Gregorio had always been against the Abominations, and it had even been his duty to deal with the Child of Calamity.
How was it possible that someone like that could suddenly become the ally of the Child of Calamity?
Nevertheless, all of these things had still only been guesses and speculation.
And then, Wester felt the Mana of the world move towards the northwest.
The movement had been very subtle.
It had felt unimportant.
And yet, something inside Wester told him that this was important.
But he hesitated.
If he actually traveled to that location, the possibility might become a reality.
Then what?
Shang would be the Child of Calamity, and Gregorio would be the greatest traitor of Aterium in history.
Wester only had a bit more than 10,000 years of longevity left.
He had served the Lightning Emperor for over 50,000 years.
Now, Wester was old, and he would soon pass.
Maybe, he could just look away.
Wester wouldn't witness the unprecedented tournament for the new Mage Emperor anyway.
Until then, things would basically remain the same.
Even more, there were fewer Abominations now, which meant that the world was actually improving.
If he went and confirmed his suspicions, he knew that he couldn't just sit idly by.
He would have to do what was right.
He would need to kill Shang and inform the other Emperors about Gregorio's betrayal.
Thinking about this possibility hurt him immensely.
So, even though Wester had thought about not doing anything for a while, deep inside, he knew that the decision had already been made.
Wester wasn't someone that ran away.
Wester was someone that followed his own principles, and he wouldn't idly stand by as more and more people died due to Shang's mere existence.
So, Wester had traveled towards the northwest.
And he had found what he had been looking for.
In front of him stood Shang, but Wester almost couldn't recognize him.
The color of his outfit had changed.
His body had become part Abomination.
His eyes looked at him with amusement and arrogance.
Lastly, his Aura had also completely changed.
In the past, Shang had felt grey, empty, and cold.
Now, Shang felt overpowering, fiery, arrogant, and dominant.
Wester almost couldn't connect the current Shang to the old one.
Yet, all of these changes weren't relevant.
Wester would kill Shang today, and the change in his Aura wouldn't change anything.
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