For Ouyang Tao, the assault incident had drawn to a close. But for his mentor Lu Yun, everything was just beginning.

Since the true culprit was successfully captured, Augustus College offered Lu Yun a seat on its Council as promised. He declined politely, stating he’d contributed nothing substantial to solving the case and didn’t deserve the position.

Lu Yun knew the Council wasn’t a place for researchers like him. Its tangled power struggles would distract him, and the title of Councilor would chain his hands—preventing him from focusing on what truly mattered.

Instead, he requested permission to form a specialized research team. Their mission: further analyze the counterfeit Lucifer’s Crown, with him as its leader.

The Council approved immediately, treating it with utmost urgency. They granted Lu Yun full authority—under absolute secrecy—to mobilize any personnel he deemed necessary from the College. After all, replicating Divine Artifacts was part of the lost ancient technologies.

Ever since Lu Yun’s mentor Lin Shixiong left Augustus College, research on those lost technologies had nearly ground to a halt. Now, a successful replica had surfaced. Deep analysis might finally yield breakthroughs.

Though "urgency" barely captured it. The College—and Duke Ryan of the Duchy of Lain—were on high alert.

If someone could forge one artifact, their mastery of lost technologies already surpassed the Duchy’s. One replica meant two. Three. More.

Worse: if they could copy Lucifer’s Crown, what about Belial’s Armor? Beelzebub’s Shield? Asmodeus’s Spear? Leviathan’s Staff? Samael’s Stampede? Mammon’s Plunder? All seven supreme treasures of the Archdukes were now vulnerable.

And if these replicas were mass-produced? If an army was equipped with them? What force on earth could stand against such power?

Research into lost technologies had just become a race against time. Breakthroughs were no longer desirable—they were essential.

Fragments of the counterfeit Lucifer’s Crown were transported to Augustus College’s underground labs, divided among departments for analysis.

Inside a sealed transparent chamber, Lu Yun lifted a shard with tweezers and placed it under a microscope.

“This is…” What began as routine observation stunned him. Hidden inside the crown’s inner rim were intricate engravings—an inverted cross. “Could it be… the Inverted Cross Legion?!”

Once called the Crusader Legion, they’d been humanity’s elite vanguard against gods and demons, wielding holy light magic and arcane tech.

But after the Great War, these fanatical warriors lost their purpose. Their reason to exist… vanished.

Most believed they’d drowned in history’s tide. Until the day they returned—not as heroes, but as demons.

Lu Yun dropped his tools. “Alert the Council,” he ordered, voice sharp. “I have an emergency to report!”